34 
PLANTS OP DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA 
escaped cultivation. C. thompsonse is 
either a shrub or half vine and has ele¬ 
gant flowers with white calyx and a deep 
red corolla. All flourish here. 
Codiaeum. The Crotons. Perhaps 
the finest ornamental leaved plants we 
grow. The climate here is a little too 
cold at times in winter for them to do 
their best and the soil is generally 
rather poor for them. However, if 
planted where they are protected and 
heavily fertilized they make a glorious 
show. A large variety is grown in Dade 
County but the names are in great con¬ 
fusion. They are hybrids, from two or 
three species belonging in the South 
Seas and have a great diversity in the 
forms of the leaves and coloring. 
Dombeya wallachi, is a wonderfully 
vigorous, rapid grower with immense, 
soft leaves measuring a foot or more in 
length and width. The flowers begin to 
open in winter and the plant continues in 
bloom for a long time. The flowers are 
in large heads, a handsome pink, and re¬ 
mind one of those of the Hydrangeas 
A poor stub of a plant put out in the pine 
land without fertilizer last fall bloomed 
superbly and is now eight feet high and 
as much across. 
Duranta plumieri is a rampant grower 
and bears spikes of blue flowers look¬ 
ing like magnified forget-me-nots. Dur¬ 
ing the winter when it is in bloom 
swarms of butterflies of many colors 
hover around it and contribute not a 
little to its beauty. 
Euphorbia splendens is a fine old 
thorny, succulent plant with pretty red 
bracts. E. sanguinea. I have received 
a plant bearing this name from Reasoner 
Bros, which has ovate leaves of an in¬ 
describably rich, bronzy purple crimson 
with lighter veins. It is an exquisite 
plant, half shrubby and grows well but 
is very tender. E. pulcherrima, com¬ 
monly known as Poinsettia pulcherrima 
is one of the finest ornaments of our 
gardens. It begins to develop its 
dazzling crimson bracts in November 
or sometimes in October and often 
holds them until in March. As soon as 
the new growth starts in the spring the 
stems should be severely cut back and 
these may be cut up and planted to 
within one bud in the ground to make 
new plants. As the old plants grow 
through the summer it is well to pinch 
out the tops to make them branch. They 
should be well fertilized, for with the 
best care they are usually rather short¬ 
lived here. 
Eugenia microphylla. An exquisitely 
beautiful little shrub with dark green, 
linear leaves. It makes repeated growths 
through the year and the young leaves 
are yellowish or brownish pale green, a 
charming contrast with the old ones. It 
promises to succeed here but I think it 
will do best when it is partly shaded. 
Hibiscus. The two first ornamental 
plants that the settler here puts out are 
Cocoanut palms and Chinese Hibiscus. 
These, from their beauty and their 
adaptability are planted wherever civil¬ 
ized or semi-civilized man is found 
within the tropics. There are a dozen 
or more varieties here in cultivation and 
all do exceptionally well. Put a cutting 
into the ground and within a year it is 
flaunting its glorious blossoms to the 
Florida sun. When the plants become 
old and scraggy all that is necessary to 
do is to cut them severely back just be¬ 
fore growth starts and in a little while 
they are a mass of fine new growth and 
foliage. I have plants eight years old so 
cut back which have never had any ferti¬ 
lizer, that are the picture of health and 
vigor. H. mutabilis, with soft, velvety, 
angled leaves and large pink flowers that 
open in the morning and turn dark 
through the day, is very fine. The same 
cutting back process is almost necessary 
with this, in fact I practice it with Ole¬ 
anders and a great variety of things that 
become old and lose their vigor. 
Ixora. One of the finest genera of 
shrubs that can be cultivated in this, 
region, though they are tender and need 
protection when young. I. coccinea, 
scarlet; I. colei, white; I. amboina, 
orange, and there are yellow and pink 
varieties. They should be in every gar¬ 
den. 
Hydrangeas. These have utterly 
failed with me and I presume that our 
soil is not suitable. 
