Dan's Papers - August 22, 2008

My trips to Florida have born some ripe fruit over the course of this year. Or shall I say a wider plant palette. Tropicals were never a forte of mine. I have used bananas and elephant's ears, tibouchinas and hibiscus, gardenias and plumbago, just as much as anyone else. But aside from crotons, I really don't have a good range of tropical foliage that I am familiar with.

After a tropical expo in Ft. Lauderdale and a trip to some palm nurseries on Pine Island, my experiences came in handy. I was asked to fill a red glazed pot with a plant that could tolerate outdoor summer shade and then come in for the winter as an attractive houseplant. It had to complement pink, non-stop begonias with bronze leaves and white caladiums with burgundy polka dots; both gorgeous, dramatic and graphic in their own right.

So I hunted through the greenhouses across the East End because what I really needed was a fantastic houseplant, or in other words, something with tropical foliage. I saw some fabulous plant materials that I had been meaning to try, like a ripple edged upright elephant ear that had dark green leaves and another one with a white margin. I passed by the papyrus again because it is so dramatic, but it would not take the lack of sun and it can be a little tricky indoors if the ceilings aren't high enough. I thought about palms, but they are too frondy and then I thought, deep red dracaenas, but they are too common. Finally, I landed on Phormiums, the perfect vertical accent.

A big pot of variegated mother-in-law's tongue stopped me for a minute. They were the right shape. This led to a new idea: Phormium Flamingo would have been perfect. Their vertical swordlike leaves have pink, cream and burgundy accents. They look great in planters or by themselves. But, the plant proved elusive late in the season. Pam, at Lynch's Garden Center in Southampton, did the usual magic she is known for, and instantly thought of stromanthes. The leaves are long, strappy ovals that are pink, cream and green on top and burgundy on the bottom. I must be honest and say that I had no idea what she was talking about when she ordered them. However, I was delighted to find that when the stromanthes arrived, they were the exact same plant that I had admired so many times down south.

Enjoy the fruits of your labor in the veggie garden, but start to reseed the super sugar snap peas, spinaches and some new lettuces that can begin to sprout with the cooler weather ahead.

For more than 20 years, April Gonzales has been involved in garden design, installation and maintenance on the East End, as well as specimen plant scouting and site supervision for landscape architects.