08-20-2006, 11:13 PM
Les,
As long as we're on the subject of what we can grow and where, it's remarkable how horticulturalists are coming up with new hybrids of tropical plants that are "engineered" for cooler zones. I'm in Seattle and have a banana, fan palm, and now a hybiscus in my garden. While the windmill fan palm is the outlier in that it is not a result of selective breeding, this new hybiscus is a patented plant that is good to planting zone 9 (I'm in 8). Just a kick to grow these special reminders of warmer climates, but it's just remarkable in both good and bad ways that science is spreading these tropical species from pole to pole (so to speak).
Warmest regards,
Brian (Fishboy)
As long as we're on the subject of what we can grow and where, it's remarkable how horticulturalists are coming up with new hybrids of tropical plants that are "engineered" for cooler zones. I'm in Seattle and have a banana, fan palm, and now a hybiscus in my garden. While the windmill fan palm is the outlier in that it is not a result of selective breeding, this new hybiscus is a patented plant that is good to planting zone 9 (I'm in 8). Just a kick to grow these special reminders of warmer climates, but it's just remarkable in both good and bad ways that science is spreading these tropical species from pole to pole (so to speak).
Warmest regards,
Brian (Fishboy)
Aloha pumehana,
Brian and Mary
Lynnwood, WA\Discovery Harbour
Brian and Mary
Lynnwood, WA\Discovery Harbour