What's Looking Exotic in November

Canna Tropicanna Black is struggling in the cooler weather but has a third spike.


One of my Chamaerops Humilis, this double stem is now growing faster on one side.


The South facing exotic bed, the variegated Daphne isn't exotic but the scent is.


Begonia Gryphon, this one survived 1c a week ago but the other one nearer the front of the border burnt overnight.

 

I see you have a Nerium outside Strongy, has it flowered this year?

Are the Bananas coming under cover?

 

Hi Pete, the Neriums were only planted in Spring and flowered intermittently and not very full, I shall fleece bag them if it going to go below -1/2c otherwise they will take their chances.
One has two seed pods but I don't think they will ripen in these temperatures.

The green Ensete is almost too big and heavy to lift and repot so I might just let it go, I did cut some leaves off yesterday, I dug up a smaller E Maurelii, trimmed and potted that which is in the greenhouse hopefully heated to around 5c.

The smaller M Cavendishii will be dug up and potted but will need more heat so I'll TRY and fit it in the conservatory (along with everything else)

 

I know of a house not that far from me that has Neriums growing as the front hedge, its been there a good few years.
Even during the really cold winters.
This year it flowered exceptionally well.

 

Strongy - I think Chamaerops humilis is a wonderful plant and yours is a cracker. Can you treat Musa cavendishii and other bananas in the same way as Ensete 'Maurelii', ie cutting off the top and roots and storing them as dry corms.

I was on holiday in Italy a few weeks ago, and I never realised that Neriums are really quite big trees.

November was always going to be rather thin for the exotics - so I have just rounded up a few of the usual suspects that happen to still be loitering about.


Asarina erubescens - from seed this year. Its a climber already over 5 feet high, but I gather it could go quite a bit higher if I had the space. I am just hoping that I can get it through its first winter (under cover).


The ubiquitous Bougainvillea. It may be common but its still lovely.


Thunbergia alata.


Tibouchina urvilleana has been brilliant this year. Each flower only lasts 2 or 3 days but there were hundreds of them. However all those fallen petals leave quite a mess.


Eccremocarpus scaber is almost hardy in Yorkshire - but not reliably so.


Mandevilla has been flowering for ages.

 

Peter, Musa Cavendishii needs to keep growing and not become dormant and therefore needs more heat than the Ensetes, 8/10c minimum is best.

 

Thanks Strongy - I suspected that might be the case as I had never heard other bananas being treated like 'Maurelii'.

Hopefully I can manage 10C over the winter.Whilst my garden room will be heated, the natural light level will be low over the winter - so I suppose plants might get a bit leggy. Talking of light, I have just watched a recorded copy of Christine Walkden's garden program - very good. This episode showed Cragside - the first house to be lit by electricity generated by hydroelectric power. Almstrong also used the same power to rotate all his tropical fruit trees that he grew in his conservatory. The trees were all in big pots sitting on turntables slowly rotating. Neat.

 

Been a while!

November is usually a nice month.. a frost free month before winter gets under way..

First photo is my back garden, with Cordylines, Phormiums, and Trachycarpus fortunei, looking happy this Autumn... still growing.



Next photo, in the sheltered border, still outside, and still gets the elements, the Schefflera arboricola, (umbrella plant) which around 6 feet tall now (or 1.8m), and starting to branch out wildly.. still growing at the end of November.


The rest of the border by the end.. I have bird of paradise, scarborough lily, bougainvillea, chinese evergreen and Dieffenbachia growing further up, but for now, this is the most interesting area, with Schefflera arboricola, Chamaedorea elegans, Justicia rizzinii and Clivia miniata still growing happily, even in mostly shaded weather.

 

Good to see you Stephen

All looking great,you'd never believe we're nearly at the end of November

 

Thanks :-) yes.. after the pretty much frost free last 12 months, and what it seems like will be a record warm year.. our gardens must be looking great right now, up and down the country!

 

Its lovely to see all those things outside Stephen . I have had it down to zero or slightly below on 4 nights so far, so winter has come for me. But its surprising how some tender plants will take a little bit of frost. I still have several different Salvias in flower outside and Brugmansia was still flowering. I have just put my Brugs under cover and had to cut off a lot of flower buds to bring their heights down to 8 feet.

Being permanently inside, my Justicia rizzinii is now starting to flower. I wasn't expecting that for a couple of months.

 

B.sanguinea................


Surprisingly good colour still.................

 

I always found the lower the temperature, (within reason of course), the stronger the flower colour.

 

I have to agree. It's a luscious blood red now with well defined veining as well.