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URBANA — Summer may be the season for vacations, but if you can’t get away create your own backyard paradise with a tropical plant garden.

Tropical plants can be planted in the ground or in containers and overwintered inside. Treat tropical plants as annuals in the Illinois landscape.

“Tropical plants are known to be heat-loving and enjoy the humidity we have in Illinois over the summer,” says Andrew Holsinger, University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator. When grown indoors, a humidifier can be a wise investment to replicate the environment they grow best in.”

Some plants may be sensitive to direct sunlight, so be cautious in your site selection. Plants that prefer full sun may not get their intense coloring if the container is shaded at all.

Overwintering tropical plants is also an option, especially when grown in containers. Size may be a consideration as the size of the container may influence the size of your tropical plant. Pots of various sizes may be used but 24-to-36-inch diameter pots are a good start. Scout for pests before bringing plants indoors for overwintering.

The root zone is one of the most important parts of growing tropical plants. Bark-based commercial mixes do well for containers, especially when supplemented with a slow-release fertilizer and a water-retention agent. Water-absorptive materials such as sphagnum peat moss or coconut coir need to be balanced with good drainage. Add wood chips to the bottom of containers filled with potting mix.

Elephant ear is the common name of one tropical plant with big, broad leaves. The tuber or corm can be saved to be planted the next year. When planting, orient the corm or tuber correctly. Shoots are the first to emerge and should be planted upright.

Cannas are rhizomes and can have some spread. Many different types of foliage and flowers add to the beauty of this plant when in a container. Rhizomes may need to be divided as they enlarge over time.

Caladiums can make a strong visual statement with a range of colors from pure white to burgundy. This plant likes moist, shady locations. Enrich the soil with compost or humus to enhance the moisture and nutrient retention.

Tropical plants need regular maintenance. They need frequent watering when grown in containers and fertilizing with a slow-release fertilizer will allow them to grow to their fullest potential. Remove dead foliage or flowers and trim excess growth to aid in the health of the plant and keep plants balanced in the container with their counterparts.

Be sure to research the requirements and culture of the tropical plants you choose to grow. Use caution when selecting plants as some have toxic properties. For example, castor bean has toxic seeds.

To complete the tropical effect, considering adding tropical-looking hardy perennials. Clumping bamboo is a non-invasive option compared to other bamboo species.

For more information on tropical plant care, connect with your local Illinois Extension county office at go.illinois.edu/ExtensionOffice.

From the Nov. 22, 1992, Journal Gazette, this photo of Cosmic Blue Comics in Mattoon; where I spent virtually every Saturday afternoon for about two years. That small back room you see just off to the right of the Coca-Cola sign was where they kept the many, and I mean many, long-boxes of back issues. I still own my bagged copy of "Tales of the Beanworld" issue No. 1 that I found back there. Sadly, this location is now just a "greenspace".

Pictured, Shelbyville's Bob Murray from the June 2, 1982, Journal Gazette, displaying his dominance over the TRON arcade game at the "Carousel Time" arcade at the Cross County Mall, later to be the Aladdin's Castle, soon thereafter to be not a thing anymore. I spent just about every Saturday at that arcade, perhaps with that exact same haircut. No overalls, though. I was more of an "Ocean Pacific" kind of kid.

Pictured, from the Nov. 28, 1988, Journal Gazette, Icenogle's grocery store. Being from Cooks Mills, we didn't often shop at Icenogle's...but when we did, even as a kid, I knew it was the way a grocery store is supposed to be in a perfect world, and that's not just because they had wood floors, comic books on the magazine rack, or plenty, and I mean plenty, of trading cards in wax packs.

I had long since moved away from Cooks Mills by the time this Showcase item about Adam's Groceries ran in the June 13, 1998, Journal Gazette, but there was a time when I very well could have been one of those kids in that photo; for if it was summer, and you had a bike, and you lived in Cooks Mills, that's where you ended up. At last report, they still had Tab in the Pepsi-branded cooler in the back. I'm seriously considering asking my money guy if I could afford to reopen this place.

Pictured, from the July 16, 1987, Journal Gazette, this ad for Mister Music, formerly located in the Cross County Mall. I wasn't buying records at that age, but I would eventually, and that's where it all went down. If you don't think it sounds "cool" to hang out at a record store with your buddies on a Friday night, a piping-hot driver's license fresh in your wallet, you'd be right. But it's the best a geek like me could do. Wherever you are today, owners of Mister Music, please know that a Minutemen album I found in your cheap bin changed my life.

Portrait of the author as a young man, about to throw a guitar through a target at that year's Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest, from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette. Check out my grunge-era hoodie, and yes...look carefully, those are Air Jordans you see on my feet. Addendum: despite what the cutline says, I did not win a guitar.

Pictured, clipped from the online archives at JG-TC.com, a photo from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette of Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest winner, and current JG-TC staff writer, Clint Walker.

Here today, gone tomorrow, Vette's Teen Club, from the June 20, 1991, Journal Gazette. I wasn't "cool" enough to hang out at Vette's back in it's "heyday," and by "cool enough" I mean, "not proficient enough in parking lot fights." If only I could get a crack at it now.

FutureGen: The end of the beginning, and eventually, the beginning of the end, from the Dec. 19, 2007, JG-TC. I wish I had been paying more attention at the time. I probably should have been reading the newspaper.

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