Inspiration for a tall conservatory

[Captain Caveman]

After 6 months of renovations, we will be moving into our new home in May. We have a double height conservatory which faces south (to let in heat and light to the house ) and I'd love to hear your ideas/ experience of growing one or two exciting things in such a space

Ideas so far:
Banana tree (yes I know its annual)
Grape vines

Inspire me with something exotic!

Cavey

[Annpan]

I'd have a lemon tree

[Millymollymandy]

So you'll soon be moving out of your cave then Cap'n? Citrus fruit sounds good to me! All year round basil including Holy (that's exotic ). Mind you will it be heated in winter or just frost free?

[Captain Caveman]

Just frost free but double glazed and next to the house so I hope it will stay reasonably warm
You're not supposed to heat conservatories as they are included as outside space and the idea is it reduce our heating costs!

Citrus trees in pots tend to be quite small I think, I wanted to make use of the height
Has anyone tried growing grapevines in or out?

[Odsox]

Has anyone tried growing grapevines in or out?

I assume as it's a conservatory you will be growing in containers, as the grape vines I've grown under glass have all been grown in the border soil.
I think pot grown ones are usually a lot less rampant (depending on the size of pot of course)
Next year I intend to grow a passion flower up into the roof space of my conservatory ... not the common outdoor one, but one of the more tropical ones like Grenadine that you get passion fruits from.

[mybarnconversion]

How about a largish olive tree I think you can get all shapes / sizes and ages...

Only thing that puts me off is they're just not British and therefore in keeping - but I'm sure one could be a stunning addition to a conservatory.

By the way - I'm considering a double height(ish) conservatory - any pictures / advice?

[Thomzo]

Hi
You are lucky. I love my conservatory. I have two lemon trees, one is a sweet lemon and one in a 'proper' lemon. They both have great fruit. I made lemon curd a couple of months ago just from my home grown lemons. I know that they are in pots but they can still grow fairly large over time, if you keep increasing the size of the pot.

I have a bougainvillia in my conservatory, I know they aren't edible but the flowers dry really well and make a lovely addition to pot pourri.

I have tried strawberries in mine. Not a huge success but I kept overwatering it. I am trying again in a bigger pot. You can hang them in hanging baskets if you can find a way of watering them - perhaps on pulleys?

Geraniums do really well in my conservatory. You can eat the flowers and some tumble well so, again, can be hung from the walls.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, aubergines and peppers all love the conservatory and can be trained upwards.

Zoe

[Captain Caveman]

How about a largish olive tree I think you can get all shapes / sizes and ages...

Only thing that puts me off is they're just not British and therefore in keeping

I see your point but it really has to be something foreign to go in the conservatory. Its nice to stick to "local" plants but potatoes are from the Americas as are pumpkins. It wont mix with local flora or invade the UK so I'm not worried and if I could grow my own oranges then I wouldn't have to import so many - so which option is better?

I just thought of something else. Kiwis? Though I just read they need 400 hours of <7'C to fruit well

Olive tree would be cool but my wife hates them

Here's a pic of the conservatory which also gives me the chance to show off our new scarecrow, Spud, born today and my purple sprouting brocolli!
The conservatory is not fully finished yet as its awaiting its final colour. It is on the south side of our farmhouse

[Millymollymandy]

Wow that is some conservatory! You could have a mini Kew Gardens in there. How about some coconut and date palms?

[mybarnconversion]

A coconut or banana might fill it nicely ... perhaps even a small grove for that tropical feeling ... ;)

The only thing that survives in the conservatory where we currently live is cacti, perhaps one of the big spaghetti western ones?

[bodrighy]

What about some perennial tomatoes? Don't know how tall they grow in the wild but as they are perennial vines it might be worth experimenting

Pete

[chadspad]

What about an avocado tree? And a mango? And pineapples?

[MuddyWitch]

We grew an avacado seed to a small (6ft!) tree before having to give it away to people with a conservatory like yours.

It's a great thing for kids to grow as you start it over a glass & you can watch it develope. It grows really quickly too.

MW

[Captain Caveman]

I had an avocado tree in the garden where I stayed in India, it was massive, almost as big as a horse chestnut tree. The fruits got bruised as they fell from so high
The crucial question is, does it ever produce fruit, otherwise I'll get a normal tree, and how do you find a pot for a tree like that!!!?!?!

[chadspad]

Surely it will only grow to the size of the pot you have it in?