Savvy Gardening: Garden Ideas, Tips, Pictures, and More » Exotic Plants

Chocolate Vine, Plant or Weed?

Sirena Van Schaik — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 19:52:05 +0000

One of my favorite accessories to the outside of any home has nothing to do with patio furniture or decorative urns but is in fact a plant. That probably isn’t surprising and it is probably a sentiment that I share with many people when they drive by a house and see climbing vines on the brick work or a trellis of climbing roses or even a gazebo engulfed by a vine of some kind.

This week, I would love to talk about the Chocolate Vine. This is a hot subject and the plant itself has many people who love the vine and others that don’t. As a plant, the Chocolate Vine is a wonderful evergreen vine that grows quickly and can reach heights of about 6 feet. The Chocolate Vine can be used as either a ground cover or as a climber and the vibrant blue-green leaves make it very eye catching. The plant itself blooms between March and April and the flowers are a brownish purple that are about 1 inch across. The scent of the flowers is what gives this vine its name and many people liken the scent to either chocolate or vanilla. After the flowers, an edible, sausage-shaped fruit matures and by September or October, it can be harvested.

Chocolate Vine does well in many different zones from Zone 5 to Zone 8 and it has been reported to do well in Zone 4 also.

Now for the bad news about this seemingly beautiful and fragrant plant; it is considered to be a weed. Already, reports have been made about the Chocolate Vine being an invasive plant. It spreads out and does so quickly. It thrives in shade so it has gained some footing in Eastern forests in the United States. When the vine grows unchecked, it will cover the ground and will begin to wind around trees and other plants. Because the vine has a dense growth, it blocks out the sunlight to the plant underneath, ultimately killing the other plants that are native to the area.

So although Chocolate Vine may seem like a great addition to any garden, it is strongly recommended that you do not grow Chocolate Vine due to its invasive nature. The Invasive and Exotic Species lists it as a weed, not to be used and many other agencies also strongly recommend avoiding this plant in your garden. So if you have Chocolate Vine already, try to keep it under control or destroy it. If you don’t have Chocolate Vine but would like to use a vine, I would strongly recommend finding out what type of vine is native to your area and using that.

Sirena Van Schaik

Plant of the Week: Camellia

Sirena Van Schaik — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:43:49 +0000

The history of this vibrant flower is as amazing as the large blooms that fill the deep green shrub. The Camellia can be dated back to 1200BC and was a popular flower used in Korean weddings. The flower itself is said to represent both longevity and faithfulness.

The Camellia is an excellent plant that I would love to have in my garden. It does well in soils with a high acid level and actually thrives in them. It is an evergreen shrub that maintains a deep, glossy green throughout the year. The flowers come in a range of colors from red to pink to white with yellow centers. On top of color, the blooms can be found in single, semi-double, formal double and irregular double. You can also purchase them in peony, rose or anemone form. This gives a lot of diversity for the gardener and the fragrant scents and large blooms that usual range in size from 3 to 6 inches.

The Camellia does well in zones 8 through to 10 and it can also do well in zone 7 and in zone 6 if it has proper protection from the cold. The blooming season for the Camellia is between November and March, which is a wonderful time of year to see the exquisite blooms. The plant itself does much better in partial shade with moist soil.

So, as much as I would love to have one of these in my gardens, the Camellia falls out of my zone but many gardeners can delight in having such an exquisite evergreen, one that is related to the tea plant, in their gardens.

Sirena Van Schaik

Photo Credit

Photo Credit 2

Photo Credit 3

Interesting Facts About Well-Known Exotic Plants

Jennifer — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 21:52:44 +0000

There are several species of exotic plants that we have grown so accustomed to that we almost take them for granted. Actually what you think you know about these plants may not be all there is to them. The Venus flytrap, bamboo plants, orchids and bonsai are all very different but have one critical fact in common. They are all commonly found around us and are all considered exotic by plant experts. In this article, these common exotic plants will be reviewed in some detail. Hopefully you will learn something about these species that you didn’t know before.

Venus Flytrap

The Venus flytrap was named for the Greek goddess Venus, who is commonly thought of as the goddess of love but who was also the goddess of plants. This bulb-like flower is made up of several leaves that are usually no more than six centimeters long. Actually the Venus flytrap is an herb that is carnivorous unlike most plants, which use photosynthesis to create food. This exotic plant catches insects and arachnids in a natural trap formed by its multiple leaves. Although the Venus flytrap has been transplanted successfully in many areas, it only grows naturally in North and South Carolina’s swamps and bogs.

Bamboo

There are about 1000 species of bamboo found mostly in Asian, Indian, and Australian cultures. A quick growing exotic plant, many industries have begun harvesting bamboo for floor covering, window treatments, serving bowls and baskets, as well as many other less common uses. Bamboo is actually a type of grass and can be extremely invasive in a backyard setting. For this reason it is important to take careful precautions when planting ornamental bamboo as an exotic plant in your landscaping.

Orchids

Orchids are known for their beauty. They are one of the largest and most varied group of exotic flowering plants, boasting over 25,000 species. Although there are many thousands of types of Orchids, every one of them is protected as a threatened species. This prevents orchids from entering America so they must be grown in the country in greenhouses. Even hybrids of orchids are no longer allowed into the nation because officials cannot tell the difference between a true species and a hybrid.

Bonsai

Bonsai literally translates into ‘potted plant’ in Japanese and ‘tray scenery’ in Chinese. Not actually an exotic plant as much a tree. It is the art of growing miniature trees by planted them in containers and pruning and trimming according to the custom of the tradition. Even though Bonsai is usually associated with the Japanese culture, it originally began in China. Today the word Bonsai is used to describe both the Japanese and Chinese methods.

The Diversity of Rainforest Plants

Jennifer — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 22:16:47 +0000

The rainforest is a beautiful place filled with wondrous creatures and plants of the strangest variety. The unique climate in the rainforest itself makes for really diverse plant life and healthy plants. People seldom come here and those who live in the periphery of the rainforest respect it and do not abuse the life in it. Some of the plants here are very common plants which can be found anywhere in the world while others are unique to the rainforest.

Rainforest plants thrive in the warm and humid climate here and some have developed strange ways to survive in the rainforest. Some have thorns others have developed a strong smell that attracts insects for propagation while others can live without soil. The rainforest is divided into the ground level and the canopy. There are different varieties of rainforest plants which live exclusively in the ground level and others exclusively in the canopy.

The types of rainforest plants that can live without the need to attach themselves to soil are called epiphytes. These plants utilize their roots to soak up the moisture in the air and use this to sustain themselves. They live high near the canopy and rarely grow in the ground level. Bromeliads, some ferns and orchids are included in the epiphytes category of rainforest plants. Orchids have very attractive flowers in various colors to attract insects while bromeliads gather water in the center and these plants provide a home for tree frogs and other animals.

Other plants that grow in rainforests are trees that can reach so high and spread so wide that sometimes it is dark in the ground level. It is because of these big and widespread trees that the rainforest ground is mostly moist and damp. The moisture here can not evaporate as quickly due to the canopy covering the ground. Lianas or vines attach themselves to the trees and act as their support. Animals often use these to swing from tree to tree.

Other rainforest plants include fruit bearing plants and other food supplying plants which people and animals take advantage of. Some of the fruits trees or plants found in the rain forests are bananas, coconuts, nut trees, mangos, berries, pineapples and figs. These fruit plants and trees provide the animals and people who live near the rainforest with food. Other plants also provide people with medicinal remedies which pharmaceutical companies are still researching or are now producing.

Rainforest plants are often taken out of the rainforest and smuggled into other countries. Caution must be exercised with this practice because some plants are poisonous or may have insects which are dangerous to humans.

The Difference Between Rare and Exotic Plants

Jennifer — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 22:19:59 +0000

Landscapers, gardeners, and plant enthusiasts seek after both rare and exotic plants. However not everyone knows the difference between rare and exotic plants. Exotic plants can be rare but not every rare plant is necessarily exotic. On the same hand, not every exotic plant is rare to its native locale. In this article you will read a brief explanation of the difference between rare and exotic plants. Also covered will be some examples of both found, for the purposes of this article, in North America.

Definition of Rare And Exotic Plants

A rare plant is simply a plant that is found in only very small amounts in a particular region. Sometimes a plant is just sparsely growing but sometimes the actions of humans have cut down the plant population causing it to become endangered or threatened under the definition of IUCN. Occasionally the term ‘rare’ will be applied to a species of plant by a government department but most often it is a social distinction given to rare, or exotic plants.

An exotic plant is a title given to any plant that does not natively grow in an area. Most exotic plants are also rare in the area they are transferred to but they may be very common to their native location. This technical definition isn’t always abided by and some gardeners, even those with the knowledge to know better, refer to plants with unusual shapes or colors as exotic.

Rare North American Plants

Baker’s larkspur is one example of a plant that has become rare due to environmental causes. The baker’s larkspur is a relative of the buttercup and a native of California. Road construction is blamed for the dramatic decrease in the baker’s larkspur population. Another example of a beautiful flower threatened by the conditions in California is the Hickman’s potentilla. This flowering herb is considered one of the many species endangered by the increase in the population of Northern California.

Exotic North American Plants

Morning glories are a beautiful, fragrant flower with a deep blue petal color and brighter colored stripes shooting out from the center. Although they are grown in North American, they are not native to the region. Bamboo is a popular exotic plant that has taken well to transplanting in North America. In fact some bamboo enthusiasts paid dearly when aggressive bamboo plants took over their yards and sent shoots that cracked foundations and strangled other existing vegetation. Bonsai trees are a welcome exotic plant to North American households. The tiny tree provide not only a lovely decoration but the trimming of the trees can be a soothing past-time.

As you can see rare and exotic plants can be easily confused with each other. The good thing is that both terms have become so commonplace that most people won’t even notice of mind if you use the wrong word!