Growing tropical house plants
Lorena Hdez
last year
last modified: last year
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floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last yearRelated Discussions
tropical plant in a cats' home?
Comments (11)Hi, I live in a house with between 80 and 100 plants at any given time. I also have two cats who are six and seven years old. Even though quite a few of my plants are poisonous there has never been a problem. They pretty much leave everything alone. Sure I will find bite marks in the Christmas cactus, monstera, oxalis and the few others. They have never got sick from it. The only plants that I have a problem with is anything that looks like grass. They will not leave my palms and spider plants alone. Those plants I have to put up out of there their reach or they will devour them. I would suggest that you watch your kitties closely and see if they leave the plants alone. Unless they are devouring it like it was salad, I wouldn't worry about it. A few teeth marks here and there is not a problem. As pirate girl said, lots of us have cats and plants in the same house. We would do nothing that would harm our cats. I hope this helps, Larry...See MoreWhat is this tropical plant growing in NZ?
Comments (2)Thanks so much for the swift response. Pleased to be able to look up the details of this tropical beauty which origins is Jamaica. Cheers...See Morenew methods to grow tropical plants in the northwest
Comments (8)Okay guys, I do tropical gardening in Nova Scotia, and I have found THE book for all your questions: It is called : "Palms Won't Grow Here and Other Myths" by David Francko, who is the head of the Botany Department at Miami University in Oxford Ohio. He is doing just the kind of gardening that you guys are asking about, and he gives very detailed instuctions on overwintering protection, as well as hardy tropical lists. The book is available from Amazon and Buy.com, etc. Worth every penny! In the meantime, if anyone wants to ask me questions on my experiences, please feel free to send me an e-mail at tropics.ns.sympatico.ca...See MoreNew Summer Home - Hardy Tropical Plants in Sandy Soil?
Comments (3)I think the best palms to use would be the sabal minor and the needle palm. Windmill palms will need protection during the first winter or two to get it started. Also buy palms soon because if they arent planted before fourth of july they may not set enough roots to successfully overwinter outdoors. There are some large needles off of ebay, but sabal minors are much harder to find. The larger the palm the better chance for survival. Musa basjoo bananas will also make it feel tropical. They die to the ground at the first frost, but will come right back up by may. They are also on ebay. If you will be down their around the time the first frost hits then you can cut the banana down to about 3 feet so it is just a stalk, and then cover it up with old blankets to keep it warmer and plastic to keep moisture from coming in. Then you would also have to uncover it in april. Doing this would allow it to grow from the top of the stalk which means you would be starting out with a 3 foot banana in april instead of a banana comming out of the ground. Yuccas are also a great option for a tropical look. Curve leaf yuccas will survive the winter no problem and will even flower in the spring and fall. Soft beaked yuccas are common, pretty, and hardy as well. The eastern prickly pear cactus will be a nice groundcover and will even flower. Psrrys agrave (Agrave americana) will grow into a nice plant and will survive your winters pretty well as long as its not planted in standing water. Cannas are also nice, but have to be dug up every year or mulched VERY heavily in order to come back up. Then you would also have to take off the mulch in the spring. Camellias are also really nice plants and will survive the winter very well. My zone 7 camellia is in bad soil, comletely unprotected, and still flowers every spring, and some times the flowers completly cover the entire bush. Its about 10-12 years old so it went through alot of cold winters. They stay green all year, but only flower in the spring so if you would be down their in mid april to early may you may not ever see any flowers. Good luck and try to post pics!...See Morefloral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last yearLorena Hdez
last yearTiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
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