Featured plant.Camptosema grandiflora - Dwarf Red Jade Vine

Camptosema grandiflora - Dwarf Red Jade Vine

Dwarf Red Jade vine. If you always wanted to own THE Red Jade Vine, here is your chance! Also called Cuitelo, Crista-De-Galo (Rooster's Crest), it is sometimes miss-identified as a Mucuna species. This amazing eye-catcher is closely related to Red Jade Vine, however, it is much hardier than the ultra-tropical Mucuna benettii! It is a spectacular fast-growing vine from Brazil with long pendulous chains of fiery bright red flowers. Heavy vine, it needs large trellis or pagoda. An arbor is ideal so that the brilliant flowering racemes can hang down from the ceiling. Blooms in fall and winter. Prune heavily in spring after flowering. Give full or partial sun with adequate moisture and fertilizer. It is very easy to grow, can tolerate some drought and light frost.

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Happy 2019 - Year of Earth Pig!

2019 is the Year of the Earth Pig, according to the Chinese Calendar, and it just started February 5!
In 2019, the corresponding element is once again Earth, as it was in 2018. So what happens when you mix the Pig with the Earth Element?

An Earth Pig year combines a realistic but happy-go-lucky sociable pig combined with the steady and sensible characteristics of Earth, it combines the relaxed attitude of the animal with a very "down-to-earth" realistic climate, don't try to push too hard, this is a time to take things in stride. For the Pig, it was definitely all about the journey and not the destination! Because of the Pig's willingness to always help others out, it tends to bring good things to everyone around him. The Pig in Chinese culture represents wealth and prosperity.

2019 is a good year for giving your garden a fresh start, and especially for establishing new fruit trees that will bring you the enjoyment of deliciousness and... always healthy good food on the table!

2019 Super Fruit

This year, to keep the Pig happy and helpful, every tropical gardener should get a Hog Plum - a fast-growing and easy to care rare fruit tree with delicious aromatic fruit. It will fruit for you this year!

For lucky Zodiac plants, see Plant Horoscope Page.

Early Spring predicted by Punxsutawney Phil!

Good news! The groundhog Punxsutawney Phil didn't see his shadow, that means Spring will be here early!

Time to start planning for your tropical garden to make sure give your rare plants an early start, and more time to establish. Check out our New arrivals!

How to set up indoor lighting for tropical plants

Q: My tropical plant collection goes indoors for winter. I have over 100 plants now and all windowsill space is taken. I am planning to build some shelves so I can also start some rare seeds indoors. Can you advise me on the choice of the grow lights so I can do it right?

A: Indoor plants are very unlucky: they have to grow in "caves," and everybody knows that plants don't grow in the caves. The luckiest plants win sunny windowsills, but even there they dwell rather like in underbrush under tall trees, where the sun illuminate them only early in the morning or in the evening, and its light is diffused by foliage. Usually, domestic plants are in desperate lack of illumination not only in winter but also in summer. No light - no growth, no flowering. So, plants need extra light to compensate for the lack of illumination in the "room-cave" conditions. And here is some science behind it...

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Check out our selection of tropical plants tolerant to low light conditions.

BELOVED AMAZON LILY

By Mark Hooten, the Garden Doc

Question: I'm hoping you can recommend a lush looking houseplant which will be happy in an otherwise bright "sun room" which receives only a little actual sunlight. Something that looks tropical and exotic, and maybe even makes flowers which are fragrant?

Answer: Perfect timing because at this moment, my much beloved Amazon Lily (Eucharis grandiflora) is currently flowering spectacularly! I've had this particular plant for nearly twenty years, and it's one of my absolute favorites.

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Check out our large selection of rare beauties that are great as houseplants.

Climate change is wiping out the Baobab, Africa's tree of life...

According to The Guardian News and Media, Africa's "tree of life" may not have much longer left... These highly important species are threatened with extinction, due to climate change and human development. Some species may not survive the next century. While plants have generally adapted to extended droughts, climate change is different, and with the Anthropocene, we are already witnessing the loss of these impressive trees. Africa's largest, oldest inhabitants, that have played silent witness to numerous generations, are already paying a heavy price for the environmental crimes of foreign lands.
Baobab forms an integral part in people's livelihoods. In West Africa, it is also called the "palaver tree" because of its social functions: when there is a problem in the community, meeting under the Baobab tree with the chief or the tribesmen would be synonymous with trying to find a solution to that problem; it reinforces trust and respect among members of the community. Its extinction would not simply be an environmental tragedy...

Every tropical gardener should have a Baobab to help to save this amazing species for the planet!