Tropical nights

Lincolnshire is a long way from the South Pacific but I have seen some gardens this summer that would have made Joseph Banks proud. He was one of the many explorers and plant hunters who, over the last few centuries, were responsible for bringing exotic species back to our shores. Some of these can be seen today in glasshouses and botanical gardens up and down the country but a surprising number will happily survive out in our gardens too and, when mixed with few exotic-looking hardy plants from closer to home, will add an impressively tropical feel to your garden.

I first saw what was possible at Great Dixter, a superb garden in Sussex, where they had replaced a tired old rose garden with an exciting and fresh looking exotic one, a veritable jungle of foliage punctuated by intense bursts of colour. At the time I assumed that such an alien style of garden was only possible in the gentle climate of the southern counties, and that many of the plants wouldn’t survive the chilly winters further north. However I know now that is not the case.

In this part of the world, a sheltered site is needed for this style of garden. This is partly because there are a few excellent plants worth trying that are borderline hardy so appreciate that little bit of extra protection. And it is partly because the most impressive foliage plants will struggle to look their best if constantly buffeted by wind. A sunny, or at least partially sunny, site is also best, although there are plenty of good ‘jungly’ plants that will continue the style into shadier corners. Plants like ferns, Fatsia japonica, hydrangeas and Iris foetidissima.

Exotic gardens take time to develop. It will be a few years before some foliage plants, in particular, bulk up sufficiently to have the commanding presence you are after and they will also take time to build up a head of steam each year, generally peaking quite late in the season, around August or September.

Foliage is of course paramount and some specimens with strikingly large leaves are a must. Tetrapanax papyrifera, Eriobotrya japonica and Paulownia tomentosa are a few that definitely look like they are more used to a steamy jungle than a chilly wold but they are in fact surprisingly hardy. Combining these with grasses and the feathery leaves of plants such as the purple cut-leaved elder (Sambucus ‘Black Lace) and the cut-leaved staghorn sumach (Rhus ‘Dissectum) will create the contrast and texture needed for the desired look. Inject the occasional splash of bright colour into the mix with flowering perennials such as Lobelia cardinalis ‘Queen Victoria’, Peruvian lily (Alstroemeria ‘Apollo’) and Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, and you will have the making of your very own tropical paradise.

(For a more comprehensive list of plants suitable for an exotic garden see the next post)