Growing tropical plants in containers is an easy way to bring a rainbow of color to your garden.

And whether your tastes run toward purple passion flowers, yellow trumpets or pink hibiscus, more and more tropical blooms are available for our decidedly nontropical yards.

But Karen Park Jennings, whose Park Seed has issued a special catalog of annuals and tropicals this year, wants you to consider foliage plants, too.

We’re already accustomed to elephant ears of varying shades, but Jennings also presents succulents, an arrowhead vine and cordylines.

A few tropicals look almost scary, like they are from outer space or so big and powerful they could take over your garden.

The look might be fitting, for once a passion for tropical plants gets hold of you, they could swallow lots of space – first in the yard, and then inside if you try to save them over the winter.

Today is Mother’s Day, traditionally the time when gardeners start thinking spring is really, truly, finally here.

But unless your containers of tropicals are small enough to carry back inside if the forecast turns dire, you probably don’t want to put them outside until the end of the month.

One big reason to choose containers for your tropicals rather than plant them in the ground is this makes it easier to bring them indoors when frost threatens – either in the unpredictable spring or come fall.

They also take less work than a garden while making a really showy statement.

The key to mixed tropical containers is making sure all the plants grow at the same rate, said Byron Martin, owner of Logee’s, a Connecticut mail-order nursery that specializes in tropical container plants.

Tropical hibiscus, for example, grow so slowly they do not work with many other plants, he said.

And you need to check the compatibility of plants’ light and water requirements, Jennings said.

Any combination of sedums can be attractive, she said.

Jennings also likes the pointed, upright agave with sedum Burrito, which trails over the side and takes more water than most sedums.

Hens and chicks, like the hardy Purple Beauty with its dark-edged rosettes, make good fillers in pots, she said.

Cordyline Dr. Brown is a Ti plant, and its wide reddish leaves that age to purple differ from other cordylines, Jennings said.

After several years it can grow to 3 feet tall, and should be cut back each year if you want it to remain half that height.

Hawaiians consider Ti plants to be good luck, said Jennings, who likes it planted with coleus and sedum.

Good news from Martin is that many tropicals can overwinter with no light in a cool basement that doesn’t freeze. This can be a boon if your home doesn’t have an abundance of bright windows.

This method works with brugmansia or trumpets, elephant ears, passion flowers and hardy bananas.

ddonovan@dailyherald.com

BY DEBORAH DONOVAN source : www.dailyherald.com