Hardy Tropicals UK

kata wrote:Its a beautiful garden springy,

Whats that Dahlia called?

Thanks Kata. I have about 15 different varieties of dahlias so its hard to tell which one you are asking about. It could be the double orange 'David Howard' or the pinky star one which is honka Suprise or maybe the yellow with reddish centre 'sunshine' and the similar 'moonshine'?

I try to grow mostly single flowering dahlias more than the doubles as it is more beneficial to bees etc

Springy wrote:
Delboy the tree is albizia julibrissin. Hardy here for the last three winters. Grows about a metre a year. I think it does need the shelter and extra protection from a house wall though.

Cheers for the ID

Springy wrote:Time for an update!
Family BBQ today so its garden photo update time!
Started with rain when I took these pics but the day improved into the afternoon!

Wow Steve, your garden is PACKED!!! really top drawer stuff, every pic in that update is jaw droppingly exotic!

Very lush and tropical looking, I always love to see the difference a few months makes.

Just read this thread from the start and I take my hat off to you springy .
Fantastic design and plant choices.
So many plants to add to my growing list.
I've taken your garden as a bench mark to go by and if it turns out half as good I'll be well happy.
Only started the exotic side of gardening this year with a few cannas, hedychuims, Ricinus
Look forward to many more update

Mowgley wrote:Just read this thread from the start and I take my hat off to you springy .
Fantastic design and plant choices.
So many plants to add to my growing list.
I've taken your garden as a bench mark to go by and if it turns out half as good I'll be well happy.
Only started the exotic side of gardening this year with a few cannas, hedychuims, Ricinus
Look forward to many more update

Thankyou for your kind comments!
I hope you have plenty of funds Mowgley as once you've got the exotic bug your garden will eat money!
Sounds like you are on the right track with cannas, ricin etc. I started by growing loads of annuals and planting them in groups in between the hardier plants. You can then add evergreen structure as you go along, fatsia, trachycarpus, phormiums, bamboos etc!
You'll have a great advantage with being on this site in the fact that most people will point you in the direction of quality suppliers of plants at good prices rather than spending a fortune at overpriced garden centres, although you can get the odd bargains there if you are lucky!

Have fun creating your "piece of paradise"

Awesome Awesome garden Springy..

This Pic WoW...

I like how the garden flows.

I think I crammed a bit too much in this year. I like the garden to be full but this year it was full to bursting point.
I had a clear out of a lot of the annuals last weekend and have taken 16 large compost bags full of plant material to the tip! That's even before cutting down all the dahlias, cannas and gingers!
After having it all so full up its now nice to see it clearer and uncluttered.
Every year I look back and think that I won't go so mad with my planting in spring but then spring comes and I hate seeing any bare patches of soil so I cram it full again!

I won't do it next year!

The funds aren't limitless but I have a few must have plants.
I.e. Tree fern, cycad, musa basjoo, brugmansia, another tracycarpus , butia,
I'll grow all of the annuals myself.
I'm the same hate bare soil, you can never have too many plants

Springy wrote:I think I crammed a bit too much in this year. I like the garden to be full but this year it was full to bursting point.
I had a clear out of a lot of the annuals last weekend and have taken 16 large compost bags full of plant material to the tip! That's even before cutting down all the dahlias, cannas and gingers!
After having it all so full up its now nice to see it clearer and uncluttered.
Every year I look back and think that I won't go so mad with my planting in spring but then spring comes and I hate seeing any bare patches of soil so I cram it full again!

I won't do it next year!

Garden look's great in the vid Springy , I'm a big fan of the packed look but then again my gardens pretty small so not so hard to achieve.
Think maybe more water would help for your Nana's mine only get chick poo but plenty of water and the P stems alone are a good ten feet, don't think I spotted your B edulis in the vid how's it doing, mines suffered a bit this year as it's been shaded out by other stuff

Hi just done a catch up on your garden.it looks brilliant I know what you mean about overdoing the planting. I did the same this year. By the time everything grew, it was so full, the plants looked so cramped together, that you could not really see them properly to appreciate them.Month or so ago, I took quite a few out and it looked loads better.

Thanks peeps!
Leigh I agree with the lack of water on the bananas. Growth is really slow compared to other gardens on here. I have really free draining soil which is good for overwintering things but not so good for thirsty plants.
The Brahea edulis spear pulled two years on the trot and never recovered. I am growing a similar sized one in a pot which will be planted out next spring.

Since having a clear out I am really happy with the original trachycarpus fortuneii that was pretty much the first plant that was planted in this garden 4yrs ago. It came from my last property and was planted at my mums garden for a while until we moved in here.
It's put on some good growth this year.

ws that in the lower left corner with the pink stems?

miketropic wrote:ws that in the lower left corner with the pink stems?

Mike it was a euphorbia pasteurii. I took it out at the beginning of spring this year as it had just got too big for the space. I was reluctant to remove it as it looked really good. They don't transplant too well at that size in my experience.