All my tropical plants are now safely stored indoors for the winter.
Caring for my precious plants means following a strict schedule, particularly at the end of the warm season. Plants that summer at Skylands, my home in Maine, are picked up and brought back to Bedford for storage. And together with all the tropical specimens here at the farm, everything is groomed, organized, and placed in special greenhouses where temperature and humidity levels can be closely monitored and adjusted when necessary. Some of the taller plants are also stored in my stable. It's a multiple day process, but my team does a great job getting it all done.
Enjoy these photos.
Every year, I evaluate the needs of my plants and decide where they will be stored for the winter months. Plants grow, so they cannot always be stored in the same place. I’ve stored a few plants in the stable before, but this year, I’ll store a group of 13 container specimens including several tree ferns. Here, they will get lots of light from the barn door windows and still be protected from winds and freezing temperatures.
Before any container plant is stored, I always remind the crew that it should be weeded and properly groomed.
Many of the plants can be transported by hand truck. Pete carefully wheels in another smallish tree fern. Tree ferns are arborescent ferns that grow with a trunk elevating the fronds above ground level, making them trees.
Tree fern fronds are often very large. Some of them can reach nine to 13 feet in length. The fronds are thickly textured and range in color from gray-green to blue.
As the plants are brought into the stable, they are all arranged with enough space in between them, so they don’t touch. Keeping them separated prevents any diseases that could possibly spread during the storage time. Fortunately, all my plants are in excellent condition. Ryan checks all the plant foliage – and no two plants are touching.
These plants will do well in this location and will be checked every day. These are also safe to have around my horses. In fact, they have been caught trying to munch on the non-toxic fronds.
Meanwhile, another team is repotting the bird’s nest ferns, Asplenium nidus, outside what I call the tropical hoop house. Some of these have outgrown their pots, or they were in decorative pots that needed to cleaned and stored.
The bird’s nest fern is known for its fronds that grow out of a rosette in the middle of the plant which closely resembles a bird’s nest. It is also occasionally called a crow’s nest fern.
Phurba removes the plant from its old pot. Repotting is a good time to also check any plant for damaged, unwanted or rotting leaves as well as any pests that may be hiding in the soil.
He trims necessary bottom leaves and then gives the root ball some beneficial scarifying cuts. Asplenium nidus forms large simple fronds growing up to 20 to 59 inches long. They are light green, often crinkled, with a black midrib.
The selected new pot is filled about two thirds of the way with potting soil. We’re using Miracle-Gro Indoor Potting Mix, specifically formulated for container plants.
Phurba fills in the pot with more soil, but he never overfills – only place potting mix until the bottom of the pot’s rim, so the soil does not spill out when it is watered. This also makes it much easier to lift and carry.
As they are repotted, Phurba places them on a shelf in the hoop house where they will remain for the next seven months.
This is one of my many sago palms, Cycas revoluta. Sago is a popular plant known for its feathery foliage and ease of care. This very symmetrical plant supports a crown of shiny, dark green leaves on a thick shaggy trunk that is typically about seven to eight inches in diameter, sometimes wider.
These are where the old leaves were cut. The rough, symmetrical trunk becomes leafless as it ages.
Another plant in my tropical greenhouse is Bird of Paradise, Strelitzia nicolai – a species of evergreen tropical herbaceous plant with gray-green leaves that grow up to 18-inches long out of a main crown in a clump. The leaves are paddle shaped, similar to banana plant leaves, and attached to a long, upright stalk.
These are Australian Brush Cherry trees, Eugenia myrtifolia, also now known as Syzygium paniculatum. The Brush Cherry is an evergreen tree or shrub with shiny dark green leaves native to Australia and New Zealand. I usually display these topiaries in the courtyard behind my Winter House kitchen during summer.
The foliage of philodendrons is usually green but may be coppery, red, or purplish with parallel leaf veins that are green or sometimes red or white. Shape, size, and texture of the leaves vary considerably, depending on species and maturity of the plant. I have many philodendrons that are growing so well here at my farm.
This tropical house is full, but none of the plants are touching, and there is just enough room for me to walk in and around the entire structure. All the greenhouses are checked a couple times each day to make sure the temperature remains comfortably warm inside. Too cold, plants will freeze – too hot, plants will rot. To simulate the best subtropical environment, we try to keep the temperature in this greenhouse between 50 and 85-degrees Fahrenheit with some humidity. They’ll continue to thrive here until they are brought outdoors again in spring. Are your plants inside?
October is a very important month here at my Bedford, New York farm. It's when my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew are rushing to get all my warm weather container plants inside the greenhouses.
I have quite a large collection of tropical specimens. Because I live in a four-season region, during colder months it’s vital these plants move indoors where the temperature and humidity levels can be controlled. Plants that spent the summer at Skylands, my home in Maine, are also brought back to Bedford for storage. It’s a tedious process to put all these container plants away, but a very important one that helps keep my plants thriving.
Enjoy these photos.
Before storing anything, all the plants are brought to their designated greenhouse and placed outside, so each one can be inspected, and trimmed or repotted if necessary. Then, by size each one is carried into the structure where they will stay for about seven months.
This group is outside the hoop house next to my vegetable greenhouse. Many of the plants are organized by type and by care needs.
Many of the potted plants in this group spent the summer months at Skylands, my home in Maine. Because I do not have a large greenhouse at Skylands, they are transported back to my farm for the winter.
These plants are outside the hoop house next to my Stable Barn. I have five hoop houses in all to store all these warm weather specimens.
This hoop house is 60-feet by 26-feet. All the hoop houses are covered with a heavy-duty, woven polyethylene plastic that features an anti-condensate additive to reduce moisture buildup and dripping. It is also covered with a layer that contains UV additives that allow the fabric to maintain its strength.
I repurpose stumps from downed trees to use as risers for some of the potted plants or for the legs of tables. It’s important to make use of both horizontal and vertical space when storing.
Phurba and Jose start by moving the plants in the gravel courtyard behind my Winter House kitchen. This project of moving the plants is a big undertaking and takes several days to complete.
Jose also removes the smaller potted plants and places them in the back of the Polaris. It is a rush to get everything moved before it gets too cold.
For really heavy potted specimens, we load them onto the bucket of a tractor that is lined with moving blankets, so the pots do not sustain any damage during transport.
I have many agaves, including this giant blue agave with its beautiful gray-blue spiky fleshy leaves. Do you know… tequila is actually distilled from the sap of the blue agave?
Phurba helps Pete guide the tractor into the hoop house. He drives it in as close as possible with the tractor and then the plant is removed by hand and positioned.
These agaves also have sharp spines, so it is important to place them strategically.
One by one, plants are brought inside and also positioned so none of the plants touch. Plants are sensitive and if left touching could cause a defense response reducing growth. Plants can also become more easily infested with pests or diseases if left touching.
Pasang carefully guides a potted Bismarkia palm as it is moved in next. Bismarckia nobilis grows from a solitary trunk, gray to tan in color, and slightly bulging at the base.
And then a pygmy date palm, Phoenix roebelenii is moved in. This is a species of date palm native to southeastern Asia, from southwestern China, northern Laos and northern Vietnam.
Smaller potted plants are also wheeled in by hand cart.
Tables on both sides of this hoop house are used to store smaller potted specimens, such as this collection of potted lemon cypress, Cupressus macrocarpa.
These plants grow a little more each year, so the placement of these specimens will change every time they are stored.
There are still so many plants to bring indoors, but we’ve made good progress and should have everything collected and indoors before the first frost.
My greenhouse assortment of rare and interesting potted plants now includes several more beautiful Begonias, Anthuriums, Staghorn Ferns and other specimens from the Amazon Horticulture Plant Collection.
The 25 plants arrived earlier this week - all meticulously wrapped in paper and packed in several large boxes. I opened each plant very carefully and they were all in excellent condition, but it was important to get them potted up as soon as possible. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, selected the appropriate containers and got to work.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Once all the plants are unpacked, they are laid out onto the large table in my greenhouse head house, so they can be repotted, fed, and watered. Ryan starts by looking for the appropriate sized pots.
I am fortunate to have such a large assortment of pots. These were left over from a recent shoot and will come in very handy. I like to use clay pots because they allow proper aeration and moisture to penetrate through the sides and to the plant.
At the bottom of each container is a drainage hole. A clay shard is placed on top of the hole to help with drainage and to prevent soil from blocking the hole or from falling out.
I also save any clay pot shards – it’s a great way to repurpose those broken pieces.
Ryan is using Miracle-Gro Tropical Potting Mix. This formula is fast-draining and includes sand and perlite to help create an optimal growing environment. The mix is also fortified with iron and plant food.
Ryan uses a knife to scarify the roots of this deer fern, Blechnum. He slices through the roots in several areas to encourage root growth. It may seem harsh, but the plant will send out new feeder roots and will soon recover.
Also called a hard fern, Blechnum is an upright evergreen fern that displays finely textured, arching fronds. New growth emerges reddish-bronze and then turns green. After Ryan pots up the plant, he adds more potting mix and pats it down, so there is good contact between the plant and the soil.
Ryan sprinkles fertilizer over the soil after planting each one. We use the all-purpose fertilizer Shake ‘N Feed from Miracle-Gro.
Next, Ryan tends to this Begonia subacida and trims any broken leaves. He saves all the trimmed stem cuttings, so he can propagate them later.
Then Ryan places the Begonia in the center of the pot and backfills to just under the rim.
Though different types of plants have varying preferences in terms of pot size and needed root space, most grow well when pots are at least two-inches larger in diameter than the plant’s original pot.
This Begonia subacida has kidney-shaped, fluffy hairy leaves with a striking, bluish green color and light, yellow-green leaf veins. The leaves are also slightly thickened and velvety to the touch.
For this Begonia, Ryan scarifies the root ball with his hands, teasing the roots at the bottom to stimulate fresh growth.
And then he gently places it into the new pot – planting it slightly deeper than it was before. If needed, a little more potting mix is added around the plant and patted down.
Begonia phuthoensis is a rhizomatous species from Vietnam with unique round leaves in light green.
Among the other plants just potted up – Geogenanthus poeppigii, a rare plant from South America. The glossy leaves are ribbed and show a pattern of dark and lighter colored stripes. This plant prefers low light conditions, high humidity, and frequent watering.
Monstera Burle Marx Flame is a very rare and uncommon species that produces extremely unique foliage that resembles the flame of a torch. Look closely at the leaves – they have narrow evenly spaced fenestrations, or leaf openings.
Anguloa clowesii is a large terrestrial sometimes epiphytic plant with large, waxy, highly fragrant chocolate, mint, coconut and citrus scented, solitary flowers.
Here is a newly potted Begonia pustulata – a rhizomatous species from Mexico with a distinctively textured leaf and silver markings.
Now these plants are ready to go out into the greenhouse, where the temperature and humidity levels can be properly controlled and these gorgeous specimens can thrive.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
