Tender Plants
By siris
19 comments
These tubs of tender plants are along the inside wall of our lean-to conservatory, which is kept to about 7oC in the winter, very occasionally dropping lower.
The tub, first left contains a Calamondin Orange, which I have had for many, many years.
October 4th 2015, flowers on the plant along with a fruit from the previous winter’s blooms.
February 14th 2016, the orange is colouring up. As the fruit is very bitter I candy them in a sugar syrup, or use them in a G & T. I also have a lemon tree shrub.
At eye height on the back wall, there is one of 3 wall tubs, containing one of my Cymbidium Orchids.
As the soil in the Citrus tub is acidic, I pushed a broken scale of Lilium specosium into the same tub. The resulting lily bulb would be impossible to separate now from the shrub’s roots, but grows better inside, where it has never been attacked by lily beetle, (Fingers crossed), I think because all tubs are stood in a water tray. Pictured during the summer.
The next tub contains a Crinum, the bulb of which I bought in Madeira in July 2015, see how it has grown in the first picture. It will be put along with the tub into a sheltered place in the sunny front garden for the summer, along with my ornamental ginger, which even now is touching the ceiling.
Also from Madeira, 2 corms of Watsonia, 1pink, 1 white according to the label. They are tender Spring flowering, going dormant in summer, waiting to be plunged into the garden come May, hopefully to flower there. If the corms multiply, I will put the biggest of each in the garden permanently, and grow on the babies inside.
Alstroemerias ‘Rock n’ Roll’ awaiting release. Me, awaiting the promise of red flowers.
All the tubs and trays in the conservatory are on a timed automatic watering system. Even the Cymbidiums, which flower from Christmas till Spring, get a dose of tap water, hard and chlorinated, until they go under the carport roof for their summer holiday and a bath in rain butt water.
All the heavy tubs are in trays on wheeled trolleys, the Citrus go outside in mid summer.
This started as a blog, about the plants progress at present but got carried away ……………with……more plants in large tubs, like the Strelitzia and the Bougainvillea
and plants in the conservatory that flower at other times of the year….Cyclamen & Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) several each of 3 varieties amongst other pots and more wall tubs for hanging Cactus, Aloe and Tradescantia.
On the outer side, a 3 tiered stand, on which to display a variety of plants when flowering.
To the right on the floor a long sand tray containing cuttings and seedlings, Aquilegia, Iris crosses, etc etc, but I won’t go on any longer. I will show you the resulting Irises in 3-4 years time if they survive the seedling stage, and predatory slugs, snails and beasties in the garden.
12 Mar, 2016
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Comments
I love all these plants. ' Balcony' will too.
Good to know someone cares for them so well all winter.
12 Mar, 2016
What a marvellous conservatory Siris! Its surprising you ever get around to gardening outside...
I could almost imagine I was smelling the orange blossom.
12 Mar, 2016
Diana, they do their own thing during the winter.
Sterna, the temperature has been a little too cold for the scent of the citrus, although there has been masses of blossom.
13 Mar, 2016
Well done, Siris ... everything looks very healthy.
13 Mar, 2016
Congratulations, you have as many in as we have out lol but yours are far more colourful, and require special treatment, very interested in the calamondin orange, especially the g&t part!!.....I think we should have kept the lemon in the conservatory instead of the porch, no flowers at all, we do not do well with lemons!!
I like the look of the Alstroemeria Rock and Roll, and look forward to seeing the watsonia developing...
13 Mar, 2016
The conservatory is 26 ft long, but quite narrow so a long run for plants, although I did get carried away with the wonderful plants in Madeira, last year.
13 Mar, 2016
Dd, do you pollinate your lemon by hand? If it is in the porch maybe pollinators can't get in to do their business. I try to put a fine brush over my Cirus flowers as they open so early.
14 Mar, 2016
Wow lovely plants Siris !!
The crinums are in my greenhouse till they grow a bit I'll put them outside for the summer when the weather warms up.
14 Mar, 2016
How lovely. Smashing to have an area to grow such beautiful plants.And you are certainly making a good job of it.They like it there!
14 Mar, 2016
The crinums here are C. moorei, which were used to create C. powellii (there is a white and a pink form). I have some that have been growing for 20+ years and the bulbs have gotten to larger than a rugby ball and the leaves are already around 4' tall. When I finally get to clearing the area they are in, I'll take some photos.
14 Mar, 2016
Simbad, I am going to keep my bulbils of your C. powellii (swamp lily) inside all year, but watering very well, going to take 3-5+years to reach flowering size.
Thanks Paul, Have to watch the summer temperature in there, especially when it is shut up all day, but it does have an automatic roof vent.
Whylie, looked up C. moorei, but that is not the bulb I bought in Madeira, flowers are spray like, like C. asiaticum, a really big fella.
The pink powellii I bought at Keukenhof gardens, about 4 years ago, but put it in too dry a position in the garden, so tried to move it last year and severely damaged the mother bulb, which sort of shredded, but there were loads of bulblets around her, which I potted up.
15 Mar, 2016
The proper name is Crinum × powellii and is a cross of C. bulbispermum × C. moorei. It gets its swamp lily reputation from the C. bulbispermum side. If it is spray like, then it might not be C.× powellii, but another cross. There are around 36 species and a lot of hybrid Crinums.
15 Mar, 2016
Wylie, there are two different bulbs, C x powellii with the lily/trumpet like pink flowers ( thanks for its' ancestry) and the white spray like flowered one from Madeira, believe to be C asiaticum or a X.
15 Mar, 2016
looking great
Gg
16 Mar, 2016
Great display of exotic plants Siris. If I would not know better I'd think you are in Mexico. Your conservatory must be a pleasure to be in.
24 Apr, 2016
Would be, if one could get in for plants.Haha. At the moment all my cuttings and seedlings of perennials are in trays on the terracotta floor, waiting to go into the garden, because it is rather chilly outside at present.
24 Apr, 2016
It will all change soon :-)
24 Apr, 2016
Hopefully warming up next week-end.
24 Apr, 2016
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Ps, note to Simbad, the pink Crinum, will look like this very tender Madeiran Crinum, bulb and plant form.
12 Mar, 2016