Suggest plants suitable for conservatory please

Littleweedj

My conservatory (11 ft x 17 ft) faces south and in summer it can feel like a sauna. It also has three radiators so, if necessary, can adjust heating in the winter so it's never cold.

Haven't had much success with my choice of plants lately and quite a few have been scorched.

Would appreciate any suggestions for suitable plants, especially any which would thrive throughout the year.

ljonski

cheese plant

I_have_spoken

Nothing will cope inside a south-facing conservatory during the summer when it'll get to 35 degrees plus, so put all the plants outside or move to a cooler room inside the house

For the rest of the year, you have loads of options for plants if you don't drop below 3 degrees and quite a few if you don't drop below 10 but then you'll pay £ to keep it warm.

I keep all the succulents like aloe and agave in the conservatory over winter.

Also the pelargoniums kept in flower all winter after coming inside in the autumn and extends the season for begonias.

Spring bulbs like hyacinths, I've had good result with hippeastrum

caringa

When we had a conservatory at our last house, we grew a bougainvillia and a plumbago quite successfully.

Davesnave

I have an unshaded conservatory facing due south and ordinary geraniums (pelargoniums) survive in it throughout the year. They are planted in inbuilt troughs rather than standing in pots on the sills - probably significant. Also, I can vent the conservatory into the house when I go out and need to lock it, but temperatures still go way up.

In winter, it gets cold enough for the glass to have frost on the inside, but then, so did bedrooms when I was a kid! :rotfl:There is enough heat leakage from the house to ensure it doesn't go very far below zero, however.

I'm not saying they 'enjoy' these conditions, but pelargoniums of the geranium variety don't seem to suffer from red spider mite either, so they are the ideal plant for that situation in my book. I just cut them back in spring, change the compost and then leave them to get on with it.

Littleweedj

Thanks to you all for the above suggestions and tips. Now got enough info to get started and turn the conservatory into a more inviting space, as I like to have flowers and/or plants in every room in the house.

I_have_spoken

Pippa Greenwood wrote The Conservatory Gardener

There's also Paradise Under Glass: An Amateur Creates a Conservatory Garden

You can pick up both 2nd hand for next to nothing + P&P

Babafette

As well as cacti, we keep an Agapanthus, a small Hibiscus and a Bougainvillea in our conservatory.