Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Tropical Pictures and Gardens #104, 1 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:
Franco, did you get a job at a nursery? Hoo, boy! You just need discipline, sir, and to choose carefully. Oh, and you need to move to Florida . . .

Don't know about the Medinilla, but Plumbago is a big landscape shrub here. It takes well to being pruned so you can keep it just about any size you want it. In winter it does go dormant if the weather gets cold here. So I'd imagine that's one you could give the 'cool basement' treatment along with the banana. Calathea will love it in your bathroom alongside your ixora. They like humidity and fairly low light. I know a DG'er who has grow bulbs in the light fixture in his guest bathroom for winter - they'd boost your mood, too!

Suggest you think about tropicals that go dormant for your future purchases. eg. these gingers in the pic die right down to the ground, but just keep 'em cool and barely moist, they'll jump right up again in spring. (with pot, they're 7 feet tall right now) They can be outside until frost threatens, but then you can let them go to sleep in the basement, and not have a crazy greenhouse in your living space all winter. You might get away with this with the hibs, too. But they would need a little water and a little light each day even in dormancy. One Gro-Bulb on a timer in the cool basement would do it.

Um, do you have a neighbor with a nice sunny window who would 'board' some of your plants over winter? Relatives or friends? Local nursing home?