By Ellen Barredo ]An abbreviated version of this article appeared in The Gateway Gardener June 2014 issue.] There’s nothing quite like being surrounded by boldly textured palms! Here are a few suggestions for success with palms. Purchase your palms at a local garden center as they usually acquire their palms from reputable growers that have techniques set up to ‘Light
» Read moreBy Ellen Barredo Tropical hibiscus (H. rosa-sinensis) have been a top interest with customers this year. Top requests are for single flowering plants in very clear colors or bi-colored flowers. Hibiscus has also been a top re-post on my Pinterest Page! Who can resist them? Hibiscus are in their glory right now and provide an explosion of color on the
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I like to use indoor foliage to provide the fall seasonal color. (This article was first published in the Gateway Gardener November 2010 issue.) By Ellen Barredo I find the calendar once again flipped open to the month of November and again the yearly thought crosses my mind …Decorate for the Harvest. With the kids long grown I seldom haul
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By late September, I am readying my tropical plant collection for the indoors by trimming away dead or damaged growth, checking for insects and spraying, if needed, and inspecting potting soil for slugs and various critters. By Chris Kelley (This article was first published in The Gateway Gardener October 2006 issue) It’s time to start dreaming big about your tropical
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By Chris Kelley Photos courtesy Missouri Botanical Garden PlantFinder (This article was first published in The Gateway Gardener July 2006 issue.) One day, while casually walking through my greenhouse, my addiction to tropicals became clear. Who wouldn’t love and covet the amazing variegated and colorfully patterned leaves that occur so often in this heat-loving genera? I think I can trace
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This article appears in the June 2011 issue of The Gateway Gardener magazine on stands now. By Ellen Barredo Early this winter, my local supplier of tropical plants, Rich, called with an interesting story about Miracle Fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum. While touring a Florida supplier Rich and his daughter Danielle encountered a greenhouse that contained potted Miracle Fruit with small red
» Read more(This article was first published in The Gateway Gardener April 2006 issue.) Text and photos by Chris Kelley Close your eyes and make a wish. A wish for beautiful foliage, superb architecture, and WOW appeal. If your wish comes true, you’ll be growing elephant ears, those denizens of steamy tropical and subtropical climates named Alocasia, Colocasia and Xanthosoma. We’re talking
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