Tropical plants for small area

Hi, i am planning small tropical section at the back of my garden. The area is 24x12 feet. I have bought 3 colocasia and @kirsten has kindly giving me T-rex.
Please suggest what will look nice in such area. I was thinking some ginger, canna and coleus. My tropical garden knowledge is very limited and so is my budget.
I was wondering if anyone has some plants going spare, I will be very happy to take them. I will try my best to find something to swap.
Thanks in advance



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Will it be a planted area or will you be using pots? The trouble with "tropical" is that they need winter love. So Canna and Gingers are good as they die back in the winter and can go in the shed or garage. Same with bulbs too - Hymenocallis..................


Scadoxus....................


Eucomis....................


Gloriosa..............


Bomarea Edulis (syn. hirtella) should be hardy................


Likewise Alstromeria psittacina..................


What I can offer is a seedling of Mackaya bella...................


It will need winter love.

 

Minki , as Longk said cannas are good tropical looking plants . Easy to grow and pretty tough , I just lifted these in November and stored the rhizomes in the garage. I gave up on tropicals a few years ago , as I kept losing them over winter.

 

Thanks @longk i would love to take Mackaya seedling, but can you please tell me first a) how is thr growth habit, fast or slow? Online its mentioned tht its evergreen but isnt tht in tropical climate? And tht wud make it slow grower isnt it. Or is it like colocasia


and @HarryS thanks very much fr advice on canna. Yes i will move them in winter to make sure they survive...


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Slowish.

Evergreen in my unheated shed too where it just marked time this winter.

 

On the topic of Bulbs:

Maybe Allium christophii. Any of the Really Really Big Headed ones too There are quite a few other wacky bulbs - the sort where people will do "wow - what's that". Have a look on Anglia Bulbs website perhaps - including looking at the Autumn Despatch ones, which might be the more interesting ones (albeit not for sale just now)

I grow, from seed as annuals, Ricinus, Nicotiana sylvestris and Leonotis nepetifolia. Still time for Ricinus, but Nicotiana probably on the late side. I have seeds of both (and probably Leonotis too), I'll chuck some in the T. rex packet.

Bananas: I have Musa Basjoo (which I don't like much, leaves are relatively narrow, but its the most hardy). Musa sikkimensis (germination rate is pants, so I now think it is better to buy a few seedlings off eBay, and grow them on overwinter and plant out following Spring - assuming that the winter kills them - they are reasonably root hardy, and tops will survive if you cocoon them in straw - but you probably won't want to look out onto that all winter.

Fatsia for hardy backbone. I have a bog standard one with the more interesting (but slower / smaller) Spiders Web and Variegated ones in front.

Tall grasses. I have Arundo donax with the variegated one in front (as seen in Will Giles amazing town garden in Norwich). Numerous bamboos - the black one (Phyllostachys nigra) probably the most planted. I also Phyllostachys vivax 'Aureocaulis' which has nice thin green stripes o the yellow canes. Worth looking out for those on eBay - when someone has a clump in a pot that has got too big for them / the pot. You can buy them for the same price as a 10L pot with only 4 or 5 strong canes from an exotic plant nursery and get bigger impact sooner.

I would suggest Cannas from seed (next year). Look out for Canna musifolia grande which has monster leaves (flowers are nothing special) and some other Cannas which have nice leaf (Purple for example). Don't think you can grow striped leaves from seed.

One of the great things about Exotic planting is you can just stick one-of-something in there. I plant one Nictiana sylvestris, one Cleome, one Ricinus (and interesting one: e.g. the Blue Foliage one) and a Solanum laciniatum (another good "annual" from seed - add the Cleome to that list too!) next to each other and they intermingle and look great. Everywhere else in the garden, other than the Exotic Border, I plant clumps of 5 or 7 of everything - it aint the same!!

Chuck any Brugs you have in there too. I just plunge them in their pots.

if you want a quick-win, cheap, plant then Cardons from seed (same thing as Globe Artichokes). They will do Monster-ish in first season. Cut them out in year 2 or 3 when you have more choice things putting on some headroom.

Paulownia tomentosa. Fabulous stooled (pollarded down to 9" or so). Massive leaves, single stem, gets to about 10' in the year. (That can be grown from seed) Others worth doing that to include Indian Bean - perhaps the Aurea version. I've got something else with complex leaves, forgotten the name.

There are some photos and commentary on my blog:
http://kgarden.wordpress.com/projects/exotic-garden/3/#Gallery

 

Speed of growth is the thing I like about Exotic gardening - although you have NOTHING in winter (except any Hardy Backbone).

This is the day before and after planting (02/03 June), and then 03 Sept by which time you can barely walk down the path.

 

Two Alliums;

A.christophii (as per Kristens comment)...................


Totally hardy and self seeds too!

A bit more tender, but very dramatic, is A.schubertii..................

 

Ah yes I have that one too, and had forgotten. Looks even more dramatic than your photo

 

Definitely!

 

Thanks everyone for grwat suggestions.. a trio to garden center is due now and vl also look at the bulb website...
The size of plants and the sheer speed of their growth is quite exciting, especially for novices like me :p


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Is it too late to plant A.schubertii @longk

 

I doubt very much that you'll find bulbs for sale, although there may be potted up ones in growth for sale out there.

 

Grow from seed instead perhaps? You could buy bulbs in Autumn, but if you sow from seed now you might have flowers the year after next (or am I being too optimistic?)

Do both perhaps. A few bulbs in the autumn for flowers sooner ... and the from-seed ones to follow on and give you MORE

 

I am afraid to say Kristen that I think you are being too optimistic. I have grown loads of Allium christophii from seed and they haven't flowered yet after about 4 years. Schubertii is really just a christophii on a bad hair day.

I think that Allium seeds need a period of cold stratification. The recommended way seems to be to sow them in November ish and leave them outside - perhaps covered with a piece of glass to keep leaves and rubbish out. I seem to remember that they germinated very well in about February still left outside.