It seems like all the fun plants that grow wild in summer are invasive. Good news on the Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) – despite its name, it’s actually a Florida native. It’s not here to destroy us! This vine can be found covering ground and climbing just about anything, from trees to fences to houses, and is common throughout the eastern United States, from Canada to Mexico. Birds enjoy eating its berries, but humans shouldn’t indulge. 

Often confused with poison ivy due to its look, the plant’s leaves are relatively harmless to humans. And, unlike invasive vines like kudzu and wisteria, which Floridians are programmed to quickly remove, Virginia creeper has a few redeeming qualities.… Read More

They say gardening takes patience. Old Northeast resident Rick Miller knows a little about that. He emailed the Northeast Journal to tell us about the bromeliad growing in his yard. It’s called alcantarea imperialis, and the plant rewards growers with blooms stretching up to eight feet high. However, you might pay off a 30-year mortgage and never see the awesome display because this plant can take at least eight years – and sometimes up to four decades – to send up its tower of flower. The flower can last up to a year, but when the bloom is done, the show is over. … Read More

Sometimes the most common plants can do amazing things. You’ve probably seen places where bright green grass grows in the thin cracks in between our Augusta Blocks, while a nearby lawn struggles to grow in rich irrigated soil. Oak tree saplings often find rain gutters to be a fine place to begin their life. Fruit trees are known to emerge where its ancestor was removed many years ago. 

This edition’s yard oddity is actually one of the most popular house plants in America. The golden pothos (and its sister, the heartleaf philodendron) are loved for how easy they are to care for.… Read More

This edition’s plant oddity is another airborne fern – only this one is hard to miss. A staghorn fern in your yard guarantees compliments and conversation. These epiphytes (air plants that don’t require soil to grow) can be found growing on the sides of trees, but more ambitious gardeners hang them aloft from great oak branches like floating plant planets. 

First, we dispel a common misconception. Astonish (or admonish) your friends by correcting them with this bit of trivia: Most of the staghorn ferns we see hanging around St. Petersburg are actually elkhorn ferns. Staghorn ferns are bigger, usually singular plants with a large, shield-like frond at the front that collects water.… Read More

Strolling around the Old Northeast, you’ll see a wide variety of ferns. But some ferns might surprise you from one day to the next – or even one moment to the next. One is the pleopeltis polypodioides or “resurrection fern.” The other, mimosa pudica, looks like a fern, but is actually a perennial weed. Both exhibit strange behaviors. 

The resurrection fern is unique for a number of reasons. First, it’s an epiphyte, or air plant, which means it grows not in the soil, but on the sides of trees and houses. It gets its name because during dry periods, this plant will wilt and turn brown, losing up to 97% of its water.… Read More

Florida is full of colorful plants and the Old Northeast can feel even more exotic with all the decorative flowering plants neighbors add to their yard. But one local shrub isn’t just a pretty ornament. The beautyberry is downright magical in that it’s not only safe to eat, it’ll keep the mosquitoes away.  

The beautyberry (callicarpa americana) is scattered throughout the area, but specifically noticeable along Oak Street between 16th and 17th Avenues NE. Birds love the bright purple berries, but they’re also safe for us to eat. They look a bit like a purple blackberry that you might want to gobble by the handful.… Read More

One the corner of 10th Avenue North and 3rd Street stands a tree with a stocky trunk and limbs like flexed biceps curving up toward the sky. It almost begs to be climbed, but this tree is hardly welcoming. The trunk and branches are protected by rock-hard thorns. And not just a few thorns. The Brazilian floss silk tree wears an armor that keeps even a squirrel from exploring its limbs. 

It was planted about 25 years ago by Cynthia Serra and Allison Butler who came to St. Petersburg in 1990. They found the tree when it was little more than a stick at a nursery in Miami.… Read More