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Name: Lin Vosbury Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a)              plantladylin Oct 18, 2019 11:31 AM CST |
| I have a tendency to sometimes neglect plants and when I find one that isn't looking too great but think that it has a chance of recuperating, I usually take the pot outside and sit it in a shady area beneath the trees in a part of the yard that is overgrown with ferns and other weedy plants. Two years ago, I put a little pot of Silver Scindapsus (Scindapsus pictus 'Argyraeus') on the ground out there and forgot about it. I'm still having an issue with my knee so I haven't been in certain parts of our side or backyard much lately due to the uneven ground and large above ground tree roots but this morning, I decided to walk around the yard and when I ventured over to this area I found a pot on the ground (practically buried in the leaves) and this little Scindapsus plant, happily climbing a palm tree: ~ I'm an old gal who still loves playing in the dirt! ~ Playing in the dirt is my therapy ... and I'm in therapy a lot! |
Name: Lin Vosbury Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a) plantladylin Oct 18, 2019 1:11 PM CST |
| A few more misc. Philo's and relatives. Philodendron 'Brasil', along with Callisia fragrans, misc. Ferns and Heart leaf Philodendron that have taken root in the yard:   The Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) has been growing here for years but a couple of years ago, I dumped a Monstera deliciosa from it's pot in the side yard where it's taken root:  This Monstera deliciosa is still in it's old plastic pot but it's rooted through the pot into the ground beneath a tree in the backyard:  I spotted this way back in the weeds and zoomed in, it looks like some sort of Sansevieria got dumped out there at some time too.  Sans aren't a favorite of mine but I might have my husband walk back in that area and pull it out so I can see if it's worth potting up and saving. Sansevieria can be pest plants here in Florida. ~ I'm an old gal who still loves playing in the dirt! ~ Playing in the dirt is my therapy ... and I'm in therapy a lot! |
Southern Indiana (Zone 6a) I'll quit while I'm ahead...            CrazedHoosier Oct 18, 2019 6:07 PM CST |
| Here we have random weeds in our yards, but in Florida you have pothos and philodendrons in your yards! Not fair! Well, I know some of them are actually invasive, but still much prettier to look at than a Virginia creeper. I wonder what the scindapsus pictus will look like as it grows up the tree! I know epipremnum aureum gets huge! Your epipremnum and monsteras are gorgeous!  Maybe we should get a second opinion... |
Name: Gina Florida (Zone 9a) Tropical plant collector 35 years   Gina1960 Oct 18, 2019 8:23 PM CST |
| Hey dude we have Virginia Creeper here too I hate that plant it seems like it can grow a foot a day in summer when there is a lot of rain. I pull it off my house CONSTANTLY. Lin your plants are just fabulous!!!!!! I am going to try your method. Just dump it out there LOL. I have a container of Ravenella (Travellers Palm) that I am going to just leave out this winter under the trees and see what happens. It has come back from a hard freeze before. I may put it into the ground. I have so much Monstera I could put some out next Spring and see what happens. Are you getting any weather from the Tropical mess in the Gulf? We are supposed to get possibly 2-3 inches of rain starting tonight and all day tomorrow. Award winning beaded art at ceinwin.deviantart.com! |
Name: Lin Vosbury Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a) plantladylin Oct 19, 2019 7:18 AM CST |
I think Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is a native and it does crawl and climb over everything. I try to pull it out when I see small plants and I've been known to chop thick vines off at ground level but I don't think it's possible to ever get it all. I don't mind the Virginia Creeper as much as I do the Arrowhead Plant (Syngonium podophyllum) that's taking over one side of our property!! That stuff is truly awful.  As I've mentioned before, our home sat empty for 14 months and my nephew mowed the lawn for us but without us here to keep the wooded areas clear of pest plants, they have really taken over. We have so many Brazilian Pepper Tree (Schinus terebinthifolia) and Twoleaf Nightshade (Solanum diphyllum) taking over ... it's a nightmare. We have a lot of native ferns but I've also been pulling out bunches of the invasive Southern Sword Fern (Nephrolepis cordifolia) that displace other plants. A couple of years ago I thought I'd eradicated all of the Bitter Gourd (Momordica charantia) vines but I've been finding them sprouting again too. It's just impossible to control a lot of these plants. We are having all of our oak and palms, etc. trimmed next week, to open up the canopies a bit and a dead pine taken out as well as a couple of smaller weedy trees removed. I'd like to hire someone to take out the Brazilian Peppers, Solanum and Arrowhead Vines but the tree trimming job alone is costing us $3,000 ... so the other stuff may have to wait!~ I'm an old gal who still loves playing in the dirt! ~ Playing in the dirt is my therapy ... and I'm in therapy a lot! |
Name: Gina Florida (Zone 9a) Tropical plant collector 35 years Gina1960 Oct 19, 2019 7:59 AM CST |
| We are desperately in need of some tree trimming here. We always wait until fall after the Hurricane season has passed because the prices drop then when they are less busy. I hear you about the pest plants. Our neighbor decided a couple of years ago to plant a hedge of Ardisia crenata I believe even though it is on the weed list in Florida. We had no idea these numbskulls had done this until the plants started sprouting up everywhere, on our property, in the woods, along the road....I thought someone in the subdivision next door might have snuck one past their HOA (most HOA's do not allow them because they are so invasive) but they went out of town once and asked me to watch their house and one day I strolled down their driveway and found this carefully cultivated coral berry hedge. And saw about 1000 seedling plants scattered around their place. I was so angry. Now we all have to deal with their stupidity. We have a problem here with the Brazilian Pepper tree as well. The IFAS asks people to pull up seedlings whenever they see them. But you are right you can;t stay ahead of this stuff in the climate of Florida. I am thinking of trialling out the same things you have out. I have extra Brasil. Extra Monstera. Extra adansonii. I already have some Epipremnum aureum on a tree in front. I also have a heliconia Lady Di planted out that made it through last winter, and a Heliconia 'Las Cruces' (one of the larger growing Lobster Claws) planted in my most protected flowerbed location next to the house in back that will be a great experiment for his winter. I got a huge nice start for $5 at the sale Rob Branch had at his house in Sarasota last Mother's Day. Award winning beaded art at ceinwin.deviantart.com! |
Southern Indiana (Zone 6a) I'll quit while I'm ahead... CrazedHoosier Oct 19, 2019 9:21 AM CST |
Ok, ok, ok, maybe I was being a bit of a stereotypical Florida outsider in my post.  It's actually sort of sad Virginia creeper is everywhere, as it really sucks even if it's native. Well, the leaf structure is sort of cool and the fall color, too, but they're annoying. I sicked tomatoes, nasturtium, clematis, and climbing roses on my Virginia creeper (and poison ivy) problem this year. For the most part the Virginia creeper could not overcome those vines. It was an interesting experiment! I love syngoniums because they remind me of caladiums but you can keep them inside without much light. At first I thought "wow, that would be so cool to have syngoniums taking over your yard", and then I remembered how nasty they can get when they grow up. At least it's prettier than the Virginia creeper.  Florida really allows a lot of plants to become invasive! I thought we had a lot here in Indiana, but I guess the winters sort or ruin a lot of plants' chances of staying. I threw some tradescantia zebrina cuttings in the woods around my house after I trimmed my mother plant, and they all took root. Now there's a zebrina carpet randomly on the edge of the woods. That would be an invasive plant here if our winters didn't get rid of them!Maybe we should get a second opinion... |
Name: Gina Florida (Zone 9a) Tropical plant collector 35 years Gina1960 Oct 19, 2019 9:29 AM CST |
| Every state has their own set of invasive just like every state has its own set of invasive pests. Here we worry about nematodes, citrus greening and citrus canker, palm and cycad scale and that sort of stuff. Other states worry about different borers that attract trees Florida doesn't have, different destructive moth larvae, corn borers and things that affect trees and agricultural crops. And it seems like everyone is starting to have to at least entertain the possibility of worrying about Imported Red FireAnt, which the lower Southern tier has been under Federal Export Quarantine for for many years, but they had still managed to make their way to California, AZ, New Mexico, Nevada and even a few have been found in Hawaii. And they have also been moving north as the climate warms. They were the bane of my childhood in South Texas because I have a terrible allergy to them. Award winning beaded art at ceinwin.deviantart.com! |
Southern Indiana (Zone 6a) I'll quit while I'm ahead... CrazedHoosier Oct 19, 2019 10:00 AM CST |
| We have invasive honeysuckle here that can grow to huge heights and easily take down fences and even parts of houses. That's our major issue here as far as plants go. Our major insect issue is Japanese beetles. They make it almost impossible to grow anything of importance during the summer. I've seen videos about the red imported fire ant, but never seen them in person. I would definitely remember an ant colony that could build a raft.   Apparently that's their distribution range. They're almost in Indiana... I wonder what's keeping them out. Maybe they heard what people have said about Indiana. Maybe we should get a second opinion... |
Name: Lin Vosbury Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a) plantladylin Oct 19, 2019 11:02 AM CST |
It's amazing how quickly plants grow and take over here in Florida. I like the looks of Syngonium but it loves my yard waaaay too much! These are photos I took of one side of our property from an old wooden deck at the back corner of the yard. The first picture was taken in January 2017 and the second photo is from today:  Many Syngonium vines were growing wild when we bought this place in 2015 and it's still popping up and growing everywhere:   The Syngonium Allusion plants escaping and taking over is totally my fault! We moved here in May, 2016 and as my container plants were being unloaded from the truck and trailer and the guys were asking me where to put them, I just said to put them anywhere in the shade under the trees in the yard. I was concentrating on getting settled and getting the inside of the house in order and never got around to relocating plants so that 'Berry Allusion' just took off and it's still running amok out there among the ferns and weeds and climbing a couple of trees. I've been a bit immobile the past few months with a knee injury so I haven't spent much time outside walking around the property at all and when I took a walk around a few days ago, I noticed the pink arrowhead vine trailing everywhere! The pot of Hawaiian Bells (Stictocardia) was left beneath the pine tree in hopes that it would climb the tree. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to want to climb but it has trailed all over the place in that area, along with the Arrowhead Vine.     ~ I'm an old gal who still loves playing in the dirt! ~ Playing in the dirt is my therapy ... and I'm in therapy a lot! |
Name: Gina Florida (Zone 9a) Tropical plant collector 35 years Gina1960 Oct 19, 2019 1:02 PM CST |
CrazedHoosier said:We have invasive honeysuckle here that can grow to huge heights and easily take down fences and even parts of houses. That's our major issue here as far as plants go. Our major insect issue is Japanese beetles. They make it almost impossible to grow anything of importance during the summer. I have seen those rafts! Weirder than the rafts are the rotating balls. We have a huge watershed here called Payne's Prairie. In years of extreme drought it can dry up. But in wet years like now it actually becomes a huge lake, march and wetland. They have old photos from way back in the wayback (late 1800's-turn of the century) showing big paddleboat on the Prairie. There are huge colonys of the native American yellow lotus out there. In 2004, we had 2 hurricanes that impacted here a week apart. The Prairie was flooded and the water came over the Interstate there and it had to be closed down to one lane for a long time. On the edges in what would have been ditches, there were floating FIRE ANT BALLS. The balls were made up entirely of ants and were as big around as a softball. They turned constantly by the motion generated by the ants themselves so that no one ever drowned. Those under water would come back up and new ants go under constantly. They stayed in these balls until the ball touched something that they could climb on, either a tree trunk, a piece of floating debris, or an animal. If they find an animal, its pretty awful, they all immediately start dispersion and stinging. They tell you to never wade in storm water down here because of these ant balls. Lin your place looks so great! My curcuma are still all up and crazy, late coming rain doesn't help them go dormant. I have been chopping down spent already bloomed hedychiums all over the place, new shoots just keep coming up! Award winning beaded art at ceinwin.deviantart.com! |
Southern Indiana (Zone 6a) I'll quit while I'm ahead... CrazedHoosier Oct 19, 2019 3:21 PM CST |
| Those ants sound awful and I hope they stay away from Indiana! Maybe they're waging a war against the Japanese beetles at the border. Battle of the invasive bugs! The pink syngoniums are show-stopping, Lin! Maybe we should get a second opinion... |
Name: Gina Florida (Zone 9a) Tropical plant collector 35 years Gina1960 Oct 19, 2019 5:27 PM CST |
| I still can't get over the beauty of @plantladylin yard. All these nice palms! The only Syngonium I would keep is the pink one, the others would get the incinerator! Award winning beaded art at ceinwin.deviantart.com! |
Name: Lin Vosbury Sebastian, Florida (Zone 10a) plantladylin Oct 19, 2019 5:45 PM CST |
Gina1960 said:I still can't get over the beauty of @plantladylin yard. All these nice palms! The only Syngonium I would keep is the pink one, the others would get the incinerator! LOL, one side and along the back of our property is a total jungle that needs some serious attention! We moved back here in early December last year and I wanted to hire someone to clear out all the pepper trees, syngonium, non native ferns and solanum but my hubby says "I'm not going to pay someone to do something that I can do myself!" ... he was off all this year and it never got done. I refuse to walk back into some of the areas because they are so overgrown and I KNOW there are snakes just laying in wait, to bite me!  Hubby is back commuting to Daytona Beach twice a week to teach the fall semester but after he gives finals in early December he will be fully retired. I think I will place a deadline on when those areas need to be cleared or I will hire someone to do it!  ~ I'm an old gal who still loves playing in the dirt! ~ Playing in the dirt is my therapy ... and I'm in therapy a lot! |
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