I HAVE ALWAYS harbored an inexplicable desire (perhaps a minor obsession?) to grow “zone-denying plants.” I seek them out and tend to them until there are too many of them, or they grow too big for the house, or they display an unforeseen and sometimes unacceptable trait for me or a family member, or I just get bored with them. That sometimes happens!
Interestingly, in my later years I have increasingly gravitated to spending pleasant winters and vacations where my zone deniers naturally grow. I feel very comfortable in these areas and it is nice to enjoy viewing my familiar green friends without being responsible for them.
For those who cannot, do not wish to or are not yet ready to spend time in those flora-rich subtropical or tropical locales, there is always the opportunity to create a miniature version in a sunny room or small greenhouse. Good local nurseries, a few remaining print catalogs and online sellers provide everyone with exposure and access to a very wide spectrum of plants and seeds to fit agricultural, aesthetic and even research needs—or to simply satisfy that plant whim that I suspect each reader of Horticulture has.
A SUPERB SOURCE
Getting to rural eastern Connecticut’s venerable Logee’s Plants for Home & Garden facility may be mildly challenging on a blustery, cold winter’s day,
