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Bowstring Hemp is an ornamental, herbaceous perennial originating in Africa. The plant grows from thick rhizomes to heights of three to four feet. It is a non-native plant that has escaped cultivation and invaded wetland areas of central and south Florida. It can be found growing in disturbed hammock areas. The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council (FEPPC) lists Sansevieria hyacinthoides as a Category II non-native invasive that has not yet altered Florida's native plant communities.

The hybrid Bougainvillea Lady Mary Baring is a cross of Bougainvillea glabra and Bougainvillea peruviana. This woody perennial vine is a vigorous and thorny climber that can scramble and attain heights of 35 to 40 feet, but when grown as a container plant it will usually only reach about 8 to 10 feet in height. This vine produces colorful golden yellow bracts that surround the tiny creamy colored blooms. As with other Bougainvillea, to perform well it requires a full sun location with well draining soil. The plant can be pruned to a desired shape and size, but heavy pruning will greatly decrease flower production.

Polygala rugelii is named for German botanist Ferdinand Rugel, who collected plants in Florida during the early 1800s. Yellow Milkwort is an annual and sometimes biennial plant that is endemic to the Peninsula of Florida. Yellow Milkwort is found growing in full sun along marsh edges and in bogs, ditches, and lowlands. The bright yellow blooms are quite showy and are easily visible, even when you are traveling along roadways at high speed. Blooms occur from spring to fall, but are most prolific during the summer and fall months.

A native of Southern Brazil, Mikania ternata has recently become a popular houseplant in the United States. Due to its soft, pubescent stems and leaves, the plant has the common names of Plushvine, Brazilian Haze Vine, and Purple Pleasure Vine. It is a vigorous trailing plant with dark green leaves that are purple on the reverse side. Plushvine requires a location of medium to bright light, but no direct sun, which will burn the foliage. It prefers a well-draining soil that is kept consistently moist but not soggy and likes moderate humidity. Plushvine produces many tiny, yellow, star-shaped, nondescript blooms, but the plant is mainly grown for its attractive foliage. Its trailing habit makes this plant great for containers, and it's also very popular for hanging baskets with the stems trailing over the edge. Regular pinching will help to keep a nice shape and alleviate any thinning vines.

Eucodonia andrieuxii is one of only two species in the genus Eucodonia, which was once included in the genus Achimenes and hybridized with that plant. It is a perennial plant of the Gesneriad family, which includes the popular African Violets (Saintpaulia). Eucodonia andrieuxii requires moist but not soggy soil, a cool, bright-shade location, and regular feeding. When active growth slows and the leaves begin to die back, the plant is ready for a rest period during which watering and fertilizing should be stopped and the plant left to dry out for a while. Once new growth begins to appear, regular watering and feeding can resume. Eucodonia plants can be propagated by collecting the scaly rhizomes located just beneath the soil surface.

Helianthus debilis, the Beach Sunflower or Dune Sunflower (the name I've always known it by), is a wonderful perennial groundcover here in my area. We see this sunflower growing alongside coastal highway A1A, as well as trailing along the sand dunes on the beach and growing in residential gardens. It acts as a stabilizer of sand dunes and helps prevent beach erosion. The Dune Sunflower is native to the United States and can be found along both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, where it tolerates a fair amount of salt spray. The name debilis in latin means weak, lame, or debilitated, which describes this plant's tendency to crawl along the ground. It's an extremely drought-tolerant plant, and the blooms attract butterflies.

I planted a couple of small ones in my garden in early April this year and they have since spread and multiplied tremendously, growing out over the edge of the bed and trying to trail through the lawn. This suits me fine, but unfortunately, my husband uses the string trimmer and whacks them back to the edge of the bed. I've read that Dune Sunflower may last only one season in climates where freezes occur, but even though we get occasional short freezes here, it always seems to survive and it's one of my favorite groundcovers because it blooms nearly year round.

'Pearls and Jade' is a cultivar of Pothos that is small in stature compared to other cultivars of Epipremnum aureum. The mature leaves of 'Pearls and Jade' are about 2 to 3 inches in length, in contrast to the 4.5 to 5 inch long leaves of its parent 'Marble Queen'. The cultivar 'Pearls and Jade' has very pretty variegated foliage, with leaves displaying many irregular streaks and blotches of green, white, and gray coloration. This plant prefers a well-draining potting medium. Keep the soil moist, but let it dry between waterings. It does well in both bright and lower-light situations and thrives in high humidity. It works well in a hanging basket, as a desktop plant with the stems trailing over the sides of the container, or in a pot with a totem so the stems can attach and climb the post. In frost-free areas it can be grown outdoors as a groundcover.

Pothos is said to be good at removing indoor pollutants like formaldehyde from the air, making it a great plant to grow indoors. Be aware, though, that the plant has toxic properties, and one should be vigilant when growing this plant in a household with children and pets.

I purchased a small Pomegranate 'Nana' this past spring (2014) to purposely keep as a container plant. It has done very well so far in its location on the southeast corner of my house, where it gets a lot of sun from morning until late afternoon. I love the pretty little flowers, and my small shrub even produced a single fruit earlier this summer, but unfortunately some critter got to it before I did! A local nursery employee told me that the squirrels always take the fruit from her dwarf Pomegranate, so maybe a squirrel got my single little fruit; either that or possibly a raccoon traipsing through the yard during the night snacked on it. Punica granatum is extremely drought tolerant and I had to move it beneath the roof overhang earlier in the summer when we were receiving a lot of rain because I was concerned that the soil was staying too wet. My plant should survive winter here in my area just fine. I've read that it will survive temp's down to about 15ºF, and although we did have one really severe winter in 1985 with a record low of 15ºF, thankfully it didn't last long!

I've only grown Podranea ricasoliana for about two and a half years now and it's one of my favorites! Although many places list it as evergreen, it will lose leaves during cold snaps here in my zone 9 Florida garden. It seems to be a very hardy vine and grows abundantly during our warm, humid summer. My plant is container grown. Podranea does not produce tendrils for climbing, so I have it tied to a trellis for support. My plant is located on the east side of the house, where it gets morning and early afternoon sun. It blooms nonstop from early summer through fall. Podranea prefers a well-draining potting medium and full sun to partially shady conditions. It is fairly drought tolerant once established, takes well to pruning, and produces beautiful and fragrant pink blooms.

Streptocarpus saxorum is a member of the Gesneriad family of plants. Its relatives include the African Violets (Saintpaulia species), Lipstick Plants (Aeschynanthus species), and many others. I find Streptocarpella to be a very easy plant that thrives in bright light or dappled shade. It makes a great annual in a shady part of the flower bed, as well as in a hanging basket, or as a container plant for the porch. Many grow Streptocarpella year round as an indoor houseplant, hanging in a bright window. Streptocarpella requires a well-draining potting medium and consistently moist (but not soggy) soil and thrives on high humidity. This plant has soft, velvety leaves, and if kept too dry, it will pout and get droopy, but it will immediately perk up once it's watered, as long as you don't let it sit and dry out for too long. Never subject this plant to direct sun or you will find very scorched leaves. There is no need to dead-head Streptocarpella as the spent flowers fall easily on their own. I love the graceful, arching habit of the plant hanging over the edges of the container and the pretty purplish-blue flowers that seem to attract hummingbirds! Although I've only grown the blue-flowering varieties over the years, there are varieties of S. saxorum with white flowers, as well as pink. Streptocarpella is very easy to propagate by taking stem cuttings, removing the lower leaves, and placing the stems in a moist potting medium in a shady location.

"Flame of the Woods" is a common name for Ixora coccinea, and like many Ixora with the red flowers, the cultivar Maui Red fits the name perfectly! Ixora coccinea is a dense, multi-branched shrub with a rounded form and a very wide spread that generally grows from four to six feet in height and in some areas attains heights of ten to twelve feet, but it can be pruned to keep it small in stature. Ixora is very popular as a hedge plant in the southern part of Florida. I have four Ixora planted along a curved flower bed in my yard that I keep pruned to about three feet, and I also have the cultivar Maui Red, which has been trained into a braided tree form, requiring the continuous pinching of side shoots to maintain the tree form. Ixora coccinea requires a moist, well-draining soil and does well both in full sun or partial shade. It takes frost well; light freezes will knock it back, but it always re-sprouts in spring and it blooms almost year round here in Florida.

The Foxtail Palm is one of my favorites with its slender gray trunk and arching fronds of light green feathery-like leaves. The Foxtail is a thornless, fast-growing, hardy palm with a fairly deep root system. It is somewhat drought tolerant, but during extended dry periods the leaves become chlorotic and turn yellow, and the plant slows down its growth. Foxtail Palm requires a well-draining soil and responds well to regular deep waterings during the hot summer months. It grows in a wide range of soil conditions. The best location is in full sun, but it also does quite well in partly shady areas. It is wind tolerant and moderately salt tolerant, only tolerating a mild amount of salt spray. Although my Foxtail Palm is planted in the ground, I have to protect it from frost and freezes here in my zone 9 Florida garden. Mature plants can only tolerate light frosts and temps to around 27ºF. Anything colder is sure to cause significant damage.

Clerodendrum bungei is a beautiful flowering perennial shrub here in my Florida garden, but it can be a bit of a headache. Well, to be honest ... it can be a huge headache! The plant is an aggressive spreader, sending up suckers all around itself, and it is considered invasive in some regions of the south. I find little plants popping up in flower beds as well as the lawn and I've even pulled a few growing out of the slats of the wood deck. The leaves, when crushed, have a strong musky smell, which I don't find to be very pleasant, but the large clusters of flowers are quite fragrant and really beautiful. Clerodendrum bungei does well in full sun to part shade, blooms from summer through fall, and is very drought tolerant once established. This plant is very easy to propagate by cuttings (which root easily), but rooting cuttings isn't really necessary because the plant sends up suckers all over the place! I really wish I'd kept it in a container instead of planting it in-ground because it has become a chore trying to keep it in check. This plant attracts several species of butterflies, providing nectar for the adults and a food source for their caterpillars.

Episcia cupreata is a herbaceous perennial in the Gesneriad family. The Flame Violet grows 8 to 12 inches in height with a one to two foot spread. It can be grown as an annual ground cover in heavy shade, but it is most popular as a houseplant. Episcia makes a great hanging basket plant with its pretty foliage trailing over the sides of the basket. Episcia can also be grown as a terrarium plant, under grow lights, or as a windowsill plant. The important thing is to not subject it to direct sun, which will scorch the foliage. Bright indirect light is best. E. cupreata is a seasonal bloomer, but as a houseplant it will flower off and on all year round. The tubular blooms are red to orange in color with a yellow throat, and although the tubular flowers are very pretty, the plant is grown by many for its lovely variegated foliage, which is bright green with shades of pink to coppery brown and sometimes silver veining.

Last year I found Tagetes erecta sprouting in different spots in my garden: in a flower bed circling a palm tree as well as many little ones popping up in the lawn. I'm assuming birds presented a few seeds to my yard, because although I've known about Marigolds for many years, I'd just never thought about them one way or the other. They just seemed to be a ho-hum plant to me and I'd never grown them. Anyway, I left the ones growing in the bed around the Palm tree and decided to transplant the ones growing in the grass to another bed. They've been prolific all summer with constant blooms, and I must admit ... African Marigolds are growing on me.

I'm new to Daylilies, and 'Siloam Double Classic' is one of my first ever to try. So far I'm only growing daylilies as container plants, but next year I may start a daylily bed with a few of my favorites. This one in particular I've loved since the first double bloom, and although it is said to have a pink bloom, to my eyes it looks more of a salmon-peach.

Begonia 'Charm' is a beautiful little plant, not only for the lovely little pink blooms, but also for the attractive variegated foliage. The leaves are a pretty chartreuse green with pink to creamy yellow splotches. 'Charm' makes a wonderful hanging basket or window box plant as well as a filler for mixed containers. It can be used as a bedding plant and can be grown as an annual in colder climates. Begonia 'Charm' requires a well draining potting medium and moist but not soggy soil.

Hibiscus 'Hugs and Kisses' is a cultivar from the new series of hibiscuses hybridized for their large fancy blooms of exciting tropical colors. This cultivar has 7-inch ruffled-edge flowers that are pink to lavender, radiating out to salmon-peach edges. 'Hugs and Kisses' thrives as a landscape plant in southern frost-free gardens, both as a specimen shrub or as a multi-plant hedge, but it also makes a wonderful container plant that can be kept to optimum size with pruning. It requires a good organic well-draining soil and full to part sun with frequent watering during the summer months.

I grow Hugs and Kisses as a container plant here in my central Florida garden in a location where it gets afternoon shade. I move it to a covered porch if frost or freeze is predicted in winter. I reduce the amount of water in the winter and prune lightly when I move it back outdoors in spring.

West Indian Wood Nettle has slightly woody stems, alternate broad serrated leaves, and clusters of greenish-yellow flowers. This plant has been introduced to Florida and California as well as Hawaii and is considered an agricultural weed with prolific seed production. This nettle has both stinging and non-stinging hairs and can cause contact dermatitis.

Aeschynanthus micranthus is an epiphytic plant with long, trailing stems and small leaves and flowers. Like other plants of the species, it requires bright light, but no direct sun, which will burn the foliage. The plant also requires a well draining potting medium and likes to dry out somewhat between waterings. There are some varieties of Aeschynanthus that are less drought tolerant, but A. micranthus does not like to have saturated roots. Therefore, a well-draining soil is very important to prevent root rot. Aeschynanthus plants get the common name of "Lipstick Plant" because of the shape of the flower buds, which resemble lipstick tubes, with the bloom rising out of the tube.

I have three Aeschynanthus plants that hang in a backyard tree from March through November and although I've read that they prefer cooler temperatures, mine seem to thrive in our heat and high humidity. I must admit that I am extremely lax about fertilizing any plant. I usually have good intentions, but life always seems to get in the way. I may be good about feeding plants one year and then go two years without feeding them at all. Some Aeschynanthus plants bloom during the early spring, but my A. micranthus plant has been blooming for the past two hot and humid months this summer.