Keep Your Tropical Plants Looking Good!

Summer's not over yet and with a little bit of attention your tropical plants can still bring lots of color and joy to your living space. When mid-August arrives, the growth of summer is at its fullest. Managing this growth is simply a matter of trimming, pruning, and fertilizing. Sometimes removing the old flowers and turning the pot is all that is needed. With a little focus on care, my tropical plants were spruced up in about an hour. Of course, before looking with a critical eye, I made sure to look at the beauty before me and appreciate the lush growth of the season.

These flowering maples (abutilons), which love partial shade, are at my front door and are such a great contrast to the black solar fence. Abutilon ‘Kristen’s Pink’, ‘Vodoo’ (the red one), and ‘Bartley Schwartz’ (the orange one) are happily growing. I fertilize these with an organic topical feed about once a week.

Next to the Abutilons, I’ve used Salvia’s as a border plant. The Salvia gaurantica ‘Black and Blue’ and Salvia coccinea ‘Peach’ attract a multitude of hummingbirds every morning.

Enough admiring, now it was time to get to work. My old but trusted pruning gear.

I removed the dead lower leaves of this Lemon Grass potted in a blueberry pottery container. I found this pot at a yard-sale last year for $2.

Nicely groomed, it was time to take a picture of Lemon Grass. I use lemon grass in tea and it is also used as a favorite ingredient for Asian cooking.

My Mandevilla Sun Parasol ‘Giant Crimson’ that grew inside last winter, is in non-stop full bloom this summer. However, it needed its old flowers removed.

A close-up of the discoloration of old blooms.

Now the new flowers looked better and the buds about to open have room to fully display their magnificient color.

The Geraniums needed a few dead leaves and branches removed.

The two plants in this container, Pelargonium Balcon Royale Red, and Desrumeaux started out as plugs only 8 weeks ago.

Angel’s Trumpets (Brugmansia) are always fast growers in the summer. They are heavy feeders and need fertilizer at least twice a week with plenty of water.

This Brugmansia I’m making into a standard. I won’t be able to identify this one until it blooms.

This is my Angel's Trumpet, Brugmansia “Angel’s Summer Dream” grown as a standard. I love the multitude of blooms. This was in a 4 inch pot in mid-June.

Origanum ‘Kent Beauty’ (oregano) started as a single 2 1/2" pot in June. I fertilize this once week.

My three year-old Hardy Banana, Musa Basjoo is in need of fertilizer. Notice the lime green leaves.

My other three-year-old hardy Banana in the lower gardens and has been well fed. Notice the dark green leaves.

A view from afar

A new Bamboo to be released next Spring. We test our plants for at least a year before we release them in our catalogue

Simply turning the Bamboo gave it a whole new look.

Ficus 'Chicago Hardy' Fig growing in my garden. This has been wintered over twice and is in its third year of growth.

One of my mixed containers with growth gone wild. The variegated Ipomoea batatas 'Pink Frost' and the Scaevola aemula "Fan flower" (bluish,purple) draping over the tall flowering pink Agastache 'Tutti Frutti'.

The wild look contained.

New Greenhouse Construction Update

We are half-way through building our new energy efficient production greenhouse, funded in part through a Federal Rural Development Grant and a Connecticut Agricultural Viability Grant. All of our tropical plants will need to be undercover and protected before frost sets in so we plan to finish by mid-September. Look at the process over the past two months. Edwin's Greenhouse Construction company from Pennsylvania and Rimol Greenhouse from New Hampshire and Dave and Terry Papuga of Donovan construction are doing an amazing job.

Our group of managers toasting the start of the new greenhouse.

(left to right)

Sham, Byron, me and Margaret sipping on sparkling lemonade.

The empty back lot at Logee's.

A total of 72 holes for the steel poles being dug.

The first of many tractor trailer trucks backing down the narrow pathways.

It's a tight fit maneuvering between our freestanding greenhouses.

Unloading the poles between the plants.

Poles standing tall

Green foam board hand placed for the radiant heat.

Tubing which will carry hot water for heating purposes.

Byron taking a break for a picture, Corey kneeling and Dave Papuga organizing the project during the heat wave.

A sea of green.

Byron explaining the project to Elijah, our 14 year-old son.

Byron meeting with Robyn from New Alliance bank.

The concrete has been poured over the green foam.

Another Truck loaded with the polycarbonate for the roof.

The truck was carefully unloaded by hand.

Each sheet was in good shape.

More Steel arrives.

Trusses are being built by the construction crew.

Trusses secured on the base structure.

Byron and John Wells from Rimol Greenhouses.

Deciding where to put an interior sliding door.

The polycarbonate roof is carefully going on the 4 bays.

The new greenhouse from afar.

July Heat Wave at Logee's

Like most of the country, this past week and a half has been humid and hot. How do tropical plants do in this weather? Mostly the plants, as long as they are kept well-watered, do well and in fact, is a time that our plants rapidly grow. The workers on the other hand get here at 7 am to water plants and get their "hot" work done before the heat of the day is upon them. However, the greenhouses can reach temperatures up to 105 degrees and our staff needs to keep well-hydrated to complete their daily tasks. This year, we are in the middle of building an energy efficient greenhouse so many of our plants are growing outside this summer. Take a look.

Two Angel's Trumpet standards with colorful hanging baskets on either side of our front entrance.

Pelargoniums adding a relief of color to the outside oppressive humidity.


Rows of Bananas growing fast in the heat. Musa 'Dwarf Lady Finger' and Musa 'Double Mahoi' are growing here in 4-inch pots.

A "Hardy Banana" Musa basjoo is rapidly growing in a 10 gallon pot.

Trays of Buddleia davidii 'Peacock'. Some of the flower bracts have gone by and will be groomed before they are shipped.

Solanum quitoense "Naranjilla" a new variety with heart-shaped purple leaves is an unusual plant that produces small orange edible fruit.

Healthy looking "Chocolate plants" or Theobroma cacao are on a cart getting ready to find a growing spot for the holiday season.

A large specimen "clown fig" Ficus aspera grown for its variegated fruit.

"Angel's Summer Dream" Brugmansia is known for its ability to grow and flower at less than a foot. Pictured here it is grown as a standard and is about 6 feet tall.

Papaya's love the heat and can create fruit this size in less than a year. This Carica papaya 'T.R. Hovey' is about 6 feet tall and is a three-year old specimen.

Little papayas shown growing in 4-inch pots.

The new greenhouse structure on the left and hibiscus growing on the right.

Here's a close-up of Hibiscus 'Estelle K'. Its orange blossom is large and magnificent and glows the fiery heat of the sun.

A new colocasia to be released this fall called 'Thai Giant.' It has happily grown in our test gardens for two years. The leaf span will reach 4 feet across by the end of the summer.

Finally, this hardy perennial "Bouncing Bet" Saponaria officinalis 'Flore Pleno'- is growing outside of Logee's retail store and is perky as ever on this 95 degree day.