My Tropical Hoop House in Winter
Here in Bedford, New York, temperatures today are expected to be in the mid-30s with several inches of snow coming tonight - this winter has been very erratic.
Yesterday was warm enough - 67-degrees Fahrenheit - to open my tropical greenhouse for just a bit to let in some fresh air. This large hoop house is where I store most of my tropical plants over the winter months. The structure is heated and the humidity levels are closely monitored and adjusted when necessary. My Skylands gardener, Wendy Norling, who is visiting New York this week, took some time to check on all the plants and do some greenhouse grooming.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- Here at the farm, I have five different greenhouses. I call this one the tropical greenhouse. It works by heating and circulating air to create an artificial tropical environment. The entire structure is built using heavy gauge American made, triple-galvanized steel tubing. To simulate the best subtropical environment, we try to keep the temperature in this house between 50 and 85-degrees Fahrenheit with some humidity.
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- These plants grow a little more each year, so the placement of these specimens changes every time they are stored. Here’s a large sago. The sago palm, Cycas revoluta, supports a crown of shiny, dark green leaves on a thick shaggy trunk that is typically about seven to eight inches in diameter when mature, sometimes wider. The sago palm may look like a tiny palm tree with its glossy, stiff fronds, but it is not a palm tree at all. Sago palms are cycads, one of the most ancient plants that have been around since prehistoric times.
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- These are where leaves were once cut. The rough trunk becomes leafless as it ages and gives way to an evergreen crown filled with upward pointing fronds. The tips are quite pointy and sharp, so it’s best to plant it away from lots of foot traffic.
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- I have many sago palms in my collection – in all different sizes. The sago palm is slow-growing and can take up to 100 years for it to achieve its maximum height of 20-plus feet tall. It thrives in sunny to shady sites and can withstand some drought once established.
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- Also in this hoop house is a potted ruffled fan palm, Licuala grandis. It is an unusual and gorgeous species of palm. Ruffled fan palm is native to the Vanuata Islands, located off the coast of Australia. It is a very slow growing palm which can reach up to 10 feet, but usually closer to six feet when grown in a pot. They are grown for their gorgeous pleated, or ruffled, leaves.
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- This is a Chinese fan palm, Livistona chinensis. This palm is also known by the common name fountain palm because of the way their fronds arch up and then spill downward like water from a fountain. Each frond can grow 40 to 60 inches long.
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- Another palm is the European fan palm. This is a slow-growing, clumping palm that grows eight to 15 feet tall and spreads six to 10 feet wide. This is the only palm native to Europe and is very hardy. The fine-textured fronds make this palm stand out from other plants. The leaf color ranges from lovely light green to stunning silver.
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- I also have many agaves, including this blue agave with its beautiful gray-blue spiky fleshy leaves. Do you know… tequila is actually distilled from the sap of the blue agave?
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- The rigid, thick blue-green succulent leaves are marked with bud imprints and have undulate margins with prominent teeth. The blue agave may reach a height of six to eight feet and grow just as wide.
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- This is also an agave. All agaves do best in full sun and sandy, well-drained soil, and thrive on the scantest amount of water. Some are more cold-tolerant than others, but they can’t handle damp cold. Here, all the plants are stored with enough space, so that none of them touch.
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- Fans strategically placed around the greenhouse help to circulate the air. This day was unseasonably warm, so all the fans were running.
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- This is a Bismark palm, Bismarckia nobilis, which grows from a solitary trunk, gray to tan in color, and slightly bulging at the base. The nearly rounded leaves are enormous and are divided to a third its length into 20 or more stiff, once-folded segments.
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- This is a fig tree leaf. The fig tree has been sought out and cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world, both for its fruit and as an ornamental plant. Most fig tree leaves are bright green, large, singular, and well-lobed. Fig trees need full sun to partial shade – a minimum of seven to eight hours of sun exposure is best. They also like soil with good drainage. Some of the fig varieties in my greenhouse include ‘GE Neri’, ‘Letezia’, ‘Brunswick’, ‘Chicago Hardy’, and ‘Petite Negra’.
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- Kalanchoe is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, mainly native to Madagascar and tropical Africa. It is know for its ease of care and interesting leaves and flowers, which bloom consistently throughout the year. Kalanchoe can grow quite large, spreading out over a thick columnar trunk.
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- The kalanchoe’s leaves are soft and felt-like.
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- Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai, is a species of evergreen tropical herbaceous plant with gray-green leaves. Look closely, these plants have actually evolved to create splits along their lateral leaf seams to allow the wind to pass by. In doing so, they eliminate the risk of being snapped in half by strong tropical gusts.
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- In the front of the greenhouse is a monkey puzzle tree, Araucaria araucana. It is an evergreen tree native to central and southern Chile and western Argentina. It has strange leaves, a distinctive trunk and branches that emerge from the trunk in whorls. Mature trees may reach 150-feet in height and have a trunk diameter of up to seven-feet.
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- The leaves of the monkey puzzle tree are thick and stiff and have a pointed tip. The leaves overlap each other and completely cover the branches. They are sometimes said to look “reptilian” because they appear similar to a reptile’s scales.
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- Also in this enclosure is this tall pygmy date palm tree, Phoenix roebelenii. This tree grows to about 10-feet tall or more. Phoenix roebelenii is a popular ornamental plant and needs little pruning to develop a strong structure.
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- The slender trunk has decorative protuberances along its entire length from where fronds were once attached, but have fallen off as the tree grows.
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- And remember the potted up Eucomis? All of them are doing well. This plant is also commonly known as the pineapple lily. This South African native has a very interesting flower stalk that is reminiscent of the delicious fruit. These plants will show off a beautiful indoor display in weeks.
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- The potted amaryllis are flowering! Look how beautiful this bloom is – I can’t wait to see the others open.
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- And here’s Wendy – enjoying her time grooming many plants she doesn’t often see up in Maine. She’s also enjoying the warmer temperatures, but they won’t last long. Night temperatures here are expected to drop to the 20s and teens – with snow. Winter is not over yet.
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