spiral ginger

Despite the name, spiral ginger is not a ginger, but it’s related. By Franz Xaver – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link Alternate names insulin plant Latin name Costus pulverulentus Family Costaceae Related species Gingers Cultivars Characteristics evergreen ornamental cold tolerant freeze tolerant part shade to shade tropical low maintenance edible flowers medicinal Description Leaves…

golden canna

The Latin name for this pretty plant is Canna flaccida. ‘Flaccid canna’? Really? Imagine going through the world being called flaccid. Poor canna. No wonder it’s a little less showy than its cultivar relatives. It has an inferiority complex. By Peter A. Mansfeld, CC BY 3.0, Link As it happens, though, wild golden canna is…

canna lily

You’ve seen cannas around gardens in Florida, even if you don’t know it. They’re the giant orchid-looking things with great big colorful leaves and seed pods that look like fuzzy duck heads. They take some work to look their best and they prefer to stand alone, but they’re worth it. Probably. Cannas are heat-loving perennials…

candlestick senna

The first thing sustainability-minded people usually say about candlestick plant is, “Yay, it’s a host plant for sulphur butterflies to lay their eggs” (of which we in FL are blessed with species ranging from the tiniest sulphur species, the size of a fingernail, to a giant floating flower the size of a tiger swallowtail.) But…