What's looking exotic in 2016

Amaryllis belladonna

 

Just had a look at Wiki...it's not over yet! Looks as though you're right about needing another one for fertilisation though. So...no seed and no pups, it looks as though the only alternative is to try and chop it up to make 'cuttings'

 

Look on the bright side, you can grow hundreds of plants from all over the world that shrivel up and die here

 

Have just been in S. Devon for 10 days, and immediately before that had a trip to Oxford and met up with @longk who showed me the Oxford Botanic Gardens. I was most impressed with the glass houses and would thoroughly recommend anyone to visit. We saw :-


Tecomanthe dendrophila. New Guinea Trumpet Vine, an evergreen climber that flowers on old wood, which was rather lovely.


Aeschanythus speciosus


Acalypha hispida. I have long fancied growing this but my one try from seed failed to germinate.


The lovely Thunbergia mysorensis that LongK introduced me to some time ago. My own is growing but a long way off flowering. Even Ray Hubbard at Hill House Nursery, who grows a lot of Thunbergia, had never heard of this.


Pachystachys lutea. An unusual house plant, that is not often seen. But they don't come as big as this (only a small part is shown). But blow me down the very next day I saw a stall in the market in Stratford-on-Avon selling them. He also had a medinella which I snapped up. They usually die on me over winter but at £4 I was willing to take the risk.


Heliconia - don't know what species.


Perhaps the highlight was this Cubanola domingensis situated behind other plants. It's most unusual. Its a relative of the coffee plant and not related to Brugmansia.

 

Hi PeterS,

I'm so jealous, I'm gonna have to try and get down there next year.

I love the Tecomanthe and the Acalypha

 

I really love the look of your garden Nigel. To me it appears to have a natural (informal) look with lots of choice plants everywhere you look.

You mean stuff from the Arctic Circle

Peter, it was an absolute pleasure

Looks as if a trip to Stratford is on the cards for me then.

It is certainly one of my favourites. I just wish that the forum had a scent facility as it betters the scent of Brugmansia in my opinion..............

If you want a guide let me know.

 

Some amazing plants here

 

Begonia luxurians



Brugmansia



Hedychuim spicatum



Ricinus New Zealand (now over 5 foot)

 

Brugmansia Miners Claim has finally flowered - I thought I had killed it earlier in the year when it blew over & I walked on it before I noticed :-( - Ive put them up in hanging baskets this year so that you can really see the flowers:


--

 

Hedychium gardnerianum.


Passion flower.

 

Thank you; a number of people (non-gardeners) are less polite about the informal (untidy) look.
However I prefer plants, especially unusual/different ones, to neat lawns and tidy borders. I also believe that the informal look creates more habitats for wildlife.

 

After three long years...the first Podranea ricasoliana flower to open.

 

Lovely Noisette. I always think the first flower is very special. I also had my first Podranea flower from seed sown about 3 years ago.


Alygoyne huegelii - a Hibiscus relative from western Australia


Dahlia imperialis. Planted out late and very short at about 5 feet, but its always nice to see it flower. Sometimes its a race between flowering and frost.


Isoplexis - not sure which.

 

My D. imperialis is still to show buds, let alone flowers.

 

Really like the Passion flower @pete which variety is it and is it hardy?