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August Newsletters

August 25

A “View From the Tropics”

The Allure of Tropical Plants   by Jon Valley

The reddish glow of the sunset had faded as I sat looking out of my study window, resting from an unusually hot day. It was the kind of day that keeps a man wanting nothing more than to sit back and drink in things cool and to labor as little as possible, and now a cool breeze taunted me from the open window, but I was too tired to get up and let it blow its soft breath against my face. It brought in dark clouds and lightening flickered in the far off sky casting its eerie fingers closer and closer. There’s nothing I like more at the end of a long summer day than to watch streaks of lightening bouncing across the night sky.

A favorite plant of mine sits on the windowsill and as the lightening moved in closer it cast an uneasy shadow of leaves and flower stalks across the hardwood floor. This plant has been with me a long time now, maybe seven years if I recollect, but time has a way of getting away from me. They called it a Lobster Claw (Heliconia), “just shipped in from the tropics” when I bought it, and I loved the long stalks with the claw-like blooms on the end and it was unique enough at the time that I had to have it.

Now, as I sit and dream of far away places, the storm turns dark and large drops fall out of the sky and splash against cooling asphalt and cement walks, I wonder what it is about certain plants that captivate a person. So much so that for centuries plant hunters have risked their lives across vast seas and unknown lands to find that one new variety never before seen. I wonder what it is about exotic plants in particular that keeps us growing them and wanting more and what is it about them that gets us worried when their leaves fade like an evening sunset and it sure looks ready for the compost heap, but you still give it another chance. Another day at survival in the far off hope it will once again grow to its original glory.

Is it the stunning yellows or lavenders and all colors of the rainbow spectrum they bloom for us? Or, is it the soft, leathery feel of the leaves, or is it really the way they make us feel? Do we, somehow, hear the music of the forests or see the leaves dancing on stormy nights as they would in their own native world?

In times past the plant life must have seemed endless, but today plant hunters are rushing to collect some for the last time before they are completely wiped out and some will have gone the way of their ancestors without anyone knowing they existed.

As the lightening diminishes, I see the dark leaves of my Heliconia dance in the night breeze and wonder if it feels out of place, here in this semi-arid land, that I have subjected it to. Perhaps it feels cold and desires only to stretch its banana-like leaves through a primordial mist and feel the rays of a tropical sun. But, it will have to resign itself to being a lone island, sitting on my window ledge, lost among a modern age, where the chasms of space and time and eons of developing life have somehow brought it to this place. And I think, in some way, it belongs there.

(Jon Valley is a writer of things western, a romancer of life and all things living and green.) This article was adapted for the newsletter from an article presented for The Garden Shed; issue 3, web-zine.

Lobster Claw or Heliconia is also a favorite of mine. Mine has reached a four foot height this year and gave some blooms earlier in the spring. They propagate easily, by seed, at 66-75° F and do require occasional pruning when the leaves start yellowing out. Prune individual stalks as needed and trim down leaving about 4” from the base. The individual stalks bloom only once, so when this foliage has tired I trim it down.  New shoots will emerge and bloom in no time. The blooms last well enough to use in cutting arrangements. Don’t forget to feed once a month, keep it moist during the growing season, but let it dry out a little in winter. Likes bright sun but not direct sun as the leaves may burn a little. You can grow outside until the night time temperatures get down into the low 50’s.

Happy Gardening! And I hope you like the new format.

Dale

Copyright © [Driftwood Gardens] August 25 2000. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in part or in whole, without the written consent of the owner/publisher.  

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Copyright © [ Driftwood Gardens - ] May 1998-2008. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in part or in whole, without the written consent of the owner/publisher.    

Unless otherwise noted all photos are taken by Dale Johnson or Jon Valley and are Copyright © [Dale Johnson - Driftwood Gardens - Summers Seeds] All rights reserved. No picture may be reproduced, in part or in whole, without the written consent of the owner/publisher.