GARDEN CLUB OF CAPE CORAL

Petunia As a Cat I, the Mexican petunia can and has escaped cultivation, meaning it has spread well beyond home gardens and into natural terrains, where it has crowded out and replaced native species and, in some cases, hybridized with natives

Growing to an erect height of 3 feet, the plant tolerates most soil types, pH and drainage conditions Mexican petunia was a big seller in years past and, to this date, can be found in many a landscape And, if you have ever had these plants in your garden, you know they are extremely difficult to eradicate Just when you think you have been successful, the plants sprout again in defiance of your efforts

The plant reproduces in two ways: through above/below ground horizontal roots known as rhizomes, and, the setting of seeds The plant flowers prolifically, producing numerous seed pods throughout the year These burst open, spreading the easily germinated seeds far and wide So, the chances are good that not only will you see numerous "volunteers" in your landscape over a short time, your neighbors may as well And, as stated previously, the mayhem doesn’t end there Self-seeding + rhizomes = a recipe for ecological distress If you see them for sale at a nursery or elsewhere, you are encouraged to steer clear

It is likely you have seen multiples of non-native Mexican petunia cultivars in big box stores, examples of which include R simplex "Purple Showers," R simplex "Mayan White" and other such sterile varieties in the Mayan series What differentiates these cultivars from the Category I invasive R simplex is that they do not set seeds but, rather, multiply solely by rhizomes Although not considered invasive, these, too, have the ability to dominate the local area if left unchecked

Now for the good part The long-lived perennial Carolina wild petunia provides a welcome alternative to non-native species Being herbaceous, the plant possesses a non-wood stem, attains its full height, flowers and forms seed pods, which then release their seeds, within one season. Each seed pod contains five seeds, unlike the

See PETUNIAS, page 42

“After the Ian wave hit, our home on Matlacha was a total loss,” she says “Part of the house washed out to sea, so all of our personal belongings now reside in the Gulf of Mexico ”

But she vows to be undeterred

“This hurricane has turned me into a category seven,” she said “and with this new energy I will work to get back to square one ”

She added, “What the hurricane taught me, like all of us here in Southwest Florida, is that we can’t give up ‘Always Forward’ was my mom’s lifelong motto They say moms are always right, and mine surely was I’m adopting her motto as my own Always Forward ”

She now lives in North Fort Myers and has announced plans to relocate her gallery and international headquarters to a 3 000-square-foot historic building on Dean Street in downtown Fort Myers with an opening planned for the first week of January 2024 " S t o r m S t o r i e s - H u r r i c a n e I a n " will be available as a trade paperback and hard cover at local book stores, the gift shop at the Alliance for the Arts and the Alliance’s popular monthy N i g h t M a r k e t , a n d L e o m a Lovegrove’s Art Gallery in downtown ort Myers It also will be available in ther Southwest Florida outlets, includg C o p p er f is h in P u n ta G o r d a an d nnette’s Book Nook on Fort Myers each

I t w i l l b e o b t a i n a b l e o n l i n e f r o m mazon com in e-book, paperback and d cover versions by Sept 1

Pre-publication orders for the e-book Amazon are now being accepted

We welcome Leoma’s eye-popping o r k a n d h e r p e r s o n a l s t o r y , ” s a i d Jeanne Meeks, the south Fort Myers resident and author who heads this special publishing project for GCWA.

Adds Meeks in an up-front Acknowledgment in the book, “The minute I asked Leoma Lovegrove to submit the story of her Matlacha art gallery’s storm damage, she enthusiastically supported our project She has already set her huge social media power into action, pre-ordered books for her new gallery, and donated the beautiful artwork which graces our cover ”

The GCWA’s website is https://gulf writers org/