Black gold! Coveted by gardeners for its richness and nutrient-dense goodness that makes plants seem to jump out of the ground with growth! Featuring many benefits such as moisture holding, insulation and improves soil texture and many other offerings as sought-after garden soil amendment!
While there are many methods of composting, bin styles and methods, there isn’t one better than another. However, some are a bit faster than others.
Large or small, any way you find to collect and mix your compost material works!
There’s a good reason gardeners get excited when they see this dark crumbly soil addition! Your plants seem to jump out of the ground when you include this in your soil every year!
Leaves, grass clippings, sticks, twigs and other yard waste, plus kitchen scraps - These organic ingredients decompose and break down into rich, beneficial compost! This can take months in passive settings, however, by adding the right amounts of these ingredients, you can speed up the process!
Organic dried/brown matter, organic green matter, plus heat, moisture, oxygen and bacteria when combined with time - become rich, fantastic compost! Depending on how passive or aggressively you attend to your compost heap, you can enjoy new compost in a matter of months to once or twice a year.
Green material:
High in nitrogen, these additions break down fast and generate heat.
Rotted manure, seaweed, and tea leaves.
Tea leaves & coffee grounds
Garden waste
Organic matter
Fruit and vegetable kitchen scraps
Green leaves & excess grass clippings
Brown material:
Naturally occurring plant-based material made of carbon is used as fuel for compost.
Dried leaves
Some Paper (not shiny colored magazine paper or greasy/oily)
Shredded twigs, branches & stems
Corn stalks/cobs
Peanut and nut shells
Wood ash
Eggshells
Pine needles
Straw or hay
Sawdust
Tips and Tricks
Is the pile not warming up? Add more moisture!
Stinky, smelly compost? Too much moisture - uncover, add brown matter & turn often
Decomposing slowly? Add green matter!
What Not to Include in Compost and Why
Shiny colored magazine paper - chemicals
Oil and grease-soaked paper - vermin & slow down the composting process
Bread or grain food scraps - vermin
Weed seeds & roots - sometimes can germinate after composting
Meat and animal scraps - animals, insects & vermin
Plants treated with herbicides or pesticides - can still be active after composting
Diseased, fungal or viral material - pathogens may reinfect plants
Pet or animal urine and fecal matter
Avoiding the highly colorful inks and chemicals in glossy magazines is advisable, especially if you are using this compost in your edibles, vegetables and herb gardens.
Don’t use a material that was diseased, or had fungal and viral pathogens because (in cold composting) tends to survive the composting process and potentially reinfect your plants.
Exclude weeds, especially perennial weeds, as their seeds and roots/bulbs may also persist for years in the ground and easily survive cold composting.
Bread and grain and some food items can also break down, but the main reason they’re often excluded is that mice and other vermin are attracted to them. They’re also the other reason for a good lid on your bin when able. Especially if you are throwing many kitchen scraps into your compost. Some areas of the country will find raccoons, bears and opossums raiding their compost piles!
Again for cold composting - don’t include animal fats, bones and meat scraps in your compost to avoid attracting animals and unwanted insects to your pile/yard.
While substances such as meat scraps and pet excrement can, and will, eventually break down. It's not a good practice to include these animal-based materials in your compost heap, as they may contain disease-causing pathogens and parasites.
Composting Methods
Depending on how much time, space, money, energy, and/or how many available ingredients you have at your disposal, there are several ways you can turn those scraps into black gold!
Even if you live in an apartment or have a very small yard, that small bin on the back deck in the sun with a few earthworms in it is enough to compost your own scraps and houseplant trimmings into supplemental food for houseplants and container gardens! (I’ve even seen countertop compost bins for the gardener that’s also a tech geek!)
For large-scale properties and homesteaders, the need to break down yard waste fast and free is essential to keep from becoming overwhelmed with garden waste and trimmings!
Whether you have a compost bin, a compost pile or a large-scale setup for creating lots of compost on your own, there are several methods available to you to create this essential garden amendment.
Passive Composting
Passive composting is the busy gardener's method and doesn't take much of your time at all. One passive method is that pile in the back corner of your property that you keep mounding scraps onto and allowing nature to take its course. Another is to simply walk into an area of your yard or garden and dig a hole, drop a handful of kitchen scraps in and cover it back up to decay underground. Affixing the turf back into place and watering it in.
Also known as cold composting, passive styles won’t generate enough of the heat needed to kill weed seeds, pest eggs, and spores. So only use clean ingredients that do not contain weed seeds or rotten and moldy components in this composting method.
Active Composting
Active composting is another cold composting method that does require a bit more attention and effort, plus a bit of a timely schedule. Measuring precise amounts of each brown/green component and turning the pile regularly to introduce the necessary air to feed the decomposition process. You also need to carefully measure moisture content so it doesn’t dry out (stopping decomposition) or get too soggy (killing your beneficial microbes and removing oxygen from the process).
A property-maintained compost pile generates enough heat to continue breaking down compost even through a mild winter! Regular turning, moisture monitoring, and supplemental feeding of the pile are needed for a continuous composting process. But it’s also much faster!
Kind of like a sourdough starter, your compost heap needs some food/fuel to keep the process going. Feeding your compost means adding additional ingredients as needed to the heap as it breaks down and as you use your compost.
Berkeley Composting Method
A fast-tracked method of composting, this intensive style of composting is able to break down matter into compost in just 18 days! Called hot composting, this style creates a very fine textured compost by way of heat, sun and moisture, and employs a black or dark material/container to absorb additional heat and to increase the compost ‘cooking’. It significantly increases the time the breakdown process takes. Hot composting effectively destroys disease, pathogens, fungi, weed seeds, perennial weed roots and bulbs.
This process does take much of your attention and a thermometer if you are new at composting.
Maintaining the temperature of the compost around 131-149 °F (55-65 °C)
Maintain a 25 to 1 carbon to nitrogen mixture
Recommended pile size of 3 feet by 3 feet and or higher
Shred the material as finely as possible
Mixed and turned frequently
Combine ingredients well and let the pile rest for a few days, then turn it every other day for the next two weeks. Wrap in black plastic or dark material, or a dark bin/container to further absorb more heat. Store your container/pile in the sun. Add moisture as needed to keep the pile from drying out.
The higher green material in this method breaks down fast, heating up the pile and breaking the brown matter down fast in the process!
The fine-textured compost that the Berkeley method creates looks almost like supremely rich, dark soil! While cold composting creates a more coarse mulch-like material that’s equally dark and rich. However, cold composting breaks down so much that the end result is a fraction of the size it started as. Great if you have loads of material to get rid of! While hot composting retains a larger amount of the bulk that you start with - giving you more of this great amendment.
What You'll Need to Get Started
Go as low-tech or high-tech as you like!
Equipment & Tools
Garden hoe or rake or pitchfork
Tarp/Black plastic or a cover (mostly to keep moisture in and animals out)
Optional Lawnmower or a chipper/shredder (to chop up the material smaller if able)
Drill or way to punch holes in the container (if using)
Materials
Compost bin with holes and a cover (optional) or a 3x3 foot location for a pile
Brown and Green material and other approved ingredients to compost.
Water
Types of Compost Bins
I have a rotating compost bin with a handle I can turn and mix my compost. I also have a large black plastic heavy-duty trash can with a lid and holes drilled into the bottom and sides. To turn the compost inside - I simply flop it on its side and roll it around. The combination of these two bins provides my veggie garden with several buckets of lush compost twice a year.
There are in-ground styles, rolling bins, tumblers, and 50 gal or larger trash cans with a lid, that you can purchase.
Other bin styles are made of pallets or wood with divisions, creating a two or three-sectioned bay-style set of collection areas that you can move from one to the other to turn the compost. Or a sturdy stake holding a round loop of chicken wire or fencing to hold your pile in one place.
Indoor or patio/porch styles are countertop and worm-bins, food ‘digesters’ under the counter or some plastic storage bins you can stack. It’s all about repurposing and imagination. Really, any kind you can think of that holds and allows you to distribute your mix.
Create a Small DIY Compost Bin:
Large or small, you can start composting today!
Repurpose or buy a plastic storage bin/trash can - dark in color is preferable
Drill or punch holes in the base and sides for air and water movement
Create or locate a level base where drippings won’t stain the pavement
Add a layer of soil, then layers of green and brown matter, scraps or other materials
Mix together as you water the contents well (not soggy)
Compost Starters & Accelerants
Compost starters and accelerants include nitrogen fertilizer (for when you are lacking enough green material, comfrey, borage, nettle or yarrow plants because of the nutrients these plants pull from deep in the soil and then add to your compost.
Adding some of your old compost, which is already primed full of those beneficial microbes, can be placed in the middle of a heap to kick off the process. Also adding well-rotted manure, and urine help breaks down hot composted mixes fast too.
Head to the fishing store and get some night crawlers or red wigglers to help munch down the leaves in your compost quickly too! (Avoid Crazy Worms which are becoming an invasive problem in many parts of the country!)
Location Location Location
Sun adds heat and helps cook and decompose plant matter quickly. Choose an out-of-the-way space in the sun that’s around 3 x 3 feet in size. While some consider a compost bin unsightly and regarded as smelly, most gardeners keep their compost pile where it is less visible. If well maintained, you will not have to worry about any smell! (Check with your HOA.)
Compost in A Few Easy Steps!
Alternate brown and green layers to create the pile in the size you have available. If you are lacking green material you can mix in some nitrogen fertilizer or compost starter between brown layers can have the same effect.
Water well until it is damp but not soggy, which will cause odor and slow down the process.
Cover or wrap the pile in dark material if you don’t have a bin. Using a tarp or lid also prevents nutrients from washing away and prevents it from getting too wet.
Turn every few days or weeks, depending on your chosen method
Turning Your Compost
Turning your compost every few days involves bringing bottom layers to the top and mixing the surface/new material into the center and bottom. This turning helps introduce air, mix microbes and beneficial bacteria to all parts of the pile, as well as mix all the different layers together to mix and mingle and do their thing!
Using a garden rake or pitchfork, turn the pile every couple of weeks or a few days (depending on which method you are using) to make sure it stays uniformly mixed, mix in new material, and distribute oxygen.
Keep it Going!
As the decomposition progress breaks things down and you'll see your pile decrease in size over time, so you’ll need to occasionally add new material to keep the process going - called ‘Feeding’ your compost. Plus, you'll eventually want to use your compost!
Usually, garden maintenance allows most gardeners ample material to continue to add more brown and green layers. Adding layers and turning, watering when it's dry, and adding again, occasionally pulling out the ‘good stuff’ that’s accumulated at the bottom for your landscaping needs. This helps keep your compost going.
If you have lots of material, you may end up having a pile larger than you can manage. If you have the room, simply start a new pile next to the first, or speed up the cooking process. Or, just let it do its thing for a few months until it's broken down to a more manageable size. If you don’t have enough material, downsize until you have more material (the neighbors might be useful here!), remembering to keep turning occasionally.
How to Use Your Compost
The decomposing/composting process naturally generates heat that kills many weed seeds, fungus spores, and other undesirable elements that should no longer be viable. End results leave
you with rich, dark, crumbly humusy soil that has a fresh earthy odor.
Once you have enough compost to use and you are left with rich, earthy soil-like humus, get a sifter or strainer made from a metal screen to sift out larger chunks. Keep your harvested
compost clean and dry if you don’t use it immediately.
Spread a 1-3 inch Layer of Well-Decayed Compost Over
The lawn as a top dressing (1-2 inches)
Around shrubs and trees with mulch (1 inch then cover in arborist mulch chips)
Incorporate 1-3 inches into veggie gardens to boost nutrients & moisture holding
Scratch in 1-3 inches around the perennial beds to boost nutrients & moisture
Mixed into containers, hanging baskets, window boxes, and planters
Compost can be any time! Add before planting to amend garden beds, work into your containers and planters when planting them in the spring, or top dress before applying mulch. Or broadcast over the soil and let the rain and weather slow-release the nutrients into the soil.
You can never add too much compost to your soil! Unlike an organic and synthetic fertilizer, you can plant directly into this enriched amendment in your garden without worrying you will burn roots or harm your plants and animals.
Compost alone does not eliminate the need for other types of fertilizer for most plants and your lawn, but adding compost to your routine reduces your need for other natural and synthetic fertilizers.
Start Any Time!
You can start a nice steaming compost heap at any time! Even for gardeners in colder climates, a compost heap can continue to generate enough heat to break down materials well into the winter. Or you can store organic materials outdoors in covered containers to add to the compost heap when warm weather returns to start things off in the spring.
What a fantastic way to maintain self-sufficiency, dispose of garden waste efficiently, enrich your landscape and live an organic, healthy lifestyle!
Now is always a good time to start composting! This can be as low-tech or as involved a process as you like! Until you can get started composting, check out these premade bagged compost mixtures that can be delivered to your door from Nature Hills!
Trees with seeds and fruit have their benefits - and problems - that go along with them. Luckily, there are so many options available these days that it can be confusing when hearing all the various terminology that goes with plant options.
So what’s the difference between all these new types of trees and shrubs?
Botanical Terminology - Types of Plant Gender
Monoecious
Dioecious
Perfect Flowers
Sterile and Seedless Plants
Other Oddities
The Pros and Cons
Perfect and Female Plants
Pros and Cons of Male Trees
Pros and Cons of Sterile/Seedless Plants
Weighing Your Options
Botanical Terminology - Types of Plant Gender
In the world of plants - anything goes! Ma Nature regularly makes up rules, breaks them, remakes them, and then changes her mind once again. So plants have every possibility of reproduction available because of how ‘stuck’ in one place they are! So they of course had to get creative!
Monoecious
Monoecious plants have separate male flowers and female flowers on the same plant. The term "monoecious" is literally "one house". Squash for example has male flowers and female flowers on the same plant.
Dioecious
These plants have male on one plant, and female flowers on another. Some Holly, Ash trees, Kentucky Coffeetrees, and Ginkgo trees are good examples. You need a male plant nearby to pollinate your female plants in order to see any fruit on the female plants.
Perfect Flowers
Hermaphroditic flowers have both male and female structures within each individual flower, which are known as ‘perfect’. Each bloom can potentially pollinate itself without another flower. Bees or insects help distribute the pollen, and sometimes even wind.
Perfect flowers can either be self-fertile or cross-pollinated. Cross-pollination needs another of the same plant nearby, or a slightly different variation of that plant. For instance, a Royal Ann Cherry Tree needs a Van, Stella, or a Black Tartarian Cherry tree nearby to pollinate it and set fruit. Bees are happy to visit both flowers and pollination occurs.
Ma Nature's curveball - In a process called agamospermy, a plant egg can mature into a seed without being pollinated at all! The offspring is genetically identical to the parent plant.
Sterile and Seedless Plants
Sterile and seedless plants are hybrid cultivars that have been bred not to produce seed at all. This creates a triploid, like seedless watermelons and seedless grapes for instance. The genetics have been tweaked within these plants to make them entirely seedless or sterile.
A normal diploid (like you and I) has two complete sets of chromosomes - one from each parent. White a triploid plant has three sets of chromosomes and retains many desirable characteristics, including increased vigor; larger flowers, or a larger fruit set.
Then there are Triploids or Polyploidy, which as the name suggests, have three or more sets of chromosomes.
Seedless watermelons are triploid which causes them to be seedless. These seeds are created by crossing a normal diploid as the pollinator with a tetraploid (Four sets of chromosomes) parent. Each parent contributes half its respective chromosomes, resulting in one from the diploid parent and two from the tetraploid parent. Sounds confusing but luckily the scientists have it all figured out and you don’t have to worry about seeds while munching on your favorite summertime fruit!
Some plants and animals are bred (or have genetic abnormalities) and can become Polyploids that contain three, five, or some other odd number of chromosomes.
A sterile perennial Geranium we love is Rozanne, which tries so hard to produce seed that it simply keeps on producing flowers all season long in that quest of trying to make seed.
Other Oddities
Then there are flowers like those on the Avocado tree which are perfect flowers, but they don’t function at the same time! The flowers are either male or female in the morning and then become the opposite later on or the next day. This means Avocado trees require a Type A and Type B tree planted in close proximity to increase pollination chances.
The Giant Amazon Water Lily (Victoria amazonica) is another unusual perfect flower that has evolved a unique process of pollinating itself. Called co-sexual, the flowers open white in the evening, and are fragrant and warmer (called thermogenesis) than the surrounding male flowers. These close for the night trapping insects inside. In the morning, the flowers become female and open, and pollen gets distributed while the insect searches for a way out. Finally, the beetle is released to find another flower and gets trapped to start it all over again.
Other plants can even change their sex based on the availability of other plants in the area, or based on their age and their height/sun availability.
Lastly, plants like non-flowering Mosses, Liverworts, Hornworts, Lycophytes, and Ferns dispense with flowers entirely and reproduce by spores.
The Pros and Cons
There are always upsides and downsides to everything, and toying with the genetics of plants has come under scrutiny these days. Plausible, because everything in our environment does eventually affect us.
So let's break down the pros and cons of all these types of plants!
Perfect and Female Plants
By planting trees, shrubs, and plants with perfect flowers, or a female plant with a male nearby, you then enjoy nuts, seeds, and fruit! When this comes to the perfect flowers of our favorite fruit trees like Grain, Nut trees, Apples, Pears, most Berries, and Grapes; having fruit is a great thing! Most of the world is fed on these wonderful plants! Fruit and seeds of these plants also feed birds and other wildlife.
But these fruits do have seeds and those seeds do want to grow. Good if you are propagating and expanding your garden, but bad when those seeds come up everywhere and get into trouble. Like a mast year on Maples, or invasive plants like Purple Loosestrife.
Especially if we don’t eat the fruit or seeds, like those winged Maple tree seeds, Elms, or Ash tree seeds, and Kentucky Coffee trees, or trees that produce tons of messy fruit like Mulberry trees. These fruits can spread themselves everywhere, come up where they shouldn’t, can clog drains and gutters, and sometimes become invasive. So that’s why having a male-only or seedless cultivar is preferred in today's urban landscapes.
Pros and Cons of Male Trees
Male-only trees solve the problem with fruit drop and seed dispersal. No fruit means clean driveways and patios, no stains on sidewalks and deck furniture, and you don’t have to worry about birds eating the fruit and spreading their droppings and those seeds far and wide. A sterile Walnut tree will give you the shade without the nuts staining pavement, and a male-only (or sterile) Maple will give you that fantastic fall color and shade without all the little helicopters that sprout up everywhere.
The problem with male-only trees though, is that they still produce flowers - flowers chock full of pollen! Great for Bees and pollen-eating insects, but bad for our noses! Those who suffer from allergies are noticing an increase in their symptoms and increased frequency of pollen-related issues now that there are more male trees in the neighborhood!
Pros and Cons of Sterile/Seedless Plants
From an environmental aspect, having sterile plants reduces the chances of spreading invasive plants around where they are not native, and choking out local flora. Not necessarily meaning fruitless, it simply means the fruit won’t have viable seeds or any seeds at all. In fact, food harvest and fruit size can be increased in sterile plants. Plus, sterile plants can be shipped into areas where their seeded versions cannot due to invasive concerns.
However, by planting these in areas they are not indigenous, and local pollinators and native insects often don’t recognize them as a food source. Good if you are trying to reduce pest damage, bad if you are trying to feed the bees, butterflies, and their larvae. Also having sterile plants means your feathered friends go hungry.
Most of the issue with sterile plants that won’t produce fruit comes from those who think that changing the genetic structure of these plants (especially those we eat) will ultimately result in changes to our own DNA. While this may seem like woo-woo science, the increase in cancers, behavioral disorders, and the increase in general health issues around the world may just give you some new, literal, food for thought.
The other concern is food sustainability and maintaining native plants and landscape cultivars. With reduced genetic diversity and the ability to save seeds for planting next year, having a landscape full of sterile plants leaves us hanging should they die. Entire crops can be taken out with no way of replacing them with their seeds.
Some companies make their patented seed and plants with aptly named ‘Terminator’ genes so no one can replicate and grow their own plants and food without a tissue culture lab, or need expensive licensing and permission just to grow them.
Weighing Your Options
So there’s the good, the bad, and the ugly side to plant gender and how it affects us and our environment. There are benefits and worries to all sides of bringing new and exciting plants to every corner and environment in the US.
So take a look at your options and see what is available before making a decision when landscaping. Alternatives are increasingly easier to find! Look into more careful site selection and your personal needs when choosing plants for your landscape!
Cheap prices, massed produced crops, and pretty faces have hidden downsides lurking in their roots, so educate yourself before buying! As always Nature Hills is here to help with our knowledgeable staff, informative #ProPlantTips and Garden Blog, and our innovative ecosystem protecting Plant Sentry™ that ensures compliance with all Federal Agricultural laws and regulations concerning the shipment of plants throughout the country.
We are committed to protecting you and your landscape with quality-grown plants that set your garden apart from the rest while ensuring it's safe for all!
Happy Planting!
Yellow or orange flowering perennials add a stunning sizzle to the landscape and are instant highlights to any garden or patio!
Looking for something to plant in those hot spots in your yard?
Plant yellow and orange flowers in your garden this year! You’ll brighten up the landscape with these fruity and juicy hues!
The Science Behind Yellow & Orange Color
Why Yellow and Orange Perennial Plants:
Top Rated Yellow Perennial Flowers
Top Rated Yellow Perennials
Top Rated Orange Perennial Flowers
Designing a Garden with Warm-Tone Perennials
Flowering Perennial Care
Warm and loving colors of yellow and orange have long been associated with joy amusement, gentleness, humor, spontaneity, wisdom, connection, envy and jealousy, avarice, and, cowardice depending on where you are in the world. Also associated with gold and the sun, it’s no wonder why so many plants are named so - like Goldenrod and Sunflowers!
The color of carotenes in many fruit and veggies, and no fall display would be the same without these colors showing up once the chlorophyll retreats in the cold. Yellow or orange flowering or foliage plants add a stunning sizzle and ensure visual highlights to any garden or patio! The opposite of purple and blue on the color wheel and melding beautifully with the green of most plants.
The Science Behind Yellow & Orange Color
The dominant wavelength of light in the human eye, yellow and orange are frequent colors found in nature. The Lascaux cave in France has a painting of a yellow horse 17,000 years old because Yellow is so easily available in nature, so it’s no wonder why ochre pigment was one of the first colors used in art.
Yellow and orange absorb the sun's light energy and protect plants from photodamage and embody natural light and warmth.
Why Yellow and Orange Perennial Plants:
Yellow is the color of the sun, warmth & illumination
Happiness, youthful color, full of hope and positivity
Orange represents refreshment, fruity, joyfulness, and optimism
Enthusiasm, creativity, success, encouragement, change, determination, health
Warm tones blend with everything!
Color of the sun, of the autumn, and all things cozy
Top Rated Yellow Perennials
The color of sunshine and joy, yellow flowers add instant cheer and bright color to the garden! Here are some of our favorite Yellow and Orange flowering Perennials!
Coreopsis
Sunrise and Moonbeam, Jethro Tull and Zagreb, sunny Coreopsis are heat and sun-tolerant plants that are positively butterfly favorites! Low water usage, neat and tidy mounds, and blooms for bees and bouquets alike. Anywhere in the sun seems to glow with a Tickseed plant! Hardy natives and native cultivars, Coreopsis thrive on neglect!
Iris, Bearded Iris, Siberian Iris & Japanese Iris
So many to choose from, the Iris family embraces the color yellow! Almost every type has at least a touch! Others go completely buttery to brilliant yellow in color! With long foliage, unique two-layer blooms of falls and flags, Iris captivates the senses with fragrance, long stems for bouquets, nectar for pollinators, and an easygoing nature! Check out Sunfisher or Honey Fruit Cocktail for buttery blooms!
Goldenrod
It’s right there in the name, so you know Goldenrod embodies the color yellow! Gilded little blooms on long, arching sprays are wonderful full-sun, late-season-blooming plants that feed beneficial insects galore and are airy floral arrangement filler! Tall waving blooms resemble fireworks on both the native and the hardy ornamental cultivars drawing you in as they sparkle in the sun. Great xeric plants that won’t take much water or fuss, Goldenrod got a bad rap for allergies - but it is really Ragweed to blame! My favorite is Fireworks Goldenrod!
Black-Eyed Susan
Accented with their warm brown, raised centers, Black-Eyed Susans are perennial mini sunflowers that thrive in a wide range of climates and conditions! Their gilded petals shine and act like prime pollinator landing pads! Easy to grow and return year after year, they are living sunshine! Check out Little Suzy, or Dreamii for some great examples!
Daylilies
Sun-worshiping Daylilies might only last a day, but they keep popping out new buds all summer long! With long cascading foliage and cheerful open trumpets, they are fantastic edging and border plants for the heat, sun, and lazy gardener. Try a Happy Returns, Buttered Popcorn, or Stella de Oro to light up your garden borders.
Honorable Mention
Go big with yellow foliage plants, both entire and variegated green and yellow-leafed perennials like Lemon Supreme Coral Bells and Champagne Coral Bells, or yellow variegated Color Guard Yucca, Lil Miss Sunshine® Bluebeard or Sunshine Blue® Bluebeard II, and Golden Variegated Sweet Flag Grass!
Top Rated Orange Perennial Flowers
Warm, juicy hues that instantly make you think of sunsets and citrus, orange can range from almost peachy to red. The color of summer - Glow up a hanging basket, brighten an edge of a flowerbed, or install a vibrant mass planting.
Coneflower
Soaking up the heat and sun with their spiky, raised centers, Coneflowers are stout perennials that take orange to new heights and enhance flower bouquets! Try a Sombrero® Adobe Orange or Hot Coral Coneflower, or the radiant Julia Coneflower.
Daylilies again
Just like yellow, the Daylily has the corner market in vibrant orange hues! Check out Rainbow Rhythm® Orange Smoothie, Alabama Jubliee, or a ruffled South Seas!
Hyssop (Agastache)
While many Hyssops are known for their purple blooms, there’s an entire range of juicy orange, fine-textured and highly aromatic versions too! Fantastic Hummingbird and butterfly plants, plus many with medicinal and culinary uses, the tropical colored Kudos™ Mandarin Hyssop and POQUITO™ Orange Hyssop will add an extra pop of color to your landscape without any of the extra fuss!
Canna Lily
Tropical bold foliage and dramatic blooms that look like a cross between an Iris and a Hibiscus, the heat-loving Canna Lily can be an annual or perennial summer bulb! Try a Tropicanna® Gold Canna, or the dark red/orange-leafed Tropicanna® Canna.
Coral Bells
Not everything has to be about the flowers, Coral Bells have upstaged their own blooms by providing dramatic colored foliage! Loving more shade than sun, these gorgeous foliage plants include the delectable Caramel Coral Bells, Peach Crisp Coral Bells, and dramatic Zipper Coralbells with stunning multi-orange hues!
Honorable Mentions
You can’t forget the unique Orange New Zealand Sedge Grass, or Toffee Twist Sedge Grass. Or the showy Butterfly Weed Plant and Hermes Tall Bearded Iris.
Designing a Garden with Warm-Tone Perennials
From shade gardens to full-sun backyard landscapes, you can utilize yellow and/or orange flowering perennials in an endless array of layouts!
Add plants with burgundy or chartreuse foliage to deepen or brighten the effect. Add reds to complete your exotic sunset garden. Soften these colors with silver, gray, or white. Or, contrast with blue or purple flowering plants.
The tans and browns from Ornamental grasses just set things off beautifully, and as always, green is the natural complementary color for either of these hues! Separate orange and yellow blooms with intermittent splashes of red, pink and magenta to create a hot-toned flower bed.
Juiced Up Butterfly Garden
Butterfly Weed Plant
Tiki Torch Coneflower
Sedum Lemon Drop
SpinTop™ Orange Halo Gaillardia
Little Lanterns Columbine
Disco Music Tall Bearded Iris
Stiff Goldenrod
Orange Smoothie Daylily
Sun in the Shade
Lady’s Mantle
Amber Queen Barrenwort
Othello Leopard Plant
Yellow Trillium
Hermes Tall Bearded Iris
Sunshine Columbine
Zipper Coral Bells
Little Lanterns Columbine
Rock Garden For Sun
Julia Coneflower
Fire Dance Red Hot Poker
Coreopsis Sunray
Dwarf Goblin Gaillardia
Dwarf Little Lemon Goldenrod
Stella de Oro Daylily
Verbascum Honey Dijon
Autumn Gold Willowleaf Sunflower
Moist Soil Rain Garden
Little Rocket Leopard Plant
Marsh Marigold
Sunfisher Siberian Iris
Purple Lance-Leaved Loosestrife
Native Black Eyed Susan
Golden Alexander Sundrops
Golden Ragwort
Tropicanna® Canna
Sunshine Garden Part Shade
Fireworks Goldenrod
Lanceleaf Coreopsis
False Sunflower
Arizona Apricot Blanket Flower
TEMPO™ Orange Geum
Goldfinch Shasta Daisy
My Angel Clematis
American Gold Rush Black-Eyed Susan
Mellow Yellow Garden
Moonshine Yarrow
Coreopsis Creme Brulee
Moonbeam Coreopsis
Banana Cream Shasta Daisy
Banana Dwarf Red Hot Poker
Spirit of Memphis Tall Bearded Iris
Bartzella Itoh Peony
Xeric Sunset Garden
Fire Spinner Ice Plant
Showy Goldenrod
UpTick™ Gold & Bronze Coreopsis
Sundown Coneflower
Arizona Sun Gaillardia
Primal Scream Daylily
Mango Popsicle™ Dwarf Poker
Gilded Pollinator Garden
Hello Yellow Butterfly Weed
Dwarf Little Lemon Goldenrod
Glitters Like Gold Black-Eyed Susan
Decadence® Lemon Meringue Baptisia
Goldcrest Foxglove
Mouse Ear Coreopsis
Dark Eyes Verbascum
Siloam Peony Display Daylily
Warm Tones Cut Flower Garden
Goldsturm Black-Eyed Susan
Sunny Seduction Yarrow
Double Scoop Lemon Cream Coneflower
Orange or Yellow Asiatic Lily
Glamazon Tall Bearded Iris
Rainbow Rhythm® Tiger Swirl Daylily
Jethro Tull Coreopsis
Orange and Yellow Foliage Garden
Delta Dawn Coral Bells
Caramel Coral Bells
Lemon Supreme Coral Bells
Rock 'N Low™ Boogie Woogie Sedum
Sun King Aralia
All Gold Japanese Forest Grass
Fire Island Hosta
Golden Hot Growing Zone Garden
Martin's Spurge
Lemon Drop Evening Primrose
Fanfare Blaze Gaillardia
Creme Caramel™ Coreopsis
Kudos Gold Hyssop
Chicago Sunrise Daylily
MiniBeckia™ Flame Rudbeckia
Mango Popsicle™ Dwarf Poker
Helenium Mariachi™ Salsa
Sunbeam Cold Growing Zone Garden
Flame Sundaze Strawflower
Tequila Sunrise Tickseed
Solar Flare Prairieblues False Indigo
Autumn Sun Coneflower
Fringe of Gold Tall Bearded Iris
Honey Gold Peony
Solar Flare Prairieblues False Indigo
Basket of Gold
Baby Sun Coreopsis
Flowering Perennial Care
Many perennials, especially native perennials, are so easy to care for! First, always make sure to read the care instructions found on the Nature Hills Product Pages. This will let you know how much sun, water and what type of soil a plant needs to thrive. Then find your growing zone here to get started!
Perennials do best in well-drained enriched soils and need regular fertility. Water new plants regularly until they are established during their first year. During the hottest months of the year, you’ll want to take extra care to make sure your perennials are getting enough water.
One of the best things you can do for your flower gardens is to add a 3 to 4-inch layer of arborist mulch chips around the plants. This helps conserve water and protects the roots from the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter.
Most perennials are herbaceous perennials, meaning they will die back to the ground and should be pruned in late fall when they do die back. A few exceptions prefer pruned in early spring. All appreciate some deadheading right after their flowers bloom for a cleaner effect and often to encourage a rebloom later in the growing season! You’ll find each plant's pruning needs on each plant description page.
Easy Warmth & Brilliant Color With Yellow & Orange Plants!
Yellow flowering perennials can represent the return of spring while orange can harken to the start of summer and autumn! Combine both and you have a delightfully exotic combination! Brighten, excite, and invigorate your garden today!
Browse the huge selection of yellow and orange perennial flowers for sale at Nature Hills Nursery, and reserve your plants today!
Happy Planting!
Many types of today's fruiting and flowering trees and shrubs have been grafted. As are many Shade and Ornamental trees, Evergreens, some Grapes, and some Roses are grafted onto rootstock.
Why are so many plants grafted, what are the benefits, and what exactly is rootstock?
Why Are Trees and Shrubs Grafted?
Benefits of Grafting:
What Are They Grafted Onto?
What Is The Rootstock Or Understock?
Types of Grafting
Grafting Examples
Other Types of Grafted Plants
Planting and Care of Grafted Trees & Shrubs
Fantastic Grafted Trees
Why Are Trees and Shrubs Grafted?
Specific cultivars of our favorite trees and shrubs are grafted as either a single bud or as a scion, onto a compatible root system so they can successfully be cloned. Grafting a new root system, called the rootstock, is done so there is perfect consistency across the board.
Unlike seeds and plants on their own roots -where there is often quite a bit of variety in flower color, size, shape, resistances, life span, fruiting vigor, or fruit quality/quantity. Grafted plants have so many incredible qualities you may not even realize!
Benefits of Grafting:
Grafted plants mature plant faster and in some cases flower and fruit earlier
Propagate by cloning uniform crops of specific cultivars at the nursery
Perfectly recreating certain benefits and resistances consistently
Improved resistance, fruit, flowers, drought tolerance & cold hardiness
Ensuring virus-free material and virus-resistant rootstock
Dwarf, Semi-dwarf & compact varieties
Larger flowers or fruit
Grafted trees may produce fruit at an earlier age
Some plants are difficult to root or grow from seed but readily propagate via grafting
More variety in a larger climate range
Increased Vigor
Grafting takes the benefits of one plant and fuses them onto the roots of another plant that’s closely related. The cons of grafting are only the lingering stigma these plants carry as being ‘weaker’ and breaking easily, and the lingering fear of contaminated source material - which these days is no longer the case!
What Are They Grafted Onto?
Like us when receiving a blood transfusion or organ transplant - it has to be a compatible match! So, Cherry tree cultivars must be grafted onto Cherry tree rootstock, Oranges to Citrus, Roses to Roses, and Apples to Apples.
This process allows growers to cherry-pick specific traits and qualities from both the root and the bud while maintaining consistency throughout an entire crop. Simultaneously removing problems or negative traits that some varieties may carry and preventing them from passing on undesirable traits like thorns, or bitterness.
What Is The Rootstock Or Understock?
It all starts with quality rootstock, also known as understock, which is simply the roots of the plant chosen for the specific traits and qualities the source tree has. Once joined, these traits are then passed onto the grafted, above-ground portion we see - called the scion (a small branch), or it can be just a single bud! This allows many grafted plants to be created from a small amount of source material.
There are many types of rootstock available and rootstocks used may change by the region where the plants are being produced for (increased disease resistance or better tolerances for that region). Sometimes they are changed based simply on availability for that particular year.
A few plants need something called an Interstock which is like a go-between that joins the scion and the rootstock. A few tree Roses have interstocks (one for the roots, another for the trunk, and then top grafted rose selection on top) that help plants that may not be completely compatible with each other to be solidly joined together and grow stronger. Like rootstocks, interstocks can impart further benefits to both the rootstock and scions alike.
Once grafted together, the graft union grows to be less obvious over time and the two parts seamlessly become one.
Modern cultivars and grafted plants won’t come true from seed and can be propagated by way of grafting to ensure you are getting the exact same plant every time. These specific cultivars (the combining of the words - cultivated and variety) have to be grafted or rooted. Many tree cultivars and fruits will not be able to be rooted on their own, so they must be grafted.
Once the living portion of the plant tissue, called the cambium layer (which is just under the bark) from the bud or scion is aligned with its rootstock, the roots begin pushing nutrients and plant hormones into the graft to heal the wound and fuse the two together and make them both grow.
Types of Grafting
Grafting can be traced back 4,000 years to ancient China and Mesopotamia! Today's modern nursery experts employ a wide variety of propagation techniques depending on the desired outcome and type of source material they are using.
While most fruit trees are grafted using a T-Budding graft, other types of grafting include cleft, side-veneer, bark, chip, bridge, saddle, inarch, whip and tongue, and splice grafting.
Grafting Examples
Let’s say you want to grow a Honeycrisp Apple tree. You can’t just plant a seed from a Honeycrisp Apple as it will not have the same traits or DNA when it is grown from seed, and you might get one of its parent plants from the past. The same goes for a Bartlett Pear, a Bing Cherry, or other selected varieties of fruiting and flowering plants.
Standard trees (native, ‘own-root’, or heirloom varieties) all can grow very large - sometimes 20-50 feet large! But they can also benefit from being grafted onto rootstock. Some understock used to grow standard-sized Apples for example include Domestic Apple seedlings, Antonovka, or M25.
Rootstock can precisely change the ultimate mature size of the tree. With the Honeycrisp Apple for instance - A Honeycrisp is a Honeycrisp no matter which rootstock it is grafted onto - but different rootstocks can alter just how big that Honeycrisp will ultimately get.
True Dwarf Apple varieties are typically grafted onto a dwarfing rootstock, maturing at only about 40 percent of the normal size of a Standard Apple. Although the plant stays small, the fruit is the normal size. Note true Dwarf Apple trees will need staking to prevent them from blowing over in the wind as they can’t support the weight of the fruit well with this rootstock. Dwarf fruit trees are used for small spaces and to make harvest easier and typically get 6 - 12 feet tall.
Commonly used Dwarf Apple rootstocks are Bud 9, G.11, G.65, G.41, G.214, and M9-337
Semi-Dwarf trees are a great size if you have a bit more space in your landscape and more than double the harvest of true dwarf plants. Semi-Dwarf Apple rootstock keeps the plants in the 12-20 foot range and prevents them from growing taller for easier to harvest.
Semi-dwarf Apple rootstocks may include EMLA 9, EMLA26, G.30, G.890, G.202, G.935, M7, MM106, and sometimes MM111.
Other Types of Grafted Plants
A Rose Tree-Form can be created by combining a straight Rose stem called the ‘standard’, a rootstock, and a specific variety of Rose shrub together. Creating a topiary or ‘Lollypop’ tree. Many types of Lilac Tree-forms and flowering Cherry trees are also grafted.
Other types of grafted examples are combination trees where multiple types of a tree are grafted together to create unique specimens that can have multiple varieties of fruit like the Espalier Edible Grafted 6-In-One Apple Tree that has 6 fantastic varieties on one trunk!
Grafting on larger more mature trees can also be done to repair damage from physical damage. Like a surgeon replacing a lost limb or organ, tree surgeons and arborists can just attach a new branch where one was lost due to storms or accidents!
Planting and Care of Grafted Trees & Shrubs
The graft union should be planted just above ground, and never plant any roots too deep, or too shallow. Look for the root flare, the widest part of the stem just above the root, and find where it either slightly angles away before growing straight again, or bulges at or around ground level. You’ll notice a difference in bark color or texture where the roots and scion meet, identifying the graft joint.
Dig your hole about twice as wide, but the same depth as the current root system
Situate the roots so the graft is just above the ground and the root flare is at ground level
Backfill with native soil and tamp down gently
Water your new plant in very well saturating the soil completely at planting
Add a 3-4 inch thick layer of mulch over the entire root system
Pull the mulch away from touching the trunk and graft union.
Maintain consistent moisture for the first year of the plant's life by checking using the ‘Finger Test’ and checking the soil moisture every day, adding water when needed until the plant is established. That’s it!
Fantastic Grafted Trees
Don’t be leery of grafted trees and shrubs! Grafting or budding is not a bad thing, but a necessary way to propagate many of our favorite trees! They are stronger than you think because of the combined union of two fantastic plant portions, both working together to amplify everything you love about your new plant pet!
There is nothing you need to do beyond water and the same support you’d give to a non-grafted plant, but you will reap all the benefits these fantastic plants offer! It is a good idea to protect the trunks of all young trees from rodents and deer rubbing during the winter months.
Check out all the different grafted and ‘own root’ varieties available at Nature Hills today and get the landscape of your dreams!
Happy Planting!
Savory briny Olives are a favorite snack and topping for many around the world! But did you know you can grow your own olives?
Since ancient times, Olive trees (Olea) have been a staple in the Mediterranean landscape and diet. Capture the essence of sun-drenched coastlines and connect to a sense of antiquity with Olive trees from Nature Hills Nursery.
Not just a fantastic specimen, shade, and landscape tree, Olive trees are a long-lived cash crop and specimen plant for many around the world and right here in the US!
All About Olive Trees
History & Symbolism of Olive Trees
Nutrition and Health Benefits
Where to Plant Olive Trees
Where Olive trees grow best
Maintenance Pruning & Thinning
Olive Trees in Containers
Harvesting Olives
Preserving Olives
Outstanding Olives!
All About Olive Trees
Creamy white blooms appear in sprays all over the tree, sometimes in such quantities, the tree will look frosted! Beloved for their wonderful fragrance, they are nestled among the tree's dark green leaves, but your pollinators will find them in swarms! These flowers are also wind-pollinated, further increasing pollination chances.
Flowering is induced by fluctuation between day and nighttime temperatures, as well as two months of temperatures below 50°F for flower initiation. While mostly self-fertile, having multiples of the same Olive tree, or planting a Pendolino Olive as a universal pollinator, you’ll enjoy a far larger harvest per tree.
The Olive fruits themselves are considered botanically drupes, or stone fruits like Peaches, in fact, they’re closely related! Other close relatives are Cherries, Almonds, and Pistachios.
The exotic sage-green to gray-green foliage makes these fantastic specimen trees and airy shade trees! Adding a wonderful Mediterranean aesthetic to your landscaping, Olive leaves offer a soft and subtle fine texture while the leathery broad-leaved evergreen foliage suits even the smallest properties!
The most unique characteristic of this tree is its slower-growing nature, creating a gnarled, twisted trunk. Over time, this tree adds character and a sense of antiquity to your landscape! The wood is decay resistant and even recovers after fires. Want a faster-growing Olive tree? Try the Frantoio Olive Tree, which is also one of the few that can tolerate down to zone 7 climates!
There are 139 Olive varieties and each olive cultivar has its own unique chemical and taste characteristics. Living for 300-600 years, the oldest Olive tree in Greece is 2,000 years old and still produces fruit! Performing best and living the longest in Xeric, arid, and Mediterranean climates, but also doing well in any tropical to temperate area with adequate drainage.
Fruit Ripens From Green to Purple to Black With 1-2 Seeds
Self-Pollinating - Prolific Harvest
Fragrant Creamy White Blooms
Shade, Specimen & Container Plants
Great for Edible Landscaping
Grey-Green Silvery Broad-Leaf Evergreen Foliage
Slow to Fast-Growing Varieties
Unique Twisting Trunks
History & Symbolism of Olive Trees
There is fossil evidence that wild Olive trees appeared in the area around the Mediterranean Sea millions of years ago. As far back as the Bronze Age, humans have relied on Olives for food. That long historic relationship gave rise to symbolic meanings linked to the tree and its versatile fruit.
An Olive branch is a universal symbol of peace. Greeks and Romans crowned victors of war or competition with crowns of Olive garlands, and Olive Oil is an important element in many religious ceremonies. Spanish explorers introduced Olive trees to the New World in the 1500s and to California in the 1700s. Today, these Fruit Trees are cultivated throughout the tropical regions of the world.
Nutrition and Health Benefits
Olives contain 11 - 15% fat, and 3/4th of that fat is oleic acid, a type of monounsaturated fatty acid. They are also low carb and high in Vitamin E. Olives are also a fantastic source of Iron and Copper. Olives are rich in polyphenols which have antioxidant properties. The beneficial effects of these compounds include reducing the risk of chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis and cancer. These healthy snacks and frequent charcuterie board additions are only around 60 calories for 10 Olives!
Where to Plant Olive Trees
The highly adaptable Olive variety does well in the ground and in containers, making it easy to keep one near the kitchen for your culinary masterpieces! Olive trees do well in sunny areas and will be happy in soil with excellent drainage.
They’re easy to grow and are resistant to most insects and disease issues. Olive tree varieties are tolerant of drought and brief chill. Olive trees grow best in planting zones with hot, dry summers and mild but cool winters that never freeze.
Just avoid planting one near a patio, driveway, or sidewalk as the dropping fruit can be a bit messy.
But you won’t have to worry about birds eating your harvest, because of the saltiness and bitterness of fresh olives, your feathered friends won’t eat your crop. Squirrels however may eat the seeds, but they prefer other nuts and seeds over Olive pits. Unless you have cattle, sheep, goats, and camels, there’s no reason to chase wildlife out of your tree!
Where Olive trees grow best
Full sun - Minimum 6 hours of direct sunlight a day
Low moisture needs & moderate fertility once established
Can prune smaller for use as an ornamental container tree
Pest & disease resistant
Loves heat! - USDA zones 8 - 10 outdoors (Frantoio Zone 7)
Drought tolerant & thrives in coastal conditions
Highly adaptable!
Are Olive trees high maintenance?
Not at all! Olive Trees are ideal for the home grower because they are small and hardy, and require very little maintenance to turn out a bumper crop of olives. Outdoors, the Olive is adaptable to a variety of conditions, even doing well in poor soils or drought once established!
What is the easiest Olive tree to grow?
The Arbequina Olive Tree is regarded as one of the easiest to grow and is often used for patio containers and produces high-quality Olives around November. Arbequina is also one of the most popular Olives at NatureHills.com!
Maintenance Pruning & Thinning
If you decide to shape or control the size of your Olive tree, they are amenable to pruning. Needing regular pruning to maintain vigor and increase fruit production, prune after fruiting for best results. It’s best to prune established trees for shape and to keep them from growing too large. Keep an open canopy and remove weaker and less productive branches. Olive flowers in the shade will not set well, so ensure sunlight can penetrate the entire tree canopy.
Thin fruit by removing excess fruit, keeping three or four fruit per foot of twig as soon as possible after the fruit set. This increases the size of the fruit you leave on the tree.
Olive Trees in Containers
For colder climates, plant a Mission or Leccino Olive tree in a container. Bringing fruit trees indoors for the winter protects the plant and lengthens your enjoyment of your Olive tree. Try these Olive tree varieties in containers with adequate drainage. Olive trees grown indoors do not set fruit, but they are lovely ornamentals to decorate your interiorscape when enough bright light is available.
Harvesting Olives
How many years does it take for an Olive tree to bear fruit?
Olives can start producing fruit after 3-5 years of age and Nature Hills ships trees at least 2-3 years old already! Some Olives can produce small to large crops annually, while others are biennial bearing, while others yet have a decent crop one year and then a light one the next. But a mature tree can produce over 200 lbs (100kg) of fruit!
The Olive fruits are botanically drupes, similar to the Peach or Plum. An Olive begins as a green fruit that makes a slow transition to purple before turning black, indicating it's time for harvesting. This happens sometime in late November til January.
What’s the difference between green and black Olives? Other than the color, green Olives are saltier, tangier, and can be a bit more bitter, while black Olives have more oil and less salt. You can change the ultimate flavor by how you preserve them.
They're just perfect for snacking, adding to drinks, and slicing for use as a topping on pizza. Olives also produce high-quality oil for culinary uses and cooking, beauty and health care, and religious purposes.
Olives can be harvested while unripe and green, or when ripe and fully black
Harvest for oil when the fruit is black on the outside, but the inside is still green/yellow
Pick gently to avoid bruising if used for brining
You can knock them out of the tree with a pole when harvesting for oil
Olives must be cured before they can be eaten. Once cured they are great table fruit
Preserve in water, oil, brine, salt, or lye to remove the bitterness and preserve them
Preserving Olives
Curing and preserving methods range from curing your Olives in caustic soda, in a salt/water brine, or in a vinegar and oil mixture. Make sure your containers and utensils are clean and sterile, and made from non-reactive materials (avoid copper, brass, iron, or galvanized pots/utensils). Once canned, the Olives will be ready to eat in 3-6 weeks depending on the variety, how much oil is in the Olive, their size, and the method of preservation.
Outstanding Olives!
What Olive trees are available at Nature Hills?
Leccino - 25-30 feet tall - #1 Worldwide - Zones 8-9
Frantoio - Semi Dwarf 12-15 feet - Olive Oil & Curing - Zones 7-10
Arbequina - Semi Dwarf 12-15 feet - Early Flowering - Zones 8-10
Arbosana - Semi Dwarf 12-15 feet - Flavorful Olives & Oil - Zones 8-10
Koroneiki - Semi Dwarf 12-15 feet - Mid-season - Zones 8-10
Mission - 15-18 feet - Unique Fruity Flavor & Scent - Zones 8-10
Pendolino - 15-20 feet - Universal Olive pollinator - Zones 8-10
Manzanillo - 20-30 feet - Easy to Remove Pits - Zones 8-10
Little Ollie® Dwarf Olive - shrubby non-fruiting landscaping Olive
These hardy, yet fruitful trees will add beauty to your landscape! An old-world favorite, the Olive is a symbol of peace and friendship! So an Olive would be a fantastic gift for a new homeowner!
Check out all the varieties of Olive trees available at Nature Hills and get growing your own tasty Olives for your family today!
Happy Planting!
Tropical greenery and live exotic plants add a verdant and unique texture and form to your home and outdoor rooms. If you are lucky to live in a warm climate that’s frost-free, decorate your landscape year-round!
Often originating from rainforests, native to exotic locations around the world, some can even be grown right here in the US! Thriving in the consistent temperatures and higher moisture availability these frost-free growing zones provide. Temperate regions without a cold winter allow for more vigorous, lush growth and the year-round growing conditions give these plants the time and nutrition to grow bigger leaves, faster growth, and more varied forms!
It’s those unique forms and curious features that are so enticing to us! We’re drawn to these differences and to these plants' ease of care and adaptability in our homes and on our porches, patios, and summertime outdoor living areas!
Tropical Plant Care
Thriving in the heat, soaking up humidity, and appreciating deeper organic soils, enriched containers, and, for the most part, loving soil moisture, tropical plants are surprisingly low maintenance and easy to care for!
Sun
Most Tropicals are understory plants, living in the shade and dappled shadow of larger more established plants and trees. Others live in the dappled part sun or even full shade! For most houseplants and indoor tropical plants, bright but indirect sunlight is their favored location! Few like full sun indoors because windows seem to focus the light and can sunburn the leaves, causing them to bleach out or fade.
Low-light plants tolerate indirect light from not just a low-light window or fluorescent lighting from an office space or LED or incandescent grow light from a bathroom or bedroom lamp. Read on our Plant Highlights section on each plant's page for what kind of lighting your chosen plant needs to be happy and healthy! Pothos and Philodendrons are natural in lower-light areas and won’t mind anything except full shade.
Bright Indirect Light Indoors
Supplemental Light (Grow Lights) If Not Enough Sun
Part Sun/Part Shade - Favoring Afternoon Shade Outdoors
Full Shade or All Day Dappled Shade Outdoors in Hot Climates
For locations indoors that do not have big bright windows and sunrooms, there are always supplemental grow lights available to extend your light amounts, especially in the winter months when there’s less sun availability in general.
Soil Requirements & Fertility
Tropicals need enriched, highly organic, and moisture-holding (but not soggy) soil. Preferring slightly acidic conditions best. Be sure the location or container of your plant (most plants for that matter) are in well-drained soil and have a way for excess water to drain out and away from the roots. Standing water is rarely tolerated and will cause your plant to die.
In their understory native environments, there is a high availability of leaf litter and composted soil from the larger trees and shrubs they grow among, so recreate that setting by using lots of compost and organic matter for them to grow in. These types of soils also have higher moisture absorption and moisture content.
Enriched Highly Organic Soil
Compost, Peat Moss
Needs Good Drainage
Slightly Acidic
Regular Fertility
Furthermore, Tropical Plants may need a half rate of fertilizer quarterly - unless you are in the more northern regions where winter days are short and cloudy. If this is the case, you might want to skip the 4th quarter application (October through December).
Air Humidity & Moisture Needs
While many prefer higher moisture and consistent watering, they do poorly in soggy soil and quickly succumb to root rot. For in-ground plants in warm climates, regular watering in the heat of summer, and throughout the drier parts of the winter are necessary to maintain a healthy root system. There are some exceptions like the Snake Plant (Sansevieria), Cactus, and Succulents that prefer lower moisture conditions once they're established.
Because of their contained environment, container plants need frequent water checks as the water needs will change depending on the pot size and the climate they are being grown in. Once the surface of the soil is dry to the touch, it is recommended to water thoroughly, let the excess drain out the bottom, and discard it. This will greatly vary throughout the year and the interior environment of your home. In winter time it is recommended to increase air humidity with a humidifier, but back off on how much water you add to the soil. Even though some tropicals may have a dormant period, they do back off on growth and flowering in the lower light levels of the winter months.
Moderately Yet Consistent Moisture
Regular Water Checks for Container Plants
Good Drainage
Higher Air Humidity
Reduce Watering in Winter (Indoors)
Water Outdoor Plants in Heat, Drought & As Needed in Winter
Drier office locations and air conditioners that remove air moisture might make us more comfortable, but they reduce the available humidity that these plants thrive in. Setting your plant's pot in a tray of pebbles that are filled with water (ensuring the water does not touch the bottom of the pot) will help increase the relative air humidity around the plant itself, a humidifier or frequent misting help too!
Temperatures
The constant temperatures of many of these unique plants' native environments aren't just throughout the year, but also have less of a drop in temperature between day and night! Most houseplants and exotic plants prefer an average relative temperature between 65-75°F. Any temperature dropping below 50°F can spell certain doom! Gradually transition them indoors in anticipation of cooler temperatures so there is not a shock to their system.
Keep your Tropicals away from drafts and dry air vents and heaters in the winter, while keeping them out of the brunt of the full sun in the summers. Container plants on porches will need to be watched, moved, or shaded from the hottest days - especially if they’re not acclimated to the bright sunlight after months of being indoors.
Tropical Plants & Changes in Environment
No one likes drastic change! Your plants are the same way. Remember to always slowly transition your indoor houseplants to the outdoors so they can acclimate (get used to) the higher sun intensity and longer daylight hours. This prevents leaves from blanching in the sun and even cooking in the direct light. Keeping their environment steady also reduces leaf drop which is a frequent result of stress.
Likewise in the autumn, when there’s a threat of frost for Northern growing zones, gradually reacclimate your plants to the indoor environment over the weeks before an expected start of the chilly weather to prevent leaf yellowing and leaf drop, like Ficus, Gardenia and some other types of plants. These plants often have a temporary ‘freak out’ when they’ve been moved to a new location inside the home, or transition inside and out (or vice versa) and take a bit of time to adjust to their new surroundings - resulting in leaf drop.
While distressing to witness, just let your plant adjust and maintain as much consistency as they settle. It’s a knee-jerk reaction to add fertilizer in these times of temporary crisis - but don’t! Forcing a plant extra nutrition that stimulates growth, when it's already stressed, will just cause more stress!
Tropical Plants in Containers and Planters
Because of their love of consistent temperatures and moisture, Tropical plants are perfect for the home environment and in the container gardening landscape! Because you have higher control over what goes into the soil in a pot, you are also better able to control the moisture and fertility too!
As with any plant in a contained environment, poor drainage is the main killer of any plant bound to a pot. So add drainage holes and always check before watering, adding a tray under the pot to catch any dribbles and excess water.
If your container plant dries out frequently, it might be time to shift your plant to a larger size pot. Knock the plant out of the pot and look at the roots. If there is a mass of roots with little soil between them, it is time.
Don’t cover the new pot’s drainage hole, or use gravel at the bottom. This can slow drainage and speed up occurrences of root rot. If you’re concerned about soil seeping from the container bottom, cover the hole with a folded paper towel or coffee filter. Add some potting soil to the new container. Spread the plant roots, placing them on the soil. Make sure it’s centered and upright. Fill with soil and water well to settle in.
Fertilize at least three times a year during the growing season, avoiding fertilizer in the winter while these plants take a break from growth in the cooler growing zones. If you are in a warmer climate with mild winters, a fourth mild dose of fertilizer will keep your plants healthy in the off-season.
Types of Tropical Plants at Nature Hills!
It’s no wonder why many of these tropical plants are quite happy to live on our far less than tropical porches and warm snug homes! They are also easy to grow and perfect for the forgetful gardener and the absolute beginner houseplant owner!
Shade Loving Tropicals
Sun Loving Tropicals
Part Sun/Shade Tropicals
Peace Lily
Calathea
Cast Iron Plant
Polka Dot Plant
Macho Fern
Octopus Agave
Anthurium
Banana Plants
Tropical Hibiscus
Hedgehog Aloe
Dieffenbachia
Ferns
Croton
Snake Plant
Ponytail Palm
Large Tropical Plants
Small Tropical Plants
Climbing Tropical Plants
Fiddle Leaf Figs
Umbrella Plants
Australian Tree Fern
Palm Trees
Fragrant Tea Olive
Bromeliads
Nephthytis
Jade Plant
ZZ Plant
Succulents
Philodendron
Pothos
Swiss Cheese Plant
Satin Pothos
Inch Plant
Easiest Care Tropicals
Tropical Plants for Pros
Unexpected Houseplants
Spider Plants
Snake Plant
Rubber Plants
Corn Plant
Bromeliads
Palm Trees
Ficus Tropical Figs
Boston Fern
Prayer Plants
Maidenhair Ferns
Foxtail Fern
Fragrant Tea Olive
Golden Brush Ginger
Kokedamas
Seasonal Outdoor Accents
These are also perfect for seasonal porches and patios, seating areas, and outdoor rooms throughout the summer months regardless of your growing zone! Either plant as seasonal décor or annual accents directly in the ground, or a potted plant installed in the ground pot and all for easy removal later - gardeners can enjoy these plants outdoors all summer, and when temperatures begin to drop, they can be brought indoors for the winter (gradually)!
Year-Round Greenery Indoors and Out!
Get your home as green as your garden so you can keep that green thumb from getting dusty over the winter! Improve the air quality inside your home and office, increase oxygen levels, and all the other health benefits that plants provide!
Nature Hills is excited to offer many Tropical houseplants and Tropical landscaping plants for you to enjoy year-round! Improve your life with these incredible plants and enjoy their easy care needs for gardeners of all levels to bring into their homes!
Happy Planting!
Corn stalks/cobs
starter between brown layers can have the same effect. 
