Richard Lyons Nursery, Inc.

Rare & Unusual Tropical Trees & Plants, Flowering, Fruit, Native, Palm, Bamboo, Heliconia, Hummingbird, Butterfly

Stictocardia beraviensis (Hawaiian Sunset Vine)

We at Richard Lyons’ Nursery never cease to be amazed over the arcane logic behind the common names of plants. Just recently we learned that Swiss Chard is native to . . . the Mediterranean. And today we were driven into an even deeper funk by news that the beautiful Hawaiian Sunset Vine hails from…
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September 19, 2014 0

New Guinea Trumpet Vine (Tecomanthe dendrophila)

When it comes to the New Guinea Trumpet Vine, the world temporarily returns to its senses. This very attractive liana really is native to New Guinea! Known botanically as Tecomanthe dendrophila (and formerly called T. venusta), it is related to the genera Tecoma and Tecomaria from other parts of the world, but produces larger and…
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September 19, 2014 0

Queen’s Wreath (Petrea volubilis)

Words such as ‘spectacular’ and ‘stunning’ have been used to described Petrea volubilis, and that’s not hype. This woody plant, also known as Queen’s Wreath and Sandpaper Vine, produces impressive masses of blue-purple flowers displayed above paler star-shaped calices several times a year and bears a similarity to the wildly-popular temperate vine, Wisteria. The springtime…
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September 7, 2014 0

Summer Over?

Charles Whited was the longtime local columnist for The Miami Herald. One of the best pieces of advice he provided to recent arrivals in southern Florida was to appreciate subtleties in the climate. Because annual temperatures here don’t vary as much as those in the rest of the U.S., Whited recommended appreciating even the slightest…
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August 29, 2014 0

Ground Covers You May Not Have Thought About, Part X

Having gone through enough Roman numerals to make the Super Bowl people jealous, Richard Lyons’ Nursery today concludes its ground cover series with a peek ahead to vegetable species that are unexpectedly well-suited to enlivening your winter landscape. Celery, Apium graveolens var. dulce: Celery is a member of the Apiaceae, the important vegetable family that…
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August 22, 2014 0