First attempt at a garden room

Kaz, that's GORGEOUS!! I'm jealous! I would LOVE to have a space to do something like that. What a wonderful space to have a coffee in the morning or sit and read.

 

Really nice , the only minus i give you is the dicksonia , but I would blame the garden center for it , like I told you they like moist and shade , when the heating will be on try to keep it wet ......the red banana will be fine in the pot and really don`t think will overgrow as the pot is not massive.
really nice , you should get at least 1 strelizia , is just the perfect plant and will give you back some lovely flower.

 

Kazzie I think it looks great, cant believe you kept it as a junk room in the past.

If its frost free I cant think you will have any problems as long as you reduce watering in winter.
I'm thinking growing a Butia and a Dicksonia in the same place will be a challenge.
Butia likes full sun tree ferns dont.
Do you also have some citrus plants?

Just steer clear of tropical plants and stick to sub tropicals.
Most sub tropicals actually enjoy a cool winter rest period when you can reduce watering.

As you progress you will find those that you like best, those that are magnets for pests and those that are trouble free.
Its all about learning and watching how plants respond.
Can be a slow process, but that's what its all about.

 

lol... it looks as though I'll be a high maintenance poster on here as the weather changes.

Armandii... what about a cat flap?

Thanks all for the thumbs up and suggestions. Sal - many moons ago I tried growing a strelizia from seed and FAILED!!! Maybe I should have another bash with an established plant. What would be the first signs that the DA is having problems?

Pete... it is starting to look as though the DA will have the most problems because it is a sunny room. I've got 2 citrus trees, a fitocella and lemon tree... they told me that neither would be nice to eat, but fun for me to watch the fruits grow:





Dreading the pests!

 

Beautiful space that! the DA looks very healthy there for now, keep it well watered, (the trunk as well) and it'll be fine I think.

 

Kazzie , sorry but fetocella is not a variety of citrus but the plast bag where they grow the plants .
The first sign of Dicksonia failure is the yellow leaves .
If you want to buy a large strelizia use this site.
http://www.ebay.de/sch/palmen3103/m...rt=nc&_trksid=p5197.m1992&_trksid=p4340.l2562

 

Best thing about Citrus in a pot is the blossom and scent, I've got to admit to never managing to grow sensible sized fruit in pots, although you do see supermarket sized lemons on plants in garden centres.

 

I've got a small lime tree that I winter indoors and the fruits ARE edible. I've had 6 or 8 off of it in the last year. Yes, you are likely to get some pests on your plants but if you catch them early they shouldn't be too much of a problem. There are store bought controls for them and homemade ones as well.
You have me thinking about bringing my DA indoors for the winter...........

 

Nothing other than envy!

How about some flowering climbers? I have Passion flower "Incense" (a variety that is a bit different to the usual bog-standard one)



and a nice dark-ish blue Plumbago (from Jungle Plants)



they are easy to grow from seed if you are not too fussed about how light the Blue is

 

Blushing about the fitocella lol... it is a citrus reticulata! Once I get through the winter I'll look at adding some more plants. Thank you for the link to strelizia.

Kristen, I had a passion flower in my last garden and spent so much time detaching it from near growing plants, I swore I'd never get one again! I think they are pretty though. I really love the plumbago.

 

I think Passion flowers are OK in a conservatory - in a pot of their own, with an "obelisk" to clamber up, when they get to the top train them back down, or just cut the wandering stem off and it will sprout further down.

I reckon that some of the more Poncy ones are much less vigorous than the bog standard Passiflora caerulea, which helps.

But you are bang-on-target about ones left to ramble outside