advice on top 10 easey to grow,look after

[chig]

could anyone list tropical plants that are easey to grow and maybe even be left out with mulch please,love cannas,bananas and got a t-rex pup many thanks

[Mick C]

For starters how about Paulownia tomentosa, the foxglove tree. Hard as nails and nice big leaves if you coppice it - you should find a fair bit of discussion on this if you do a search.

[Chad]

Just ten?

I note you are in Herefordshire, so my Cornish experience may not be too useful.

My top ten for ‘the look’, and no winter protection.

Aralia elata [May sucker about a bit, but they pull up easily].
Astilboides tabularis [not always easy to establish, but if it never dries right out, and has some drainage, it is a show stopper].
Blechnum chilense [Reliable glossy fern – deciduous in hard winters, evergreen if mild here].
Darmera peltata [Another one for a shaded and/or moist spot. Big glossy leaves and flowers like a Bergenia from bare soil in the spring].
Fastsia japonica [consider F.polycarpa – not been in cultivation for long, so hardiness not yet proven, but looking good].
Hedychium densiflorum [and its forms].
Lophosoria quadripinnata [usually quoted as hardy to -5C – but is coping better than that. A bit of a risk in Herefordshire though].
Musa basjoo [Herbaceous in hard winters-almost always comes back from below ground].
Rodgersia pinnata [moist or shaded again].
Tetrapanax papyrifer [May die back to the ground in a hard winter].

[jonny]

1. FATSIA JAPONICA
2. MUSA BASJOO
3. TRACHYCARPUS FORTUNEI
4. PSEUDOSASA JAPONICA
5. DICKSONIA ANTARCTICA (OVER 3FT)
6. SHEFFLERA TAWAINIANA ( CERTAINLY HARDY FOR ME DOWN HERE )
7. RODGERSIA
8. HEDYCHIUMS FORRESTII , TARA, ASSAM ORANGE, STEPHEN ( MULCH WELL)
9. GUNNERA MANICATA
10. IMPATIENS OMEIANA

Loads more to mention as i am sure they will be.

[jonny]

I love Astiboides tabularis Chad, niceplant Prefer this too Darmera.

[jcec1]

A couple of years ago in a shady North facing garden in Dublin I grew Nicotiana sylvestris, it's an annual and grows really quickly. It then self seeded itself the next year and had them all again for free. I think it looks really tropical, some of leaves were about 2ftx2ft.

[sanatic1234]

[quote="jonny"]5. DICKSONIA ANTARCTICA (OVER 3FT)
quote]

Don't curse my 2 before they are even planted jonny

[billdango]

here is a list of the top ten faverite easys in southampton;
musa basjoo
albizia julibrisin
aralia japonica
cordyline australis
trachycarpus fortuni
acacia dealbata [most survived last two winters]
chamerops humilis
paulownia tormentosa
dicksonia antartica
gunnera manicata

billdango

[Adam D]

A top 10 easy to grow up here are:

Paulownia tomentosa
Rodgersia any of the varieties
Astilboides tabularis
Phyllostachys bisettii
Fargesia rufa
Fargesia scabrida
Hellebores
Dryopteris crassirhizoma
Dryopteris wallichiana
Osmunda regalis

[Chad]

here is a list of the top ten faverite easys in southampton;.....

aralia japonica....

billdango

I haven't seen Fatsia called that since I was a nipper!

It was moved into the new genus Fatsia by Decaisne and Planchon who died in 1882 and 1888 repectively, and I know the British are very slow to adopt name changes made by the French [or Belgians] but how old are your books?!

Yours is an interesting list, but like mine it is from experience in the south. Herefordshire would prove taxing for several of them. I lost Acacia dealbata here in inland Cornwall at a brief -9C for example.

Chad.