Hardy Tropicals at Cole’s

This is a brand new line of plants at Cole’s. We’re excited
to offer these beautiful exotic tropical foliage and flowers to meet the growing demand for Tropical Gardens.

Whether you think of it as tropical gardening or zone
denial, growing plants normally considered for warmer climate zones can be a satisfying pursuit - if you succeed
at doing something most books tell you can’t be done.
Your winter hardiness zone refers to the average winter minimums you may experience in your area. In Niagara
we are zone 6. That means that any plant you buy with a hardiness rating of zone 6 or lower will survive the winter, provided its other needs, such as watering, are met.

If you strictly follow what you read, then this rating system limits your plant choices. But plants don’t read books, and often what survives here can be surprising. Furthermore, most gardens have little pockets that might be a full zone warmer then the regional norm. Plants normally found in much warmer climates such as evergreen Magnolias, Mimosa, bananas and palm trees will survive our winter with proper sighting and a little protection. As with all plants, some “hardy tropicals” are hardier than others, so choosing the right one is important. For example, not all bananas will survive in Niagara, but Musa basjoo and a few others can.

Follow The Trials of a Local Gardner

A local St. Catharines gardener is experimenting with hardy tropicals at niagaratropicals.blogspot.com/

The following are just some of the plants we have ordered for this spring.

Hardy Palms
Sabal minor
Trachycarpus fortunei
Rhapidophyllum hystrix

Broadleaved evergreens
Araucaria araucana
Aucuba Mr. Goldstrike / picturata / serratifolia
Gardenia Kleims Hardy
Hebe x franciscana Blue Gem
Ilex cornuta burfordii
Magnolia grandiflora Edith Bogue / DD Blanchard / Alta / Brackens Brown Beauty
Loropetalum chinensis
Viburnum davidii
Viburnum pragense

Hardy Cacti
Corypantha sulcata
Corypantha vivipara
Echinocereus reichenbachii