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From TejasTropicals Articles
Tejas Tropicals is passionate about the art and science of growing cold hardy tropical plants in the United States. We take great pains to scour the globe for rare, hard-to-find tropicals and love sharing the knowledge we gain from our extensive experience in caring for these amazing plants.
We're building a library of plant introductions, how-to guides, and other information for your benefit. Below, you'll find summaries of recent articles. Each one has links to greater detail on the topic, so please explore!
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Dormancy in Cold Hardy Tropical Plants
Dormancy in tropical plants usually occurs in tropical regions that experience monsoonal and then dry seasons. Cold temps stress the plants similar to drought and so they go dormant.
Buying dormant rhizomes have many advantages. Shipping costs are greatly reduced since you are only buying the growing point of the plant.
Learn more about Dormancy in Cold Hardy Tropical Plants
Controlling Running Bamboos
Get help with controlling running bamboos. Techniques for groves that are overgrown and running out of control can open up the possibilities of using this wonderful landscape plant to more gardeners.
The advantages of a beautiful bamboo groves desirable culm and foliage colors can be forgotten if the grove isn't well-tended. There are some relatively easy steps to preventing this and enjoying a well kept bamboo grove.
Costus - Distinctively Beautiful Tropicals
Costus are wonderful tropicals which deserve more attention from the serious gardener. These delightful plants have unique foliage displays that by themselves are reason enough to grow costus. When you include their beautiful flowers, this amazing species just can’t be beat.
Find out why costus are distinctively beautiful tropicals.
Heliconias - The Royalty of the Tropical Plant Kingdom
Heliconias usually grow in forest openings and provide an unrivaled visual appeal. They are the royalty of the tropical world. No plant quite evokes a sense of being in the tropics as much as Heliconias.
Discover how the royal beauty of heliconias can improve your garden.
Bananas - Fast & Dramatic Tropical Display
It's not all about fruit! There are a tremendous selection of ornamental bananas grown for their foliage or flowers or both. One of the greatest attributes of bananas is that they get big, fast! In fact, under the right conditions, they can grow from seedling to a large display during a single season.
If you want a rapid path to the tropical look with large dramatic foliage and beautiful flowers, try some ornamental bananas.
Zingibers - Fabulous Tropical for the Garden
Zingibers possess fabulous inflorescences, shaped like cones, in a variety of colors and unmistakably tropical foliage. The different cultivars are beautiful and well worth trying in your garden.
Zingibers like rich, well drained soil and partial shade to partial sun. Many zingibers have a natural dormancy in late fall.