Tender plant jottings

With all our hardy perennials fast asleep now - do let us know what your tender plants are doing and how you are protecting them. Any jottings or thoughts will be welcome.

The first thought that occurs to me is that now is the time to pick up bargains from garden centres that can't or don't want to keep tender plants over the winter.


This is Medinilla magnifica from the Phillipines. I have always admired it and when I saw them at half price recently I couldn't resist. I understand it need humidity and a winter minimum of about 13C. I am hoping that my new garden room heated to 10C will be sufficient.

Other recent purchases included a large Chamaerops humilis (dwarf fan palm) reduced
from £40 to £14. Then I saw a Jasminum polyanthum reduced to £2.99, and earlier I picked up a couple of 3 feet tall Musa bajoo for 49p each.


My thoughts, at the moment, revolve around my new freestanding garden room/greenhouse which I am aiming to keep at a minimum of 10C over the winter. My Brugmansias are still flowering well inside this, with the most colourful being B. sanguinea - above. Sanguinea and arborea are members of the cold group - so seem to be happy at 10C. But the other Brugmansias are members of the warm group and although they are still flowering the colours are very washed out - presumably as a result of the cold temperature.

Never having had a heated greenhouse before, it's been an eye opener for me what tender plants do at 10C. The situation is slightly confused as all the plants were outside in the first frosts for a short while before the garden room was finished. So a number of them have lost some leaves, but virtually all the plants are now actively growing. The Brugmansia have maintained most of their leaves and are now growing new ones. The Musa bajoo are throwing up new leaves too. Ensete 'Maurelii' is green and holding its own. All but three of the Cannas are green and have all their leaves. Three Cannas lost their leaves to the frost, but when I repotted the rhizomes they all had new shoots about to rise above the surface of the compost.

Cobea scandens leaves had turned purple with the frosts, but has been sending up new green growth. Though I have since cut this right back as the books suggest. About only two things have lost all their leaves - Eucomis and Lobelia tupa. I cut the dead Lobelia stems back and noticed new green growth at the base. I am dying to see how this goes on through the rest of winter.

 

Picked the satsuma crop today. All the citrus are in a 'blowaway' greenhouse tucked under the overhanging roof. They seem to do better in cool conditions as they get a respite from scale insect and leaf miner. There's also the guava (with small fruit that aren't getting any bigger, so might bring that indoors) a Phoenix canariensis, Daturas and Bougainvillea. I'm bracing myself for the icy blasts! We had a mild January a couple of years ago, then nearly two weeks of arctic stuff in February...The house will be a bit crowded if that happens again.

 

I'm still waiting for my three measly, but good sized, lemons to ripen.
Could it have possibly been too mild, up to now in my cool greenhouse?

You are collecting a good few plants Peter, only time will tell for some, its always an experiment, trying to find those that do well in the conditions you are able to provide.

 

My pride and joy at the moment is Salvia discolor which is blooming well in the greenhouse (unheated)......................


Outdoors, Salvia confertiflora is in bud again, Salvia elegans is in bloom, as is Wendys Wish................


I too have been tempted by Medinella but have resisted. Love the Brug!

 

Noisette - I had to Google to see exactly where Lot-et-Garonne is. What a lovely situation. You will have quite a different climate, but I was interested to hear that you also have icy blasts - and bring your plants into the house.

I am interested in getting an ornamental Citrus - preferably one with small orange fruits, but for mainly ornamental purposes. Any ideas Noisette or Pete ? Even smallish plants seem to be very expensive, so I would like to get one that is suitable to grow all year in my garden room. Do they produce fruit reliably?

LongK, from what you have said and from what I have read that S. discolor seems to be exceptionally long flowering - its lovely. My S. leucantha is still trying to flower, but my garden room has virtually 100% humidity and the blooms tend to go mouldy. By the way did you get my PM about Salvia seeds?

I was out today and couldn't resist yet another plant - An Areca or Butterfly palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens). It was only £1.85. Its very small and in my naivity I thought it would grow quickly. But I see now that it is slow growing, which explains why good sized ones are so expensive. Although my garden room is already full - I work on the principle that there will be room for more plants if I don't pay a lot for them.

 

Hello Peter, Your best bet for the citrus would be a calamondin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calamondin
or a kumquat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumquat , they're both relaible flowerers, although most citrus do better if put outside as soon as severe frosts are finished. I've killed more citrus plants through coddling than I care to remember! If you intend to keep it in your lovely garden room, you could go for one of the more tender sort, like limes, buddha's hand or grapefruit?
Lot-et-Garonne is good for orchards (local speciality is prunes) and farming, but too extreme for gardens unless you are a gambler who doesn't mind losing.....
Re. the humidity, are 'plastic box dehumidifiers' available there? They're reasonably discreet, with either a bag of silica gel or a moisture absorbing tablet. On the bright side, you shouldn't have any trouble with red-spider-mite!

 

Hi Noisette. Very many thanks for the suggestion of a Calamondin. Its a name that I don't know - but it looks ideal. Amazon are offering them through a sister site. Their description is :-

However another site said that the fruit take about 12 months to ripen, which is slightly at odds with the above quote of three times a year. But the winter minimum of 5C sounds just right.

I was away over Christmas and when I came back I removed the condensation from the garden room roof and it filled two thirds of a bucket. Every day its quite heavy, and I think it would swamp any silia gel or other similar material. I have about 100 pots with an average size of at least 10 litres or more - including plenty of 35 and 50 litres. That means over 1,000 litres of compost that was bought in soaking wet in the autumn. So the quantity of water involved is pretty huge.

 

I look at over wintering plants as being a compromise. I think they are better off outside so that their time inside is minimised. So I don't want to bring them in until cold weather arrives ... so I am perhaps slow to put them indoors at that time.

Perhaps I should bring them in earlier in Autumn based as much on the amount of rain we get as how cold the forecast night temperatures are

Sorry, forgotten the answer: have you got circulation a fan in your garden room? It won't reduce condensation on the windows but I do think it will dramatically reduce the ill effects of damp on the plants.

 

Kristen - I previously had a smaller summerhouse on the same spot, and had exactly the same problem of condensation. At first I thought it was just caused by the cold weather, but I noticed that it was much less in late February even though the weather then was at its coldest. I now have no doubt that it is as a result of bringing in large quantities of water in the pots in autumn, which all has to come out as condensation. So, yes, I am giving serious thought, now that I have the space, to bringing some pots in a bit early when they are drier.

I don't have a fan, and my humidity gauge says 99% humidity. I have been concerned, but generally the plants seem to be happy, though I have learned from the past to be careful to remove all fallen leaves and other dead material where botrytis can lurk.

The only plants that would be unhappy would be my Echiums, where the faintest whiff of humidity will rot the growing point - so I have kept all those inside the house. The Salvia leucantha flowers tend to go mouldy, but again - Salvias like it dry. Brugmansia flowers don't have that problem.

 

I ran a fan in my conservatory last winter, I had it on a 15-minute segment timer from memory one about 15 minutes in each hour, perhaps less overnight. last winter was wet, previous winter was very dry (we watered plants IN the garden that winter!!). Last winter I had no problems with black sooty moulds etc., winter before (no fan) I had quite a few problems.

I think just moving the air, humid or not, makes a significant difference.

 

Re the calamondin, I suspect that like most citrus, there are several flushes of flowers per year so you get fruit at various stages of ripeness...All my citrus except the Australian finger lime and mandarin are flowering again now as well as bearing fruit of various sizes and colours. Re. the watering, you'd definitely need to let citrus dry out in winter, even in a constant 10C. They hate wet roots! If they're stood in saucers, make sure they're never standing in excess water.

 

Thanks Noisette. I have been doing a bit more reading and, as you say, it appears that Calamondin can have flowers and fruit at different stages of development all at the same time.

I have come round to the belief that you really only want plants that need the same conditions sharing the same space. So in my garden room I am keeping plants that are happy, or indeed crave, high humidity and keeping the dry lovers in the house. Low/no winter watering fits in well with the other tender perennials at the lower temperatures of the garden room.

 

I had a wonderful day yesterday. Having Googled Calamondin I had seen what you can get for your money (they aren't cheap). And although you can buy them online there is the problem of them getting frosted in transit. So I went to Gordon Briggs nursery at Walsden http://www.gordonrigg.com/ - as much for a day out as for any specific purpose.


There, almost the first thing that I saw, was exactly what I wanted. Calamondon (Citrofortunella microcarpa) 33 inches tall for £26.09 - twice the height of one advertised by Amazon for less money. Many thanks for the suggestion Noisette.

Thus embolden, I went on a spending spree buying another 9 plants for the grand sum of £18.64


Aeschynanthus 'Big Apple' for £1.99. This photo is from the internet, but mine was still a big plant at perhaps half the size or more. I think it had just finished flowering and had been relegated to the bargain rail. 'Big Apple' is a hybrid, but I have seen three sites and each gives different parentage. It is supposed to be a prolific flowerer and can flower almost all year round.

A Gesneriad site said this of the Aeschhynanthus genus
Some reference books claim a requirement for high humidity and warmth. While many of the species may do well under such conditions, it has been my experience that many of these plants thrive in fairly cool temperatures, and produce their best bloom when emerging from a chilly winter to the warmth and brighter light of spring. The trick is to keep them on the dry side, and to try not to force new growth with excess fertilizer during the cooler times of the year. I also believe that the cooler temperatures help the plants tolerate the intrinsically less humid conditions of winter -- dry heat is destructive, but a cool dryness seems to be less so.


Aeschynanthus lobbianthus (Lipstick Plant) - 68p. Photo of my plant. It looks rather similar to the above, but by this stage I was starting to feel the excitement that the plant hunters of old must have felt - albeit I was only hunting, during a wet afternoon, in a garden centre.


Alocasia 'Calidora' (Elephant's Ears) - £2.69. No that's not me - its an internet photo.
I hadn't realised what I really had until I got home and Googled it. This is the real giant elephant's ears. Its a hybrid of gageana and odora, and can grow up to 6 or 8 feet or more as above. Stephen Prudence, on another forum said he had grown these and suggested that it goes dormant below 7C but continues to grow slowly at a slightly higher temperatures. Eat you heart out Colocasia esculentos lovers.


Aruacaria heterophylla - (Norfolk Island Pine) - £3.38. Internet photo - though its difficult to find a photo that does it justice. The foliage is so distinctive and soft. Eventually it will grow into a full grown pine tree. It likes it cool. It can grow to 200 feet, but its slow growing only adding one layer of branches a year - so it will take a while.


Beaucarnia recurvata (Elephant's Foot Palm) - 7 small plants for £2.48 - actual photo.
Often mistaken for a palm, this is a succulent from Mexico. Hardy to -5C. Will grow to 6 feet in 20 years. The base holds a reservoir of water so it can go for periods without watering.


Clerodendrum thomsoniae AGM (Glory Bower Vine) - 45p. Internet photo.
This was on my wanted list, but I never expected to see it in a garden centre, and certainly not at that price. It comes from tropical West Africe and likes warmth and humidity, but its quoted as hardiness zone 10 (min -1C) to 11 (above 4C). So it sounds hardier than you might expect. Its a fast grower and can easily reach 6 to 10 feet. In the USA it can be invasive - but I doubt that it will be in Yorkshire.


Clarodendrum Wallichii 'Prospero' (Bridal Veil) £1.79. Internet photo.
This is one that I had never heard of before, an evergreen from India to China. I thought it would be rude to turn it down. Again it can reach 6 to 10 feet. Hardiness zone quoted as 9 to 12.


Stephanotis floribunda ( Madagascar Jasmine) - £4.49. Actual photo.
An evergreen twining vine from Madagascar. RHS says fragrant blossoms from May to October. This plant needs to be told that. Needs warmth and humidity, but will tolerate 10C in winter. Can reach 30 feet - zones 10 to 11.

Oh! and I nearly forgot, I bought another Jasminum polyanthemum for 68p. I paid £2.99 for my first one, 10 days ago, which I thought was very cheap - but this one was bigger and better.

All in all, a good plant hunting trip. I think I will try North Korea next week.

 

Some great finds and bargins there @PeterS especially the Alocasia 'Calidora'

 

Peter, I missed most of this thread.
You have picked up some really good plants there.
Regarding the citrus, personally I'd go for something with edible fruits, maybe a lemon or a clementine, I think they are a bit hardier than calamondin, but I could be wrong.

The Beaucarnea will not like high humidity, and as Kristen says, I think you need fans to keep the air moving if it is that damp at this time of the year.

Norfolk Island pine is a good plant for your conditions, best outside in summer, and they aint all that slow.