Sharon LaPlante

Sure John,

I can just send them in a bubble mailer and they should be okay. Next time I see some I'll send you a private message and you can let me know where to send them.

What do you use them for ... medicinal ... edible ... just curious.

Sharon

Hi Chip,

I have lots of loquat ... do you have anything else to share? I could certainly share some chaya ... and my longevity spinach (Gynura procumbens) is doing well enough now so I could spare some cuttings of those too. Both root easily in water. Chris Ennis was kind enough to share some of his chaya with me so I finally have more than the two scraggly ones I had. Oh, I also have a couple of small katuks.

Sharon

Welcome Frank and John!

Congratulations on your 5 acres in Indian River County Frank. Unfortunately I can provide no design input as my property is mostly huge oak trees and I plant where I can. It would be quite a challenge to have pasture areas to start with. There are many wonderful ideas and articles on this site so I’m sure you will have a great time designing your new place.

John I have seen both of those species of Euphorbia here and there on my property … and both are native to Florida and most of the US. E. heterophylla doesn’t have the red streaks on the leaves like E. cyanthophora. I will keep my eye out for them. I may not be able to get seeds, but I could send you a couple of bare root plants. I haven’t tried it before, but it’s worth a shot. I haven't tried to transplant or share them before. If I come across any I will send you a purple mooseage.

Enjoy your permaculture creating!

Sharon

Hi Chris,

South Florida is just fine. I just wouldn't want to trade plants from someone up north ... plants always seem to do better when they are within the same range (or as close as possible) ... or at least that's been my experience.

I also have some small katuk and cranberry hibiscus and they taste great! I can't wait until mine get huge so I can harvest as much as I want ... and start some cuttings.

I would love to trade some blackberries for your chaya cuttings. Yes, yes, let's do it! I hope they are easy to root ... I've been having a lot of trouble rooting tree collard cuttings. I'm usually good at that sort of thing but the collards just won't cooperate so I'm hoping the chaya is easier. I have a slight worry about the cyanide issue, but it seems like lots of folks eat it and are still alive ... you included. lol I am assuming it's like plants with oxalic acid ... as long as one don't eat them constantly it will alright on your system.

I've not done this before, but I'm assuming we just send each other purple mooseages to get our information for mailing?

Thanks so much for the offer,

Sharon

you're welcome zach ... glad i was right ... i'm not familiar with oklahoma plants. i have lots of this growing on my property and it's the first thing to start blooming in late winter for the butterflies and bees to nectar on ... well at least for me here in florida. once it goes to seed the songbirds and squirrels eat the seeds. it's a great little wildflower for wildlife and it grows on its own wherever i let it. http://www.sharonsflorida.com/lyre-leaf-sage.htm

lol ... experience is all we need. don't knock it if it works.

dappled shade has always done best for me. fellow, traditional, gardeners always tell me it won't work ... you can't grow anything worth while in dappled shade ... but it works great for me. my fruit trees love the dappled shade of my huge live oaks. about the only thing i can keep alive in full sun are natives that can handle the harshness. thankfully most of my property is dappled shade and things i grow are lush and usually don't need water unless we get a long dry spell. i don't have much experience with perennial vegetable gardening, but i think it's going to be insanely fun trying things out!

wow charles ... i would say that more is better! your pear guild sounds fabulous!

thanks john. you may be surprised at how things turn out. i'd say it's better to have too many than not enough. maybe one of those things you planted too close will be just the right fit. sometimes happy accidents make the best solutions.

would okinawan spinach do well as a weedy leafy green? i bought some seedlings and was hoping to use it like that ... in between and at the base of some trees. what sort of weedy greens do you grow ... and can they be grown in florida? i saw someone on ebay selling 'sandypants broccoli' never heard of it, but it looks like a wild mustard, but that may need more sun than where i want to plant it.

i was looking at kiwi vines the other day at walmart, but i am afraid we don't have enough chill hours for them here. the label said 400 chill hours, but i think i read somewhere that there are low chill varieties. i was lucky to find some low chill pears and plums this year from a woman on craigslist who grows them in gainesville and delivers to my area for free. i've never been able to find anyone local that has any. i am so disgusted with my local stores carrying things that don't grow well here when there are varieties that will.

My septic area gets the most sun of any area in my yard ... but I wouldn't plant anything that got deep roots near it for fear they would grow into the drain field. I grow shallow root plants in the ground on that side and use half submerged flower pots for annual flowers to add some color in early spring or growing herbs that I don't want to get out of hand. I have lots of my butterfly nectar and larval plants in that area and let things grow like desmodium and phyla that creep and spread, but don't have large root systems. Oh, and it's the favorite spot for spanish needles and the butterflies and bees love that and it's always the first to bloom for me in the spring here in florida. I'm planning on half submerging some solid pots this year, that will hold water, and try to grow water chestnuts and some other marsh food plants in them. It is frustrating to not be able to plant most things on the septic, but there are plenty of other things to choose from.