I just picked up two nice sized cat palms on clearance for $5.00 each. I'll be integrating them into my landscape this year as annuals (I'd spend $5 on nice specimen plants for my beds.) I like to integrate my potted tropicals into my landscape every season.
What tips do folks have for bringing the tropics north? Do you have favorite tropic-like plants? How do you use zone-friendly plants in unusual ways to suggest tropical settings? Are there planting methods that suggest tropical settings?
I look forward to your ideas. :)
-Joe G.
Faking the tropics tips and tricks for us Northerners?
Use lots of sunlight and water!
What is a "cat palm"?
You could bury the pot outside, then overwinter it indoors and enjoy it year round vs risking it dying in the winter if it's not hardy in your zone.
chamaedorea cataractarum, http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60192/
Thanks Joegee, that would be a Cataract Palm. They are a Mexican forest understory plant. It needs shady moist conditions. Be sure to grow it in a large enough pot so it can freely divide and form a clump.