WHAT'S LOOKING EXOTIC IN 2017

A few more, first Aralia elata flowering, must be at least 15ft high.
Not easy to get a decent picture.

Had to take a few of Lagerstroemia indica before the forecast rain spoils it.

Ensete Maurelli

The dreaded weed of the Med, Ipomoea purpurea.

Another difficult one to photograph, the flowering clump of yucca aloifolia, it's over 8ft in height and five flowering stems.

 

Hi @pete how big is that lovely Lagerstroemia? I suppose it's another thing you keep outside?

 

Hi @CarolineL , got two pink Lagers.
One is a cutting from the first.
I originally grew it from seed, called something along the lines of "little chief", but the original plant is now over 10ft and the shorter more bushier cutting is about 5ft.
Both get pruned every winter, so could be 30ft by now if I let them.

Its an easy plant, never had any problems with hardiness, even in cold winters and that is over more than 20 yrs.

I've grown more from seed in the last 5yrs or so, but up to now, mainly due to poor growing positions, only one has flowered and it is no match for that dazzling pink one in the picture.

Taken lots of cutting this year as I think it is a plant that should be more well known, if you have a real hot spot in your garden as it likes heat, especially around flowering time.

 

Wow @pete - I'd thought of growing lagerstroemia for years, but never bothered because I thought it not hardy enough - and would be hard to get large enough in a pot to flower. Unfortunately I don't have anywhere in my garden that is warm enough and not fully occupied

 

I've kind of run out of warm spots as well, which is why the new ones although over 5ft tall are struggling to flower.
This kind of puts it into perspective size wise for the shorter one, which is more compact.
Also shows how crammed the garden is
And the allotment is pretty crammed as well.

 

Lovely as always Pete!
It is heat that I struggle for here in the Cotswolds. I lost my large Erythrina that was planted out next to the house wall despite a thick mulch. The young one that was kept in the greenhouse was about to get tossed three weeks ago but I spotted a shoot among the roots and potted it back up. Here is the sum total of its growth this year so far.................


Anyway, on the plus side Swainsona formosa is close to blooming...............

 

Hi Pete, your garden is absolutely stunning Well done

 

There are plants I cannot grow outside even down here due to heavy frosts and lack of Summer sun, I have tried both Lagerstroemia and Caesalpinia but they have been killed off by the cold.

 

I do think locations make for different plants for different circumstances.
For instance, the kind of plants that thrive on a good rainfall and mild winters seem to struggle with me.
On the other hand, the types that can take some cold in winter as long as they get a good ripening in summer tend to do quite well.

 

@longk - oh look, just a casual 'swainsona about to flower' You are all driving me to drink with jealousy! My swainsona seedlings died so quickly this year, I had forgotten all about them till you mentioned it. Any tips? All I can do is show you the picture I took in Kings Park, Perth...
@pete - your garden is fantastic! Is that a campsis on your house wall?

 

Interesting Pete. Here it is very mild over winter so not great then for some of the beauties you grow...??

 

Just my thoughts, I dont think you really get heat during summer down your way, I might be wrong, by heat I mean at least a few days in the 30s.
We get some hard frost in winter and often cold easterlies in spring, but if the wood has a bit of a baking in summer, on some plants, the survival rate can be quite good.

I'm thinking mostly of plants that like a good rainfall and mild winters suit you area better than mine.

 

Yes Campsis on the wall @CarolineL , called "Indian summer" hybrid.

Fumbling around to find a very old photo of Sturt's desert pea
Yonks ago, an old scanned picture.
Not found any reliable seed recently, but then I dont think I've tried.

 

That is making me feel even worse Pete! I have tried growing them in low humidity, and then they die from red spider, or high humidity and they just rot off...
The campsis is lovely. I have got Madam Galen just about surviving on my house front... no flowers yet though.