Voting Booth: What prompts you to choose the seeds and plants that you grow?, 1 by lakesidecallas

lakesidecallas wrote:
I've always liked unusual plants- when I was about 5 years old, I ate an Arisaema (Jack-in-the-pulpit). Not recommended as an appetizer!

In my teens my parents went to Arizona and brought home some cactus for me, it didn't take long to kill them- watering through the winter.

Soon afterwards I discovered catalogs and was a lost soul!

With eBay and online nursery sales, I've spent most of my money on plants. Luckily 2 years ago I finally got my greenhouse to keep them in. Unfortunately we are now retired, so I have very little to spend on plants- unless I sell some of my own.

My husband poo-poos my hobby, he prefers to grow only vegetables- things he can eat. Considers every other plant a waste of space. We have very poor soil here (rocky shale and clay) but he works very hard at it. He's had kale, collards, and cilantro all winter. Yesterday he harvested his first radishes and was so excited. Poor guy, I've always hated veggies, even tomatoes! and won't eat any of it.
He sure does seem to like the flowers and fruit that I grow though, maybe someday I'll turn him to the dark side.

My latest favorite plant is a Corokia cotoneaster. No, it's not a cotoneaster, it's a Corokia! It has crooked litle branches that go every which way. The small leaves are awesome, they are green on one side and pure white on the other. The common name is skeleton bush.

I have other rare stuff like AeAe banana, Amorphophallus titanum, Rainbow Eucalyptus trees, and Worsleya procera, but as I get older I don't want the stress of trying to keep the super-rare stuff alive. I suppose I'll always be trying to push the zone, since getting one of my first plants on eBay back in '98 or '99- a Chorisa speciosa, or Silk Floss Tree. It's been in a pot growing in the house all that time, and I just love it! The worlds largest bonsai, LOL!
Here is a photo of it outdoors one summer. In Florida they grow to be enormous trees.

One note, nothing I grow is potentially invasive, as far as I know. Everything is in pots because of our poor soil. Friends are always surprised to see our yard, they expect it to be like a botanical garden due to my love of plants- but all they see is a mish-mash of pots! Maybe someday...