Category: Garden, Growing Flowers

Planting flowering annuals and perennials in the landscape. New posts are Florida gardening with the hydrangeas and some others being from the north.

Fill the Yard With Milkweed – The Right Kind!

Be sure to select a native milkweed for the yard, or you could be harming the Monarchs instead of helping. Don’t take store and seller’s word for it – be informed.

When I wrote this blog post, over two years ago, I had read an article about Tropical milkweed being horribly bad for Monarchs. It seems that is not completely true. As I’ve continued to learn about growing milkweed, I think the Tropical variety can be used as a good stand in if native milkweed is not available. But it must be cared for correctly.

Back then: On a trip to the Farmer’s Market, we found some plants for the yard. I was happy to find this plant at the market. It cost me $15.00 but I was very excited to find such a wonderful, big plant to help the monarchs. What I didn’t realize is that it is NOT native. I bought Tropical Milkweed which is becoming a problem in the south.

Two-colored flowers (red and orange/yellow) with pointed leaves – this is the non-native Tropical Milkweed. But, the only reason it seems to be a problem is that it does not die back in Fall / Winter.

Good Intentions

I want to fill my yard with food for the bees and butterflies (namely Monarchs)… BUT… this is not the right kind of milkweed for my area. When this milkweed plant began to drop its seeds, I looked for information about planting them. I’m so glad I searched for information. BUT, now there is more information.

I suggest removing the seed pods so the plant doesn’t spread into the wild where it can’t be cut back over winter.

This is when I realized that I have the wrong type of milkweed. Wrong meaning not native. It was time to learn more about milkweed.

Updated Info on Tropical Milkweed

Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica) is NOT a native Florida plant. It is native to Mexico. It’s always best to plant native. However, I have not easily been able to find nice, native milkweed plants at local nurseries and garden shops. Tropical milkweed is easy to grow, and it grows fast. No wonder plant sellers prefer this one.

If you have tropical milkweed, the most important thing is to cut it back by December. It won’t die back on its own in many locations. This keeps the Monarchs from migrating. If they stick around and continue to breed, the caterpillars can develop a lethal parasite (OE). Read the article about this at IFAS for more info.

I doubt that many sellers of the tropical milkweed even realize it is not native to Florida. And many probably don’t understand the need for cutting it down.

Non-native, flowers are bi-color red and yellow.

If you are willing to cut back the plants in winter, and remove the seed pods so the plant won’t spread outside the yard, Tropical Milkweed should be okay to grow.

Tropical milkweed is not native to Florida and can cause problems for the Monarch butterflies.

When is it Okay to Plant Tropical Milkweed?

So what if you have this milkweed growing in your yard? After I removed my Tropical milkweed plants, two more plants grew – 2 years later. Right away I began to see caterpillars. I knew this was the wrong milkweed, but it was feeding those hungry caterpillars. So, is it better to help the Monarchs even if the milkweed is not native? I say yes.

monarch caterpillar

I now believe that having some tropical variety can be good to supplement the native types. Native milkweed is hard to find to buy. Certain types need sun and lots of moisture (swamp variety). Others need sun and dry conditions (Sandhill). Milkweed is meant to grow in Florida’s diverse ecosystem, which is vanishing. It should not be grown in a yard that is sprayed with chemicals.

All these things make native milkweed hard to find. With roadsides mowed, and lawns taking the place of fields, butterflies are now endangered. If we can help by providing some plants – native or not – I say let’s do it.

Right now I am trying to grow native milkweed for my yard. I have planted seeds, and purchased milkweed seedlings online. My goal is to have a variety, with many native plants (mainly) for the butterflies.

Florida Native Milkweed Links

  • Sandhill Milkweed – Big, dark leaves and pink flowers. Likes to grow in sand and doesn’t need lots of water.
  • Orange Butterfly weed – Not preferred by monarchs (so I’ve read) but great for butterflies and other insects.
  • Swamp Milkweed, white / pink – Moist, well-drained soil. Full sun to part shade.
  • Whorled Milkweed – blooms longer, into Fall, and can supplement if other native milkweed has died back.

Find Milkweed Seeds and Plants Online

You may find what you want, along with other Florida native plants, from this list of growers / nurseries on the Plant Real Florida site.

I have purchased seeds from Johnny Butterfly seed. They have sprouted at this stage, but are still tiny.

The Monarch Story – IFAS

Keep reading the blog…

Pink Hydrangeas Are Blooming in June

The hydrangea shrub in my Florida yard is doing well and blooming with pink flowers.

The hydrangea I planted in my Florida garden a few years ago is now blooming once again. Soil in Florida tends to be alkaline so the flowers are pink. When I first bought the plant the flowers were blue, no doubt due to amendments to the soil. Everyone wants blue flowering hydrangeas.

But when this hydrangea plant was left to grow in the sandy soil in my southern yard, the flowers became pink. I don’t care. Pink is pretty too.

pink hydrangeas in Florida garden
pink hydrangeas in Florida garden
pink hydrangeas in Florida garden
pink hydrangeas in Florida garden
pink hydrangeas in Florida garden

The key to success when growing hydrangeas in the hot and humid Florida climate is to give the plant shade. All the leaves fall off for winter but the greenery comes back along the stems in Spring. Don’t cut the plant back! The first year I did cut it, but it’s not necessary.

2017 Potted and blue

Here is the hydrangea plant when I first bought it. It was probably grown in a greenhouse and given something acidic for the flowers to bloom blue.

Blue hydrangea
2017

The blue flowers faded to green, just like my New Hampshire blue flowers!

hydrangea
My blue hydrangea flowers have faded to green

Each year the leaves fall off

For the winter months in Florida, the plant is nothing but stems. Once the weather gets permanently warm again – around February – the stems will begin to show green growth.

hydrangea February garden Florida stems
February – hydrangea is stems only!

2022 June – Pink flowers

The flowers will only be blue if the soil is acidic. In Florida, azaleas, camellias, gardenias, and crepe myrtle all like acidic soil. So planting hydrangeas near these plants means they can all be amended with bone meal, or something to naturally turn the soil acidic. Read about more ways to turn soil acidic.

It seems that each year this plant has more, and larger, flowers. I try to give it plenty of water and it is never in direct sunlight thanks to the fact that a large shrub covers it.

Growing hydrangeas in Florida
June 2022

July and the Blooms Are Fading

faded hydrangea flowers
July’s faded blooms
faded hydrangea flowers

I was sick with Covid for nearly a month and only recently have been back out in my Florida yard. Now my pink hydrangea flowers are a very light greenish color. One little pink bloom hangs on.

faded hydrangea flowers in Florida
Hydrangeas drying on the stem

Please Keep Reading the Blog

Native Milkweed That Survived the Freeze

I’m still trying to fill my yard with native milkweed. After the cold spell over winter froze most things back, and killed many things, I have fewer milkweed plants. All the tropical milkweed is gone. Tropical milkweed is not native, and therefore not a great loss. Three of the four swamp milkweed seedlings I purchased…

Keep reading

Back to Life, My Florida Hydrangea Looks Good

Over winter here in Florida my hydrangea shrub became a bunch of sticks. The stems lost nearly all their leaves.

Hydrangea winter Florida January
January

After all danger of frost – around the end of February – I cut the stems back removing the old leaves. There were new leaf bud growths already forming along the stems.

hydrangea February garden Florida stems
February, after cutting back

Attempting to Propagate a New Plant

In the photos above and below I have placed a rock over a low hanging stem. I’m hoping that roots will form so I can cut this part off and plant it creating a new hydrangea plant!

Florida hydrangea garden perennial Spring
Rooting a stem

This hydrangea is growing in a nice shady location beneath a larger shrub. It seems to be happy and now I’ll just wait for the flowers.

All I’ve used for fertilizer is some bone meal and fish emulsion.

  • Florida hydrangea garden perennial Spring
  • Florida hydrangea garden perennial Spring
  • Florida hydrangea garden perennial Spring
    All new growth

May 2020 In My Florida Yard

While I am hanging out at home (which I pretty much do all the time anyway) I have given the yard some attention. I thought I’d share photos of what is growing in my Florida yard.

Here in my area of Florida we’ve had a few very cool nights (ya..60’s), but I’ll take it. By May it’s usually hotter than this, but I am not compaining. I’ve still been taking walks early without sweating too badly and it’s been nice outdoors for puttering in the yard.

Garden around a tree
Tropical garden plants

I took some croton cuttings the other day and they are sitting in a pail of water waiting for roots to grow. I’ve had success with propagating crotons, and Spring is a good time to get cuttings of new growth.

One of my previous croton cuttings, gave me a new cutting… and now that first plant is shooting off new growth. It’s a beautiful little plant with dark reddish orange veins. Because this croton grows beneath an oak tree, it does not get lots of direct sun and that keeps the leaf color darker. Now it will give me a new plant!

  • New growth on croton after trimming
  • propagating crotons
  • Croton cuttings

In the back corner of the yard are some banana trees. They have grown a bunch of bananas, but I can’t reach them. I zoomed in to get this photo because they are quite high. We could probably eat them if only they were closer. We did not plant these trees.

Bananas on the tree
Bunch of bananas out of reach

I don’t go out to the store, so I haven’t bought new dirt or seeds, so I’m working with what I have. A tomato plant began growing from seeds of a tomato I used as compost. I’ll cut up vegetables and just throw them in my garden. Now I’ve picked 2 semi-large tomatoes and have some cherry tomatoes growing also.

Cherry tomato plant
Some tiny cherry tomatoes

The front garden doesn’t get much attention from me. It’s where the croton is (see it upper left) and I planted a baby bromeliad – right. Front right is the pink caladium, which disappears underground for months and comes back in Spring. I also had a white caladium, but that has not grown back this year.

Garden around a tree with pink caladium, rubber plant, croton and grass.
Tropical garden plants
Florida garden
Skittle watches as I photograph my little garden

The Azalea is doing well with lots of green leaves. And the rubber tree – also taken from a cutting, is doing quite well. The Bromeliad double, which is white and pink, was the original plant I purchased. I’ve dug out babies and planted them around the yard.

New Guinea impatiens do best with some shade. These will last a long time – sometimes over a year – with shade, water and care.

New Guinea impatiens
New Guinea impatiens

The green plants which make a low hedge across the front are filling in nicely. I had cut them back, added dirt and fertilizer and mulch. They looked very ugly and sparse, but no more. They will end up filled in and pretty. They just needed attention.

Last but not least is my hydrangea! It is alive, but very small at this point. It’s been fertilized, and watered, and I’ll watch to see what happens. It’s not at all like the hydrangeas I was used to in New England. Florida is like a completely different country.

Hydrangea in Spring
In May – the Hydrangea

I hope you are keeping busy while all this Covid virus stuff persists. Maybe it’s almost time for gardening where you are. I hope so.

Green Hydrangeas, Where Do They Come From?

Some people love the uniqueness of green hydrangeas and some wonder why their bright blue blooms fade away to ugly green. Everyone is different. But if you wonder where green blooms come from – they are seldom found in nurseries – the answer is they come from blue blooms, and sometimes from late in the season white-flowering plants (Blushing Bride).

The Limelight hydrangea can also have green flowers, especially in early stages of growth. It’s flower is elongated in shape so it is different than the blue macrophylla, big leaf hydrangea, I’m writing about here.

Beautiful blue hydrangea flower up close
Continue reading “Green Hydrangeas, Where Do They Come From?”

Update on Garden Hydrangea, Surviving Summer

Now my little hydrangea is in the ground and here is what I’ve learned. Deadheading Florida hydrangeas is a good idea. I found new growth and new flowers hidden beneath those huge, dying blooms.

blue flowers turning green
Blooms turning green and dying

Until a few weeks ago I had not tried to grow a hydrangea in my Florida yard. I kept thinking there was no way it would do well in all this heat. So the fact that my little hydrangea plant is doing so well is a nice surprise. If it has been growing in a greenhouse it would adapt well to warmth, and it does seem to be thriving this summer.

Continue reading “Update on Garden Hydrangea, Surviving Summer”