What's looking Exotic in 2020

John - fabulous. I rate the Wisley glass house as the very best. I only wish I was closer.


My own modest glass house. Happily it still retains its jungle feeling.


Jasminium polyanthum is already out. It has quite a strong smokey type fragrance.


Hibiscus is a bit reluctant to come out properly. Perhaps due to the low light and lowish temperature.


Calamondin is finishing its flowering and starting to set some fruit.


I love this spiral ginger - Costus barbatus. The foliage is so strange.


And finally one of several Anthuriums. I think they are brilliant plants because they flower for so long. This one has been in flower for months.

 

Gorgeous @PeterS ! Envy, envy, envy... How warm do you keep it please? I suspect my problems are because I am mean and keep the greenhouse too cool.

 

Hi Caroline - thanks.

I used to overwinter plants at not much more than frost free. But realised that a lot of the more tropical stuff needs higher temperatures, so I currently have my thermostats set at 16C. It was 18C last winter, but I thought 16C might be a bit cheaper.

I gather that a lot of stuff like bananas will grow very slowly if above 10C, but will go dormant below that, assuming they are frost free. I read that things like Anthuriums and Heliconia need a minimum of 16C. But, of course, there is also the effect of low light. Virtually everything in my glasshouse has remained green and in growth at 16C, with the exception of things like Amorphophallus and Curcuma which always hibernate.

I might add that my glass house was really built as a conservatory, but for plants and at the bottom of my garden where it gets most sun. So it's all double glazed, and as well insulated as a glass house can be - but it still costs.

 

Oh wow @PeterS, you were thinking ahead getting it double glazed. I'm afraid bubble plastic and polystyrene insulation board will have to suffice for my greenhouse.

 

I must have a return visit to Wisely @JWK, I've not been for about 10 years.

Looking good @PeterS, my heater in the greenhouse is set at 4c and a has hardly come on since before Christmas Nothing has suffered not even the Tillandsia usneoides.
My Plumeria in the conservatory has only just started to drop it's leaves as the lowest it has been is 11c.

 

@PeterS your Spiral Ginger rang a bell!
I took a photo of a clump of it in Sydney Botanical gardens last May.
Something to aim for!!!!

 

Hi Strongy - It has been a remarkably mild winter so far - bring on global warming.
Though, seriously, I do think it's a very big problem and the world is doing little about it.

I saw a talk by some professor, who was trying to make the point that global population growth was not a problem as it was slowing down and that we had little to fear. He also mentioned the three main global groups of the developed West, the emerging countries, and the almost totally undeveloped countries. He mentioning the size of each group and how much energy each group used per head. However a quick calculation showed that if every country developed fully and used the same amount of energy per head as the West, then the energy consumption of the present population would increase by a factor of ten. It seems that we do have a problem.

I love your picture. I am dying to see some flowers on mine one day. Do you think it spirals in the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere?

 

John. Great photos. I see. You live in Surrey, so reasonably close to Wisely. Perhaps one of these day we may meet up in the gardens.

I always find that a day in such enviroments isn't enough. Still we must be thankful for small mercies. Take care John.

 

Hi,

Two effective and cheaper methods of insulation over full double glazing.

1. build a simple wooden frame and fit the big 25mm bubble film over it and place the frame at least 25mm away from your greenhouse glass /frame, so you get a true insulation void.

2. Replace your glass with 10mm twinwall ploycarbonate, used the Wickes sheets on mine, easy enough to cut down to 610mm and can still fit beneath the standard glazing clips, but ensure the open ends are properly sealed.

I used method 1, but had to go to method 2 after glass breakages from footballs, though method 2 by far much more effective and needs very little heat to keep it above 4c all winter.

The downside to both is that you do not get a clear view to the plants inside.

 

I didn't notice if the ginger was spiralling the opposite way but I noticed water going down the plug hole anti clockwise.

 

Brilliant John - There is something very satisfying about the first time a plant flowers for you - especially if you have brought it back from somewhere exotic.


Bougainvillea has flowered on and off for a long period of time.

Last summer a couple of my favorite plants appeared to have died. So I cut off all the dead foliage and left the pots outside over the summer. I bought them inside in the autumn - just on the off chance. And have recently been delighted to see that both are sprouting again. Ipomea indica has grown very strongly and now climbed to 8 feet.


The other plant was Mucuna sempervirens - the purple Jade Vine (above pic from internet). I had grown this from a massive seed from Chilterns, who no longer sell it. So I was delighted to see new growth from a plant that I wouldn't have been able to replace.


Small Phalaenopsis. I saw some Orchids being sold off cheaply in a Homebase clearance sale - so have taken the plunge. It seems silly not to have any when I have an ideal climate for them viz heat and high humidity.


Dendrobium - is this nobile?


Phalaenopsis - the most common type. Again does anyone know the species or is it just a hybrid?


And is this an Oncidium? None of the plants had any names on them.