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Conservatory plants

GardenqueenGardenqueen Posts: 43
in Plants
Hi Everyone

I have s small double glazed conservatory which is south facing and quite warm and sunny in the summer months.  The conservatory has no heating during the winter months though.  

My question is what plants will be suitable all year round if any?  They can be plants which sit on the floor in a pot or on the window sill.  I just want to bring in some greenery into the space but don't want to buy unsuitable plants.
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  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,135
    When I was a child I remember a neighbour had a similar conservatory.
    I remember lots of streptocarpus, African violets and what I recall as 'shrimp plant'

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,669
    edited February 2022
    Quite warm,must be an understatement! My conservatory faces north. It's a bungalow unoverlooked,by May all the plants are outside, nothing survives the temperatures, which can hit 44c. We have an air coolant and now a proper air conditioning unit. My porch off my lounge is south facing. I posted on here for suggestions, found that even with the window open one end the door they other, pelargoniums and cacti don't even survive in there. I now have "fake" plants in there.streptocarpus and African violets do not like full sun. We had a leaky plastic lean to roof,and made to measure window blinds. We had the roof replaced with glass lantern, the blinds didn't fit anymore. So the sides were replaced with opaque white glass which we were assured would stop glare and a lot of the heat,they don't. We have proper kookaburra blinds on the roof,it's a big conservatory and that was the cheapest option. We had a south facing conservatory back in the 90s no heat, plants only in the winter months.our last House had a west facing conservatory,and with shrubs and trees planted by us, managed to keep mostly orchids in there without problems.
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,590
    We have different carnivious plants, cymbidium orchids and "house" leeks which grow all year round in our garden room.
    We also have 2 hoya plants and a ponytail plant and 2 paint brush plants.
    We have no added  heating and they all do well.
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,119
    If you have the space a brugmansia might do well. We overwinter ours in an unheated greenhouse and it goes outside in the summer but they don't have to.
  • FireFire Posts: 18,082
    I will always cheer for abutlion and bouganvilla.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,669
    edited February 2022
    Are these all south facing double glazed conservatories? It's 13c outside today and already 25c in my north facing one, and the low winter sun hasn't even got as far as it yet. The poster did say plants suitable for all year round
    In the summer, all my orchids are in hanging baskets under the trees, replicating their natural habitat. 
  • thevictorianthevictorian Posts: 1,119
    Ours is double glazed and south facing but does get some summer shade from a large smoke bush. Brugmansia do great.

    In the summer its no different to a decent greenhouse, If the air doesn't circulate and the heat simply builds up then it's very hard to have plants that dont fry.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,669
    I only have cucumbers in my west facing green house in the summer, Louvres one end door the other,2 roof vents and green shading. the Victorian,does your house shade the conservatory at all in summer? Ours being a detached bungalow,gets full sun all day somewhere although being north facing. 
  • FireFire Posts: 18,082
    My friends grow cucumbers in their south facing bathroom.
  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,226
    My South facing conservatory does get hot in summer, but my lime tree did well in it. As long as they are well watered, and mine also was sprayed with water at least once a day, they seem to like the heat.
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