Tabernaemontana africana - a bush or a tree?

Q: I received a Tabernaemontana africana, but it is not the compact cultivar, from the photo, this is definitely the tree version, not the compact version?

A: The plant in your picture is Tabernaemontana africana and it is a shrub version, not a tree. The plants we have in stock are smaller size but very vigorous so they can be trained into standards.
We have this plant in our garden in the ground (3 years old) and by now it bushed out and remains under 4 ft without any pruning. Just keep in mind this plant requires regular applications of micro-elements, because the species is very susceptible to iron deficiency. The supplement we use, in case you notice any leaf yellowing, is Sunshine-Superfood.

How to grow Parijat indoors in winter

Q: I purchased Parijat plant last year spring. It had good growth in Summer, after that I kept the plant inside the house in winter. A couple of weeks it was ok, after that the plant lost leaves. What is a better idea for growing Parijat plant indoors in Winter?

A: Nyctanthes arbor-tristis, Parijat - is a semi-deciduous plant, which means, it may lose its leaves during unfavorable conditions such as drought, cold, low light and/or humidity. In your case, the plant dropped leaves because of the stress of moving indoors that includes reducing light and humidity levels. When a tropical plant loses leaves during winter, this means it goes into a dormant stage. If this happens, you need to reduce watering and keep the plant on a dry side, water in only when the top level of the soil feels dry to touch. Do not fertilize.
Try to place the plant in a well-lit spot such as a windowsill. If the windowsill and the window glass feel too cold for touch during wintertime, you may place a sheet of a Styrofoam underneath the pot, and a sheet of a bubble-wrap between the plant and the window glass, to create an extra barrier from cold. The plant may re-leaf during wintertime; if not, it may wait until spring, be patient.
Bring it back into outdoor light when minimum temperatures rise above 65F and resume fertilizing.

Recommended fertilizers for fragrant plants:

Pink N Good Daily Plant Food - Flower Booster
Plumeria Top Dress - Smart-Release Booster
SUNSHINE SuperFood - microelement supplement

Monster hybrids of Monstera: juvenile and mature

by Mark Hooten, the Garden Doc

Q: I am a rare plant collector and obtained a very interesing cultivar of Monstera from you that says it's a hybrid Monstera adansonii x obliqua. Is there a named hybrid? The leaves on this specimen that came in 1 gal pot are much larger than the plant I have grown in a 3 gal pot for a few years, under name of Monstera friedrichsthalii.

A: Due to their diversity, it is hard to find verified hybrids in the genus Monstera. M. friedrichsthalii is apparently an old Florida name for what is actually technically M. adansonii. The "primitive" juvenile growth is very different from the much larger more robust form that only occurs when it is allowed time to climb a tree, in which case the foliage becomes very different and much larger with many many more fenestrations (holes) of various sizes. If you visit our Garden Center, you can see the mature form climbing the oak tree in our Shade Garden in front of our office - we use this mature plant for propagation. If you take a cutting and don't let it attach to a bark/trunk and climb upwards, it will quickly revert to the wimpy juvenile form. Seems that even climbing a pole indoors, it never actually develops into the truly mature more complex adult stage. Some juvenile forms growing on a tree if given too much shade, do not develop into the larger mature form. Move it in more light and allow it to climb, and it will look very different, but still is the same plant under different conditions.