🌸 This remarkable caudiciform Morning Glory -Ipomoea platensis- is growing from a large caudex! The caudex can be of some weird shapes and forms. Similar to Desert roses (Adeniums), it grows caudex for water storage to survive extended drought periods. This is one of our favorite plants, easy to grow, makes a great conversation piece. It is a perfect for bonsai
📚Learn more from previous post: A beauty from Argentina
A: Gardening is not only a fun way to spend time
but also an opportunity to bond with family and friends. Get everyone
involved in planting flowers, starting a vegetable patch, or even organizing a
whimsical Easter egg hunt amidst the blooming garden.
The joy of gardening offers mood-boosting benefits, leaving you feeling
invigorated and cheerful during the festive holiday. Plus, the sense of
accomplishment when your garden begins to flourish perfectly aligns with Easter's
spirit of personal growth and transformation.
Head out to your garden with a spring in your step and a smile on your
face. Revel in the beauty of nature, spend time with loved ones, and watch as
your garden transforms into a lively, colorful haven.
New
article by Jane Jordan.
"...The famous quote is often used to imply that the names
of things do not affect what they really are, in the case
of The Desert Rose (Adenium obesum) it is not a rose at
all, rather a succulent that thrives in hot, dry and sunny
conditions. These spectacular plants have no relation to
the rose family, they are a species of flowering plant
from the dogbane family, Apocynaceae. The naming of this
plant is partly correct as they originate in sub-Saharan
Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, where they can grow into
large trees with huge swollen trunks..." Continue reading...
Date: 22 Mar 2017
Condo Mango
Q:
I was curious about indoor fruiting mango trees.
I live in upstate New York and was thinking about trying to grow an indoor
tree for fruit. I have a small heated greenhouse. Is there a variety that can
be grown from seed that would suit my purposes and if not what is the most
economical way I could obtain a cutting or small grafted plant? I keep my
greenhouse around 60F in the winter and have no supplemental lighting. Are there
any varieties that may work in a sunroom or other well lit indoor
location?
A:
There are many dwarf varieties of mango suitable for container culture. They
are called "condo mangoes".
The most popular condo varieties are: Carrie, Cogshall, Cushman, Fairchild,
Graham, Ice Cream, Julie
, Mallika, Nam Doc Mai,
Pickering. You may read more about them in our online
catalog. You may also look into variety
Lancetilla which is also a compact tree, and produces one of the biggest size
fruit, up to 5 pounds. If you want some rare variety that hardly anyone else has -
try Baptiste, an exotic Haitian dessert
mango.
Your greenhouse should work for the winter time. Mango trees can take
as low as mid 40s during winter and even lower as long as that cold is
occasional. If you keep the temperature around 60, this should work well for over
wintering. Just make sure to reduce watering to a minimum, because cool
temperatures, low light and wet soil - is a bad combination for tropical plants,
especially for mango trees which prefer to be kept on a dry side.
Many indoor gardeners have fruiting mango trees in their collection. However,
keep in mind that the most important requirement for a mango is full sun.
While you may over winter the plant for a few months in a low light conditions,
in order for it to flower and produce fruit it needs lots of light. If moving
the tree into full sun your yard during the summer is possible, this would
be the best solution.
We always recommend
SUNSHINE boosters for both over wintering tropical plants in colder
climates, and for indoor gardening. SUNSHINE applications will help your tree to
cope with cool temperatures and low light conditions. This will also
dramatically increase flowering and fruiting performance. Another important factor for
keeping your container plant healthy is quality of your potting soil. We
offer a special
professional mix that contains lots of good stuff: coconut fiber, peat moss, pine
bark, and perlite. Fertilizing potted plants
is also very important during the warm season, because this is the only way
for them to get nutrients (which in the ground can be reached by spreading
root system).
As far as seedlings vs. grafting - the only way to
have a nicely fruiting mango tree is to plant a grafted variety. Seedlings start
producing only after 8-15 years, and the quality of such fruit may be
questionable. Only grafted plants can guarantee the desired taste of a variety.
Besides, grafted mangoes start producing immediately - you may see fruit forming
on plants as small as 3 ft, in 3 gal containers. However, during the first
1-2 years you will need to remove extra fruit and leave only 1-2 fruit so the
plant doesn't get exhausted and has enough energy to establish strong root
system.
For fun stories about growing mango, check out our Radio
Show recording YO Tango Mango!
Date: 4 Jun 2019
Plants for South Texas and other hot states
Q: Pretty much adore last newsletter. Haven't been buying because
our weather here in deep south Texas is so bad it is stunting and killing
even the Tamaulipan Scrub! Do you have a cure for that? :) I have every
expectation the new grafted Plumeria I purchased from you last year will bloom soon.
One of my favorite plants. Thanks again and keep up the good works.
A: Yes, there is a "cure" - using biostimulants that improve drought- and heat- resistance (SUNSHINE
boosters), plus the right plant selection. In fact, there is a large number of
tropical rare plants that can be successfully grown in hot climates like yours.
One of our partners lives in hot and dry Arizona area and has an amazing
tropical garden that includes many fruit trees (Mango, Persimmons, Pomegranates, Loquats, etc). Here you can see a few pics from his garden.
Your choice is absolutely right about plumerias. Other easy plants would be Desert roses - Adeniums, and Fancy Euphorbia millii - all these come in so many varieties of colors
and bloom throughout most of the year. Our special recommendations for you
would be also:
