Q: What is the right way to plant and care for poinsettia plants in the yard? I want them to bloom at Christmas. A: You can grow poinsettia plants year round in South Florida. Plant them in the ground or in containers in a sunny area of your yard that is not exposed to light at night.
African Violet and Mother's Day Show and Sale: Free for moms with one paid admission; 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday; Flamingo Gardens, 3750 S. Flamingo Rd., Davie; $12 for kids 12 and up and adults, $5.50 for kids 4-11, free for kids 3 and under. 954-555-1234 or
The South Florida Water Management District is considering making the twice-weekly limits placed on sprinkling your St. Augustine permanent. Workshops discussing the idea wind up at the end of the month.
PLANT CLINIC
Q: I read that mulch shouldn't touch tree trunks. Can you tell me why? A: One of the functions of organic mulch is to hold moisture. This is very beneficial for plant roots but it promotes various trunk rots and disease if allowed to pile up around tree trunks. As a general rule, keep mulch at least two inches away from stems and trunks of plants.
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Name: old man palm Botanical name: Coccothrinax crinita Description: This threatened palm from Cuba is as charming as any plant you could want. Topped with circular palmate fronds, the old man is loved for the hairy thatch that adorns its slender trunk, making it appear a great deal thicker than it is. It's quite slow-growing, which means it won't beanstalk skyward like coconuts and veitchias.
African Violet and Mother's Day Show and Sale: Free for all moms on Mother's Day with one paid admission; 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and May 11; Flamingo Gardens, 3750 S. Flamingo Rd., Davie; $12 for 12 and up, $5.50 for kids 4-11, free for kids 3 and under. 954-555-1234 or flamingogardens.org.
What's blooming in May: Tabebuias, African tulip trees, jacarandas, royal poincianas, Texas wild olives, lignum vitae, apple blossom cassia, Bahama cassia, Cassia barkeriana, Rangoon creeper and forest bells (Tecomanthe dendrophila).
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Botanical name: Dendrobium lineale Description: An antelope orchid native to the low-lying areas around Madang and the Sepik River of Papua New Guinea, but other forms are found on smaller islands off the coast of New Guinea. The term antelope is used because of the orchid's erect, twisted petals, like antelope horns.
Broward County Plant Affair: Presented by the Plantation Historical Society, the Plantation Woman's Club and Heritage Park; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; Plantation Heritage Park, 1100 S. Fig Tree Ln., Plantation. $1.50 per person, free for kids 5 and younger. 954-791-1025.
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Name: pineapple Botanical name: Ananas comosus; Ananas bracteatus and other cultivars Description: When truly fresh, a pineapple is one of the tropic's great gifts with juicy flesh and a distinctive aroma. Originally from southern Brazil and Paraguay, the fruit was taken to Europe by Columbus, and it was spread by explorers and traders.
PLANT CLINIC
Q: The oldest leaves on my coconut tree have turned yellow. How can you tell the difference between lethal yellowing and if the tree just needs fertilizer?
Bromeliad Society of South Florida Show and Sale: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday; Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, 10901 Old Cutler Rd., Coral Gables; $20 adults, $15 seniors, $10 children 6-17, free for members and kids 5 and under. 305-667-1651 or fairchildgarden.org.
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Name: Guatemalan bird of paradise Botanical name: Heliconia subulata Description: A small heliconia from Central and South America, it grows from Guatemala to Paraguay, through Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, according to the online Global Biodiversity Information Facility. The flower bracts are red and contain the flowers, which are lemon yellow with lime-green tips. In spite of its common name, this heliconia isn't a true bird of paradise, which is in the genus Strelitzia.
NATURE PRESERVE
For his Eagle Scout project, Palmetto High senior Stephen Leatherman Jr. raised $981 and spent 173 hours last fall creating two handsome mahogany signs and 17 smaller trail signs for the South Florida Ecosystem Preserve at Florida International University.
PLANT CLINIC
Q: How do you get rid of the little lubber grasshoppers? I seem to get them year after year. A: When the grasshoppers are still small and if they are causing severe plant damage, you can spray with an insecticide labeled for grasshopper control. Most of the small grasshoppers will die for a variety of reasons and often don't need to be controlled.
Name: Vietnam gardenia Botanical name: Gardenia augusta `Vietnam' Description: A gardenia is a plant for skilled gardeners who like a challenge. This gardenia from Southeast Asia likes acid conditions. Growing it in alkaline soils means keeping on top of its nutrition, but the beautiful, solitary flowers, with lustrous white petals forming pinwheel-like corollas, should make the effort worthwhile.
APRIL
What's blooming in April: Litchi trees, wild pine bromeliads, heliconias, shaving brush trees and jacarandas. Watch for: lubber grasshoppers to hatch. Step on them when they're tiny and you can terminate many with one foot.
GREAT SUNFLOWER PROJECT
Honey bees dying around the country have a new helper: you. At least 25 percent of our honey bees have died in what scientists call Colony Collapse Disorder. In addition to suffering from killer mites and a widespread viral infection, honey bees are now succumbing to this mysterious killer.
PLANT CLINIC
Q: The leaves on my avocado are covered with a black substance. Will it kill my tree? What should I do? A: If it is covering the tops of the leaves, it is most likely sooty mold. Generally, it is harmless unless the majority of leaves are covered and therefore the leaves aren't able to photosynthesize. This fungus grows on the honeydew excreted from scales, aphids and mealybugs. Control these insects and the fungus will disappear over time.
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Name: Spanish needles Botanical name: Bidens alba var. radiata Description: A weed. But wait! There's more to it. This particular weed is a wonderful butterfly plant. It may wander into your yard uninvited, but it wanders with friends: sulfurs, hairstreaks and skippers. It is a little aster family member that has palmately compound leaves with distinctively serrated leaflets -- quite decorative. The flower heads have disk and ray flowers. The rays are sterile, but the disks are full of nectar, which...
Bird Walk: Participants must register by Friday and meet at the dock at Sullivan Park; 8 to 10 a.m. Saturday; Deerfield Island Park, 1720 Deerfield Island Park, Deerfield Beach. 954-360-1320.
UNDISCOVERED SPECIES
Xavier and Nathalie Metz went on a family picnic in their native western Madagascar in August 2005, and saw a huge palm nearby. They took a photograph, thinking it was a well-known Borassus. The next year, they went back to the area that abuts a tsingy, a harsh limestone landscape where rocks are exposed and sharp. This time the palm had a huge flower stalk emerging from its top, and so they photographed it again.
PLANT CLINIC
Q: Many of the mango flowers on our mango tree are turning black and we don't see any fruit being set. Is this a disease and how do we cure it?
EVENTS Disney Topiary Display: Aventura Mall has on display animal-shaped topiaries by Disney World gardeners; 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays and noon to 8 p.m. Sundays, through April 10; 19501 Biscayne Blvd., Aventura; free; 305-935-1110.
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Name: Two ''terete vanda'' species Botanical name: Papilionanthe teres and Papilionanthe tricuspidata Description: These species, once classified as vandas, are among the 10 that have terete or cylindrical leaves that may have formed by rolling in on themselves to thrive in full sun. The plants are from the warm Asian tropics and grow to be quite tall.
PLANT CLINIC
Q: What is citrus oil and where can I buy it? Is neem oil good to control the citrus leaf miner? A: Citrus spray oil refers to horticultural oils used to spray citrus trees. Look for spray oil (petroleum oil) that is specified for outdoor and yard use. These oils are readily found at most garden centers. Use 1 to 2 tablespoons per gallon water and spray newly emerging leaves. The new growth needs to be sprayed often (at least weekly) until it is at mature size. At that point the leaf miners won't...
Gifford Arboretum Restoration Celebration: A tour of the restored facility will be at 6 p.m. Thursday followed by a 7 p.m. talk about weeds by Julie S. Denslow, research ecologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. The tour begins at the arboretum's sign across from San Amaro Drive and Robbia Avenue on the University of Miami campus. The lecture is in room 145 of UM's Cox Science Building, 1301 Memorial Dr., Coral Gables. For information, call 305-284-5364 or go to bio.miami.edu/arboretum...
PLANT CLINIC
Q: I have a live oak in South Dade that only grows half the leaves. The leaves at the end of the branches are disappearing rapidly, have small brown spots and are eaten around the edges.
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Name: Flor de rosa, rose of Venezuela, scarlet flame bean Botanical name: Brownea coccinea subspecies capitella Description: A gorgeous orange-red ball of flowers characterizes this leguminous shrub/small tree that is native to northern South America, Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago. The stamens are golden yellow and joined at the base, topped with golden anthers, adding liveliness and depth to the spectacular flower clusters that appear from late winter to spring.
