IMO, the UK is famous for Kew Gardens, exploring the world and bringing back plants, having beautiful gardens, Sunrooms full of tropical plants. I droll over the possibilities. Gene

lol Kew Gardens was one of the places I went to that inspired me to grow tropical plants. I could spend all day in there tropical green houses. I wish I could have a green house like theres I'd be right in my element.

IMO, it is a matter of enough light, perhaps temp. and humidity as well. Right now I have 4 Papaya trees, many small bananas, some citrus trees. One winter I had many dwarf citrus trees and had an average of 2 full sized citrus fruits a week to eat, all winter long. Please try to grow every tropical fruit you enjoy and keep us posted on your progress. Gene

I'm very lucky to have a good central heating system but the right amount of light could be an issue, however I have some good grow lamps that keep my other plants going but as for the humidity I don't have any... I know mango's like humidity... ummm I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Good job, none of my plants have fruited as yet maybe soon once they grow to a good size, I'd be amazed if my banana plants grew fruit although its not unknown for banana plants to bare fruit in the UK many people that have grown them in there gardens around the UK mainly the south of the UK they have successfully got there banana plants to fruit. I am very interested in the dwarf variety of citrus trees as they pretty much fruit endlessly... I don't own any but I'm planning on getting some to plant with my other citrus trees that I've grown from store bought fruits. I'd love to get fresh homegrown fruit, ain't nothing like it . I really like papaya fruit but I think I've got a long way to go before I ever grew any of those let alone ones that bare fruit.

@yardenman Thanks so much for the acorn!
This is a great thread topic

Just wanted to add that I've seen Kiwi plants growing outside in the wild in Hampstead Heath which bare fruit that I'm fascinated by.

I'm in Wisconsin, do not have a sunroom nor a Greenhouse. But, I do have 21 fixtures of T5 HO lights. Gene

Kevin, nice to hear your story. I also like experimenting with growing plants from seeds or cuttngs - much more satisfying for me than starting with established plants. I have tried several of the common type fruits: apples, oranges, lemons, grapefruits, etc. Don't think I ever got any to bear fruit but had fun with emerging seedlings. Envy you being so close to Kew Gardens - its reputation is well-known. Several years ago I worked at White Flower Farm in Connecticut, USA. While it was predominantly a mail-order perennial nursery, it had several large greenhouses in which fibrous begonias was a major attraction. Although I worked in the office, I always had time (during lunchtime) to visit the greenhouses. On of the greenhouses featured a huge lantana plant which was as large as a small tree - really beautiful! Let us hear from you and keep us informed on your latest horticultural adventures.

I have some cuttings growing. A dozen each of red/white/purple azaleas. 5 cuttings from a dwarf (3') butterfly bush I bought, And 3 cuttings of Knockout rose from the main plant. I keep meaning to take cuttings of the red twig dogwood shrub, the korean dogwood, and the spreading yew, but somehow June always slips past when I am busy.

What a great question. I was in the garden with my Mother every since I can remember. I remember at the age of 5 my dad carrying me around and I was suppose to help him pick the grapes for Mom to make the jellies but more went in my mouth than in the basket, the same thing when we were picking the black berries.

My Mom had houseplants and she had a veggie garden and orchard so I was always in the garden with her as far back as I can remember.

When I went away to college my mother made sure I went with plants to care for...when I got my first apartment my mom made sure I had plants to care for.....When I married and purchased my first house I was ready and anxious to get started and my Mom was there to lead me.

Gardening has always been a part of my life for food and enjoyment.

Cinta what a lovely story

Back home in NY, we had an enormously huge backyard; the neighbor behind us had his entire yard a garden. I mean, it was huge. Every day I went outside, I'd always see all kinds of vegetables on our side of the fence that Mr. Zimmerman (neighbor) would toss over the fence for us. This is 30 years ago! But my wanting to have a garden of my own I must attribute to my Dad, who lives 10 minutes from me. He had a medium size garden & would go outside to see what I could pick & cook for our weekly dinner night together. When I bought my condo a year ago & mentioned that I wanted to try growing something, a comment was made by a family member that I couldn't do it- so that gave me the motivation to start a garden & prove them wrong. And I'm always sure to serve them some humble pie every time they come over & see it! There's nothing better than seeing how everything progresses & to pick /eat what you've grown. Tastes way better than anything in the grocery store!

for me the very simple answer to the threads question would be...

memories. Both the ones I remember, and the ones I wanted to try to pass on.

robertduval14 said:for me the very simple answer to the threads question would be...

memories. Both the ones I remember, and the ones I wanted to try to pass on.

That was eloquently said.

Actually, to be honest, I was a plant KILLER. And I don't say that lightly. (hence, the full caps)
As a kid, my mom had a garden. I loved it. Mom and dad did all the hard work, and I just plucked all the veggies off when they were ready. (ok ok, I'll admit, more like eat most of them, give the rest to my mom)

It wasn't until this past year, our first year of marriage, that I really took an interest in gardening. We decided to rent his parents house, (they were planning to sell it to us) and I found out our land was perfect for producing all sorts of garden species. It's unheard of in our county to have so much land and have it so fertile. However, the land was in really bad shape due to poor upkeep. (Dad is very ill, he couldn't keep up with it after he was diagnosed with COPD.)
2015 was all about learning, testing different plants, and restoring the land. This year, I tripled my garden size and grew more things. I'm still learning a lot and plan to do more researching this winter. Now that the land is pretty much restored to health, I hope to have a 2 acre garden of Eden within the next 5 years. (Lord willing of course!)

conniepr27 said:
This summer, Fine Gardening chose my latest garden project to show on their Garden of the Day blogs! That was the highlight of my year! I hope this link works:

http://www.finegardening.com/p...

Connie, your garden is beautiful! You can be very proud of what you have accomplished and what an honor to be featured in fg.

Thanks, Vickie!

:iagree: I read this article before and love them Connie

My earliest memories were of growing a vegetable garden, and my Mom canning everything she could. Growing up, I hated the garden,
and all of the work that went with it. There were four of us kids, and later a fifth, when a friend gave each of us a Marigold, and that was
the beginning of my interest in flowers, at the age of six. My Grandmother Rose, of course liked roses, but she had lots of different kinds
of flowers, and she was an early inspiration. As I got older, I really began to love gardening, and bought a few acres next door. These
days I have a really bad back, but the garden is what keeps me going. I grow lots of things that are out of the ordinary (heirlooms) and
also like to produce my own seed for an even greater challenge. I grow lots of different kinds of fruits and vegetables, and do a lot of
canning every year, but my biggest passion these days are the daylilies, and growing seedlings. I grow mine in rows 100 feet long, and
use a rototiller to go between the rows. I would love to have the formal gardens with mixed annuals and perennials, but can't keep them
weeded. There is still a nice assortment of perennials mixed through my garden, but each year more and more are discarded as my
daylily project increases. Here in my town very few people have a garden at all, preferring to keep everything mowed. I am so glad for
growing up when I did, and learning to grow things.

Great story Deryll