The Bahama Wild Coffee plant is considered a shrub and is mainly used as an accent in landscapes. Its small shiny dark green leaves and red fruit add great texture and color. It has some shade tolerance, but unlike its relative, Wild Coffee, it prefers sunnier locations. Mildly salt tolerant, it can be mainly found on hammocks, but can thrive in coastal gardens if given enough barrier from salt spray by other foliage. The flowers of the coffee plant have a very similar fragrance to the gardenia bush. If you love the smell of gardenias, use Bahama Coffee in place of it to keep your garden native! The Bahama Coffee shrub stands at only a few feet high, with shiny dark green elliptical leaves. Its fruit stands out with its shiny red appearance and bares small white flowers when in bloom. This form of wild coffee is smaller than its relatives, making it a nice little addition to your landscape. Birds such as the blue jay and cardinal enjoy the Bahama Coffee’s fruit. Its foliage creates great cover for ground dwelling wildlife. With sustained flowering and fruiting throughout the year, this shrub provides plenty of food. This native south Florida plant is perfect for attracting indigenous wildlife to your garden.
Growing Instructions
- Soak the seed in water for several hours.
- Prepare a mixture of half potting soil and half sand, perlite or vermiculite. Water the mixture so that it is moist but not wet.
- Put the seeds on the soil.
- Cover the seeds with a thin layer of soil.
- Water the seeds.
- Place the pots in an area with warm temperatures in full sun or part shade.
- When the seedlings are a few inches tall, they can be transplanted.