Tropical Fever?

A story in the Star Tribune yesterday talks about what is suppose to be the latest craze: growing tropical plants in the outdoor garden in Minnesota.

Forgive me for being skeptical, but as a lover of tropical plants, I still don't know anyone that is gardening much with these (let alone that the author of the article doesn't know the difference between tropical plants and the subtropical ones that she mentions--Florida is subtropical, the Amazon is tropical. If you have seen a banana plant or coconut tree or other "exotic" in Florida, then you can guess that the plant is subtropical.) So calling something a "hot trend" usually means everyone is doing it or wants to do it. A hot trend does not occur just because a local store is stocking the shelf.

The high prices confirm that demand is not high. $60 for a banana plant? I think I paid $10-15 a piece for rooted stalks that were shipped to me from California 3 years ago. I saw one at Gertens recently for $169.00! Something tells me that if these were selling, the prices would come down similar to other common house plants.

Tropical plants and subtropical plants take work. They are expensive if you throw them away at the end of season, and take a commitment if you plan to keep them going during the winter. The dry heat of most Minnesota homes during winter devastates true rain and humidity loving tropicals. Trust me, I know. It's the reason I built myself a greenhouse. Subtropical plants like bananas and hibiscus can take temperatures all the way down to the 30s and recover fine, but drought and arid air will finish them off. The gingers and cannas mentioned in the article can be stored, well, just like you store ginger in the fridge. But that still means digging them up at the end of the season, which is to much bother for most people (if we liked doing that, we would be separating bullbs and irises every year -- remember that project you keep saying you'll do next year?)

So buyer beware. If you are tempted by one of those sprouting coconuts at IKEA or one of those $60 banana plants, no that you have some work ahead of you. There are reasons you don’t see them in Minnesota gardens. If you are will to do the work, learn a bit, and lose a few plants by trial and error, by all means, jump in: it's lonely out here. But "tropicals" are certainly not for the average grower.