Audubon House & Tropical Gardens- A Living Croton Bank

Some of you know that I am the gardener for the Audubon House & Tropical Gardens in Key West. A property that is rich with history, and also responsible for the Historic Restoration Committee that is responsible for keeping the architectural identity of the island intact. I have been doing maintenance at this property for years now, and patiently awaiting my opportunity to make some much needed changes to the garden. With a little of my vision, an operations manager who "gets it" and who helps me with getting money into the budget for these improvements, things have taken a nice turn over the last 8 months. I have been able to eradicate some plant material and then replace with some real stuff of interest. It has been a relief of sorts, until I realize how much effort it will take to continue on this path to create a real botanical garden in downtown Key West. Something really special, beautiful and educational to all.
Now I've only had the "bug" for a year now, but I have been collecting crotons like a madman. With no more space in the yard, the plants had to go somewhere, and I started to envision how sweet it could be to pack crotons, palms, aroids, rare fragrant stuff and the like at the Audubon House. Or even to have a croton tour and auction there. I met with Jim & Judy Glock and Jerry Shilling a while back for them to view the property for its potential only. It's kind of hard to tell someone not to look at the mass of stuff that needs attention, but they agreed that it could be very possible with a lot of work and money. Even Lamar was down here a couple of weeks ago, and he thought it could be a pretty cool place too.
I like the idea of a living croton bank. In zone 11, I can really grow some amazing plant material, and hardly ever have to worry about winter killing off my plants. I would love to have a place open to the public that can house several dozens of cultivars for all to appreciate, and to try to ensure that some of the extremely hard to find or disappearing cultivars would have a real shot at being grown out to their potential to be propagated and shared to collectors like us. I recently was given an approval on next years budget to put some material in, and I decided that I would not wait until then to get this started. I am fronting all of the crotons, palms and other plant material, as well as soil mediums and amendments. I'm sure that a good chunk of my time will be donated. But I am in this thing all the way now, and am willing to see it through. Today, I got to make my initial changes, and it was a real relief to finally start on my dream job.

 

Great info,I have not been to Key West in 15 years but I need to plan a trip soon.Is it worthwhile coming this year or should I give it a little time for you to finish up??

 

Mike, I would give it some time. I'm looking at making a pretty big push over the next couple of months. With Jeff's sale and the tour and auction at the Glock's coming up, I will be acquiring more material for sure. Then there are other events like the Aroid Show and such. So I need time to get more material, and then to install it. While I do have a fairly good sized inventory in place, I will be accepting plant donations for this project. Crotons and palms in particular. I will periodically post what I have installed so that people can be aware of what may not be needed. It is not a big property, so I am trying to avoid putting duplicates in. Although, can you ever have enough Polychrome, Richard Krukonis, Robert Halgrim, Cameo or Davis 87? There are many areas of deep shade too. Today I had the pleasure of eradicating an area of good bright light that had a large cypress stump for a center piece surrounded by a mass of Little Harv bromeliads. Now there is a Carpoxylon for a centerpiece, surrounded by Red Quill, Ethel Craig, Plaid Oak, Red Wizard, Chief, Rudy Bachman, and a yellow & green called Ruffles. I'll get to do more before the end of the week. Pics will follow soon. Thank you for the interest. Trust me, I'll be real happy to show this garden off when it is further along.

 

Congratulations on your ambitions! If you are ever in the (east) Fort Lauderdale area, please stop by. I have a few crotons that may interest you.

 

Thank you Rick. I will take you up on that. I'll PM you later to get your details and set up a tentative date. This is one of the reasons that I am grateful to have found such a devoted, passionate group of people who want to share their knowledge, experience and collections. Great stuff!

 

This is really a very special opportunity troops, Tim has a ton of work ahead of him but I saw the fire in his eye, and look forward to being a small part of this.

 

Rick has one of the best combinations of Palms & Crotons. Could be a guidebook on the use of color in a tropical landscape.

 

Tim,

My wife and I were there in May for about the 5th time. Like the Hemingway House, it's a place I never get tired of visiting. I love the Cyrtostachys in the pond and the Hamelia cuprea out by the street. Oh and the crotons look great too.

 

Tim,

You have been talking to me about this ongoing project for quite some time now. It not only sounds exciting, but what a way to showcase this great, colorful group of plants that's so world renown. And what better place than Key West with it's tropical climate year round. Your energy and passion forthcoming will surely make this project a success. I look forward to helping in a small part with some sort of palm and croton donations as you get started.

 

Oh, Tim, sounds like this project is going to be very fulfilling and gratifying to you, and very awe-inspiring to us. I am so excited for you and can't wait to see it in the future! You will make a mark in history with creating a safe place to preserve croton species for all croton lovers and learners. Maybe you can keep this thread going and periodically let us know what types of plants or things you're looking for to fill in your creation. I know this group will be very willing to help. I don't know what I can do, but if you make your needs known, then chances are, something will click for the many here that would love to help. Thanks, and good luck with this dream job.

Ana

 

Ray, I've been waiting for years for someone to say something about the Cyrtostachys. It is truly a beast a this point. And to think, I bought that as a 3 gallon palm about 8 years ago. Glad to hear that you have enjoyed visiting in the past. I always see it with different eyes as to what needs to be done, and overshadow everything else.

 

Updating progress on the garden. I removed a lot of less than desirable looking material in this particular bed, leaving the massive Sapodilla tree, the Weeks Red Hybrid growing on it, and the nice sized Burretiokentia Hapala I planted earlier in the year to work around. Now there is Tortoise Shell, Columbiana, Sybil Griffin, Tabernaemontana Pandacaqui & T. Holstii (not crotons, but very fragrant), Capt. Gilbert Cutler, Rams Horn, William Jennings Bryan, Delores and Irene Kingsley thus far in this bed, and I have room for a few more plants yet that will be in fairly shady conditions. Anyone have suggestions on real performers in shady conditions? I know that Polychrome, Claude Lorraine and Mosaic can really show in low light, but what else in your experiences has worked really well for you? I promise I'll have pictures soon.

 

Tim I really like Van Buren in the shade.

 

Tim,
I always recommend Yellow Iceton for really shady areas. The pale yellow makes it pop out. Mrs. Iceton, Eleanor Roosevelt and Nestor(a good Nestor w/ lots of pink) are also good in shade.
Marie

 

Tim, King of Siam does well for me in quite a bit of shade. Not crotons, but what about anthuriums, especially bird's nest type anthuriums, landscape rhizomatous begonias- especially large leaf types like nelumbiifolia, or farfugium giganteum in masses, and if you need something vertical, I love the pretty well-behaved amydrium zippelianum. Real pretty and tropical looking deep green, deeply slit vine with yellow bloom.

 

Hi Tim, I have a very heavy canopy and lots of shade. I have found Raphael to be very nice and colorful. Another is Van Buren which is georgous with lots of pink, and of course there is Black Beauty which is spectacular. Marnie

 

Here is the first bed that is completed to date. I'm not very savvy with the camera, but I wanted you all to get the idea of how things are coming along. I tried to take them in an order that would show you the flow of the layout. This was the bed that had nothing but Little Harv bromeliads in it with the cypress stump in the center. You might see the stump off to the left.

 

Now that's what I'm talking about!!! Boy, this can only get better, a great selection of palms and crotons, and then only grow larger into maturity. I look forward one day to visit this garden.

 

Here is part of the second bed finished to date.

 

Here is the other part of the second bed. The Red Weeks Hybrid, Burretiokentia Hapala, Rojo Congo, and Sapadilla tree were what was left after removing most of the other material prior to planting. The little palm is an Areca Vestiaria.

 

Here is some more of the potential material to be installed. Some nice palms in there too.

 

Hey Tim - what a huge improvement since I was there. The owners must be thrilled watching you transform the property into a tropical paradise.

 

Tim, it is absolutely gorgeous! I can't wait to visit someday. Hey, I recognize many of the crotons, but some I don't. Would you mind telling us what you put in each bed?

 

Anna, thanks for the appreciation. It's been fun to work on. In posts #3 and #12 I named which crotons that had been planted thus far. I did not, however, list the ones that I finished off the second bed with. They are Cronstadt, Arrowhead, Mona Lisa, Geisha Girl and Yellow Iceton. It will probably be about a week before I have some more work completed. I'll keep everyone posted.

 

Great start Tim. I may have time to do a quick look around when I'm down there at the end of the month.

 

Looks FANTASTIC Keep up the great work. The place should look stunning for the IPS Post Biennial tour

 

Today's additions to the garden: Palms-Arenga hookeriana and Clinostigma Ponaopense, with much needed eradication of gnarly, shaded out and stank old water holding bromeliads, bleeding heart vine and mass over growth of wart ferns. Crotons- C.I. Craigen, Coppinger Hybrid, Thomas Edison, Chrysophyllum and Irresistible. I am very much looking forward to Jeff's sale so that I can add to the inventory of the garden. Moose, just a warning; I am younger and faster than you, and I'll have my G.I. Joe with the Kung Fu grip ready to go!

 

Pictures, or it didn't happen.

 

Hmmmm

 

Hey Moose,

Rumors have it that Tim will be sleeping somewhere close to the nursery. He might have the upper hand on arriving early, like as in a flashlight in hand and waiting for the sun to come up.

 

Free trip to the Keys next week, cant wait to come see all your hard work ,partying and looking at crotons what else can you ask for

 

We no need a stinking flashlight LOL

 

Progress as of late. First is a partially planted bed. The Wamin bamboo was planted in March, the new additions have been squeezed around some exisiting plantings. This is far from a finished product, only a bit of a visual provided for "The Croton Heads" to see how things are progressing. First is C.I. Craigen, Coppinger's Hybrid, Dypsis Saintluceii, Thomas Edison and Clinostigma Paopense.

 

This is another unfinished area, but I am happy with how it is coming along. We have an Arenga Hookeriana anchored by Van Buren, John Bender, Polychrome, and an Anthurim Clavigerum I purchased from Marie that I am hoping will happily climb onto the Sapadilla tree it is resting on.

 

Also unfinshed, I am happy with the progress of this area too. In the far back left, there is a Licuala spinosa that is hard to see yet, in front of it is Mauritiella armata, in front of it is Coccothrinax montana. The crotons in the back row are Buddy, Diane, Gloriosa (about 3.5 ft tall by 5 ft wide), and Davis #1. There is a Calyptrocalyx sp. next to the Davis that is hard to see in the photo, but works really well there. In front of the larger crotons left to right are President Reagan, Majesticum, Krakatoa, Satakentia luikiuensis, Tiger Eye, Egg Farm, Dypsis paludosa and Thomas Hitchcock. I left the Ptychospermas in the background to help with screening out the neighboring property. This area was thick with some unhappy Heliconias that were reaching for sun, and were not really working anymore. I wish I would have taken before and after pics so that you could see what I have been working with along this project.

 

Keep up the good work Tim, I saw the before and hope your not paying fees for disposal. We are hoping to get trip together in Nov. I need a first hand look. C U

 

Tim, thanks for the update. You're doing some great work with a lot of very interesting plant material. You had me looking a lot of stuff up- which is good for me. I love seeing how you're using the crotons and how you're placing them deliberately by size and contrast in color, etc. You give me lots of good ideas.

That Gloriosa is huge! Is it all one plant or several plants (stems) together? How old is it and how large do you expect it to get? My crotons are almost all small, so I don't have a good idea yet as to how large many cultivars get. Seeing things in photos isn't like the reality of standing next to a large bush.

Anyway, thanks for the update, and please keep showing the areas as you add more and more stuff. Ana

 

Wow - lots & lots of work got done. Tim has the same rock scenario here as the Moose Land. Probably why I don't see the 7 gallon unknown - alot of work for just one plant. Tim's van was packed with all kinds of plants - surely photo updates will be provided as they are installed.

Now if Tim could send me his Moose Land air layer list ...

 

Wow, I had the good fortune to plant some really cool stuff over the last two days. When I left the Audubon House yesterday, I felt like the luckiest guy in the world. I don't often get the opportunity to plant a Neoveitchia storkii, and it is one of my top 20 favorite palms. It looks great now, and will look even better 5 years from now. In that same area, I added Go Reds, Flamingo, MacKenzie and Pride of Winter Haven. On the other side of the same bed is Louis Dupoy, Clinostigma paopense, Thomas Edison, Dypsis Saint Lucei, Cutler's Gulfstream (formerly Coppinger Hybrid) and C.I. Craigen. I'll have room for one, maybe two more crotons to rap up that bed. The center of the bed has a Dwarf Buddah Belly bamboo (Vulgaris Wamin) that was planted earlier in the year. To the left of it on the corner is a rather large Miami Supreme Gardenia. I had removed a yellow Holmskioldia sanguinea (chinese hat), and a lot of Ruelia and bromeliads that were climbing on and around the Coconut tree. We could no longer have the Porteas on the palm due to the fact that it is a prime sitting area for weddings and other events. They were wreaking havoc on all who encountered them, but man were they gorgeous when in bloom.

 

Today I got to plant some real nice crotons. I ripped out some firecracker plant, wart ferns and gnarly Bromelia balansae. These are the nastiest, meanest bromeliads I have ever encountered, and are extremely effective as a security barrier. They are also exceptionally beautiful when in bloom, but working with these is dreadful and painful. With some open space ready for planting, I had been contemplating for months what I was going to put in around the Verschaffeltia splendida and Hydriastele beguinii I planted earlier in the year. Well, I finally got to plant my Richard Krukonis, Col. Bob Bullock, and newly acquired #93 (Dave McLean) and Thea from Jeff's sale. To the right of that, I needed something on either side of the Arenga hookeriana I planted a few months back, so I put in a Robert Halgrim and Mosaic. I just need to figure out what is going to be planted between these two areas, most likely another palm with a croton in the foreground. All of this new planting makes me really enthused about going to this property with the frequency that I am there (4 times a week). As usual, I'll keep you posted on additional progress.