"House" plants outdoors - share your successes!

[iDesign]

Was just chatting with a Palmtalker about houseplants outside and thought I'd share my not-so-scientific results from this past winter.

What I've been doing is to buy a "houseplant" I like and torture test it in the yard (in a somewhat protected spot) to see how it does. These two did great over the winter here which surprised me...

The second one even made a bunch of babies. Thinking I might get more and use them as a groundcover in a shady area. The maidenhair fern went crispy initially, but seems to be making a recovery (TBD on that one).

The philodendrons weren't quite as happy with our winter...

The little ones died and the larger ones looked stressed. I love them here though, so I might just add some protection next winter.

My "living wall" did really great, other than the calethea (might swap those out if they don't perk up)...

Anyone else want to share some "houseplants" they've had success with outdoors?

[BeyondTheGarden]

Super cool love that living wall. Wish I could do something like that here. Love yhat begonia maculata too. 

[Looking Glass]

Your living paintings are awesome.   I don’t think they qualify as houseplants, but I’m giving caladiums a go.  The bulbs are sending up their 1st shoots now.  Like an idiot, I walked right over a few of the poking out shoots today…. Oops.   

I’ll post some pics in a month or so, when they emerge.   Anyone growing any?  

For now, just rando internet pics to show their potential…..

 

I put these in over winter in front of the porch.  They are happy there.  They are probably houseplants….

[tim_brissy_13]

Good idea for a thread. I’m a terrible indoor gardener, so I’ve had a few plants that I’ve tossed outside and hoped for the best. Maybe the best outcome was Ctenanthe setosa. I’m surprised it thrives outdoor here considering it has quite a tropical appearance. It’s in the foreground of this photo amongst some Chamaedorea species in a spot protected from sun. It has grown so well I’ve started splitting stems and selling them off. 
 

 

[iDesign]

1 hour ago, Looking Glass said:

I put these in over winter in front of the porch.  They are happy there.  They are probably houseplants….

I believe these are all "calethea" types. My torture test results with calethea are that "Medallion" (a large, very round one) couldn't take any sun at all (I might try again in the shade).  My "Warscewiczii" (the velvety type in my living wall) are struggling a bit, but they were planted in winter so I'll give them a little more time.

I've anecdotally heard that "rattlesnake" (the harder-skinned one on the far right of your photo) is the most hardy. Not sure on the others (though they look great).

Your "calethea row" is a great testing ground... let us  know how they do in comparison to each other!

Forgot to include my Calethea "white fusion" in my earlier post. I was pretty certain they wouldn't survive outdoors but tried it anyway out of curiosity (I'm so mean to plants!). They were well hidden so that I wouldn't have to look at the carnage but they surprisingly survived! Wouldn't say they thrived though (photo below)...

Yet I still try stuff! This guy is going in this week. Hoping it will do as well as the begonia maculata did.

To clarify (if anyone is doubting my sanity)... I have many well-researched plants that are exotic yet appropriate for yard use. But the plants I've posted here are the random ones I picked up in the "indoor" section and stuck in the yard just to see if it survives 

That said, I've had some success just "trying stuff".
Shelter the casualties... and Propagate the Survivors! 

[Looking Glass]

1 hour ago, iDesign said:

I believe these are all "calethea" types. My torture test results with calethea are that "Medallion" (a large, very round one) couldn't take any sun at all (I might try again in the shade).  My "Warscewiczii" (the velvety type in my living wall) are struggling a bit, but they were planted in winter so I'll give them a little more time.

I've anecdotally heard that "rattlesnake" (the harder-skinned one on the far right of your photo) is the most hardy. Not sure on the others (though they look great).

Your "calethea row" is a great testing ground... let us  know how they do in comparison to each other!

There are two of each of the 3 kinds there, and a 3rd pink striped one out of frame.  They were all the same size when planted.  

That spot is a unique spot in my yard.  Total shade in the summer, due to the roof overhang and cat palms that I expected to be 3 feet tall, that are now 5-6 feet tall.   

In winter, when the sun is lowest, it’s still mostly shady, but it’s hit by minor dappled sun on the ground.  The way the sun hits the rest of the concrete porch and overhang it stays very warm there in winter, even at night, and it’s totally protected from wind.   

I got all these in ~4 inch pots, perhaps 7 months ago???   Now they are like 1g size.   They were out in 40s-50sF at night.  They are all are fine there.  I’d bet they have 0% sun tolerance, but are happy in the warm, sheltered shade.  

“Rattlesnake” grows flatter and slower than the others, but they all seem happy.  

They all do this neat “fold up” thing at night to some degree……

 

Edited June 1, 2022 by Looking Glass

[iDesign]

Oops, just remembered another success - Dracaena "Limelight". I initially put this one in partial sun and it didn't do well, but it's SUPER happy in the shade. I have it in a few places in the yard now, but especially love it next to my Purple king (really brings out the chartreuse tones). So nice to have another mid-size option other than my Burgundy and Purple Ti plants.

Looking online I'm seeing instructions like "This plant will start to decline at temperatures below 55F" - but my yard goes much lower than this in the winter. All my Dracaena Limelights have looked lovely year-round. THIS is why I torture test houseplants. Calling this one a success 

[Looking Glass]

I see “limelight” at the nursery all the time.   They always keep a half-dozen in a shady, covered corner.  It really glows bright in the shade, but I don’t have a tall, deep shade spot for it.   

I forgot that we’ve rescued a few, small, office plants that were taking their last gasps.   

This little bird’s nest fern grows slow, but has been out there for a year…

This little nerve plant was dying on a desk in the office, so I just stuck it in the ground, where it’s not dying as much….

 

I also put in a stampcrete rock border in the front garden area that contains all the little “houseplants” today, in an attempt to stop digging lizards from chucking fertilizer and mulch all over the sidewalk.   60 feet of border went in before I got rained out.   

[ColdBonsai]

I'm jealous of all these. My best house plant success is fatsia lol. But only then as a foundation plant. I consider that pretty good for zone 7 in Idaho. I also do pretty well with Jasmine that I've bought as house plants like my Jasmine Stephanense.

 

Edited June 3, 2022 by ColdBonsai

[Merlyn]

I've had good luck with Chamaedorea Elegans in a shady wet area near the front door.  The gutters overflow when we get an inch of rain in 2 minutes...so that area gets a lot of water.  Also up there is a 25+ year old clump of Peace Lily that has been burned back a LOT.  Rattlesnake Calathea, tall green and tricolor gingers, philodendron like "Prince of Orange" and "Moonlight" and "Rojo Congo" do great, as well as Calathea like Lubbersiana.  Many of these survived the 24-28F end-of-January cold blast with only some burn.  Of course they were close to the house and protected from frost...

I've tried caladiums of several types, they do well in shade but die off in the middle of summer.  Some come back anyway, one of my neighbors has the standard pink center type in her front yard in full sun.  It grows great until about August, then dies, then pops back up again in the late fall.

[iDesign]

13 hours ago, Merlyn said:

Philodendron like "Prince of Orange" and "Moonlight" and "Rojo Congo" do great, as well as Calathea like Lubbersiana.  Many of these survived the 24-28F end-of-January cold blast with only some burn...

My Prince of Orange was one I thought was a wonderful success for most of winter, because it survived several low dips without showing any stress. It was only at the VERY  end of winter that it started to succumb.

This leads me to conclude that these types of philodendrons can handle my winter temps for short periods, but not the prolonged stretches of cold nights we get here sometimes.. My updated plan for next winter is to cover them or bring them in for prolonged cold snaps... but not worry about the shorter dips. Thanks for the additional data. 

[Xenon]

New leaf on mutant I found at HD 

[Looking Glass]

The recent heavy rains made the first of the caladium bulbs come up after 2 weeks in the ground or so.   The other 3 kinds are just starting to peek out…..

[Fusca]

I received this Beaucarnea recurvata as a small seedling about a decade ago.  It's been a houseplant/outdoor container plant until I put it in the ground a few months ago.  It survived neglect and 100°+ temps for the past 5 years and seems to be pretty indestructible here.  It's unique to me because it has 4 "heads"! 

Edited June 8, 2022 by Fusca

[96720]

I have just started this buy a house plant and kill it in hell but these have been successful the fern has been in a couple of years and grows like crazy the others have been in a couple of months but today I just took these pictures its 113 and 10% I don’t know how anything makes it but so happy to have something a little different in the jungle 

[Looking Glass]

The caladiums came up really fast.  My first try with these.   Next time around I’ll be a little better at placing them.  

 

 

[VA Jeff]

On 6/4/2022 at 8:45 AM, Xenon said:

New leaf on mutant I found at HD 

How cold does the monstera take before it gets any damage, and also how cold for ground dieback?  Which species of monstera is it?  I would love to grow monstera in 9a Georgia.

[VA Jeff]

Ti plants (cordyline fruticosa) grow in Savannah without protection.  Sometimes they show winter burn.

Strelizias grow with some burn occasionally.

 

Philodendron selloum, aloes, and a few houseplant looking bromeliads.  I posted a number of photos in this thread 

 

[Xenon]

15 minutes ago, VA Jeff said:

Ti plants (cordyline fruticosa) grow in Savannah without protection.  Sometimes they show winter burn.

Strelizias grow with some burn occasionally.

Sounds like those plants are enjoying a string of mild winters. Both will burn to the ground when zone reality hits (low 20s). Ti plant is slow to regenerate mass and can fizzle out if frozen back in consecutive years. 

Monstera deliciosa tolerates upper 20s under canopy. Dies to the ground/stem around 25F or so depending on age and duration. 

[Manalto]

I've posted about this plant elsewhere on the forum but this philodendron is most definitely considered a houseplant here in 8B so here it is again, a little older and a little larger.

The past two winters here have been reasonably mild, with a low in the high 20s. The first winter my philodendron 'Brasil' was left unprotected (I was away) and it was killed to the ground but I was surprised when it recovered, albeit slowly, from the roots. The second winter I rigged a burlap bag over a couple of bamboo poles and leaned it against the vine. It worked beautifully and despite temperatures once again in the upper 20s, there was hardly any damage. The plant is now about 5' up the trunk of the live oak. The leaves have increased slightly in size and are showing a more variation than I tend to see indoors. It gets morning sun and dappled for the rest of the day.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Manalto

[Tomas]

On 6/1/2022 at 2:48 AM, iDesign said:

My "living wall" did really great, other than the calethea (might swap those out if they don't perk up)...

The only calatheas reasonably hardy are now classified as Ctenanthe (with one exception, Calathea lancifolia)

[Tracy]

This one is a little bit of a stretch in that I already grow a lot of orchids outside, in fact all my orchids live outside.  This one is a little different in that it was a "cast off" resscue.  Some people give up on their grocery store/big box purchased hybrid Phaleonopsis orchids.  This one I found in the street last year while out walking the dogs.  I picked it up and stuck it in the shade of a Pritchardia along with some other orchids.  It is now rewarding me for my compassion.

So it was someone else's indoor plant before it became my outdoor plant.