Florida natives - Need help identifying plant-life on property

[Adelle]

Originally Posted by druthb00

Here's two more I'm really glad they're all established, basically left to their own devices for at least a few years, otherwise I'm sure I'd have killed half of them (or more!) off by now...just by ignorance alone lol.

Druthb00, I have both of those plants. They are both plants that need protection from the cold and really should be trimmed and in pots. Yes, the name are dracena and Ti Plant. I have had to protect them last year twice. This year they are fine pulled under my porch.
Again, let Pinellas County see them in pictures and they identify them for you easily. I have never seen any coonties with seeds so I must only see male ones. Again, Pinellas county can give complete info. If I were you and you really don;t care a lot of them being over grown, instead of clipping them back, put them on Craig's list and sell them or barter them off for some work you need or something you want. There are plenty of people that would want them. During this season I am going to do more of that to get some work done as they are valuable at a good size.

[druthb00]

Originally Posted by Adelle

Druthb00, I have both of those plants. They are both plants that need protection from the cold and really should be trimmed and in pots. Yes, the name are dracena and Ti Plant. I have had to protect them last year twice. This year they are fine pulled under my porch.
Again, let Pinellas County see them in pictures and they identify them for you easily. I have never seen any coonties with seeds so I must only see male ones. Again, Pinellas county can give complete info. If I were you and you really don;t care a lot of them being over grown, instead of clipping them back, put them on Craig's list and sell them or barter them off for some work you need or something you want. There are plenty of people that would want them. During this season I am going to do more of that to get some work done as they are valuable at a good size.

Thanks. I don't really want to get rid of anything for at least a year or so, I'm afraid I'll regret it. I really love all of the vegetation, it was one of the things that really drew me to this house. The only thing I could see getting rid of anytime soon would be a couple palms, since the back yard is really pretty crowded and there would still be 3 left in that general area. We also have a couple triple date palms, again, not going anywhere. There are 2 silk floss trees that people have left offers for in the mailbox, but I haven't seen them "do their thing" yet, so we'll see...

Oh, we also have a bunch of air plants in the side yard, what is with that? I've seen them sold at little tourist traps down at John's Pass and such, with sea sponges to put them in, but we were out raking a couple weeks ago, and those suckers were everywhere. Where do they come from? Does anyone else have them?

[tilli]

Originally Posted by druthb00

Oh, we also have a bunch of air plants in the side yard, what is with that? I've seen them sold at little tourist traps down at John's Pass and such, with sea sponges to put them in, but we were out raking a couple weeks ago, and those suckers were everywhere. Where do they come from? Does anyone else have them?

They are Tillandsia! We have quite a few native varieties including some endangered ones. The most common types are "Spanish moss" and "ball moss" but they are not actually mosses. They are bromeliads! The most well-known bromeliad is the pineapple plant. They come from the wind! They are flowering plants. The seeds have tufts on them sort of like dandelion fluff that let them float in the wind. When they land in a good habitat they sprout. The epiphytic types of Tillandsia do not need any soil - they usually cling to tree bark (they don't hurt the tree, just use it for support). They are able to absorb water through modified leaf structures. They can get some of their needs from the humidity in the air but regular rain is good for them. The native ones easily survive our dry season.

[druthb00]

We have an arborist/landscaper coming out in September to do some much-needed work, and I plan on hitting him with a ton of questions, but I'd love to know what this is. It just started blooming in the last week. During the winter, it looks like bare stalks/branches...almost as if dead except for being green. Then around April the leaves started to appear and now these pretty white flowers The woman who lived here before went a bit hog wild with the plants, but we keep finding little surprises throughout the year. There is always something blooming in the yard, even if it's just the powder puff trees in the winter.

Edit: White Frangipani Plumeria?

[tilli]

That's a plumeria. Probably Singapore white.