New Management Announcement

It is with great pleasure that we welcome Debbie Naeves as the new general manager of our retail garden center & gift shoppe.

Debbie comes to us from Hibbs Farm & Garden, where she spent the last 29 years helping build it into the great garden center that it is.

You will find Debbie’s enthusiasm & plant knowledge quite refreshing and we look forward to many new and exciting products being offered in the near future.

Winter Annuals

Our new crops of winter annuals; such as Impatiens, Geraniums, Begonias, Allysum, Petunias, Salvia, Dianthus and Dusty Miller should be available for purchase towards the middle to the end of this month.

Smaller Trees for Your Yard

It is always a challenge to find a small tree in Florida that doesn't grow to monstrous sizes. We thought we would offer you a choice of smaller growing trees that can be maintained at reasonable sizes.

Bougainvillea Trees - Fast growing, frequent blooming tree that is both salt and drought tolerant.

Torulosa Juniper - A cold hardy conifer that has a twisted structure. Great for a specimen or as a barrier.

Dwarf Poinciana - A multi-trunk large shrub that gets 12' with beautiful orange/red blooms on and off through out the year. Drought Tolerant

Cassia surratensis - A frequently blooming, yellow flowered tree that gets up to 15' tall.

Weeping Willow - A water loving tree that can get 25-30'. Weeping habit and thin branching structure make it great for ponds and other wet areas.

Bottlebrush - A cold hardy tree or bush that can get 15-20'. Blooms on and off through out the year with red pipe-cleaner like flowers. Drought tolerant

Hibiscus - Frequently blooming tree with a multitude of colors to choose from. Easy to trim to keep sized at a comfortable height.

Jathropa - Frequently blooming tree with red clusters of flowers that are butterfly attractive. Drought and salt tolerant. Easy to trim and keep sized at a comfortable height.

Golden Rain Tree - A 20' deciduous tree that blooms with yellow flowers in the fall and is followed up by pink seed pods in the winter.

Orange Geiger - A semi-cold hardy Texas native that blooms with beautiful orange flowers 2-3 times per year and is followed with a white olive-like fruit. Salt and drought tolerant. Easy Care

Pooldeck Perfection

As the summer heat takes it toll, I'm sure most of you have been spending a lot of time in and around your pool. Inevitably you notice the little spots here and there that can be spruced up by adding a small accent plant or a specimen plant for color and texture. Below I have listed a few plants that are ideal to add color and variety without the added mess of planting flowering shrubs in your pool area.

Bromeliads - Pineapple plant relatives. They usually only get a couple feet in height and have a clumping habit. Very little maitenance and care are required.

Snake Plant - Very traditional houseplant, but it makes a great potted plant in a planter on the lanai. 2-3 feet in height. Very little maitenance and care are required.

Peperomia - A slow growing, slightly spreading plant that gets 6 inches to 2 feet in height, depending on the variety. Requires very little maintenance or care.

Pothos - A fast spreading groundcover and trailing plant that only gets 6 inches tall but can be trained to climb things. Requires some trimming to keep it under control.

Anthuriums - A moderate growing, clumping plant that can get 1-3 foot in height depending on the variety. Colorful, non-messy blossoms throughout the year in pinks, reds and whites. Great for containers and planters.

Caladiums - A deciduous perennial that reaches 2 foot in height. Colorful foliage all summer. Dies back in the winter but does not need to be dug up like the caladiums up north. They will return every Spring.

Crotons - A good old Florida favorite. Crotons are slow to fast growing and get anywhere from 1 foot to 5 feet in height depending on the variety you buy. Easy to care for, they require a little trimming to keep shapely.

Arboricola - A moderate to fast growing plant that gets 4-5 feet in height. A little trimming is required for maintenance of shape and size.

Heliconia - A fast growing runner running plant that gets 3-6 feet tall depending on the variety. The color also depends on variety you buy. Great for planters and pots. Blooms frequently in the summer months.

Mariposa In The News

Recently two articles have been posted about our nursery & the staff that works here.
To read them please follow the links below:

http://www.yourobserver.com/news/east-county/Front-Page/071420107116/Marine-rediscovers-green-thumb-at-Mariposa

http://www.yourobserver.com/news/east-county/Front-Page/061120106650/STORE-AROUND-THE-CORNER-Mariposa-Nursery-Garden-Ce

A Bamboo For Every Situation

A Bamboo For Every Situation

Bamboo is a very useful plant in your landscape. It can be used in a variety of ways to accentuate different aspects of your yard.

As an accent it can break up a monotonous hedge row or tree line. As a specimen it can give a powerful statement. Even as a simple hedge it can be used to block sound and wind from annoying roads and open areas.

When most people think of bamboo they think of fast paced, overtaking runners with no constraints to how far they can spread and how much area they can take over. When I think of bamboo I think of the clumping varieties that are easily controllable and yet still reach the height and thicknesss of their spreading brethren.

At Mariposa Nursery we ONLY carry CLUMPING bamboo.

To determine what type of bamboo you want there are a few questions you have to ask.

First - How tall is the maximum height that you want when it is full grown?

Second - What type of use are you putting it to? Are you using it as an accent, specimen, windbreak, etc...?

Third - Do You have the width/depth to handle the spread? Even though the base of a clumping bamboo takes years to spread out, the top does not. The tops are leafy & heavy so the shoots bend & lean over slightly causing the plant to look much fuller & take up much more space at the top.

Once you have determined that you have the right spot for a bamboo you can now begin to choose which type. These are the varieties that we carry because they seem to be the hardiest, most interesting & easiest to grow in your yard.

Golden Goddess - Bambusa multiplex 'Golden Goddess' - 10-15' That grows solid green with .5" culms. Great for screening

Alphonse Karr - Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr' - 20-30' That grows yellow with a green stripe with 1.5" culms. Another great screening bamboo.

Oldhamii - Bambusa oldhamii - 60-80' That grows solid green with 4-6" culms. Massive timber bamboo.

Textilis Gracilis - Bambusa textilis var. gracilis - 30-40' That grows green with 2" culms. Great specimen bamboo.

Blue Bamboo - Bambusa chungii - 30-40' That grows green with a blue powder coating & has 2" culms. VERY SHOWY specimen.

Dwarf Buddha Belly 'Wamin' - Bambusa vulgaris 'Wamin' 10' That grows green with large swellings at the nodes of the 3" culms. Great For Pots & Partial Shade. VERY SHOWY!

Asian Lemon - Bambusa eutaloides 'Viridivitatta' Asian Lemon - 20-25' That grows a peachy color when they first sprout then turn a yellow with a green stripe with 1" culms. New variety in Florida.

Mexican Weeping - Otatea acuminata aztecorum - 6-10' that grows a dark green with light green leaves on .25" culms. VERY SHOWY weeping habit that is a great accent or potted plant. Graceful movement in the wind.

Golden Hawaiian - Bambusa vulgaris 'Vitatta' - 35' That grows yellow with green stripes on 4" Culms. Great Windbreak. Very Sturdy. Not Cold Hardy Below 30

Angel Mist - Dendrocalamus minor amoenus - 35' That grows green with a white powder coating on the 3" culms. Great large specimen.

Black Timor - Bambusa lako - 30-40' That grows green then turns black as the 2.5-3" culms mature. VERY SHOWY. Not Cold Hardy Below 30

Sunburst - Bambusa variabalis viridistriata - 45' That grows yellow with a green stripe on 2.5" culms. Great cold hardy alternative to Golden Hawaiian variety.

A Fruit For You

I know many northerners miss their orchards from up north. Now you too can grow many of your favorite fruit trees in your yard. Stone fruit that requires low chill hours for Florida growth. Peaches, nectarines,

plums & pears.

All For Zones 9 & 10

These are self pollinating but are better producing with better flavor with 2 plants.

Peaches:

Florida Belle - High yielding variety with large red skinned fruit. Ripens in May

200 Chill Hours

Tropic Snow - Whitish freestone peach that has creamy white, aromatic fresh.

Showy blossoms. Harvest Mid-June.

200 Chill Hours

Plums:

Scarlett Beauty - Small, sweet red fruit. Heavy producer with an excellent flavor. Ripens early May.

250 Chill Hours

Nectarine:

Sunracer - Yellow fleshed, self-pollinating, large fruit. Small tree (3-4')

150 Chill Hours

Pear:

PineApple - A very old fashioned variety that is tried & true. Pest & disease resistant. Produces bushels of fruit once mature. Small yellow-skinned fruit that can be dotted. Sets fruit in early March & ripens in August.

150 Chill Hours

Persimmon:

Fuyu - A semi-deciduous tree that can grow to 25'. Wonderful tasting fruit that can be eaten right off the plant, as opposed other varieties that have to mature a little longer. Ripens mid to late fall.

Not ready for stone fruit in you yard? How about the old Florida tradition of citrus, avocados & mangos. We got all types and sizes of citrus for you to choose from.

Tangerine, Oranges, Tangelo, Grapefruit, Kumquats, Lemons & Limes.

JUST IN!!!

Florida Thornless 'Natchez' Blackberries

Upright to 3-4'

Produces Fruit In Late May To Early June. VERY TASTY!!!

Loquats

Great shade tree and scrumptious fruit. Cold hardy. Fruits Spring & Fall.

A Little Too Chilled Out

EVERY customer that walks through our doors seems to have the same issue this year, and understandably so. Plants are crispy critters after this winter's cold snaps. There are a few key things to remember as you look to refresh your yard's former glory.

First - Make sure the bottom of the shrubs do not already have green sprouts at the bottom . If they do not have signs of new growth after this next week or two, its probably time to rip out & replace.

Second - Check the top of each palm to see if there is green there. If so then you got a good chance it's coming back. If not make sure you tug on the center "spears"(The center shoots) and see if they come out or not. If they pull right out they are goners. If they are nice & firm give the palm a few more weeks to see if it doesn't green up once our weather warms up a little more.

Third - If you need to replace palms, trees or shrubs, take pictures & measurements of the areas and we will GLADLY help you design these with new plants that would be more cold tolerant.