A Conservatory is an ideal place to relax and enjoy the feeling of being outdoors from the inside. It can also be viewed as a way of extending your garden indoors. Conservatory plants can bring colour, shape and atmosphere which can help soften the harsh lines of a conservatory.

Conservatory plants give you an opportunity to experiment with some less hardy specimens. What could be nicer than picking your own lemons or grapes, or sitting in the shade of an enormous passionflower?

In addition, the careful selection of pots, containers and planters can complement not only your conservatory plants but can add to the overall design and look of your conservatory, making it a pleasurable place to relax and enjoy.

Plants for your Conservatory

Nectarine Nectarella	Acacia Baileyanas	Jasmine
Lemon Tree	Bouganvilleas	Plumbago

TEN TIPS FOR CONSERVATORY PLANTINGS

1. Take full advantage of all the available space and grow plants at different levels; in raised and ground level soil beds, pots on the floor, windowsills and shelves and hanging baskets.

2. Incorporate soil beds at the initial planning stage of the conservatory. Allow 4 weeks after preparing the bed to allow time for the soil to settle. Plant with the largest plants that you plan to grow.

3. Large tropical and subtropical plants and climbers can be trained onto wires to cover walls and ceilings.

4. Choose scented plants, such as Jasminum polyanthum. It is lovely to open the door and smell the wonderful fragrance provided by scented flowers.

5. Find your favourite Mediterranean plants. Bougainvillaea and Plumbago both grow wonderfully in conservatories, covering a large area with their wonderful blossom.

6. Extend the season. When the conservatory is cooler, fill with a wonderful display of spring bulbs - narcissi, hyacinths, and cyclamen. Choose fragrant narcissi, like Paper-white.

7. Bring in containers from the garden during the winter months to provide shelter and extend the indoor display. Patio plants will continue to flower if given food and warmth.

8. Repeat some elements of the planting in your conservatory with the plants you grow outside. Remember that your conservatory wall will provide a microclimate outside too, allowing you to grow tender plants up the outside. Grow similar varieties, indoors and out, to provide a link to the garden. In the milder counties choose callistemon, the bottle brush plant.

9. Small peach trees can be grown in pots indoors. You can move them onto the terrace during the summer months, but bring indoors during the cold weather. The added protection will reward you with early succulent peaches. 

10. Keep plants well watered. One good soak each week is much better than small amounts of water every day. Occasionally move outside and hose down to keep larger leafed plants dust-free. Remove dead leaves and flowers and only repot plants that are bursting out of their containers. Feed regularly with tomato feed during the flowering months.