The Hot Porch Garden - Part Two -- Welcome to the Jungle
Welcome back for part two of this three part on-going post on the Hot Porch project. This time around I'm discussing what plants I chose, or chose me, to join "The Jungle". I will be admitting to failures this round as well as dispensing some of my personal gardening knowledge on my plants. So let's get back to it.
When I first starting thinking about what I wanted in "The Jungle" my thoughts turned immediately to my favorites, plumeria. They grow well here in this sweet Texas mix of hot and humid. Their resilience to drought is similar to succulents and cacti so the high, dry heat of August won’t send them into shock. They bring that tropical exoticism to the porch that draws the eye and when they bloom with those big, waxy flowers and give off their perfumed scents, you are transported away.
Sadly, due to the world at a near stand still with Covid-19, my favorite plumeria grower Jungle Jack’s in Sand Diego was completely wiped out. So were most other sellers in the United States and Ebay sellers from Thailand, who usually are able to ship cuttings. It seemed like I was going to lose the grow window for the season, so I started looking elsewhere for my starting point. I found that starting point at Ikea, of all place, in a 5 ft tall Spineless Yucca.
The Spineless Yucca (Yucca elephantipes) is also known as the “Stick Yucca” is a popular indoor plant. Now don’t confuse it with the “Spanish Bayonet” Yucca. That yucca has razor sharp leaves that will mess you up and cuts right through unprotected skin.
The Spineless Yucca does have tough, sword shaped leaves but they won’t rough you up like the Spanish Bayonet. The Spineless’ leaves have more of what could be called a leathery leaf texture. I wouldn’t start rubbing up against on, but you not have to worry about cutting yourself to shreds brushing past one in the hallway. The Spineless Yucca grows relatively slowly and isn’t very fussy. Its on the same scale as cati and succulents where it likes bright, direct sunlight and only needs water once a week in the warn months. But keep it away from kids and pets because it is poisonous if eaten. Cats will especially be tempted to mess with the Spineless yucca because its papery, long stems resemble a scratching post.
I know I just said this is an indoor plant, but it can handle being placed outside in hot, warm locations with lots of light. Which means its perfect for being outside on the porch during the summer. I thought this plant had a very cool look and it was very tall and would poke up over the top of the railing with the help of a small plant roller. Which is good news because I needed to put this heavy guy on a roller to move him anywhere!
As well, the different sizes and shapes of the stalks created a great, dramatic look. I could get some smatterings of heights with just one edition to the porch. The easy-going nature would also help with the feel of the space. I thought the thing looked a bit like a Frankenstein florist’s monster, so I dubbed him “Frankie”. My husband was definitely surprised when I brought the big guy home but thrilled to see something distinctly unusual.
I was still on the hunt for more plants, especially something big that would be blooming for the rest of the season or a consistent bloomer. I have a real soft spot for Birds-of-Paradise with orange and purple flowers, but even in Texas they tend to be few and far in-between.
But do you know what isn’t? False Birds-of-Paradise! Also known as Crab Claws (Heliconia rostrata) or “Parrot Flowers” due to their bright colors and shape. The particular type brand of Heliconia I picked up is called “Cotton Candy”. Its a butter yellow and pink flower on tall, upright stalks. The leaves are long and oval in shape, almost identical to those of a Bird-of-Paradise.
The Heliconia is a perennial, which means it comes back every year if you don’t kill it. The best way to remember the difference between perennial and annual is to think of it this way: Annual means you have to replant annually while a perennial is permanent. So the Cotton Candy is sticking around as long as I stick to caring for it just the way it likes.
It has a few, easy likes. No frost! These lovely ladies are from Central and Southern American rain forests, so they like heat and moisture. Full or partial sunlight keeps them lush and beautiful. Don’t let them dry out between watering. If you are able to plant them in the ground, that spot in the yard where it never seems to dry out and always seems a little muddy would be perfect for them, or close to the sprinklers. They are very consistent bloomers and can grow up to 15 ft in height – but in a home garden they will grow more realistically between 3 to 6 ft in height.
So how do I keep them happy on the hot porch? I start by watering them heavily every morning before the sunny really has a chance to creep across the whole porch. As well, I put a deep dish tray underneath the pot to catch and retain the excess water. During the day, the strong sunlight drys out that water and gives off the humidity the plant craves. In return Cotton Candy has flowered for 3 months straight without issue. They also like fertile soil, so I will probably need to give her some fertilizer before we start talking about over-wintering in the house.
With these two taller plants, I wanted to find something a bit smaller and more compact but would grow given time. I knew from our visit to the Dallas Arboretum back in 2017 that my husband fell in love with the Elephant Ears in all shapes and sizes. It still remains one of the only plants he can actually name on sight.
I have to admit I am not very familiar with growing or caring for Elephant Ears, or Alocasia. Before coming south I had thought they were a bog plant because I had only ever seen them planted in or around ponds and water features. When they were sold in stores up north they were predominately sold as bulbs, almost never as a live plant. Or at least that’s what I thought. Turns out I had a lot to learn.
Alocasia come in a vast array of colors, textures, and sizes. They can be grown both indoors and outdoors and enjoy full sunlight. But saying they enjoy full sunlight doesn’t mean they won’t sunburn – something I learned the hard way.
I found an Alocasia “California” (Alocasia odora) at my local Home Depot. Its a form of “dwarf” Elephant Ear that grow around 3 to 4 feet in height. They originated from around Southern Asia in areas like Vietnam and Cambodia. As such, they are tropical plants and don’t like frost and will die off in winter. It will grow leaves year round in warming climates (i.e. Zone 10) and can be overwintered inside where it gets cold. Its considered more of a landscaping plant than a show plant. And like I mentioned it likes full sun.
And this is where knowing about a plant and “knowing” about a plant are two very different things. Sure the Alocasia “likes” full sunlight but that doesn’t mean it won’t experience sunburning, fading, yellowing, or sun shock. Turns out most landscapers suggest it gets full sun in the morning or in the late afternoon with dappling sun in-between. In other words, it needs some shade during the day. Further, the plant I bought had been living its whole life inside a greenhouse crammed in with a bunch of other plants that had meant to go on the market at the beginning of spring and not mid-July. But 2020 had other plans. Texas was on quarantine until Memorial Day, which meant a lot of those early seller were forced to grow in their pots and not in the ground and were getting pretty crowded. As well, their leaves didn’t have much room to spread all crammed together.
This means I picked up a plant that was already in some serious shockiness and I dropped it right on to a scorched concrete porch. The effects were immediately noticeable. The leafs started yellowing and the edges crinkled and burnt. All new growth halted. The plants leaves remained upright in an “At attention” sort of manner without spreading out to collect sun. I turned the plant in various directions to encourage it to angle itself to collect sunlight but it refused.
I started to worry the Elephant Ear was not long for this world, so I did my best to help it along. I gave it a humidity pan with lava rocks to raise it up and brought it inside to sit in the window with full, indirect light. For several weeks I saw no real improvement despite daily misting and TLC. It wasn’t until this last week that I started to see new growth and these baby shoots started spreading outwards in a waterfall like pattern verses a fully upright leaf. The new mixture of upright and waterfall is very pleasing to the eye and the Elephant Ear looks like a much healthier plant. We’re having a post hurricane weekend with overcast skies and damp, hot air due to the increased rainfall. I’ve decided to slowly reintroduce the Elephant Ear outside in this weather but I am keeping a spot inside ready for him, just in case.
I also tried to put a monstera outside on the porch but that was a disaster. I didn’t know that was a strictly indoor kind of plant but I learned very quickly. I’ll tell you more about that lesson when I write about the indoor plants.
By this point in was late July and something amazing happened --- the plumerias were back!
For those of you who haven’t read my multitude of other plumeria posts, let me give you a quick recap on the plumeria as a plant. Plumeria, also called Frangipani or “Lei Flowers” are tropical trees. They are considered “small” flowering trees but they do grow up to 20 ft tall – which seems pretty tall to me. Being tropical they do best in Zone 10 but can be grown in containers if overwintered inside. I had some relative success with smaller plumerias doing this in Indiana. They are a lot like succulents in temperament and care. Plumeria can be propagated from cuttings from a mother tree like succulents. Their watering habits are also similar to a succulent where they don’t like sitting around with wet roots. Root rot is common if their soil isn’t well drained so try letting them dry out between watering. I’ve had success with full watering once or twice a week during very dry spells and then just misting their leaves in the mornings in-between.
Plumeria love full sun (6+ hours a day!) and don’t mind heat or salt. This means they can grow on the coast or in the desert without much problem. They are fairly drought resistant, which is great for areas that might have water bans. The key really is getting them as much sun as possible. You have to be careful not to sun shock them when they come out of hibernation in the Spring. That’s right, during winters plumeria drop their leaves and go into hibernation, though some people have had some success keeping them growing under grow lights.
The real draw for plumerias is in their nickname of “Lei Flowers”. Their sweet smelling flowers are prized for making all of those colorful leis you see all over Polynesia and Hawaii. They come in many colors but are mostly categorized as pinks, reds, yellows, and whites. There are a few that are considered purples but they are rare and hard to find. Supposedly there are blue plumeria but I’ve never seen one. These lei flowers give off a delicious scent when they bloom. Each tree has its own scent. Some are citrus-like ranging from lemon to orange. Others smell like vanilla and even some smell like jasmine. Scents, color, petal shapes, and size is diverse and many breeders strive to create the perfect blend of all three. That’s why you’ll find that there are many different kinds of plumeria with lots of fun names like the “Bali Whirl” or the “Dragon’s Tear”. This is why you’ll often find enthusiasts like myself “collecting” a large amount of plumeria in their gardens.
This year it started with two cuttings from Upland Nursery in California. I had tried to root cuttings before from Hawaii and failed miserably. I did more research, watched a lot of Youtube tutorials, and planned better this time. I ordered two “Kimo” cuttings that were on sale. My hope was that if one failed, I had a backup. The funniest part is that the cutting stalks arrived one was a single branch and the second one had a v-shaped branching, like it was making a peace sign. Literally Kimo 1 and Kimo 2. I’ll go into detail later about my rooting experience but for now they are slowly staring to show signs of rooting and possibly even a flowering stalk. Due to the time of the year, I don’t think we’ll see flowers but they will be sitting under a grow light for the winter so next Spring we may have some. Fingers crossed.
Of course the same day the cuttings arrived, I had been at my local garden nursery, Calloways, and they had plumeria on sale. They were fully rooted plumeria standing about 8-12 inches in height and labeled as “Mystery Plumeria”. In other words, just like the Hawaiian cuttings, they could be white, pink, red, or yellow when they bloomed with no real discernible breed type. I snatched this up quick. Plumeria aren't hard to find here in Texas but I still feel excited every time I see one in a nursery or a plant shop.
My plumeria fever was back. I lost all ability to resist my need for these plants. I found a Thailand seller that had a bare-root of what is supposedly a “Firestorm”, my favorite plumeria breed, and I bid for it instantly. I thought that would be enough plumerias for the season until I got a message from my guys up at Jungle Jack’s that their nursery pots had arrived.
And like any addict, I was instantly hitting that buy button. The supply was highly limited and a plumeria could sell out literally while you were browsing the catalog. I was keen to get back into my plumeria collection since the loss of mine back in early 2018. I didn’t want to get the exact same plants again, though I probably will in the future, but to be more discerning with my choices. I had settled on the “Purple Jack”, the dwarf “Divine”, and of course my long sought after “Firestorm”. You see “Firestorm” was actually first bred and named by Jungle Jacks but I had never been able to get my hands on to one before now. Thus why I went for the bare-root branch from Ebay. But now I had the opportunity to get the real deal and I didn’t hesitate. (Maybe next year “Purple Jack” and “Divine”!).
It wasn’t until all these plumerias started arriving in the post that I realized I had five new plumerias on the porch again. My husband, bless him, didn’t say anything even though I told him I would strive for diversity in my plants this time and not only grow plumeria. In his words, he didn’t want to “see me disappointed again should they all die”. He really gets that these just aren’t plants to me. To me they are like pets, with their own personalities and special needs. I tend to them with love and concern. I want them to look good, like any other gardener and landscaper, but they aren’t just there to look at. They are meaningful to me.
Right now things look a but hectic and jumbled on the porch as we are still working to improve the space with flooring, plant stands, and sun shades --- all of which I will go into in part 3. But for now the plants I have selected are soaking in as much sun as possible before the cooler season starts here, probably sometime in late October or early November. Once things start to dip below 60 degrees at night, we’ll have to start working on over-wintering the plants indoors.
But for now the hot porch is green, my heart is happy, and I can focus on enjoying that beautiful view.
See you in Part 3 where we’ll discuss the future of the Jungle and the hot porch.
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