hi from derbyshire

[joolz68]

Hi Joolz.

Welcome aboard, You're doing the right thing there, by holding back, and planning on startibg your 'tropical' theme next spring.

Cheers nigel,it will take me till spring to work out what to plant i keep looking at folks garden photos to get more ideas,so baby steps at the mo

[Kristen]

i keep looking at folks garden photos to get more ideas,so baby steps at the mo

Hi Joolz

I got a lot of ideas from JungleNuts garden:

http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/forum/v ... 76#p223076

there are other photos etc. in the Blogs forum:

http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/forum/v ... .php?f=135

which you might find sources of inspiration

[Clive60]

Joolz, I may have sent you two, I can't remember now but it is either Salignus or Pallidus, Pallidus has shorter darker leaves when older. Dunno whether that helps or not!

[joolz68]

Joolz, I may have sent you two, I can't remember now but it is either Salignus or Pallidus, Pallidus has shorter darker leaves when older. Dunno whether that helps or not!

Im not sure strongy,salignus rings a bell ,i looked at the rest of the seed bags last week and theres only one bag with no name on the rest are labeled name& colour but il check again tomo(box in my pot shed at mo) and report back x
Cant wait for them to flower..prob another yr or 2 yet getting there x

[joolz68]

Joolz, I may have sent you two, I can't remember now but it is either Salignus or Pallidus, Pallidus has shorter darker leaves when older. Dunno whether that helps or not!

You was right you had sent me both i found them,i think they salignus as the leaves are bigger than the rigidus

[kathmarr]

Hi Julie

Nice to meet someone else in the area Its sooo cold here today!

I have been in Derbs for 2 years, having moved from a bit further south. Love tropicals, so although I am no expert I am learning verrrryyy slowly through advice and trial and error:

Trachycarpus's have been the best hardiness-wise for our area (we have had down to -16 in our little frost pocket here!!).

Lost a couple of smaller dicksonia tree ferns, but got a big one through last winter by wrapping and stuffing with leaves.

Also lost lots of bananas (ensetes and basjoo) but kept some going by keeping growing in the greenhouse (trying 'drying out' this year, as seen on one of the forums here, as there is no room to keep them all in greenhouse now).

Canna: personally I can never manage to get them to come alive again after winter either in pots or dried out. No amount of heat, light or anything seems to work for me! So although I love them, I have resigned myself to a life with very few Canna. Left a couple in the ground this year though as a last, probably futile attempt!

Lots of ferns and slug resistant hostas have been great for making things look tropical, and a great load of rhododendrons started me off by filling a big space with lots of green and amazing flowers in spring.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Kath

[joolz68]

Hi Julie

Nice to meet someone else in the area Its sooo cold here today!

I have been in Derbs for 2 years, having moved from a bit further south. Love tropicals, so although I am no expert I am learning verrrryyy slowly through advice and trial and error:

Trachycarpus's have been the best hardiness-wise for our area (we have had down to -16 in our little frost pocket here!!).

Lost a couple of smaller dicksonia tree ferns, but got a big one through last winter by wrapping and stuffing with leaves.

Also lost lots of bananas (ensetes and basjoo) but kept some going by keeping growing in the greenhouse (trying 'drying out' this year, as seen on one of the forums here, as there is no room to keep them all in greenhouse now).

Canna: personally I can never manage to get them to come alive again after winter either in pots or dried out. No amount of heat, light or anything seems to work for me! So although I love them, I have resigned myself to a life with very few Canna. Left a couple in the ground this year though as a last, probably futile attempt!

Lots of ferns and slug resistant hostas have been great for making things look tropical, and a great load of rhododendrons started me off by filling a big space with lots of green and amazing flowers in spring.

Hope this helps, and good luck!,
Kath

Thanks kath,your info is a big help ive been here(blackwell) 3/4yr now i moved from soggy manchester ,im sorry to here of your losses ,ive been googling info for months it tiring me out now thinking what to plant luckily the space i have left to plant in is only 15ftx15ft and i want a path going threw the centre..ish ive seen the slug proof hostas im def getting some ive got a few more ferns book marked aswell,only got 1 small Trachycarpus up to now but im holding out for larger plants for xmas pressies
im leaving my musa basjoo in it can take its chances but lifted my red banana to see if i also can revive it next yr
Having a bash a growing cannas but i might fail,planted some bottlebrush(could survive)and my greenhouse is full with echiunm,fatsia,datura,trex,cordylines,bottlebrush,agapanthus etc and lords knows how many fuchsias fingers crossed it all survives or il itl be more cost in spring x

[dino]

Julie, Fatsia's bone hardy

[Julia]

Hi Joolz.

Welcome aboard, You're doing the right thing there, by holding back, and planning on startibg your 'tropical' theme next spring.

Hi Julie, we are in the same boat as I have too starting collecting plants ( actually finding hard to stop!) lol but im waiting for spring before I plant and design my little patch
Roll on blooming spring I HATE winter

[redsquirrel]

hi Julie,lucky you living there,a most beautiful unspoilt area of the country....in the summer
spent many a moon staying at bradwell and castleton,even hope village a few times.
mam tor is epic,but like i said,in the summer. went for christmas one year,it was flippin freezing

[joolz68]

Hi Joolz.

Welcome aboard, You're doing the right thing there, by holding back, and planning on startibg your 'tropical' theme next spring.

Hi Julie, we are in the same boat as I have too starting collecting plants ( actually finding hard to stop!) lol but im waiting for spring before I plant and design my little patch
Roll on blooming spring I HATE winter

Hi julia , i hope you dont get brain ache like me,im trying to cram as much info in as i can in so i can partly get some of it looking ok The more i look here at everyones stunning gardens the more i want so i can understand you keep buying,i keep googling and seeing what i thinks possible to grow and how to blend in a 50ft sycamore tree il look forward to seeing your patch i will have to do some before & after pics x

[joolz68]

hi Julie,lucky you living there,a most beautiful unspoilt area of the country....in the summer
spent many a moon staying at bradwell and castleton,even hope village a few times.
mam tor is epic,but like i said,in the summer. went for christmas one year,it was flippin freezing

Hi redsquirrel, thanks its is beautiful but ive not visited a lot of places yet,comes to the kids holidays and they leg back to manchester so ive not seen the point of a lot sightseeing,hardwick halls round the corner i enjoy roaming round there and matlock not far plus garden centres on the way does get a tad chilly here,snow dont help.. only having 1 village shop and traffic non accesable when bad snow ya could starve to death

[redsquirrel]

get a tropical cow and some chickens for exotic essentials

[Julia]

Hi Joolz.

Welcome aboard, You're doing the right thing there, by holding back, and planning on startibg your 'tropical' theme next spring.

Hi Julie, we are in the same boat as I have too starting collecting plants ( actually finding hard to stop!) lol but im waiting for spring before I plant and design my little patch
Roll on blooming spring I HATE winter

Hi julia , i hope you dont get brain ache like me,im trying to cram as much info in as i can in so i can partly get some of it looking ok The more i look here at everyones stunning gardens the more i want so i can understand you keep buying,i keep googling and seeing what i thinks possible to grow and how to blend in a 50ft sycamore tree il look forward to seeing your patch i will have to do some before & after pics x

I've got brain ache, alright!! My head is spinning .
I've gone from, in July thinking about doing something with my patch!!
August , joining the forum , started collecting plants.
Bubblewrapping GH ready for winter.. Buying a heater and thermostat for GH.
Being interested in the weather more (frost) Seriously thinking about getting a weather station.

But having to pace myself as my bank account can't take much more!!
So I've got all winter to still do lots of reading up on everything