WEEKEND PLANTINGS: Another pretty Dracaena for Florida

Dracaenas are among the world’s favorite houseplants, and — in warm-winter regions like Central Florida – are often used in landscapes too. Most gardeners are familiar with species such as Dracaena marginata, fragrans, reflexa, sanderiana and warnockii —– even if they don’t know their names. But a reader called my attention to an unfamiliar species, Dracaena steudneri. Its bicolored variety — called Moonlight — features somewhat wavy leaves with lime-green centers and yellow margins. And, as is typical of Dracaenas, foliage is restricted to branch-tip rosettes. Native to much of East Africa, D. steudneri can grow 50 feet tall in the wild, often with multiple trunks.

As a container subject, Moonlight reportedly grows more slowly than most cultivated varieties. Although extremely adaptable regarding light intensity, plants must be in bright locations to maintain variegation: specimens in indirect light gradually turn solid green. Considerable size must be attained before plants bloom, so don’t expect any flowers —– at least indoors. Propagate with warm-season stem cuttings. Note: like all Dracaenas, Moonlight is toxic to people and pets. Plants are available online.

Orchid care videos

If you’re new to the world of orchid cultivation, a great internet site to visit is www.EasyOrchidGrowing.com. You’ll find excellent videos about general care and maintenance, along with tips about when and how to repot and how to diagnose and handle pests and diseases. Viewers learn about irrigating and fertilizing these beautiful plants, as well as which orchids are best for beginners.

Tasty tomatoes year-round

Experienced vegetable gardeners know the best periods to grow tomatoes are late winter into spring, and again in autumn. That’s because most tomatoes struggle in Florida’s summer heat and humidity. But smaller-fruited kinds, like cherry, grape and Roma types, reliably grow and fruit year-round. Among outstanding cherry tomatoes are Super Sweet 100, Green Doctors, Black Cherry, Tomatoberry and Rosella. The world’s smallest tomato, incidentally, is probably the Spoon tomato. Grape tomatoes include Napa Grape, Principe Burghese and Mighty Sweet. Roma tomatoes you can grow here are Martino’s Roma, San Marzano and Roma VF. All varieties mentioned are available online and can be cultivated in containers.

An aromatic herb for shade

Patchouli — which sounds like a board game — is a fragrant perennial that’s part of the mint family but produces an unusually dense and earthy aroma. This herb’s essential oils have been prized for millennia in Southeast Asia as an ingredient in perfume, incense and medication for skin disorders. Patchouli grows up to 30 inches tall and is evergreen in Central Florida if winters are mild. It thrives in bright, indirect light on organically enriched, mulched sites but is intolerant of drought. Containerized plants do well in screened enclosures. Although it’s cultivated largely as a novelty, patchouli displays intensely fragrant, pinkish-white flowers in late autumn. Plants are easily propagated with warm-season cuttings. Small plants — which grow rapidly — are available online.