Monarch shot

This one is on Golden Dewdrop.

Another Monarch, this time on Jatropha.

A Swallowtail on Golden Dewdrop.

Beautiful pics! Is your Golden Dewdrop a Duranta? It looks like my Saphhire Showers (I think that's what it's called). I love that Jatropha! Do you have a full pic of it? I saw them at Sea World and took pics so I could find one. I think they are too tropical for me tho.

Yes, Duranta is the proper name for Golden Dewdrop. I have tons of shots of my Jatrophas. They are such a wonderful plant. I have been growing them for years and they have never had any kind of problem....and butterflies adore them. Here is one shot of the flowers, I'll upload a shot of the whole plant later.

Great photos! Love that Dewdrop plant. Connie and I saw some Duranta at Lowe's the other day. Some was the same color as you have, others were a deep dark almost cobalt blue. I want some of that!! But alas, I'm cheap and don't want to pay the $20 that they want for it. So please post more pictures of yours so I can at least enjoy it vicariously! :-)

Janet

Blue?! I want that one too!! I wouldn't shell out $20 either tho. I got 2 new 4" pots of the purple recently for less than $2 each so now I have 4 including my 2 big ones. They'll die back this winter and come back fine OR I could just keep them in pots and bring them in thru the winter. Then they could be big in the spring! (good idea I just had..lol!) Maybe I'll try rooting a cutting of one.

Paige, if that works, I'd love to get some. I bet the purple is what I saw there that day. Loved the deepness of the tiny blooms and the way it hangs so gracefully. I'll be happy to trade anything in my yard! I've got most of the plants in my yard in sections in my journal, but haven't started a trading list yet.

I don't think I've ever seen a Jatropha before, or heard of it. Very pretty blooms on those.

I have a whole center island that I'll be making into a butterfly garden so I'm always on the lookout for new stuff. I want it to be an explosion of colors. Earlier this year, I bought a waybigo bag of seeds at Walmart that were supposed to be for butterflies. This was before I even heard of DG. I set the bag aside and didn't get around to planting them for about a week. When I went to do that, either a squirrel or a rat had gotten into the bag and the seeds were molded because it had rained. I was so disappointed. Little did I know that I'd become a BF addict! HA!



Janet

Sure Janet, I'll try it today. I hope it works in water because when I try rooting in some sort of dirt I usually end up letting it dry out too much.

I bet you could grow a Jatropha in your area. The ones I saw at Sea World were large. They were probably bushes shaped like trees because I don't think it's a tree. The red flowers were beautiful.

One of the best packet of seeds that I threw out last year came from the Dollar General! I think they were like 2 or 4 for $1 and I just used one. It was a variety of things and I had cornflowers, rudbeckias, and some great wild bee balm. Last year I went out in the fall and just threw seeds all over! It was scary and fun at the same time. I didn't know what would grow and where it would be but I figured that's how nature did it and it would be less stressful for me. It worked great! I'll be doing it in the next few weeks.

You are welcome to any seeds that I can gather. I don't even have lists of my stuff. It's just a big wild mess. lol

Here is a white variety of Duranta I have.

Here are the berries that give Duranta its' common name of Golden Dewdrop.

The purple version of Duranta.

Gardenpom,

Those are just beautiful. There were 2 purple ones sitting side by side. One was light like yours and the other was dark. One of them had the golden berries on it. It's really pretty. I don't remember seeing any white ones, but I may have just been dazzled by those dark ones. Sapphire, I believe Paige said. I'd love to have them all! I'd be happy to send anyone postage for some seeds, or cuttings. Just let me know.

{wiping the drool from my lips here} :-)

Janet

I have seen the very dark purple one in the garden shops here, but I don't have any myself. I'll get back to you about the seeds if I can catch them at the right stage.

A full shot of one of my Jatrophas. This one is around eight feet tall, I have a larger one around fifteen feet. I have had this one for years and it has been cut back numerous times.

This is the Golden Dewdrop that I have. (I actually have two in the ground.) It has purple flowers that have white scalloped edges. I don't have any fruit yet, but when I do, I'd be more that glad to share!

When I first bought these Durantas they were very small in a one gallon containter. I thought, "Oh! What cute little flowering plants!" And bought two! I love to do 'pot and container gardening" , so I planted them together in a large pot which is where they stayed for about a year and a half. This past Spring I decided to plant them in the ground. I did not realize that they are not cute "little" plants, they will become shrubs (if pruned) or trees!!! Ack! And they definitely got considerably bigger this year! I am learning to "do some research" before buying and planting! If there is a gardening mistake to be made - I've done it!

EEK!!! I just discovered another gardening blunder I made this year! After viewing your Jatropha photo Gardenpom, I see that it is also a tree! Please tell me that it can be shaped into a shrub!

They look so cute when they are little! Who knew they would take over the yard! I have a feeling that many of the vines I've planted against the fence this year are going to become monsters over the next couple years. But they too are soooo cute!

Someone slap me!!!! 8^O

I think (note the word "think" and translate to "hoping and praying") that I did do one thing right in one of the two new gardens I created this year. I planted a herb garden (mainly for the bees and butterflies, though friends and neighbors ocassionally stop by to snip some leaves for cooking). It was quite a bit of work and some expense, but it has turned out really nice as it is approaching the end of the season. The bottom layer is 8' X 8', the second level is 4' X 4', and the top area is 2' X2'.

The one mistake I did make that I know for sure is that I planted too much Basil which scattered seeds all over the herb garden and are now growing everywhere. (I have been pulling out many of the new spouts.) But the bees just flock to the Basil. This is also where I have the parsley and dill growing for the swallowtails. Whenever I water this garden, the aroma just floats all through the air. It is like being at a restaurant! lol

This is taken from the other side of the herb garden.

Becky, Jatropha can be cut back when they get too large. I do it all the time....you will be very pleased with it...it never gets any bugs or diseases, and Butterflies and bees adore it. It would be considered a large shrub, not a tree. My largest ones are at least six years old.

I made the same mistake with Duranta. Mine are HUGE!!! I have had to severly chop mine back a few times. They are very attractive though and Butterflies love them, so they are worth the trouble. I also have a couple with variegated leaves. I have seen the darker one, it's lovely.

Becky, I have made more gardening mistakes than anyone.....I am planting and yanking things out all the time. Your Herb garden is gorgeous! I have never had much luck with herbs. It really does smell heavenly I bet.

Gardenpom - Thanks for telling me that the Jatropha can be pruned to a shrub. That's what I had intented for it when I planted it in my yard. I don't know. I'm afraid of what my yard is going to look like when the plants really start taking off and growing and spreading. I may have a nightmare on my hands! I have really tried to responsibly place the ones I planted this year, but some of them are surprising me with their height and spread already. Believe me, my yard is sand, clay, and whatever compost I add to it. Not the ideal garden conditions. Which is why I am also attempting to use many native plants. I am hoping to have a better success rate. But maybe I will be soon wishing for less success. I am going to put it in God's hands and let Mother Nature do her thing! :-)

BTW - The herb garden actually was very easy to grow. I did absolutely nothing to it except water it several times a week! Part of the plants were from seeds and part were dying discounted plants I bought cheap and just stuck in the dirt in June. I think I only lost one plant and that was because the basil was shading it too much. I figured the sun would bake them, but they all survived. The tall plant is Targon and is currently blooming small yellow flowers. I had to cut back all the Basil because it was getting too tall and shading a large part of the garden. The bees were NOT happy about that at all! They literally swarm the blooms on the Basil. They keep coming back looking for blooms. (Which are starting to form again.) So if you think herbs might be too difficult to grow .... think again! They are really easy.

Aiyyiiiyiii....I keep thinking "I have most of the plants that I want" and then I look on DG and think "Oooooh, I'd like that, and "Oh my, what is that?" Hellllp! LOL :)

Becky, your Duranta looks like it has sugar icing on it, they are all gorgeous, yours and gardenpom's! And I lived in Florida all my life and can never remember seeing a Jatropha before. Beautiful photos of the BF's there gardenpom, thank you for sharing them!

But most of all Becky, I adore your herb garden. Mine are in pots because when I started growing/buying them, all my plots were full of veggies and we didn't have any place in the back yard cleared yet. I hope you don't mind if one day I copy that, as it is just what I've been wanting to do, but couldn't wrap my mind around the 'how' part.

I sooo (sow?) cannot wait for next year when I finally have seeds and will have wintersown plants and will have a real honest-to-goodness garden.

~Sunny

I've enjoyed reading all the posts and decided to add a couple of pics I took this summer in my backyard. This was my Jatropha in July.

This message was edited Oct 13, 2006 9:00 PM

Here is the my Golden Dewdrop in July. I cut it way back last weekend, however, as it was drooping badly. It grew so much during the summer that the branches were too weighed down with leaves for the plant to have a pleasing form.

And here is a blossom close-up.

Sunny - I never saw Jatropha before either and I, too, have lived her most of my life. I am not sure where they originated from. I don't think they are native plants. (But I could be wrong.)

Also, you and others here are more than welcome to copy my herb garden idea! Several of my friends have already. It's quite easy to build. The work comes in filling it up with dirt to the top level. It took a lot of dirt and compost mixed together to fill 3 layers like that. I started it with rich soil and compost and that may have had an impact on why everything grew so well. I plan to add more compost to it in the Spring as most of the herbs should come back. It has been my most successful garden so far. :-)

Snuzer29 - Beautiful Jatropha! I'm excited. I hope mine grows to be as beautiful as those pictured here on this forum!

Thank-you. Hurricane Wilma hit me very hard last fall so I had to trim it WAY back after that. The hard cutback really improved this plant. I was pleased with the way it grew back this summer.

Snuzer29, your Duranta is gorgeous....so many flowers!!! In your pic the leaves look almost lime green.

Snuzer29 - Now your photo showing the full size of your duranta ...... SCARES ME! I have DEFINITELY made a HUGE garden blunder when I planted my 2 this year. How big is the trunk on that baby? Oh my gosh, I've majorly goofed. I am racking my brain trying to figure out how to best deal with my blunder. I love my 2 durantas. I am at a loss for what to do. I will take a photo of them tomorrow to show how I planted them, and then I need some serious advice here folks! Bummer, bummer, bummer ......

My duranta has several 3/4 inch trunks (approximately). However many (experienced)people train these plants as small trees. I've read that the shrub can get as big as 12 ft by 12 ft, but I think that is kind of extreme. Tomorrow I'll take a picture of the duranta after its major haircut. Remember, I am a novice gardener, so my trim job may not be so great. However, you will be able to see the trunk portion of the plant.

BTW, gardenpom, thanks for the compliment!

This message was edited Oct 13, 2006 10:37 PM

Yes, please do share a photo of your duranta trimmed back. I need to get some idea of how I can keep mine more compact. Thank you! BTW - How old is your duranta?

Snuzer, that close up of the blooms is just beautiful! What is the flowering period of the Jatropha and Duranta? I'm in a much colder zone, so I don't even know if they would work here other than in containers, but I really like them both.

Tks for the okay Becky :) It might be too expensive for me at the size of yours, but perhaps a mini version so I can get all the pots off of my sidewalk in front of the house...LOL!

Jatropha and Duranta bloom off and on all year here in Florida. My Duranta is really huge, I try to cut it back every year, otherwise it will take over the garden. I think mine is probably a good 10X10 feet now. I need to go after it again soon. When they start to get too large, just cut them WAY back....they will recover nicely.

Hineni - A smaller version of my herb garden would actually be more manageable. (Trust me!) My goal is to get rid of as much of my yard as possible. But I still need to leave a little area for my dog to poo on! LOL
Both of my Duranta plants and also my Jatropha started out as container plants. (Large containers, to clarify!) But once I figure out where I want them in my yard they go in permanently. They both made very nice container plants. I did notice that once the duranta were planted in the ground they have taken off. Perhaps they will only get as big as a container allows them? All of them bloomed and looked healthy in the containers. So it might be worth trying to grow them as a container plant.

gardenpom - Very glad to hear that your duranta recovers well from a hard cutting back. I know that I will be doing that for sure!

Here are my two durantas one on each side of the large curly leaf bush. As you can see they are getting big pretty fast. (They were a third of that size when I planted them in May.) Can the branches be braided into one trunk? The branches are just long and lanky right now. Any suggestions by anyone would be greatly appreciated. I love them and would hate to have to try to move them which would probably kill them.

As promised, here is my trimmed duranta, currently without blossoms. Hopefully it will bloom again! Now, maybe I will do a bit of underplanting with annuals. That way, by the time it fills out a lot, it will be time to pull out the annuals anyway.

Just for fun, look what I found on my drainpipe today!

Becky, Just in case you were wondering, the curly leafed shrub in your photo is commonly called Copperleaf.