Crossandra

Fabulous colour Alex...

And dont those leaves just glisten in the sun!

Wow!
Just been out collecting seeds from my Polygala.

Thanks Motinot...

Leaves just glisten in the sun.....Tet??? Lol...You sound so romantic.

Thanks Meanie.
Hey, you finally got some seed pods. Has your plant grown much this summer? Has it moved up to a shrub from a stick???

Small shrub/big stick!!!!

Lol...better than just big stick.

I AM a romantic Alex...beats a big stick lol!

Very nice!!!

very nice

Me too Tet but I try to hide it.

Thanks PA and Paul.

Alexandramou:

This is definitely one of my favorite plants. It grows into a small shrub. I have some planted in the ground on the side of my house. They start to bloom in March, and continue until Christmas. The only problem I have with this plant is the snails love to eat the leaves in winter.

This plant may be a too tender to grow outdoors in your climate, all year. It's a native of Sri Lanka (Ceylon).

Delonix,
I love this plant as well. I read that it is an annual....it's not? Fantastic.
I'm definitely going to need a glass greenhouse soon....there won't be any room for the family in the house. I might try to get some in my hubby's polytunnel....he told me my plants were off limits there.

Gorgeous colour .. very pretty :o)

It's definitely not an annual! It's grown as an annual in cooler/colder winter climates, though. It's an evergreen shrub which can grow to 6ft/2m tall...although, it rarely grows more than 3ft/1m tall here. This plant will absolutely not tolerate prolonged cool weather without dying.

Here's a few of my pics and some info.

http://www.growsonyou.com/Delonix1/photos/Crossandra

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossandra_infundibuliformis

Thanks Terratoonies.

Ahh, thanks Delonix. Ok, another plant that's moving in with the family this winter.
I have it next to my Ixora at the moment....I think that one is moving in with us as well.

Yes, Ixora is pretty tropical...it really doesn't like cold temps at all. Although, when I was at Home Depot (the big box store here) the garden dept people were talking about how hardy and drought tolerant it is...and how they loved it in their gardenn (I was looking for a small Singapore Yellow Ixora).

I'm keeping mine outdoors....until I see it needs to come in. Will keep you posted.
Did you find your small Singapore Yellow Ixora?

I would guess you could keep your Ixora outdoors for most of the year. They're very touchy about getting very wet in winter, though.

For some reason they didn't have Singapore Yellow Ixora in stock.

My plan..........is to close off the back balcony with glass. I can keep all my ify plants out there all the time. Ofcouse the glass will slide to one side!!!

Now you know how I feel when I can't find the plants I want...(oh I'm a bad person tonight). ;o))

That sounds like a good idea. Usually, just having a closed off area can create the shelter the more tender plants need.

Actually, I could find the Singapore Yellow Ixora at another nursery. And it's my favorite nursery but it's a little more expensive.

We can pretty much get any plant here. There's so many specialty nurseries throughout San Diego County and southern California.

Thanks for bursting my bubble. ;o}

Sorry for bursting your bubble! :>(

We're extremely lucky here, though! Exotic plants are a HUGE business here in CA. If you can't find a specific exotic plant here...most likely through the endless garden clubs you can find someone growing and selling or trading the plant you want (it's great!). :>)

What's so exciting is there's many zone pushers in California (people who trial tropical exotic plants from around the world). Some of these people trialing these exotics have been very surprised.

Wow, that sounds fantastic. I can be a zone pusher in Greece lol lol lol. ;o\

When you experiment with exotic plants you're not familiar with...that considered a trial or zone pusher. It's fun!

I know there's some zone pushers on the southern Greek Islands. They post their information on Palmtalk.

Here in California some zone pushers have unsuccessful trial results...although, it seems there's more successes than not. California has so many mircro-climates...this is what makes it so interesting.

There you go then....I'm kind of a zone pusher. (Trying to growing exotic plants I'm not familiar with, yet).

Zone pusher, also means: someone who's pushing their zone and growing borderline hardy plants.

That could be me too...
I wonder if Greece even has zones???

Alexandramou:

Greece sure does have climate zones.

Here's one I found on the internet.

http://www.uk.gardenweb.com/forums/zones/hze8.html

Thanks for that Delonix. Hurray I'm in zone 10!!!!!!!!

This is going to be exciting now!!!

Yes, I noticed. This means you can grow a lot of tropical plants. :>) Based on your temps you appear to be in 10A which is only a little less mild than where I live..which is zone 11B or sometimes 11A.

This zone map is highly variable...so don't be too set on what the zone map says. There can be a lot of micro-climates within the zones. The zones are further broken down by zones by placing an A or B. Zone 10A average lows are between 30ºF/-1ºC to 35ºF/1.7ºC. (remember: the temps can be much warmer or even sometimes lower but it's all based on averages. This is what makes the zones so complex.

I am going to have sooo much fun growing tropical plants!!!

Yes, I agree there are a lot of micro-climates. For example: It is a little cooler where I live because it's right next to the sea and flat land compared to a little way up the hill...it's always a few degrees warmer that way and not as windy or humid.

As a rule, the closer one lives to the sea/ocean the milder the climate. So this is a very good thing. The cities that are located close to the Bay in the San Francisco Bay Area are in Zone 10A...and rarely gets frost and if they do, it's very light. Many subtropical/tropical plants grow very well, there.

So, what is the difference between Zone 10 and Zone 10A?

It has to do with average lows. Zone 10 has a 10 degree F. difference in average...10A, 10B is a little more specific...it literally cuts the zone average in half.

When you start studying climate zones, get ready for your mind to be boggled! It's a very complex system...which isn't a true science (too many variables). Zone 10 at 39º latitude can be very, very different from Zone 10 at 30º or 25º latitude.

Ha ha ha ha ha, I think I will stay away from mind boggling for a while.
Later on maybe once I have the shops all closed up and ready for winter I will have time to study climate zones. I find it very interesting.

Yes, you'll need a lot of time. There's been so much controversial information on climate zones here in CA., it not even funny!

I've been studying climate zones for more than 25 years. It's still as complex as when I started years ago. :>l

There's the Western Garden Book's 24 zones of the west coast. This climate zone breakdown is (in my opinion) one of the worst depictions of climate zones (because in many cases it's extremely inaccurate). I don't use it anymore.

The USDA Zone hardiness map is not all the great, either...it too, is not very accurate. (with this being said: zoning climates is very difficult, challenging work).

Here's a USDA Zone Map you may want to look at, for what it's worth. lol!

http://mgonline.com/articles/zonemap.aspx

I'm confused already....lol...
Gorgeous colour ....Peach would you say, and such lovely dark dark shiny leaves...

Yes Peach and dark shiny leaves...it's even better looking now that it's bigger.

:))) very nice...