Sunday, November 15, 2009

By robin robinson Key West Garden Club

The Key West Garden Club's fall plant and art sale will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 21 and 22 at the West Martello Tower next to Higgs Beach. The propagation team has been busy this summer piling up unusual native and exotic plants to perk up Key West gardens.

If you are looking for ground covers, try the coral creeper, yellow walking iris, lemon grass, or sun-loving, 2-foot tall red bromeliads. The snail-killer plant, which is reputed to repel snails, also will be available.

The Garden Club again is propagating lignum vitae, the tree of life, a native survivor with heavenly blue blossoms and snappy orange and red seeds among delicate, dark-green leaves. These trees once covered the Keys and are being re-introduced via a Garden Club effort. The national champion tree is on the grounds of St. Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church.

Plumeria is potted in all sizes and colors and ready to be plopped into your yard. Especially beautiful is the P. pudica, which blossoms all year long and does not lose its leaves. This would make a lovely balcony plant as well.

Some of the flowering plants include red ixora, orange Juanulloa , sky-blue Clitoria ternatea, orange parakeet helaconia, pink Texas sage, and red canna. The native purple porterweed is there along with fuchsia ground orchids and red begonias.

Surprise your friends by growing the native wild cotton that really does have cotton balls when it goes to seed, or pop a rosemary bush near the sidewalk where people can brush against it releasing its heady odor. Master gardeners will be available to consult with you about choosing the right plant for the right place or answer any other questions.

This year, artists in propagation have created unique driftwood displays featuring air plants. These would make impressive gifts if you can bear giving them up.

Give your heart to one of the colorful orchids being sold by Seacloud Orchid Inc. or go bananas with Going Bananas. Get bamboozled by one of Holmes Bamboo's plants, or nurse your sorrows by engaging with a colorful one of Peter's Crotons.

There also will be vendors from Hopkins Nursery and Tropiflora. All flowering those plants should keep Bees N the Keys supplied with a source for their delicious honey.

Many local artists will be selling in this pre-Christmas season. Pottery, jewelry, soaps, weaving, wall planters, chimes, hand-painted bags and hand-painted linens are a few of the items created by the 14 artists featured.

Lunch would be lovely in the gardens. Food, beverages and baked goods will be on sale. Bring your camera for some eye-popping pictures. Slow down and enjoy the beauty that has been created by the hard-working volunteers at the Key West Garden Club.

On your way out of the gardens stop by the table selling T-shirts and tote bags. There you will find "Plants of Paradise," a new book with a compilation of my articles from The Key West Citizen.

The gardens are open to members only from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Join the Key West Garden Club ($30 single, $50 family) and receive a 10 percent discount from the Garden Club and plant vendors.

Stop by the Garden Club to see the unusual November flower arrangements. The Garden Club is open from 9:30 a.m to 3:15 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The Key West Garden Club welcomes volunteers to pull weeds, propagate and play in the sandy soil from 9 a.m. to noon Mondays.

Key West Garden Club's master gardener Robin Robinson was a columnist at the Chicago Daily News and syndicated by Princeton Features. Her book, "Peeling the Onion: Reversing the Ravages of Stroke," can be found on Amazon.com. This column is part of a series developed by the Key West Garden Club. Visit http://www.keywestgardenclub.com.