Anyone else planting a jungle/tropical garden?

[Koulibiak]

I would love to hear ideas for what plants have worked for you, especially big leaves and ground covers.

As for me: I started with my jungle planting last year. I already had a good sized phoenix palm and a huge, if slightly ugly, cordyline with about 6 trunks). I love foliage plants, so decided to carry on with that. I’m in London, sw exposure and mostly sunny (though trying to establish a leafy canopy to add shade).

One year on, there is still so much work to do. On the positive side, some of my bananas and even the Ensete maurelii seem to have survived winter unprotected. I’ve got some Musa basjoo already sending leaves up and at least one has clumped and now has 4-5 shoots (from a plug plant last year). My other palms (3 chusan palms last year and now I’ve added 2 chamaerops humilis in pots) are all still so tiny. I have to remind myself my phoenix was tiddly when I brought it home on foot from Morrisons many years ago!

But overall the garden still looks bare so I’ve been planting lots of ferns, Heuchera, polemonium etc. I’ve also got some cannas, crocosmias, pineapple lillies and Kniphofia, and am trying to grow Colocasia (not very successfully so far - got three types and wondering when to give up 😄) and have now planted ginger lillies and eremurus (which are very weird looking when just bare roots, and probably all wrong for my garden, but I’ve taken a punt as they are so spectacular).

I’ve got a Tetrapanax that barely got through winter, my dog ate most of my Sambucus nigra and aucuba, and I just planted a Schefflera to add to the canopy but it’s about 20cm tall right now so I’m not holding my breath. My Kniphofia are a snail nursery!

Ive found it challenging buying plants in nurseries as they are mostly geared towards cottage style gardens, with a very small selection of jungle/foliage plants. Buying online is a gamble - I’ve had some good experiences and sadly many negative ones with diseased plants.

It would be lovely to hear from other jungle gardeners with plants that have worked for them, and positive experiences with online sellers. Thank you 🙏

TLDR; please give me your tips!

I’ve moved my delicate things like tree fern, Correa, echium in pots next to the house wall where there’s no frost and they’re so far doing ok but tonight is really cold so I am going to keep everything crossed..

Hi,

I hope everyone's precious plants are clinging on as we ride out the last of the winter. My garden looks awful as the evergreens in my tropical section are still small. but I haven't found any severe damage. A few borderline plants have stayed outside unprotected even though I have been on alert to bring them in/protect them if needed. My abutilon, aspidistra, agaves and melianthus major all look fine, I hope they don't show damage later on.

Some areas of the garden are waking up - hellebores, primulas and some of my camellias are flowering, bulbs popping up, a bit of new growth here and there.

The plants in my unheated conservatory are getting a bit fed up now, they mostly looked great until the start of January but this is the hard part, and they look a bit sorry for themselves. My cyathea still doesn't look happy but it hasn't got any worse and my begonia luxurians has perked up a bit. The brugs have only just finished flowering.

Sorry, I missed the last few posts.
@Koulibiak thanks for the luxurians tips, will try your feeding routine when the time is right.
@SprigatitoYouAndIKnow Your calamondin sounds lovely, none of my citrus's fruited last year.
@CurrentHun I hope your plants are still clinging on.

I really should plant some seeds but Santa forgot to bring me an electric propagator so perhaps I will buy myself one.

I'm going to check and tend to all the plants in the conservatory this evening, they are crammed in so its a bit like playing musical chairs with plants. What jobs are you doing to scratch your gardening itch?

Jungle gardens just reward stubbornness and time more than anything else. I’m in Cornwall so the climate helps, but it still took quite some time. What made the biggest difference for me was planting densely and waiting for the canopy to close (once that happens, everything suddenly looks really lush!). So far musa basjoo, fatsia, schefflera and ferns have been the most reliable. Colocasia is a hit or miss.

On the buying front, I’ve had better experiences with smaller specialist growers than big online shops, even if the plants arrive small, they just tend to be healthier and adapt better long term. Sketching out the overall look also helps A LOT. You can use any garden planning tool like https://gardenbox3d.com/ or similar apps, it just makes it much easier to think in layers and be patient.

I saved this picture from the Times a few weeks ago. It’s good to have goals…

I love that @Koulibiak. We have a small area that would lend itself well to something like that. DH has a horror of Ivy (is it Ivy?) so I’d have to find something else to cover the walls. I’d have to save up for the tree ferns though.

@BestIsWestclimbers I found easy: clematis, passiflora, star jasmine. I also like annual climbers, morning glories are very easy to grow. This year I’m focusing on cobaea scandens as I like the flowers and leaf shape, and my morning glories got a bit too vigorous last year. But it’s probably a bit late to start cobaea this year as they take a long time to flower so they need starting in January I think.

Blimey it’s cold and windy today, after the glorious sunshine we had yesterday. I’ve started tidying up the garden, mowed the lawn and surveyed the winter damage. I don’t think any of the brugmansias that I left outside survived - time will tell. But the cycads have done okay, Tetrapanax is already shooting and my new eremurus cleopatra are showing some growth.

I have three brugs that I brought inside over winter and they seem okay. I also have four orange brug seedlings in my propagator that are going strong so far. None of the pink ones germinated.

My begonia luxurians is starting to look bedraggled, I can’t wait to bring it out but it’s a bit too cold still. Bizarrely my Alocasia has really enjoyed winter in the unheated dark shed, it’s looking pretty good.

I’ve divided my cannas and given many away.

I have lots of seedlings of amaranth, ricinus, sweet peas, aubrieta. I also have a bunch of succulent seedlings (aloe polyphylla, echeveria) that will take years to be a good size, but at least they germinated well. It’s an exercise in patience. Next week I will start my next batch in propagators - nicotianas, zea japonica, coleus if I can remember to buy seeds. Im not feeling massively inspired with seeds this year, if anyone has suggestions please share 🙏

overall some highs and lows but that’s normal this time of year 🤷🏼‍♀️

BBC I player currently has an A to Z of Gardening show. Currently up: J for Jungle

@BestIsWest I have had success with passiflora and star jasmine too, also morning glory for fast jungly coverage.I agree with your Dh on ivy, I would never plant it in the ground again, I am currently fighting an ivy invasion from next door.

@Koulibiak I have just bought some cobaea seeds, I am wondering if I am best saving them until next year now. I thought I could sow until March but there's not much point if they won't flower in time.

@StrawberrySquash thanks I'll watch that over the weekend

I hope to get my first batch of seeds started this weekend. I have ricinus, cleome, coleus, nicotiana, morning glory, spanish flag and amarathus. I should have started some sooner. My dahlias have arrived, will wait a while before I start those in pots.

I've had a few plant buying "accidents" recently. I was suffering withdrawal symptoms over winter so as soon as the first stocks came in I could not resist. 2 euphorbias, 2 nandinas, a yucca rostrata, 2 more lomandra white sands, a waggie palm and a 7 foot trachy. I'm not rushing to plant them just yet.

We've had a few nice days recently so I've done quite a bit of garden tidying, there's more still to do and a section of fence to repair. I need to split my potted cannas, they are growing already and some are pushing the (big) pots out of shape. I'm thinking about unwrapping my bananas this weekend.

I may just transplant some of my honeysuckle as that seems pretty rampant!

Got a bunch of seeds in the heated propagater a couple of weeks ago. Not much germinated yet, except for the variegated tree mallows. No idea where I am going to fit them all of course! I am giving up the allotment too, so have to find space in my small garden for a load of dwarf fruit trees and unusual tubers. Thank goodness for pots!

I think you would be fine to sow cobea now. Mine last year got dried.out when we went away, but I haven't sown mine yet.

I just hit the jackpot today as a neighbour gave me all her bamboo canes and terracotta pots and saucers as she’s moving away. I had to rope in my two grumpy teenagers to carry them home - I’m so happy I’ve got more pots for all my seedlings, and especially terracotta pots for my succulents. Also got about 40 bamboo canes, very handy this time of year. Good gardening day chez Koulibiak 😁

It’s been crazy windy here today in SW London, so much so that tonight I noticed my Phoenix palm has some broken fronds. It’s really unusual - never happened before. I will go and yield my chainsaw in the morning, I hope there’s no structural damage - I’m quite attached to it, it was the first thing I planted 15 years ago and it’s now a very good size and a bit of a showstopper.

On the positive side I’ve move my begonia luxurians outside and they are clearly loving it, new leaves coming out at a speed of knots.

I’ve got thousands of seedlings all over the place 😂, some cannas already a metre tall, some bananas already well in leaf, and I’ve done a lot of the big ugly jobs like jet washing most of the paved areas, washing pots, tidying up the beds, getting my compost ready, and the first big weeding job of the season. I’m feeling very virtuous - but mostly it’s because I’m away for ten days from tomorrow so needed to get things sorted before I go.

Oh and my spring bulbs are just joyful, my favourite of the day is narcissus Pink Pride, I was doubtful at first but it really is a true pink daffodil, very tall and erect. Not jungly but you can’t really expect jungle aesthetics in March, so I’m leaning into the potted bulb vibe. I’m now hoping the tulips slow down and don’t flower until I come back 😊.

i can’t remember who suggested zea japonica - blimey they grow quickly! I think i may have sown them too early, I may have to start a new batch in April…

I got out to clear some of the weeds and dead bits in tbe tropical patch a couple of days ago in glorious sunshine. Then yesterday was rain and gake firce winds and a tree came down in the road. Talk about confusing weather for planting!

There are a few things growing in the greenhouse and a few things that are definitely dead. The Spanish moss seems to be surviving to my surprise. The bromeliads are definitely dead. Some thing just have to wait and see. Persicaria, abutilon and Ferns are thriving in the garden. The mountain papaya came in the house and may or may not be dead. Got some nice green shoots, but it is also dying back from the top.

The seeds are doing bugger all in the heated propagater, so may need to just buy stuff this year.

I have been so desperate to see if my cyathea is still alive that I tried to unfurl a frond today - and of course broke it 🤦‍♀️. But it was green inside, so silver lining I guess. Patience is not my strong suit.

I’ve been working really hard at sprucing up the garden this last week. I’ve planted out all the cannas, colocasias and brugmansias (except the new seedlings which are doing very well), moved all the pots into their summer positions , fed the beds and borders, repotted my giant Alocasia, mulched, moved out the garden furniture, you name it. I’m so knackered 😂 and yet I’ve still got lots on my to do list.

On the jungle front:

1. I was pleasantly surprised to see that a fair few of my colocasia esculenta have come back. They are planted out in beds and borders and I just protect them with plastic cloches/fleece over winter.
2. my Musa basjoo are a bit of a mystery - I have some clumps that are over 6 foot tall with big leaves, and other that are barely coming out of the ground
3. my trochodendron is putting out some lovely new growth
4. the Ensete seems to have survived its winter in dry storage in the shed. I’ve put it back in the ground.
5. the potted brugmansias I left out over winter have died. I had taken cuttings that are already 2-3 feet tall, so I’ve just planted those instead
6. only two of my dahlias survived winter, but they are looking very cheerful so far.
7. the pseudopanax Moa’s toes is looking very bedraggled. Not sure what’s going on there, but I hope it gets better soon.

I also pricked out all my seedlings. I’ve got thousands of them. It’s so easy to chuck seeds in a propagator in winter, I definitely got carried away. Pricking out is very time consuming, and a bit boring if I’m honest, but I also look at all the seedlings with something like motherly love. A lot of them will be up for adoption though - I’m hoping my neighbours need lots of plants for their gardens.

What is on your wish list this year? I’m not sure I can fit anything substantive without digging up new borders, especially after all the zillion seedlings I need to make room for. Secretly I’d love a brassaiopsis mitis, but the non-hardiness stress would probably give me anxiety over winter. Perhaps a shefflera alpina - I’ve killed two taiwaniana in two years, so I think I need to look for a different, hardier variety.

Hello Jungle people!
I finally pulled my head out of the sand and started to attend to the garden again. Weeded and trimmed the grasses & musas. I couldn’t face protecting a lot, I know the cannas and the gingers haven’t made it. Don’t know about the schfflera - I’ve been a very neglectful plant parent!😳

I’ve unwrapped my musa Basjoo and ensete this week and both look fine and are shooting new leaves. Both in large pots and wrapped in horticultural fleece and in a corner of the house that faces south east so out of the wind. I’m delighted.

Musa basjoo and sikkimensis seem to have survived, although not growing yet. The mountain papaya does seem to be alive in the kitchen, as I brought it in before Christmas. A lot of the stem died back, but new shoots should continue. The hardy orchids are in flower in the greenhouse and looking beautiful.

This seems to be the year when brassaiopsis mitis goes on sale in volume at a better price, so that's first on the wish list.

Musa basjoo and sikkimensis seem to have survived, although not growing yet. The mountain papaya does seem to be alive in the kitchen, as I brought it in before Christmas. A lot of the stem died back, but new shoots should continue. The hardy orchids are in flower in the greenhouse and looking beautiful.

This seems to be the year when brassaiopsis mitis goes on sale in volume at a better price, so that's first on the wish list.