Outdoor Plants

Therapeutic Uses

• The root contains steam-distillable oil, which has 90% Benzyl isothiocyanate, a compound responsible for decreasing dental caries and used in the preparation of Meswak toothpaste.
• The chemical present in the plant can control gingivostomatitis, skin infection and conjunctiva.
• The root bark is tonic, stimulant, emmenagogue. The stem bark is good for gastropathy.

Source: Agro-techniques of selected medicinal plants

This lovely plant is a compact evergreen shrub with oval, shiny, deep green leaves that can get up to 2 3/4 inches long, extending from interesting, gnarled branches. At maturity, this plant will be 8 to 12 feet tall and wide, creating a large, round shrub.

Clusters of small, fragrant flowers bloom in spring, followed by bright reddish-orange berries in summer. The flowers are very fragrant and smell like orange blossoms and flowering will occur year-round. The fruit is 1/2 to 1 inch long and red. It is prized by birds.

Acacia farnesiana thrives in dry localities and it is drought hardy and fire resistant. It can be found at elevations between sea level and 1300 m. The species is reported to exhibit tolerance to drought, high pH, heat, low pH, salt, sand, and slope. It forms symbiotic relation with Rhizobium allowing it to grow in nitrogen poor soils. Thrives on poor, dry soils but favors deeper, moister, more fertile clayey soils.

Acacia farnesiana origin is in Mexico and Central America. This species was given its name since it was introduced to Europe in the 17th century to the Farnese Gardens, created in 1550 on the northern portion of Palatine Hill in Rome, Italy, by Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, and was the first private botanical gardens in Europe. Since then it spread and became naturalized in many of the world’s subtropical and tropical arid lands

Nerium oleander, commonly known as oleander, is a highly toxic plant that has been cultivated since ancient times.

Nerium oleander is a highly toxic ornamental shrub widely cultivated in the Mediterranean. It has been grown since ancient times and features in many of the Roman wall paintings in Pompeii.

Alexander the Great in his military campaigns is said to have lost men as a result of eating meat skewered on highly poisonous Nerium twigs.

Pennisetum alopecuroides is a highly decorative ornamental grass, also known as Fountain Grass, and is a plant which gives almost all year round interest in the garden. It is a low-maintenance plant, which quickly forms a clump, so is ideal for filling gaps in perennial and shrub borders. The grassy foliage is neat, but stays quite inconspicuous until the flower heads appear during late summer. But, once they appear, they really dazzle, with spikelet’s looking much like a squirrel’s tail! Leave the decorative seedheads on your Fountain Grass plants into the autumn. Height: 150cm (59″). Spread: 120cm (47″).

The tasty fruit and juice is popular with humans around the world, but residues from the juice are also used to make livestock feed because of their high vitamin A content.

Plumeria flowers are most fragrant at night in order to lure sphinx moths to pollinate them. The flowers yield no nectar, however, and simply trick their pollinators. The moths inadvertently pollinate them by transferring pollen from flower to flower in their fruitless search for nectar. Insects or human pollination can help create new varieties of plumeria. Plumeria trees from cross pollinated seeds may show characteristics of the mother tree or their flowers might just have a totally new look.

Plumeria species may be propagated easily by cutting leafless stem tips in spring. Cuttings are allowed to dry at the base before planting in well-drained soil. Cuttings are particularly susceptible to rot in moist soil. One optional method to root cuttings is applying rooting hormone to the clean fresh-cut end to enable callusing. Plumeria cuttings could also be propagated by grafting a cutting to an already rooted system.

Pomegranate is a berry, with fruits being 5–15 cm (2-6 inches) in diameter, rounded in shape, with thick, red-brownish skin. The number of seeds can vary from 200 to about 1400 seeds. It is native to southeastern Europe and Asia and has been cultivated in ancient Egypt, Persia, India, Babylonia, Iran etc.

Plant is very ornamental, especially when flowering and some people grow them for their flowers and fruits are just a ‘byproduct’, loaded with vitamin C and other vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Also, some varieties are grown only for their flowers.

Amongst the lush foliage of the world’s tropical forests one will find a predominance of lianas or vine species. One of these creepers is the Quisqualis rangoon creeper plant. Also known as Akar Dani, Drunken Sailor, Irangan Malli, and Udani, this 12-foot long vine is an aggressively fast grower which spreads rapidly with its root suckers.
The Latin name for rangoon creeper plant is Quisqualis indica. The genus name ‘Quisqualis’ means “what is this” and for good reason. Rangoon creeper plant has a form more closely resembling that of a shrub as a young plant, which gradually matures into a vine. This dichotomy flummoxed early taxonomists who eventually gave it this questionable nomenclature.

Easy to care for and great for use as coverage, ruellia plants offer unique beauty to landscape areas. So, what is ruellia and can this Mexican native be cultivated in our own home garden landscape? Keep reading to learn more about growing ruellia.

Ruellia flowers are 2-inch long funnel-shaped blooms growing on a perennial shrub. Originally native to Mexico, it is now found in the Southwest United States, naturalized in many areas. Ruellia flowers from mid spring through the first frosts of fall with purple or blue blooms (on occasion red or pink) on purple stems.