Submitted by Stephen and Kristin on January 19, 2010 - 11:59
Finally some warm weather. Of course we had to head south to Fort Lauderdale to find it. But at TPIE (Tropical Plant Industry Exposition) we found some cool new plants. We’ll cover them in more detail over the next year or so but as a teaser here’s a sampling of what we saw:
- Kalanchoe thyrsiflora ‘Fantastic’ (named Favorite New Foliage Plant) from Hawaiian Sunshine Nursery
- Gloriosa superba ‘Crimson Flame’ (named Favorite New Flowering Plant) from Deroose Plants
- Kalanchoe 'Desert Surprise' from Deroose Plants
- Colocasia 'Mojito' from Agri-Starts
- Excoecaria cochicinensis 'Jungle Fire' from ForemostCo
- Dichromena (white star grass) from Harold B. Martin
- Coccothrinax crinita var. brevicrinis from Botanics Wholesale
- Zamioculcas zamiifolia Acuminata ‘EZ’ (not named properly) from Country Joe’s Nursery
The show was well attended; many nurseries were pleased with sales and as always it was inspiring. For additional inspiration we revisited Vizcaya in Miami. We last visited there over ten years ago. Built by agricultural industrialist James Deering in 1916, Vizcaya Museum & Gardens features the main house, ten acres of formal gardens by Colombian landscape architect Diego Suarez, and a hardwood hammock. Truly the feel of a European garden.
