Tropical Plants in the Outdoor Garden Waking UP!

Today's blog, although not as colorful with flowers, I hope will be useful for gardener's in the north who crave the beauty and exotic nature of tropicals. Of course, the first plant that I think every outdoor garden should have is the "Hardy Banana" Musa basjoo. Although, bananas are not produced from this variety, the defining tropical look of banana leaves growing in a northern garden is delightful and a mind boggler.

At Logee's our stand is now four years old and every year keeps getting bigger and bigger.

The chicken wire and hay is Hardy Banana's resting place for the winter.

Here is a picture from last summer. At the greenhouses, the "Hardy Banana" (Musa basjoo) gets fed every watering and in one season grows taller than our storage shed (the roof in the upper left corner of the picture).

My banana stand at home is not as large as at Logee's but I only feed my banana twice a week. Plus, this banana is only two years old. Here is my stand of bananas in early April after taking off the hay. Notice how the brown growing tips are starting to unfurl. Soon with the increase of sunlight the stocks will turn green and start shooting straight out of the center.

Another favorite in early spring is watching how our fig plants came through the winter. You can winter over practically any fig with the right procedure. This past winter we left the fig in the ground, cut the fig back to about four feet in height, tied up the branches and then wrapped it in insulation and then a layer of plastic.

To our amazement this fig, one week after being uncovered, is already forming little figs and new leaves. We will most likely get two crops of figs this year. The figs we have in stock right now are Ficus carica 'Petite Negra' and Ficus carica 'Ischia' ( a yellow fig).

Another surprise this past week was how quickly our Hardy Kiwi set (Actinidia arguta 'Anna') is leafing out.

Here we've planted a male and female plant side-by-side for pollination, to insure fruit. We didn't cover the kiwi since it is Zone 4 and we are in Zone 5. We simply have given it good support. These plants are in their second year.

Finally an experiment I'm doing at home is with our Hardy Gardenia (Gardenia jasmenoides 'Frostproof)'. I planted it near my front porch so on summer evenings I can sit outside and breathe in the heady scent of gardenia. 'Frostproof' is a Zone 6 plant so I wasn't sure it would survive the winter. I mulched it with leaves and figured since it was planted near the house it might have a better chance of surviving. Well to my great satisfaction it is sprouting green leaves. Byron has warned me that this may be false hope because he doesn't think I mulched it enough. I'll let you know as the season progresses.

Notice the green leaves at the base of the plant.

The Gardenia is one of my favorites and is a perfectly formed flower with a welcoming sweet fragrance.

Early Spring Blooms at Logee's

Spring is in the air at Logee's especially with this past week of warm weather. Flowering plants in the greenhouses are showing off their brilliant bloom like this Red Stictocardia macalusoi or this "Purple

Horn of Plenty" (Datura metel 'Cornucopaea'). This Datura is in bloom in a 2 1/2 inch pot and is well known for its evening fragrance, often used in moon gardens.

The Thunbergias were also shouting loud and clear with their bold strokes of color. Thunbergia 'Sunlady' with its dark defining eye in the midst of bright sunshine yellow petals and its cousin Thunbergia 'Grandiflora' also known as the "Blue Skyflower of India." Although, I think the color has more of a purple hue than blue. Both of these Thunbergias are great plants for the summer patio or outdoor

garden if you have a trellis, wall or fence for it to climb up and around.

Next, happy trays of the "Chenille Plant" (Acalypha hispida) were boasting their cattails of lipstick red bloom. These full sun plants can be grown in a hanging basket or trained as a standard.

When trained as a standard the catkins get very long and look like a chenille scarf. When put in direct sun the catkins will remain bright red.

And right around the

corner were pots filled with Plumbago auriculata 'Imperial Blue' . These are both full sun plants that are everbloomers. Of course, if given more sun the color

of the blooms become brighter. We had a friend that put Plumbago auriculata in 15 moss hanging baskets and had them placed around her pool for the summer. Stunning doesn't even begin to describe the effect!

Growing Tropical Fruit Book in the Works

Growing Tasty Tropicals in Any Home, Anywhere (pending publication by Storey publishing, fall 2010) has been in the works for a long time. Byron and I have been collecting exotic and tropical fruits for well over a decade and have finally taken the time over the past year to write all the interesting fun facts and cultural tips on how to be successful with potted fruit. The title page (pictured to the right) plus 160 other pages were sent to us this week for our review.

We recently had our illustrator, Beverly Duncan, visit us to get a

first hand account of the plants. Byron explains to Beverly the growth habit of our Black Olive (Olea europaea 'Arbequina'). Later she shows us her sketched olive tree.

Our category of citrus in the

book needed clarification. Here Beverly has the fruit of an Australian Finger Lime (the small

green fruit) and she is comparing the color of a Tahitian orange and the Myrtle Leaf orange. Both varieties

are miniature oranges but the color

distinction is subtle unless side by side. The lighter colored orange is the Myrtle Leaf Orange pictured here as a bonsai tree.

Another interesting fruit that we showed Beverly on her visit was our "Brown Sugar Fruit" (Manilkara

zapota Sapodilla 'Silas Woods'). This is a rare and tasty fruit that when mature will produce egg shaped fruit that can be cut in half and scooped out. The brown sugar taste and custard like texture is a delectable treat. Sapodilla plants are also known for their ability to produce chicle, a natural latex used in chewing gum.

Lastly, Beverly needed to see how Dragon Fruit (Hylocereus species) grew. It is shown here growing up a support and once the vines get a little bigger the red dragon fruit will appear.

Recently, I was in Florida collecting plants and I couldn't help but notice a local nursery that had neat rows of Dragon Fruit Trees cultured like standards. If you look closely the central stem is simply a pole that the vines have wrapped around. Impressive!

Jade Vine In Bloom at Logee's

The Jade Vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) is in bloom in our Greenhouses and the eye-catching display of jade-colored flowers will stop even the most casual visitor. In the Long House and in the Fern House you can see this native Philippine vine, each with 8 to 10 dangling chains of flowers.

The flower chains pictured are in different stages of blooming. First, the flower chains emerge out of either woody or new growth to start their trek downward. Then, as the chains reach their full length the blooms start opening from the top down. The flowers only last 4-5 days but the succession of bloom will continue. Flower chains can reach a few feet to 10 feet in length, if space permits.

As the flowers open, the stem bends with the weight of the bloom and forms a display of unusual jade flowers. Once the plant gets to be the size of your thumb in width, the plant is ready to bloom.

Our vine was two years old before it started blooming and presently is four years old. To be successful make sure you have plenty of room, lots of sunshine and sturdy support for your vine to

ramble around. Once it has reached maturity hard pruning will be necessary.

These are excellent plants for conservatories or sunrooms or a trellis in the south, which is Zone 10 or higher. Come take a peek!

How To Assemble Logee's Sunrise Succulent Collection

Succulents are a great way to bring color, form and texture to your indoor garden. Our Logee Sunrise Succulent Collection is comprised of 5 different succulents and then arranged in a way that makes an eye-catching statement!

Our Greenhouse manager, Rick Logee, loves

growing succulents. He says, "They are easy-to-grow, and only need water every other week or so." What about light level? "Grow them in

full sun and in the summer, take them outside on a deck or patio for the strongest light."

Follow the video instructions below to create your own

Logee Sunrise Succulent

Collection. You will receive in the mail five plants, clay saucer and soil.

The five plants that make up the Collection are: Euphorbia 'Firesticks' shown growing in trays with red-tipped ends, "Variegated String of Buttons" (Crassula perforata), "Watch Chain" (Crassula lycopodiodes), Anacampseros 'Sunrise'- the pink-blushed low grower, and Echeveria

'Black Prince'- the dark rosette-shaped plant.

Click on the arrow below to play the instructional video.

Logee's on Facebook and Twitter

Whoo Hoo...Logee's is on facebook and twitter. Yes, this year 2010 we are exploring all the social networking. Logee's is over 118 years old and change is sometimes difficult.

Well, we are changing with the times, at least a little bit. If you want to follow us on facebook and be a fan, click on our facebook link. When you get to Logee's facebook simply click on Become a Fan. If you want little tweets (up to 146 characters) about sales, new items, visitors, etc, then click on our twitter link.

Here's Ashley our Customer

Service Supervisor taking on the task of keeping us current on Facebook and Twitter.

We are learning all about how to reach people in a way that is convenient and useful. If you want blogs, you are in the right place. We're committed to blogging at least once a week,

but don't worry we will keep the "Secret Garden" aspect of Logee's the same. We don't want to get to far away from the natural world. Plus part of

the intrigue of Logee's is walking through the the narrow aisles, looking for the secret door that leads into the next greenhouse where little plants and big mother plants all grow side by side. Notice the tray of trichodiadema densumin bloom today and the archway into one of our retail greenhouses covered with a ficus vine. Enjoy!!

The Plant Shipping Process

At Logee's, we take great pride in shipping our plants that have been carefully grown in our greenhouses. We ship nationally and our plants have to be tucked in, stabilized and carefully wrapped to ensure safe delivery.

Sabina, our shipping supervisor at Logee's does a fantastic job heading up Logee's shipping department. During our busy season, which begins now, she will have up to 8 people working with her. The plants are groomed, wrapped, and tended to with the utmost care.

Click on the arrow below to play the video.

The small plant being shipped in the video is Jasminum Azoricum.

Pictured are the mature fragrant flowers. It is one of the sweetest jasmines we grow and can reach 2-3 feet in a pot within a season. Remember to give this vining plant some support like a trellis or wire hoop so it will bloom in full sun from spring through fall.