Cottage garden fused with tropical

Theres plenty of cross over between the two styles, both can have quite a relaxed approach to design and appear to be unplanned in style and presentation. Lots of exotic plants work well in both gardens, dahlias for example. So by packing in lots of flowering plants in a fairly relaxed way with tropical structure - palms, bamboos etc can look great. As mentioned Christopher Lloyd was the master at that approach and his garden is stunning to this day maintained now by Fergus Garret.

The trick to a successful domestic back garden approach to exotics is to go for plants that look exotic but are hardy. Keep to the hardier palms, and then look for shrubs with big leaves. Too many people have only tropical plants in a "tropical" garden and so it looks bare in winter.

We have opted for lots of evergreen and hardy plants that work well in the setting - big leaved magnolia (some are evergreen) and rhododendrons give a great impression and many look as good in February as they do in August.

We do still grow some tender plants that get moved away into a shed and greenhouse for winter, but they are the accent plants rather than the main attraction.

Give it a go, and pack in as many plants as you can to get the look you want.

 

Pretty sure they are Miscanthus x giganteus. My favourite tall grass, of that type, is Miscanthus sacchariflorus. Beware that they are nothing to look at in the winter. They go yellow / brown in Autumn, and look fine, and at some point they flop over / die back / look a mess and I cut them down at that point.

Several plants in a clump in my photos, so "singles" would not be so wide (although singles can look odd in any sort of Bedding Plant layout - I've never found it a problem with Exotic planting as kinda Anything Goes, and there is lots around with massive leaves - well, plants that are "architectural" rather than large blocks of single-variety planting for colour , that I have found that single-plants tend to be fine.

 

My Exotic Garden is "hidden", entered via a narrow entrance, framed with Bamboo, so it doesn't matter too much if the contents are "dead"/bare in the Winter. Might be an option to have a "room" / section at the back of the garden that is screened off and can contain Summer-only plants. My garden is large, so I have other areas of interest in the Winter, but I don't particularly want to walk to the end of the garden in Winter. Its wet under foot and much of the garden is not attractive. Near the house we have Autumn & Winter Colour plants (Acers for Autumn leaf colour, things like Dogwood with coloured stems) and all the Spring flowering bulbs - so we can enjoy them without having to venture "into" the garden in Winter.

 

Oh thank goodness, you're back, I though my rant would put you off! Yeah, any form of livestock counts, but chickens would be better, or even a pig.

 

Dahlias are good but the flower of choice for the genuine tropical cottage gardens I have seen would be zinnias, or calendulas.

 

I agree. A welcome burst of spring colour.

Brugmansia sanguinea....................


Much more cold hardy, it's worth considering for those hot colours.

Hmmmm........ Clianthus puniceus maybe...................


There is a white form too. they are spring blooming.

A couple that will need some winter love;
Clerodendrum ugandense.....................


And Solanum rantonnetii.....................

 

Warning - Keiths prejudice alert! Take care.................

That is what I don't get! Lovely exotic plants surrounded by tat (IMO anyway)!!
There is so much choice out there. @Madahhlia - Have I bored you with my Tricyrtis yet?
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/gallery/albums/tricyrtis.191/

 

The tricyrtis are nice but I've never actually seen one in a real tropical cottage garden.

I like zinnias because of the rich warm toning shades they come in. I don't like the slight crispiness/leatheriness to the petals and the nettly leaves, though. Calendula are gorgeous because of the sprightly orange petals and the aromatic leaves/stems.

I don't value plants because they are rare or difficult, they have to have a strong sensual or overall visual appeal as well. I find small-flowered things hard to appreciate (even if I've remembered my glasses), also anything with ugly or untidy foliage.

My brother in law hates dahlias because they were really trendy in the 70s and he thinks they are naff because the trend moved on. By that token tree ferns should be considered tasteless in the extreme by now.

 

I'm pretty tasteless, as I just grow plants, I'm not really a gardener.
But I think many so called tropicals are good pot plants, if you like them, but have no place in the open garden.
I've never been good at planning things, I just put plants where I think they might do their best for me.
To me its not a matter of growing for effect, its about growing for my own satisfaction.
But then I'm probably slightly weird.

 

@Madahhlia - thankfully we are all different!

No such thing though!! They look exotic though, and are good for late colour and interest.

Must confess that I have an intense dislike of daisy-like flowers, so that certainly clouds my judgement!

If they're difficult that is half of the fun for me. Rare is not so much of a requirement, but I don't see the point in growing what I can see elsewhere often enough. But I am a fickle booger!

I personally think that Dahlias are naff, but that is just me. I care not a jot for trends! If people cannot think for themselves and need to follow the latest trends that is a bit sad (IMO). That said, I am trying hard to sway @Craig1987 round to my plants

So a couple more thoughts for Craig;

Salvia conferiflora....................




Potentially hardy with a good mulch. Once mature can hit 1.5 to 2 metres.

One garden that Rarely gets mentioned is Heligan Gardens. Whilst I find the top a bit samey, it's worth visiting just for "the Jungle". There are a few pics here. It was here that I first encountered Desfontiania spinosa. I got a couple of cuttings this year......................


I know that it survives in a public garden in Edinburgh.

@pete - You're a man of my own heart! I'll never win any design awards, but people do at least wander around my garden saying things like "ooh, what's that?" Even my garden hating brother finds something to interest him.

Craig - Pete has a large Iochroma australis in his garden. Hopefully he can dig a photo out. I'm trying to emulate him, but mine are still quite small.

 

Tosh! Emory Paul is the ideal Cottage Garden / Exotic cross-over. i.e. Massive Flowers

 

That is my idea of garden hell!!

Garden heaven.......................

 

@longk, I would have a great sense of pride in growing something difficult from seed and you are obviously very good at it.
I used to grow lots of interesting stuff from seed but got rather bored with it, partly because I'm a bit rubbish at cultivating and caring for stuff consistently so the death rate was high.

Also because many of the things I grew were a novelty but not actually all that interesting in the end, not as lovely as many of the more common things that are in everyone's gardens because they are, well, gardenworthy!

For example, kennedia rubicunda. This was easy enough to get going and flower, but the foliage is pleasant but not gorgeous, and the flowers are pretty but smallish. When the frost got it one winter I wasn't exactly devastated.

It is interesting how people's preferences go. I would love to have a purely daisy garden, for example. If I could ever get off my lazy behind and sort it. I'd put it in my front garden handkerchief patch, tear down the privet hedge and replace it with a white picket fence and play Little House on the Prairie in suburban Leicester.

I like the S Confertiflora, especially if it could be encouraged to 2 metres. Mine overwintered a couple of times then called it a day at 2'. The most memorable thing about it to me is the weird smell of burning rubber the whole plant gives off.

Also the desfontiana spinosa - those flowers are quite small so it would be unlikely to make a statement in a garden, however pretty. I am not keen on spines, so I wouldn't go for it, I prefer soft and velvety which is a plus point of the salvia.

I like going to other people's gardens and seeing stuff I've never seen before and possibly can't name, (A rare experience in the average domestic garden) but this is partly due to the intellectual challenge of knowing about and experiencing plants rather than the beauty of them.

What is the amazing white bird flower by the way?

 

Again, that's half the fun!

Been there, done that! Executed. But for the cost of a few seeds it's worth trying.

Yes!

Habenaria radiata. AKA, the White Egret Orchid. I grow it as a garden table ornament. Easy to grow, but.......... it is best grown with overhead protection in the early weeks as the tubers are prone to rot at this stage.