Indoor Gardening and Houseplants: Norfolk Island PIne, 1 by plantladylin

plantladylin wrote:
Down here pretty much anything will grow planted in the ground outside. Sometimes we have frost but with a layer of mulch protecting the roots they seem to survive to re-sprout in spring. Frost hasn't seemed to bother the NIP but that is a different plant entirely. The Schefflera will turn to mush if we have a hard frost or two and we have dead looking tree stumps but green soon emerges again when the weather warms back up. Some plants will not survive a real hard freeze but luckily we don't have them ... just a rare one over the years.

I just recently planted a Dracaena Marginata Tri-Color on the south side of my house. It had been sitting in a pot out under a tree for years and was so root bound there was no soil left in the pot. Hopefully by next spring it will look a little perkier.

It is normal for D. Marginata to curve and bend like that. I had a huge one in my screened pool enclosure years ago ... it would grow up, hit the top of the screen and bend back sideways. You can cut off and root the top ... new growth nodes will appear around the cut so you will have branching. I don't know what your conditions are so I can't advise on whether this is a good time or if you should wait until spring. This is the time of year when it's normal for all plants to slow in growth for the winter rest, even houseplants so spring would probably be the best time. When the weather warms up you can move it to an outdoor location for fresh air and sunshine and it will more than likely take off like gangbusters putting on new growth.

I don't know of any online sites to recommend for pots.

This past spring we dug out all of the Hibiscus and Ferns along side of the house and haven't found the time to replant the area yet. I stuck the D. Marginata along that side and it looks so lonely waiting for the company of more plants. I just need to get busy and decide what I want to plant with it. I have a Pony Tail palm that I want to put in the ground somewhere too but will probably wait until spring.