Tropical Plants from Excelsa Gardens
For serious and passionate gardeners like myself, gardening is about color, form, and variety - I especially like rare and unusual plants.
During my recent business trip to Florida, I purchased several specimens from Excelsa Gardens in Loxahatchee Groves, a wonderful and charming nursery specializing in hard-to-find exotic tropicals. Among the plants I brought home - Euphorbia stenoclada, Licuala grandis, Dieffenbachia 'Camouflage', Philodendron 'Black Gold', Medinilla magnifica, and a Bismarckia nobibilis palm.
Here are some photos.
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- One of the most important outbuildings here at my farm is this large greenhouse. This is where I keep many of my potted plants. I’m always on the lookout for new and unusual houseplants to add to my collection.
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- It’s exciting to bring home new specimens to see how they fare. I always recommend that inexperienced gardeners go to nurseries to find what they love and then learn as much as they can from them.
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- This is Medinilla magnifica – a species of epiphytic flowering plant, of the family Melastomataceae, native to the Philippines.
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- This plant is also known as the Rose Grape, Philippine Orchid, or Pink Lantern Plant. In spring and summer its flowers bloom in shades of pink, ranging from pale pastels to deep magenta, and dangle like elegant chandelier “grapes.”
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- Medinilla magnifica plants have leathery, dark green leaves with a distinctive leaf vein.
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- Ryan hangs it up where it can receive bright light, but be shaded from the hottest sun when needed.
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- This is Philodendron melanochrysum ‘Black Gold.’ This plant produces leaves of iridescent black-green with pale green veins.
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- Though different types of plants have varying preferences in terms of pot size and needed root space, most grow well when pots are at least two-inches larger in diameter than the plant’s original pot.
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- Ryan places the Philodendron into the pot so its root ball top sits just under the lip of the container.
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- And then he pats it down to establish good contact.
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- After planting, Ryan adds a sprinkling of Osmocote fertilizer – made of small, round coated prills filled with nutrients.
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- Philodendrons like to be kept in warm temperatures and indirect light near a window. This spot in my greenhouse is perfect.
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- And look at the spectacular leaves, which can be up to two-feet long when mature.
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- This interesting plant is Euphorbia stenoclada ‘Silver Thicket.’ It is a species of plant in the family Euphorbiaceae, native to Madagascar and the Mozambique Channel Islands. It is best described as a large, upright well-branched leafless succulent shrub or small tree which can grow to be 12-feet tall and up to six-feet wide when mature.
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- The name “stenoclada” means “narrow-branched” and refers to the short spine-tipped leafless branches.
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- Ryan carefully pots this variety and other tall specimens in heavy bottomed containers, so they do not tip over. Euphorbia does well in pots that drain well and can be kept in south- or west-facing windows.
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- Dieffenbachia ‘Camouflage’ is an eye-catching plant with uniquely patterned lush chartreuse-colored leaves. It does best in bright indirect to full indoor sunlight. This plant also prefers moderately moist soil, but should be left alone to let the top layer of soil dry out between waterings.
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- Each leaf is divided by a white central midrib with specks of green throughout the leaf.
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- Some of you may recognize this plant, the Bismarckia. I have several of these Madagascar natives. These plants need lots of space. The palm itself grows slowly up to 30-feet or more and each thick, fan-shaped frond can reach 10-feet in diameter.
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- And this is one leaf of Licuala grandis – the ruffled fan palm, Vanuatu fan palm, or Palas palm, a species of palm tree in the family Arecaceae native to Vanuatu, an island nation in the Pacific. It features a trunked palm tree with wide, pleated leaves in vibrant green.
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- The licuala grandis does best in full sun, but prefers indirect light. I am so very pleased with these additions to my greenhouse. I am looking forward to seeing them all mature and thrive.
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