Thinking of doing a Tropical Garden

I'm thinking of doing a a Tropical Garden at the bottom of our garden it will be 18 feet by 6 feet, all the shrubs that are there now will be remove, and a 10 feet square decked area to the left hand side will be built see photo. The compost bins will be screened by bamboo screening boing that job this week . Open to ideas

 

First off, do you have a greenhouse?

 

Yes, greenhouse up
I no this could sound a bit daft, I was hoping to keep plants in the ground, I know some will need winter protection in a greenhouse, thats why I am going to build the decked area and have tender plants in pots.
Am I going about this the wrong way ??

 

Ian,
Sounds like a plan!

You can have a tropical looking garden without the need for very tender plants.
There is quite a range to choose from that will survive our winters, with no protection, or even with some fleece, or similar:
Bamboos, Palms, Tree Ferns, Musa, some Aroids etc

 

No - absolutely spot on!
You won't grow tropical plants in the ground, but tropical looking plants instead. The usual suspects such as Canna and Hedychium in the ground. Eucomis and Ornithogallum started in pots and planted out mid/late June. Fritillaria imperialis planted deep. Alstromeria psittacina. The list is endless!

In pots;
Seek out a Brugmansia sanguinea - cooler growing mine is in bud now. Hotter colours too. Bomarea - a climbing relative of Alstromeria. Bessera elegans and Albuca shawii as table ornaments. Once again it could be a long list. Gloriosa, another climber.

Overall, my preference would be for bulbous and tuberous plants as they're easier to over-winter if facilities are limited.

 

Absolutely not IMHO My family love the tropical area of our garden more than any other bit.

I made some suggestions for plants in another recent thread:
http://gardenerscorner.co.uk/forum/threads/tropical-plants-for-small-area.62180/#post-796275

 

I'd suggest kniphofia northiae, a beast of a red hot poker that looks like a giant aloe. Great plant. T-Rex if you can constrict the roots, daylilys, dahlia's, what ever rocks your boat! That's the fun of it.

Good luck
Wayne

 

Everything now cleared, just planning and thinking what I would like to grow, already got a few bits, bought on impulse I'm afraid.

 

For some strange reason I struggle with northiae.
I have loads of Kniphofia that flower regularly in my garden.
But this one is just lingering.

 

Shocking! But you'll fit right in here

 

Echiums from seed, still can't believe how fast these grow. Potted on twice in a month.

 

Getting them through the first winter, in pots, is the biggest challenge (well ... followed by getting them through the second, outdoors, but that requires some luck with having a mild winter )

 

I'll plant a few in the ground and keep a couple in the GH
Hindsight is a wonderful thing I could of planted some last year and they would have probably got them through this winter!

 

You might have a go with Echium russicum. Its about the only Echium that is truly hardy - down to -20C they say. However you do need to keep the rain out over the winter, but you can do that with a plastic bag. Its not as big as many Echiums - sources say 2 to 4 feet - but I have had them up to 5 feet. Its a biennial.

I am just discovering the delights of Arisaema speciosum and tortuosum. They are tubers, so can be overwintered like Dahlias. I grew them last year for the flowers, but they don't last long. I have just realised how exotic and tropical the foliage is - not to mention the stems.

 

I rather fear I'm going a bit overboard with them this year!

Still time to fill your boots at 30% off at www.himalayangardens.com (pedantic point: there is a website with same name, but singular, which sells Rhododendrons - but does not have online basket - easy to confuse the two if not clicking through a link).

The discount code (to put in at checkout) is on the home page, but in case you miss it here's a reminder:

GIFT82034481

Be quick! taking a gander just now there are not all that many still available for sale