Joe,
Is it safe to plant tropicals outside now around DC?
Thanks,
Sandy

Can you get your HD plant buyer to talk to my HD plant buyer ? .... cuz we don't got no bananas. ( whine ) or xanthosomas, colocasias, alocasias .

: ~ (

Must be a regional thang.

Thanks Boca Joe, I'll see what my local one has.

I think I noticed a pattern there about once a year when potted "indoor" palms get real cheap and you can pick up really nice sized Chamadoreas, Arecas, etc for $10.

Regards,

Rick Clark

Our Home Depot never gets anything but the usual hibiscus, mandevilla, dipladenia - plants such as these. BUT...I stopped at a road side nursery today, and lo and behold, they had FOUR different types of bananas for $2.98 each! They were in 6" pots, and about a foot or so tall, growing beautifully. I bought two, and caressed them all the way home. Kansas City, go to Larry's nursery in Riverside - many hard-to-find tropicals there this year. I also picked up a nice-sized red shrimp plant for $2.98. I think I did very well.

Would there be anything left in the DC vicinty after you are finished buying up the entire tropical population Joe? Hhahahahahahaha!

There has been nothing unusual or interesting at the Home Depot closest to my home.

I was in Houston over the weekend, and the night before flying home I stopped in at a Home Depot I used to shop for plants at regularly when I lived there. They had Alternanthera 'Red Threads" (a vile little old lady cleared out the rack just before I got there), lots of small chartreuse-leafed Duranta and a surprise in the hosta section - nice four-inch pots of Kaempferia gilbertii for $4 each. 3 of them came home with me on the plane.

My favorite experience. A little over a year ago. I found a good supply of Cardboard Palms, marked as sago palms, for $8. These were mature enough to have about a 9 inch or so trunk. I've since found seedlings for $16 and more mature plants for about 75.

I really don't think HD has a clue on what they have. Or are doing. If you follow their markings you would be in for a disapointment after the 1st good freeze. But if you pay attention you can find so cheap gems.

(BTW You can see the palm in one of the pictures on my GW home page.)

i am in southern california and the hd's here must not have gotten the memo. too bad for me...

Ironic isn't it? The places they are more likely to survive outdoors, not a one. *L* My hubby actually works at Home Depot (not the nursery) and he gets so tired of my complaints and sending him to dig through the plants. Hardly anything interesting at ours....not that he'd know. But I'm getting him trained. *L* They're all well cared for, but mostly common trees and shrubs.

Just a quick update, so far in the last month at various HD's around my area, I have found all sorts of colocasia, alocasia, red abyssinian banana, 1001 Fingers, dwarf red jamaican, musa basjoo, musa rojo, grand nain, ornata, musella lasiocarpa, tibouchinia (2 types!), acalypha, whew....

keep on checking, I expect to find Nancy's Revenge and Golden Delicious Xanthosoma soon...

have fun

Boca Joe

Ashley. I'm also an 8b (almost a 9a (Some folks swear the upper limits of zone 9 are only 3 or 4 miles closer to the gulf.) And we occasionally get lucky with a nice specimine. (Cardboard palms and Pride of Barbados for me.)

But it seems to be a fact of life with the home centers. We get all those tulips bulbs in fall, and of course in late spring we get the pansies and petunias. Which will die the first of June.

Hey danbo!!
Which Home Depot has cardboard palms????
You must share your info!!!!
LOL!!!
Janet

Janet They're unfortunately long gone. They were at the HD on I-10 and US 49 in Gulfport. They were being sold a sago palms. I suspect most folks who bought them thought they were just unusual sagos and planted them in the yard. I wonder what happened last winter.

But about 3 weeks ago I did find several "small" cardboard palms at the Four Seasons Nursery on Longfellow and the Kiln/Waveland road in Bay St Louis (or is it Waveland there?)(I was looking for heliconia and a palm to plant next to the patio.) If my memory is correct they were about $18. Not as good a deal as I got but not too bad, considering I'd previously found them around here for about $75 for a nice mature plant.

If you're looking for palms. They had several gorgeous clumps of mature Paurotis or Everglade Palms. Pricy as all get out. But beautiful.

The Paurotis Palms were so lovely. I'm sending you this link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paurotis Everglade Palms

HELP. I bought something at a Los Angeles-area Home Depot labelled "copper leaf" which must have been an acalypha. It was in a beige "specialy" pot, about 2 gallons in size. It was the only one they had.

It had intensely colored leaves in variegated shades of green, white, red, and yellow, along with droppy little dull catkin things.

I then planted it in a mixed container and stupidly sold it (at a proft, mind you.) It looked great with red celosia, dusty miller, and some little yellow daisies...

NOW I WANT IT BACK.

If anyone got one of these, I'll drive cross country to get it--lol...or make other lucrative arrangements! Please advise.

Did I take a picture of it? NOOOOOO!

thank you!

My acalypha problem has been solved. I found them in the 1-gallon size at Armstrong Garden center in Monrovia, CA. They were $5.99. (Less than Home Depot, but the container was also smaller at Armstrong.)

BD

Our HPs here have a lot of tropicals too,usually sold as houseplants,but they usually look crappy. I don't think they take good care of them. There is a nursery by my house that has TONS of beautiful,well tended tropicals. Very expensive though. I drool everytime I go into their greenhouse. Sometimes I go,not to buy anything,but just to walk around in the tropical atmosphere.

Tropicals are very rare and expensive in my area, I love to grow them indoors, but very hard to find that you can afford. I'm jealous of those who get to see such beautiful tropicals all the time.LUCKY!!!!!!

Here's something to think about: if anyone finds an abundance of hard-to-find tropicals in gallon pots, they could post that they have access to them. If anyone is interested, they could make arrangements to have the person buy them one and mail it to them, for the cost of the plant plus postage.

I have done this several times, and have some unusual plants because someone was willing to do this for me. Just ask - you never know - plant addicts like to help others get addicted!

In the winter I look for indoor plants in grocery stores, Home depot, etc as house plants. Then in the summer I see some of the same species outside in nurseries for 10 times the price. One example is giant birds of paradise, $15 dollar for 3 large ones in a 4 gallon, then in the summer slightly bigger one in 15 gallon pot for $150 dollars. Sago palms are another example. Those are the most common examples in my area, but I have seen rare palms sold as indoor plants for a fraction of the cost of a field grown nursery plant. Keep looking!

Our local Lowe's has dwarf Cavendish banana plants (stocky 15" specimens) for $4 apiece.

Several of you talk about loving to be around tropicals. Though our tropicals look like .... right now. It's winter. LOL But spring and summer will return and they'll recover.

There's a small nursery between my house and one of the casinos. It's a mom and pop place. Really a gardner and plant lover whose garden went wild. So she opened up the place.

Every few months someone from up north is in the area. Either go to the casino. Or to visit family. Or just to be in an old south coastal community, verses the modern beach resorts of florida.

Many of these visitors will spend most of the day in the nursery. They may go off to go to the casino for a while or to eat seafood. But then they return off and on during the day. Just to talk and to be around all the tropicals.