A trip to Hickory Grove can turn your backyard, deck or patio into a...

Flowering tropicals are the latest rage.  Just because you don’t live in Florida doesn’t mean you can have the vibrant colors that flourish is those warmer climates.   These plants enhance your porch, patio, or deck in the spring and summer then do double duty to beautify your home in the winter.

Here are just a few of the vast selection you’ll find in our greenhouses:

Hibiscus - A favorite flowering shrub of the tropics, it is easy to grow and comes in almost every color in the rainbow. Buds appear year-round on new growth. This plant loves to summer outdoors on your deck or patio.

Tibouchinas - Few colors in nature have the richness and opulence like the purple of a tibouchina in full bloom. Rich dark velvet purple saucer shaped flowers with long curly stamens adorn this beautiful shrub throughout the spring and summer months.

Mandevilla - Spectacular and showy tubular flowers cover this free flowering shrub/vine. These plants are very popular outdoors in warm weather and indoors in cooler temperatures.

Passionflower - Clinging by tendrils to trellises or stakes or trained to string around a window, passionflower vines display intriguing blossoms of 10 outer petals and an intricate inner crown among deeply lobed leaves.

Bougainvillea - Bougainvilleas are fast-spreading tropical vines noted for their spectacular clusters of papery 1-inch petal-like purple bracts.

Fertilize house plants for strong vigorous growth and lush green leaves or more and bigger flowers. To make it easy for you we will make two plant food categories.

20-20-20 - Use this plant food with all green non-blooming house plants.  This balanced fertilizer supplies enough nitrogen for optimal growth as well as provided enough phosphorous and potash to encourage a healthy root system and strong stems.  Two exceptions to this “non-blooming recommendation” are Flowering Tropical Hibiscus and the Sweet Scented Gardenia, both prefer a fertilizer that has an ‘acid’ component such as Jack’s Classic Acid Fertilizer .

 

15-30-15 - Use this plant food for blooming house plants. The “30” in 15-30-15 is

phosphorus which promotes flowering in your blooming house plants.  Follow the

Package instructions.

à Tropicals require tons of sun; remember they are native to warm, sunny and humid places.

à Tropicals need excellent drainage.  Soil should contain some peat/bark, and some potting soils can be too heavy.   Use a professional mix potting soil.  Keep evenly moist throughout the summer months. 

à Once the night temperature stays above 55, you can place the plant outdoors, doing so slowly.  Start with a shady location and gradually begin moving into more sun.  Process should take up to 10 days.  Too much sun too fast will cause leaf burn.

à Avoid excess water in the saucer.  This might cause root rot. 

à Fertilize regularly, this will keep the plant looking great and full of blooms.

à Before moving inside, spray plant with an insecticide to kill any bugs or eggs.  You don’t want to expose indoor plants to a potential problem. 

à The plant will go through an adjustment period, with less sun and drier air.  It will most likely develop  yellow leaves and lose of flower.  This is perfectly normal.   

à Do not repot in the fall or winter.  The plant growth slows drastically during the winter months so save repotting for spring. 

à While inside, let the plant dry out between waterings.  With its growth slowing, it will require less water and fertilizer.  Misting the leaves and adding a humidifier will help combat dry air. 

à In late winter you can prune as much as you like. To keep the plant on the smaller side, prune more severely. 

à If your tropical is in a sunny location and still growing and flowering, add a slow release fertilizer for indoor plants and apply a general fertilizer occasionally to induce blooming.