Gardening blog for growing rare, unusual, hardy exotic plants from seed. Topics covered will include seed germination, scarification, plant hardiness and other topics of interest so you can grow tropical plants. This gardening blog is presented by http://www.tropicalrareseeds.com
Aristolochia MacrophyllaAristolochia are a genus of plants containing
evergreen and deciduous vines and herbaceous perennials
They're found in most parts of the world from temperate to tropical and
as usual, the more flamboyant of them come from the warmer regions.
Here in the U.K. they're probably best known as plants growing in the
tropical house of your nearest botanical garden where the unusual shape
of the flower gives us all something to ooh and aah about and gives rise
to the nicknames of "Dutchman's Pipe" and "Birthwort".
The reason for the first name is pretty obvious when you look at the
flower, but the second name is because it's supposed to resemble a birth
canal.
Certain Aristolochia species have a long history of use by Man for
medicinal purposes.
Unfortunately, it seems that some of the concoctions can have nasty side
effects one of which is death.
I grow Aristolochia Macrophylla which is a hardy deciduous vine from
eastern N.America where it's a popular plant for growing up walls,
fences and old tree stumps etc.
A glance at the photo, shows that the flowers are pretty insignificant
looking things, but this is more than compensated for by the leaves.
On a well grown plant, these heart shaped lustrous beauties can be up to
12 inches long and almost as wide.
As they grow they overlap each other forming a dense screen that's
almost impossible to see through. (A great place for hiding the family
heirlooms, at least for the summer.)
In nature, A.macrophylla is found in damp woodlands and alongside
streams and this gives us a clue as to how it should be grown.
A well prepared soil enriched with plenty of well rotted organic matter
is ideal and if combined with plenty of water and fertilizer during the
growing period, the result will be a superb plant.
Come the end of May, any winter protection on your tree ferns can be
removed.
Although you should still keep an eye on the weather forecasts, the
danger of any damaging frosts at this time of year is minimal.
So we can now move on to caring for our tree ferns during the summer.
As with all plants, we should look to their natural environment to give
us clues as to how we should look after them.
In the case of D.Antarctica, they come from areas with a high water
content such as forests, some of which are at high altitude (cloud
forests) alongside stream beds and gullies.
I should point out, that although they like plenty of water, they will
not tolerate waterlogged roots so drainage must be first class.
Once established, they’ll also stand some dryness but this should not be
for prolonged periods.
For best growth and appearance, frequent watering is a must.
If you have the time try to water twice a day or more, especially in hot
weather and thoroughly soak the plant.
If you only have the time to water it once then do it in the evening,
evaporation is considerably slower at this time due to the temperature
cooling down thus giving the fern more time to take up water.
Use a good quality general fertilizer and apply it at one half or one
third full strength at every other watering.
This is called the “little and often” principle and means that your fern
gets small amounts of fertilizer at regular intervals rather than in one
big dose.
Once a month, drench the fern with plain water, this will leach out any
unused fertilizer salts.
If these salts build up, they can cause root damage.
Cultivation
In the Garden
If you follow the instructions in my Blog Palms!Planting out your
treasures you won’t go far wrong.
In case you’re wondering, I use the same method for putting in all my
plants I just scale it down for small pots.
Clearly, you don’t need to dig out a large area for a plant in a 4 inch
pot.
If you buy your plant as a plain log, that is without any roots, don’t
plant too much of it in ground, you only need enough to keep it stable.
Use stakes, three if necessary to stop it from rocking about and remove
them when the fern has rooted.
Keep the log well watered at all times during the summer.
Where to site your fern can pose a problem or two.
With two points of interest, namely the fronds and the trunk you want to
show them both at their best.
The text books tell us that filtered sunlight is ideal but
unfortunately, not many of us have this kind of situation in our garden.
I’ve found that a position in open shade avoiding at least part of the
hot afternoon sun is fine.
Late afternoon or early evening sun when the heat has gone out of it is
also o.k. Don’t try to shoehorn your fern into a tight space, give it
some room to develop.
D.Squarrosa
I’ve included D.Squarrosa because it’s one of those plants which seem to
be on sale everywhere.
D.Squarrosa is a New Zealand tree fern which unfortunately isn’t
reliably hardy in the U.K.
That isn’t to say it can’t be grown outdoors here, in fact they have
some planted out at Birmingham Botanical Gardens but they need full
winter protection to succeed.
What usually happens is that people buy one of the small plants that are
available nowadays and leave it outside for the winter, where the top
growth promptly dies off.
This effectively kills off the growing point of the fern preventing any
further growth from the top.
If this happens to you, don’t throw the fern away because you’ll
probably find some new growth coming up at the base of your fern.
Strange as it may seem, this new growth seems to be far hardier than the
parent plant and you should be able to leave the fern out all year
round. (I do!)
D.Squarrosa should always be kept moist and on no account should it be
allowed to dry out
Cannas are another plant that has made something of a comeback in recent
years bringing height and with some varieties gaudy leaf colour into the
garden.
Like most people, I’ve always thought of Cannas as garden plants but
this is far from the case.
In fact, Cannas have a history of cultivation as a food source
stretching back hundreds possibly thousands of years.
The rhizomes of C.Edulis and other species are a rich source of starch,
the leaves and stems can be used as animal fodder while the young shoots
are cooked and eaten as a vegetable.
In fact nothing is wasted even the seeds are used in rattles and in
tortillas.
Canna StriataThe first garden hybrids were created in the middle of the
19th century and this led to an explosion of new varieties ready for an
eager gardening public to buy.
In the U.K; Cannas fell out of favour in the early 20th century and many
of the new introductions were lost to cultivation.
There’s a fair bit more I could write about these magnificent plants but
with space at a premium, I’ll finish this section here.
I’ve grown many varieties of Cannas over the years but nowadays I tend
to stick with four of my favourites and they are: C.Indica, C.Musifolia,
C."Striata" and C."Tropicana".
Cultivating Cannas is easy, in fact it really isn't any different from
growing Hedychiums.
The rhizomes should be planted in a warm sunny spot, in moist soil
that's had plenty of well rotted manure dug in.
Cannas love moisture and they're greedy feeders so for best growth and
appearance, really give them a good regular soaking and feed heavily
with tomato fertilizer.
At the end of the season, the rhizomes can be lifted and stored for the
winter or they can be left in the ground and mulched for protection.
Native to the Americas and the Caribbean, it’s the hardier species from
North America which are of interest to most enthusiasts including me.
Depending on which book you read or website you access there are between
40 and 50 Yucca species and sub species native to the U.S.A. and Mexico.
Y.Glauca is one of the hardiest and it can be found growing as far north
as Canada and from there south through the Great Plains into Texas.
It provides us with a useful demarcation line between the hardy and
winter wet tolerant species to the east and south east and the hardy but
less tolerant of winter wet species to the west and south west. (This
conclusion is based on my experience.)
Yucca Gloriosa
At the present moment I have a small collection of 12 species, the
majority of which I’ve grown from seed.
Here’s a breakdown of the plants I’m growing now starting with the
hardier types from the east/south east.
All of these are growing outdoors without any protection.
Y.Glauca, Y.Filamentosa “Gold Sword”, Y.Gloriosa, (and Y.Flaccida) are
fully hardy and should come through the winter unscathed in most parts
of the U.K.
Y.Aloifolia, Y.Gloriosa “Variagata”, these are also hardy but in my
garden they’ve suffered some minor leaf damage.
Y.Gloriosa itself is something of an enigma.
I've seen it described as a zone 7 plant on some websites and a zone 9
on others.
Whatever its zone is, my Y.Gloriosa pictured right, which I’ve grown
from an offset has turned out to be one of the hardiest plants I’ve
grown suffering no winter damage at all.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the Y.Gloriosa I’ve grown
from seed.
Now small plants, they have suffered some damage to the leaves.
Compared to some of the other's I’m growing though, this has been minor.
Yucca BrevifoliaThe plants in this section are those I’ve grown from
seed.
All are native to the west and south west of the U.S.A. and Mexico.
Many find their home in one or more of the 4 great deserts that are
found in this part of N.America, The Mohave, The Chihuahuan, The Sonora
and The Great Basin Desert.
From these dry semi-arid areas of N.America, come most if not all of the
more spectacular members of the Yucca clan.
Y.Brevifolia "The Joshua Tree" largest of all the Yuccas and a
magnificent plant which really does grow to tree like proportions.
Native to the Mohave Desert, it has a National Park named in its honour.
Y.Whipplei from California (Baja) and Mexico is best known for its giant
stem packed with flowers hence the popular name "Our Lords Candle".
Finally, from the Great Basin Desert comes the smallest of the Yuccas,
Y.Nana.
Found in only one area of Southern Utah, Y.Nana was only discovered in
1985.
Described and named in 1998 it has been given species status but this in
itself, has caused some disagreement among experts over its validity.
In between these examples, there are a host of other equally magnificent
plants deserving of a place in anyones garden.
The names of the plants I'm growing now are listed below together with
their U.S.D.A. zone rating.
If like me you're overwintering small plants outdoors, then I'd advise
you to provide them with some form of cover to keep the worst of the
elements at bay.
Failure to do so will almost certainly result in leaf damage and in
severe cases, the loss of plants usually through the roots rotting.
This is due to the fact that these Yuccas come from areas where they
have cold dry winters where as here in the U.K we have cold wet winters.
(How winter wet affects the large or specimen sized plants that are
popular nowadays I don't know for the simple reason that I've never
bought one.)
If you bring you're plants indoors to overwinter them, then beware of
Red Spider Mite as this little beast can do considerable damage to young
plants.
Cultivation
There's no great secret to growing Yuccas just two essentials, Sun and
excellent drainage.
With some of the hardier species from the East/S.East you might get away
with light shade and a slightly moister position.
However, I've found that species from the West/S.West aren't so
accomodating and at least with me, they've proved to be very intolerant
of excess moisture, even in the Summer.
With these latter species, if they're planted in positions where there's
constant dampness, root problems, particularly rotting are an ever
present danger and these are difficult, almost impossible things to cure.
Planting Out
A south to west facing position in well drained soil is o.k. for the
eastern species, while the western species need as much sun as you can
give them, a south facing spot being ideal.
If you live in a cold area, planting them against a south facing wall
will help give them some protection from the worst of the elements as
these areas tend to be a bit drier than the open garden.
As noted above, I've found that the ability of the soil to dry out
quickly is critical for the western species and for those whose gardens
have less than perfect drainage, I'd definitely recommend building
raised beds.
There are those who advocate digging in piles of gravel to improve the
drainage, but if like my garden clay makes up a large part of the soil,
then to my mind you're simply wasting time, effort and money.
In Pots
Some of the eastern species make attractive pot/tub plants for the sunny
patio with Y.Gloriosa variagata and various forms of Y.Filamentosa being
popular.
I prefer plain clay pots for larger plants, only using plastic when I’m
growing plants from seed or offsets.
A straight mix of half and half J.Innes no2 or 3 is fine and if you want
to add more gravel, then it won’t do any harm.
If you use plastic or glazed pots, then increase the amount of drainage
material.
Remember, unlike plain clays, plastic or glazed pots do not “breathe” so
water takes far longer to evaporate, the compost must dry out quickly
otherwise you could get problems
Jan 09 Rare, unusual exotic hardy seeds for the garden, greenhouse & conservatory: Cassia fistula
This is an amazing looking tree, not native to Africa however introduced
here. It's hardy to below freezing if you place a layer of leaves over
it and keep it dry with some fleece, it can be kept smaller with pruning.
The flowers on this one hang down like wisteria and vary in colour from
light yellow to a bright citrus colour we have made sure to collect from
a variety of populations. The flowers are followed by long pods about 2
foot long that are filled with fairly large seeds, simply run the seeds
over some sand paper soak them until swollen then plant, it's that easy.
Whilst I have not tried it myself this tree has an excellent potential
as bonsai material or at least kept dwarf in a tub, in it's natural
state it's covered in blooms.
For a selection of rare and unusual seed please see our Ebay shop. Stock
varies according to season. http://stores.ebay.co.uk/tropicalrareseeds
Cassia fistula now available from Tropical Rare Seeds
We are currently developing our webpage http://www.tropicalrareseeds.com
to include cultural guides and our full inventory which will be sold
exclusively at our Ebay Shop.
Jan 09 Buy Tropical Seed Online Cardiospermum Balloon Vine
Cardiospermum also known as balloon vine or love in a puff is an
interesting quick growing vine and very easy from seed. Each seed which
is easy to handle is also unusual in that it has the pattern of a heart
on it.
This hardy exotic vine is great for covering areas in the garden that
you desire and makes a great privacy fence and is delightful to attract
wildlife in the garden.
What makes this climber unique is that it has a long blooming season and
is covered in delicate white flowers. These are followed by green
inflated pods which when the sunlight streams through them glow green
then ripen in colours of the African sunset, bright yellow, orange and
red. In time these ripen to brown and at all stages cardiospermum is
great for floral arrangements, you could even spray paint the pods gold
or silver for Christmas.
If you are imaginative these pods either resemble alien eggs, UFO's but
I think they look like lanterns so I call this plant the "Goblin Lantern
Vine"
This is one plant that will attract attention and is something different
and fun for the garden, you will have a great time popping the pods or
simply enjoying it.
It's also fairly easy to germinate, simply soak the seeds overnight
after sanding the outer coat and plant in free draining compost.
We have this vine available at our Ebay shop which can be accessed
through our website http://www.tropicalrareseeds.com
We have a fantastic selection of rare and unusual seeds for the garden,
greenhouse and conservatory and our range is expanding. We also have a
selection of videos on plant species we offer from seed and also various
"how to" videos and we are also developing a gardening blog.
I have made a video on how to scarify hard coated seeds so they are
easier to germinate, it involves sanding the seed coat and soaking the
seed and placing it in moist paper towel. I hope you enjoy these behind
the scenes videos. we collect fresh seeds in Africa and they are sent to
the UK and you are able to buy them on our Ebay Shop which is located
here: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Tropical-Rare-Seeds If people wish to see
a certain video please let us know, we are also able to source seeds for
you and if you are after a certain variety of seeds I will go and look
for them for you.
We are currently developing our webpage http://www.tropicalrareseeds.com
to include cultural guides and our full inventory which will be sold
exclusively at our Ebay Shop.
