Add some tropical flair to your garden with variegated tapioca plant (Manihot esculenta ‘Variegata’), aka Cassava. Variegated tapioca is a spectacular foliage plant (zone 8 – 11) which excels as summer’s heat and humidity arrives and lingers. Tapioca plant is not likely to be sold in every garden center and you’ll likely need to order one or more on-line. […]
Archive for the ‘Tropical Plants (non-hardy)’ Category
Variegated Tapioca Plant Thrives In The Summer Heat
Posted by Hugh on May 3rd, 2012
Posted in Fertilizing plants, Foliage plant, Heat Tolerance, Planting tips, Southern Appalachian Region, Summer heat tolerant, Tapioca plant (Manihot), Tropical Plants (non-hardy), Uncategorized, watering tips 
Comments Off on Variegated Tapioca Plant Thrives In The Summer HeatAwaken Overwintering Tropical Plants
Posted by Hugh on March 5th, 2012
If you live in USDA zones 6 and 7, early March is usually the proper time to re-awaken containers of tender tropicals stored in your garage or moved in to join your house plants last fall. Likely, they’ve already begun to sprout. Specifically, angel trumpets (Brugmansia spp.), elephant ears (Colocasia spp. and Alocasia spp.), cannas […]
Posted in Angel trumpet (Brugmansia), Banana (Ensete spp.), Banana (Musa spp.), Canna lily, Canna lily, Colocasia, Planting tips, Potting Mix, Pruning, Repotting plants, Southern Appalachian Region, Summer flowering, Tropical Plants (non-hardy), Uncategorized Comments Off on Awaken Overwintering Tropical PlantsStart Up A Sleeping Amaryllis
Posted by Hugh on February 20th, 2012
Back in the fall, your amaryllis bulb was pushed into dormancy by withholding all watering. In the weeks that followed, the foliage turned yellow and withered. You cleaned off the dried leaves and stored the potted bulb at 34 to 42 °F for the winter, not allowing it to freeze. After a minimum of eight weeks, […]
Posted in Amaryllis (Bulb), Fertilizing plants, Repotting plants, Southern Appalachian Region, Tropical Plants (non-hardy), Uncategorized, watering tips Comments Off on Start Up A Sleeping AmaryllisRe-Potting Indoor Plants
Posted by Hugh on February 13th, 2012
The golden rule for house plant care is to repot them once a year. Times of seasonal change signal the best opportunity for repotting most house plants. September starts a slowdown and March (late February) a re-awakening period for your house plants. Most, but not all plants, should be re-potted in one of these periods. Purchase a […]
Posted in Interior (house) Plants, Orchids, Planting tips, Potting Mix, Pruning, Purchasing Plants, Repotting plants, Southern Appalachian Region, Tropical Plants (non-hardy), watering tips Comments Off on Re-Potting Indoor PlantsPhalaenopsis Orchids Easy To Grow
Posted by Hugh on January 8th, 2012
At one time, growing orchids was a hobby that only rich doctors, lawyers and fictional detectives could afford. Today, the very affordable “moth orchids” (Phalaenopsis spp.) are commonly available at supermarkets and big hardware chain stores at reasonable prices. They’re easy to grow and produce large showy flowers which bloom for two or more months. Moth […]
Posted in Fertilizing plants, Garden Maintenance, Interior (house) Plants, Orchids, plant nutrition, Planting tips, Potting Mix, Southern Appalachian Region, watering tips Comments Off on Phalaenopsis Orchids Easy To GrowGet Past The Winter Blahs With Paperwhite Narcissus
Posted by Hugh on January 4th, 2012
A wonderful, easy indoor gardening project this winter is to start a dish (pot) of paperwhite narcissus (Narcissus tazetta). Paperwhites make a lovely white centerpiece on your dining table. Paperwhite bulbs are outdoor hardy in USDA hardiness zones 8 – 10. Store the bulbs in a warm dry location such as on top of a refrigerator until you’re […]
Posted in Autumn flowering, Failure to Bloom, Interior (house) Plants, Paperwhite narcissus, Southern Appalachian Region, Spring flowering bulbs, Staking, Tropical Plants (non-hardy), Uncategorized, watering tips, Winter flowering Comments Off on Get Past The Winter Blahs With Paperwhite NarcissusGrow And Re-bloom Christmas Cactus
Posted by Hugh on December 28th, 2011
Holiday cacti, aka Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) and Christmas cactus (S. x buckleyi ), are popular houseplants which grow (and re-bloom)for many years with good care. Christmas cactus has rounded (scalloped) stem segments while Thanksgiving cactus has 2-4 pointed teeth paired along each segment edge. The latter blooms 3-4 weeks earlier than Christmas cactus and […]
Posted in Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera), Interior (house) Plants, plant nutrition, Pruning, Tropical Plants (non-hardy), Uncategorized, watering tips Comments Off on Grow And Re-bloom Christmas CactusNew Poinsettia Varieties Make Your Holidays Bright
Posted by Hugh on December 23rd, 2011
Poinsettia is a gift which keeps on giving. Many gardeners save and nurture their plant to re-bloom again over the next winter holiday season. By early February the plant has likely dropped most of its bottom leaves and flower bracts. Cut back the bare stems by two-thirds […]
Posted in Interior (house) Plants, plant nutrition, Poinsettia, Pruning, Southern Appalachian Region, Tropical Plants (non-hardy), watering tips Comments Off on New Poinsettia Varieties Make Your Holidays BrightWinter Storage of Non-Hardy Tropicals*
Posted by Hugh on October 16th, 2011
There is frost on your pumpkin. By late October, northern U.S. gardeners (USDA zones 3 thru 6) must protect non-hardy tropicals such as cannas (Canna spp.), bananas (Musa spp. and Ensete spp.), elephant ears (Colocasia spp. and Alocasia spp.) and angel trumpets (Brugmansia spp.). Most gardeners living in zone 7-b and further south have little […]
Posted in Alocasia, Banana (Ensete spp.), Banana (Musa spp.), Canna lily, Colocasia, Southern Appalachian Region, Tropical Plants (non-hardy), Winter Protection Comments Off on Winter Storage of Non-Hardy Tropicals*
