It's About Stress
© Valerie Adolph
One question horticulturists and garden centre workers hate to hear is "Will xyz plant grow in this area?" Now xyz plant might be a native of the area and grow like a weed anywhere in the vicinity, but the answer usually includes a caveat such as, "Yes, if you give it enough sun", or water it well, or whatever. But the question is usually asked about a plant that is rather unusual in these parts and the answer is, as I used to say to my kids "A definite maybe."
People always like to push the envelope, especially if it means they might grow a plant no-one has seen before and something stunning that will be admired by the whole neighbourhood, so they preface their question with "I know this is New Mexico and the label says the leaves burn in bright sunlight but...." Or "I know this is Zone 4 and it says it's hardy to Zone 6 but..." The answer is a definite maybe.
Any time you try to grow a plant anywhere other than its usual habitat you're putting stress on it. If the stress is too much the plant ceases to flourish and probably dies. Even in its native habitat a plant can face stress - there might be an especially hot summer or a very wet year for example. Most of the local plants could ride it out but a few, in marginal situations, will die.
And this is the lesson to learn from nature - don't give your precious exotic plants marginal situations, give them as nearly as possible the environment they need. If you really want to grow an exotic plant in an area it would normally hate then you have to spend the time, energy and money to create the right conditions. The good news is that if you are prepared to do all this you can grow practically anything almost anywhere. (If you don't believe me, I swear to you that my next door neighbour, here in Canada, has a banana palm in his back garden - and it produces bananas.)
Eliminating the wrong conditions and providing the right ones eliminates stress. To find the right conditions read the label, go to the library, check the Internet. Learn what this plant needs to grow successfully and then provide it. Learn what it hates and get rid of that. Take climate. The label will tell you how much sun or shade the plant needs. Follow that guideline. If you make excuses ("It says full sun, but I really want to put it under that big cedar") you've just introduced big time stress. The same goes for cold weather. If the label says 'Hardy to Zone 5' and you live in Zone 3 you can't just leave it out there and hope for the best. Maybe plant it in a container and move it into the house when the weather gets cold.
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