Radermachera elmerii

My Radermachera elmerii, is starting to shade the patio and eventually the air conditioning unit which should provide energy savings of up to 20% yearly. I love saving money on energy bills and this little tree should do it by next year. The tree is growing faster than I expected which is fine with me. I was thrilled with the 3-4 feet added to the overall height this growing season.

Nixon Smiley, author and garden columnist for the Miami Herald in the 1940’s loved this tree.  He reported it coming through unscathed after the 1945 hurricane that hit Miami with 145 mph winds. He liked the small size of the tree which is mature in the 20-25 foot range. He praised the beauty and neatness of the foliage which does not seem to drop at all. Flower drop is a problem with all blooming trees so they should be only used over lawn areas.

My experience with the tree has all been positive except for its tendency to produce sucker growth along the trunk and branches. This is easy to control by rubbing the tiny suckers off the trunk/branches before they get started.  This seems to be a characteristic of the Radermachera genus as my Radermachera ‘Kunming’, Dwarf Tree Jasmine does the same thing.

Blooms on Radermachera elmerii are pink, trumpet shaped, with a yellow throat. The flowers average 2 inches wide and carried on spikes above the leaves. I have not detected any fragrance from the blooms but have not tried at night when many plants become fragrant. The tree flowers over much of the year but takes a break during the coldest part of the year. This tree is a real beauty and deserves a good common name.

My Radermachera elmerii, is starting to shade the patio and eventually the air conditioning unit which should provide energy savings of up to 20% yearly. I love saving money on energy bills and this little tree should do it by next year. The tree is growing faster than I expected which is fine with me. I was thrilled with the 3-4 feet added to the overall height this growing season.

Nixon Smiley, author and garden columnist for the Miami Herald in the 1940’s loved this tree.  He reported it coming through unscathed after the 1945 hurricane that hit Miami with 145 mph winds. He liked the small size of the tree which is mature in the 20-25 foot range. He praised the beauty and neatness of the foliage which does not seem to drop at all. Flower drop is a problem with all blooming trees so they should be only used over lawn areas.

My experience with the tree has all been positive except for its tendency to produce sucker growth along the trunk and branches. This is easy to control by rubbing the tiny suckers off the trunk/branches before they get started.  This seems to be a characteristic of the Radermachera genus as my Radermachera ‘Kunming’, Dwarf Tree Jasmine does the same thing.

Blooms on Radermachera elmerii are pink, trumpet shaped, with a yellow throat. The flowers average 2 inches wide and carried on spikes above the leaves. I have not detected any fragrance from the blooms but have not tried at night when many plants become fragrant. The tree flowers over much of the year but takes a break during the coldest part of the year. This tree is a real beauty and deserves a good common name.

Wrong Plant, Wrong Place

South Florida suffers from an epidemic of wrong plant, wrong place. This has been going on for years and accounts for our butchered trees under utility wires with V or L shapes. Palms are the worst example as they cannot easily bend to avoid wires. Palms only have one growing point at the top of the tree and if this is pruned out the palm dies. One often sees singed palm fronds where the leaves touch power lines.

One of the problems is that there is not enough information available on how big plants grow. One old book I have says that black olives grow to 20-25 feet tall. I saw black olives in Puerto Rico with trunk diameters of 5 feet and heights of 90 feet. This is one of the problems with books. What is written is based on knowledge from that time. Time reveals many other factors that authors may not have been aware of like the staining the black olives cause and trees splitting because of poor branch structure despite strong wood.

Most people are guilty of these oversized problems. When I moved to Florida I fell in love with the rainbow gum which has spectacular patterned bark. I first saw the tree at the Subtropic Research Center in the South Miami area. The tree I saw was about 20 feet tall and 20 years old. I did not know about oolite rock that the tree was growing in. Planting holes are drilled into the rock and the tree is planted in the hole. The tree is pot bound in the rock which stunts the growth. I planted a 3 gallon tree in sugar sand near my house in 1983. The tree did not have restricted roots and grew rapidly. I donated it to Softscapes Nursery in 1992 just 2 weeks before Hurricane Andrew hit. The tree grew 9 feet a year and was 65 feet tall and had a 20 inch trunk diameter when it was moved. The root ball was 11x11 feet and 4 feet deep. This tree weighed 28,000 lbs. when it was moved. The tree was loaded on a big flatbed truck and was replanted at Softscapes.

It is important to check for underground and above ground utilities before you plant. Sewers, septic tanks, drain fields and underground wires are all affected by tree roots.

No-Work Roses

Roses have a reputation for being difficult under Florida growing conditions. New pests like the Sri-Lankan weevil and thrips are causing more difficulties. Many roses must be grafted on ‘Fortuniana’ root stock to avoid root knot nematodes which prevent the uptake of water and nutrients to the plants. The universally used ‘Doctor Huey’ root stock is not effective against the Florida nematodes.

Old roses offer resistance to many old and new pests. China roses do not need to be grafted and can be grown by cuttings. China rose favorites like pink, 7-8 foot ‘Old Blush’, red, 7-8 foot ‘Louis Phillippe’, white, 4-6 foot ‘Ducher’ multi-colored, 8-10 foot ‘Mutablis’, red, 3-4 foot ‘Martha Gonzales’light pink changing to dark pink, 4-6 foot ‘Archduke Charles’ are good choices.

Polyantha roses are smaller growing than most of the China roses. They can get some black spot but seem to resist most insect pests. Pink very double blooms change to white on fragrant, 4-6 foot ‘Clotilde Soupert’, light pink blooms on 4-5 foot, ‘The Fairy’, this rose has newer forms with red and dark pink blooms. Pink blooms on 3-4 foot, ‘Caldwell Pink’, coral pink flowers on 6 foot ‘La Marne’. All do well here.

Tea roses are one of the parents of hybrid teas but most are disease free. Most tea roes are in the 6-7 foot size range and must be grafted. They make good cut flowers and offer soft colors to enjoy. Double flowering ‘Duchesse de Brabant’ is very fragrant and shell pink, yellow changing to pink blooms on thorn-less ‘Mrs. Dudley Cross’, and 8-10 foot deep rose, very double ‘Mrs. B. R. Cant’.

These roses all require full sun, good drainage, and good air movement to do well.  They should be watered in the morning only to minimize any possibility of fungal diseases.