A blank cavass- help required

We have a couplevof exotic plant shops near me (akamba solihull and mulu evesham) will drag the wife down in new year to have a look

 

here are a few pics of a small garden planted in the exotic style, showing some of the plants that have matured ....(not one of mine.... but stunning, and I would give this one 10/10 .... )

these pics will give you an idea of what can be achieved with clever planning) .... this one will cost a lot more than £400 though

 

HERE HERE!!! Thats Give me plenty of Ideas and learnt me some Names witch ive been wrightin down as i have read this post :WINK1:

 

WOW!!!!! LOVLEY

 

Two questions spring to mind:

1. How much (for the plants, not the labour)?
2. Where is this? What I'm getting at is would any of it work up in the north east?

 

and im presuming that these plants would be suitable for Redditch, 20 miles south of Birmingham UK

 

should be no problem .... most of those plants on the photos are hardy .... the tree ferns need protection though

the plants I mentioned in my suggestions are hardy .... the bananas (musa) need a bit of protection in winter, but it's easy to do, and worth the effort

when you go to akamba, they will advise you (it's a very good garden centre that specialises in exotic plants) .... herewith their link:

Home

if you check the link, and click the section that says akamba shop, there is descriptions of the plants and details of which zones they can be planted

 

what plant zone am i in? Redditch, Worcs, UK

 

I think that plants that are hardy in zone 8a and 8b will be fine

here is another very good site that I use .... some unusual plants

Architectural Plants:

look for the ones that have the green traffic light .... they are hardy throughout the UK

 

here is another good site:

Buy Exotic plants mail order online, plants for sale in Norfolk, Urban Jungle exotic plant nursery and garden centre. UK

the hardiest plants are the ones that have a blue pencil depicted

 

well, I'm sorry but I'm getting a bit bothered by suggesting this type of tropical look planting for every garden lately.
Yes, it looks fantastic, when done like this one in the photos Dim put on here...but I mean....it's not cheap and it's not quite so straight forward either to get just right.

Also, showing photos can be a bit misleading...e.g. The bed under the kitchen window idea by Dim.
In my experience, that fern, (though a good plant and I'm not saying anything against it!) is usually semi evergreen. Looks a bit of a sad state in some winters. The heucheras, once again are good plants...but unless you keep them well fed, or in a fairly open compost like they are in when you buy them, they can loose foliage in winter too. AND they seem to end up on a woody stem, standing proud of the soil and need replanting after a few years.
Sometimes, cheaper alternatives can look stunning too.
Perhaps a Choisia 'Sundance' planted to the side of the window, it has gold evergreen foliage and although you don't need to prune it, you can do...and even quite hard, if it gets too big. Under the window, a Euonymus fortunei Emerald and Gold and maybe add something as simple as Alchemilla mollis, which will look lovely all through the growing season and you could get just three plants from a nursery and chop them into smaller ones if they are big enough. You might know someone with a spare plant, they seed readily enough. If you chop off all the top growth straight after flowering, it all grows back in no time. Show your toddler how the rain drops look like fairy mirrors on the leaves. To go with the gold look, blue musscari bulbs or Iris reticulata poking through between the Alchemilla would look good and the Alchemilla foliage will hide the scruffy leaves of the bulbs too.
Cheap and cheerful, will do well in the shade and all will last years.
Add in a few Heucheras too!

 

Buy Mexican orange blossom Choisya ternata Sundance = 'Lich (PBR)': Delivery by Crocus.co.uk

KUROWSCY - Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald'n Gold' - Trzmielina Fortunea 'Emerald'n Gold'

https://www.anniesannuals.com/signs/a/alchemilla_mollis_select.htm

 

it's a forum, and all are welcome to give their own personal opinions ... (thats what forums are about, so not sure why you 'get bothered'?) ....

as for ferns, there are many that are hardy and evergreen .... I plant loads (I especially like dryopteris affinis .... even looks good when covered in snow)

as for maintenance, obviously, there is some maintenance involved .... this applies to all plants not just tropical/exotic style ... but less so with the hardy exotic plants than cottage style traditional perennials

obviously, you need to get plants that are suited for your specific zone/location .... so you have a wider variety to choose from if you live in Cornwall vs Aberdeen

as an example, if you want to plant musa, and want to give it a head start the following year, winterize it by covering/protecting it .... if not, it will die down but regrow again the following spring ... same applies to plants such as T-rex etc ... and they grow 6 foot+ high in one season

many of these tropical/exotic style plants originate in very cold parts of the world such as the Himalayas, china Japan etc and are hardy up to -20 degrees C

as for cost, it actually works out a lot cheaper to plant in exotic/tropical style than old fashioned cottage style .... the exotic plants take up lots more space .... a musa costs a tenner, a t-rex costs a tenner, japanese grass costs £4 each, huchera cost £3.50 each ... a large fern costs £4 ... a large leaved hosta cost £4 ... a fatsia costs a tenner ... the only expensive plants are the palms which will set you back £50+ each, and a tree fern can be costly (and a tree fern is finicky so will need protection in winter which will take you 20 minutes to sort) ... many exotic shrubs cost the same price or cheaper than normal 'everyday' common shrubs

in winter, all I do is mulch with well rotted organic manure , but I do so aswell with cottage style perenials

work out the cost per running meter of planting cottage style perennials and see the difference for a medium sized garden (but do a proper job by planting the garden full)

Huecheras are one of my favourite plants .... there are many new breeds that need little attention and look stunning for 12 months of the year ... my latest favourite is Georgia peach .... hardy and can grow in shade and full sun .... needs no maintenance whatsoever except for the occasional watering during the very dry months (and that applies to all plants unless you grow cactus)

your suggestion of Choisia 'Sundance' is a good one .... I have planted many .... but have you seen what they look like in cold winters? (like 2010/2011) ...

your suggestion of Euonymus fortunei reminds me of stuff planted for low hedges at council estates and factories .... buy hey! ... thats my opinion

your suggestion of Alchemilla mollis is ok ... but looks 'common' and for the same price, I would rather go more exotic' and get brunnera Jack frost (which won the 'world wide' perenial plant of the year )
http://www.waltersgardens.com/growe...the-Year-Brunnerai-m-i-Jack-FrostPP13859.aspx

as for the tropical theme, that is my own preference .... strangely, many owners of large homes in London are now removing the 'old fashioned' plants and planting exotic/tropical themes ... even here in Cambridge, the very same thing is happening (that is the job I do and am pretty booked up for the next few months)

and strangely, this theme is heavily promoted on gardening programs on tv aswell .... I wonder why?

 

All good suggestions! Another question, is soot and ash any good for regular fertiliser for exotics? As a chimney sweep i get plenty, i just give it to my dad for his large garden! Is it worth me keeping some?

 

I do not think Julies post was directed at you DIM just gardening forums and magazines in general, everyone is pushing tropical

Jack McH