Log in

View Full Version : Horticulture lecture: Tony Avent (Plant Delights Nursery)


Bananaman88
01-12-2010, 10:00 PM
I was lucky enough to be able to attend a lecture by Tony Avent of Plant Delights Nursery (located in Juniper Level, NC) this morning here in Houston. His lecture was entitled "If you can't stand the heat, het outta the garden-Hot Plants for Hot Climates". If any of you are familiar with his nursery you'll know he is one of the premier plant explorers of the day. He also writes some hilarious and borderline non-PC plant descriptions for their catalog. Speaking of the catalog, the covers are always interesting as well. They always have a plant theme but are usually tied to some current events and done in a very funny/satirical way.

He showed well over 100 slides of plants adapted to hot climates, as well as one's that will take an extreme amount of cold, such as certain Agaves. Of course, he mentioned a couple of bananas as well...M. velutina and M. 'Siam Ruby'. He brought 'Siam Ruby' into the country from one of his plant collecting trips to Thailand. I actually bought my first 'Siam Ruby' from his nursery. While I didn't agree with a couple of things he said regarding M. velutina, his talk was very entertaining. If you have never been to his website, I highly recommend it. It is Plant Delights Nursery, Inc. - Hosta and Exotic Perennials (http://www.plantdelights.com). They have a great selection of elephant ears, cannas, and some bananas, as well as cold-hardy succulents, and many perennials. Check it out..you'll be glad you did!

CookieCows
01-12-2010, 11:15 PM
Thanks for the website and info, I skimmed the homepage and put it in my favs. to go back to! I love the quote at the bottom of the page and I'm sure many of us cold hardy people can relate to it!

" I consider every plant hardy until I have killed it myself...at least three times." Avent

Bananaman88
01-13-2010, 12:41 PM
You are welcome. It was a great presentation.

How are you faring this winter? I was back in KY for Christmas and it was quite chilly the whole time I was there.

CookieCows
01-13-2010, 03:25 PM
So you went back home for Christmas? Boy you know it's been cold here!! Hope you had a great time! I won't know how we're faring until we see if anything is still alive under all the blue barrels around the yard. LOL

Everything's good though. The horses and cows look pretty in the pasture and are busy making fertilizer for me. Can't ask for more!

Deb

cherokee_greg
01-13-2010, 04:03 PM
Great site thanks allot