Monthly Theme: Fabulous Florida Flora!

I spent the month of February with my daughter in St. Petersburg, FL. During my lunch breaks, I would walk my grand-dog, Sir Boddington. The “Sir” is a handsome Hungarian Vizsla named after the amber-colored British beer Boddington. Boddington is such a little gentleman that he patiently waited as I stopped to obverse and photograph the various flowering plants, vines, and trees while on our daily walks.

When you grow up and live in the Midwest, there is something magical about seeing flowers blooming in the month of February. So, I thought it would be fun to share some of my favorite Florida plants with you this issue.

The above cover photo is a Bougainvillea (Genus Bougainvillea). These beauties are growing everywhere in Florida (including my daughter’s yard) in a variety of vivid colors. Fuchsia seemed to be the most prevalent, but I saw red, purple, shocking and pale pink, orange, and even white. They are a tropical vine-like thorny scrub, which can be trained to grow on trellises. Depending on the variety, they can grow 3-30’ tall or even as a groundcover. Obviously, they are sun-lovers and maybe not so obvious – they bloom on and off throughout the year.

Next up is the lovely Petrea volubili (Genus Petrea) with delicate displays of cascading purple flowers. These can grow quickly and wildly, but can be managed with pruning and proper care.

The common name is Queen's Wreath Vine because they are fit for a queen in her castle (even if her castle is only 1000 square feet). The woody vine can climb on arbors, fences or even up a tree. This stunning plant can give a wisteria a run for the money!

Kalanchoes (Genus Kalanchoe) are native to Madagascar, but they seem to thrive in sunny Florida too! In Ohio, we grow these indoor as small house plants. Actually, there are hundreds of varieties of kalanchoes, but I liked the Kalanchoe blossfeldiana with flaming orange clusters of flowers found in many yards. Even more commonly seen around town, was the Kalanchoe x houtonii (bryophyllum) species. They have red bell-like drooping flowers on tall spindly stocks.

Kalanchoes are succulents. They have puffy, rounded, dark green glossy foliage, and the leaves have scalloped edges.

I roamed around the neighborhood specifically hunting for flowering vives to climb up my daughter’s bat pole. I’ve planted two Mandevilla vines in that location, but they have both died (could be user error or basic lack of water).

I came across the Pyrostegia venusta (Genus Pyrosetgia) or Flame Vine. Interestingly, venusta means charming, beautiful or graceful, which perfectly describes this vine. It remembered me of my Grandma’s Trumpet Vine. It has spectacular orange flowers. It’s another large woody climber that can spread quickly. The tubular flowers hung down and about 3” long. I can only imagine how much the hummingbirds must enjoy them.

Pyrosetgia originated in Brazil, brought to England in 1817, and luckily, found its way to Florida!

Passiflora Coccinea (*Genus Passiflora*)

I grow Passiflora incarnata purple passion flowers in my yard. In fact, they are a native vine in Florida. My plants are purple, but I actually saw more red flowers than purple flowers in my search for Florida flora. The showy scarlet red passion flowers are called Passiflora coccinea. Not surprisingly, the birds and bees love these flowers almost as much as we do.

Passiflora coccinea is a fast-growing evergreen vine, which produces edible fruit, but rather bland tasting. However, they can become a nuisance and grow out of control if not kept in check.

Besides the glorious flowers, I was excited to see all the fruit trees in bloom. I saw lemon, lime, avocado, fig, and star fruit trees. The neighbor’s star fruit tree was so heavy with fruit the fruit was falling to the ground. If you ever have a chance to eat a sun-ripened star fruit, do so! It tastes 100% better than the star fruit we find in our chain grocery stores.

One Sunday, we went to a Buddhist temple for lunch. Vendors had delicious homemade meals, soups, desserts, and fruits for sale. One woman was selling homegrown orchids. I bought a whole bag of Carambola (star fruit) for $1.00! The saleswoman, who spoke broken English, talked me into buying some unknown fruit (she didn’t know the English name and neither did I). Afterward, I used my iNaturalist app to identify the fruit as White Sapote or commonly called a Mexican Apple. The fruit is small, oval-shaped, and tastes like a cross between a pear and apple. White Sapote is known as Zapote Blanco in its native region of Mexico. There is a large pit in the center so there isn’t much fruit to eat.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed our travel through Florida’s flora. Next time you take a trip to the “Sunshine State,” stop and smell the Jasmine and check out all the astounding tropical plant life!