Archive for the ‘Tropical Plants (non-hardy)’ Category

Longwood’s Chrysanthemum Festival

  As fall mums are finishing up in our gardens, Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA has debut their annual chrysanthemum display in the Conservatory. More than 17,000 chrysanthemums were nurtured and trained, some for more than a year by their talented horticultural staff to resemble balls, spirals, columns, pagodas, and more. It is the […]

Growing Amaryllis

    Amaryllis is a tropical bulb that blooms indoors usually in winter (USDA hardiness zones 9-11). It is one of the easiest flowering plants to grow. Everything you need to enjoy a bouquet of big, beautiful flowers is inside the bulb. Simply plant the pre-chilled bulb in a container and add water. There are many […]

Try Popcorn Cassia For Its Lush Tropical Look

Big and bold is this tropical annual (USDA hardiness zones 9-11), known by several names including popcorn or peanut butter cassia (Senna didymotrya), formerly Cassia didymotrya. Popcorn plant is a legume family (Fabaceae), indigenous to tropical Africa. It is also been utilized as a cover crop or green manure crop in some areas of the world. It thrives […]

House Plant Basic Care Tips

  Tropical house plants decorate homes, restaurants, shopping malls, and work environments (USDA hardiness zones 8 through 11). Many will grow in medium to low light areas of your home, work, and where flowering plants do not perform. Here are some basic house plant tips: They languish in areas where temperatures are below 55 °F. […]

Avoiding Slug Problems On Hostas

  Finding slug resistance among hosta varieties is relative. By late summer, you will find some holes in leaves in almost every variety, some a lot worst than others. There are ways to reduce slug injury in your host plantings. Weather is a key factor. Wet summers means higher slug and snail populations. Dry summers is […]

Flowering Cabbage and Kale For Autumn Gardens

            Creating both edible and ornamentally pleasing vegetables has been a goal of plant breeders. Flowering cabbage and kale (Brassica oleracea) are a new landscaping niche in the autumn garden. Plants develop huge leafy rosettes and eventually form heads. Color patterns on leaves include white, cream, red and purple shades. The […]

Chanticleer Garden – A Garden For Ideas

                Chanticleer Garden is an estate and botanical gardens, that bills itself as a “pleasure garden”. Chanticleer is “a garden for ideas”. The property is located at 786 Church Road in Wayne Pennsylvania, approximately 30 minutes of Philadelphia. Chanticleer celebrated its 100 year centennial in 2013 as the […]

Medical Benefits Derived From Gardening

For hundreds of years, home gardeners have realized that growing plants is good for you both physically and mentally. A story recently published in British tabloid The Guardian reports that many patients suffering with cancer, dementia and mental health problems can benefit from gardening. Doctors are more and more prescribing gardening for patients with cancer, […]

‘Mojito’ Elephant Ear Is A Tropical Joy

            ‘Mojito’ elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta), aka taro plant, has become a new favorite in the Conlon garden where it is not dependably winter hardy (Zone 6b). According to Tony Avent at Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, NC, tubers are dependably winter hardy in zones 7b -10. ‘Mojito’ (pronounced “Mo-he-toe”) is a sport of […]

Monitor And Manage Two-Spotted Spider Mites

              Two-spotted spider mites are destructive pests that ravage a wide host of shrubs and garden plants, including certain house plants, annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetables. Many evergreens are also susceptible. Two-spotted spider mites are warm season arachnids, not insects, and are exceptionally troublesome over a hot dry summer. They […]