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 have a very small garden 5.5m*17m too but we travel a lot so this gives me peace of mind and I'm a lazy bugger. We have one tap and a splitter - two different systems on each splitter with different apps - it's the only bit of gardening dh has gotten involved in.

I saw Charlie Dimmock attempting to make a cloud tree from boxus - but if it got blight I'd cry.
I don't have enough space for one - not that I'd spend that kind of money on any plant - I'm still wondering over my tree fern purchases - which seem cheap by comparison.

I watched this late last night and it’s made me smile. I (still) score fairly low but can see it’s a slippery slope towards all out obsession 😁

My Morrisons has a lot of cheap houseplants at the moment, I’ve bagged some calatheas, crotons and tradescantia which I intend to move out in exotic foliage pots in the summer. And I got a free grow light from a neighbour who didn’t want it. I’ve already divided the calatheas and they all seem to be doing well, so I should have a good stock come summer 🤞. Kids are complaining the house is turning into a jungle.

According to the weather forecast, we’ve got 8 days of (cold) sunshine coming up - just what I need to make a start in my tiny jungle. Really curious to know what is everyone planning for this year?

So far I’ve started my cannas and dahlias indoors. Most of the cannas have started growing which is fantastic. It’s early days for the dahlias, hopefully they will do well too. I’ve also got lots of colacasias growing, I’m so pleased with them - it turns out the tubers sold in supermarkets for pennies are just as good as the expensive nursery ones ☺️. I’m seriously thinking I might start yet a few more to get a real theme going.

I’ve also grown some houseplants so I can put them outside in the summer - crotons, aeoniums and tradescantia. The trads must be happy as they’re all flowering, which I didn’t expect.

I also started seeds in propagators for the first time ever - Cleome, Cobaea, sweet potato vine, sweet peas (got a free seed packet so why not) and zinnias. I’ve got plants and pots dotted all over the house now.

I can’t wait to see how it will how turn out this year.

Now with the good weather I’m going to do some weeding, pruning, tidying up and start preparing the soil.

Still a couple of weeks to go before I remove winter protections - sadly my sago palms have caught the cold and look pretty awful, but apparently they do come back so I just need to wait it out.

@Yorkshirekris i don’t know if you’re still around, but if so - I used your instructions to grow colocasia corms and they’ve turned out so well - thank you 🙏

Got a couple of things on the window sill now. Musa sikkimensis has germinated well and nothing yet from the cheesemanii. Picked up some taro in the Korean supermarket and it started sprouting, so chucked that in some compost for colocasia. Think it will need to be in the greenhouse, as it's not an ornamental variety, but want some pink China for outside too.

@SprigatitoYouAndIKnow the taro is probably Colocasia esculenta. I grew some in my garden last summer (planted it out in May) and it kept going strong well into November, giving huge beautiful leaves. You can then either dig it up, leave in the soil with protection if in a warm spot, or just start new ones next year.

I know it’s an edible, but it’s plenty ornamental for me 🙂 I’ve got 10 growing on windowsills and am thinking of starting another batch or two…

I got a Pink China two years ago and it’s definitely hardy here, it’s also multiplied and I now have lots of shoots coming up.

Just spent a couple of weeks surrounded by tropical plants in their native environment. Some very stunning planting. Interesting to see in their native environment. Lots of topiary - cloud trees en masse!

Don't try to eat the leaves though. If you eat them raw it could make your throat swell up and stop you breathing. Theoretically you can cook the leaves, many people do in tropical countries, but I wouldn't.

I know it's the starchy root that people normally eat (when cooked).

If you've got pets that tend to nibble leaves I would be concerned.

@SuePine69 don’t worry, I have no intention of eating them and DDog is not remotely interested 😊

I’m feeling like a right fool for paying good money for nursery corms last year, when they are literally pennies at Morrisons. I just started another batch of five for under £2. And they germinate as well as, if not better than, the nursery ones, with multiple growth points and no rot. I just dug out another border in a shady spot to accommodate them in a few weeks.

i also removed the cloches from the ones I planted last year and they seem to have survived winter, so in principle they should grow even bigger this year.

@ungarden I am seriously considering buying a young yew tree and attempting my own cloud pruning. What’s the worse that can happen?

The cloud trees seem to have circular frame on each cloud to give them shape, it was removed from the more mature trees. They were amazing.

Shameless bookmarking for all these wonderful tips. I do have some of these in my current garden but about to move so need inspiration.

Hi All,
I've always had a few jungly/tropical plants but seem to have accumulated lots more over the last couple of years. I'm now starting work on a new jungle/tropical section in my garden.
I am desperate to get hold of some brugmansias this year, have never seen them in the local garden centres - any recommendations of where can can buy decent ones online? Thanks

@PsychedlicSally a Brugmansia is also on my wish list.

I got one from Thompson and Morgan last June, it was a small twig when it arrived (9cm pot) but grew to around 3 feet and gave lots of flowers, though late in the season (late October onwards). I left it outside with fleece protection so I’m hoping it has survived winter. I tried taking cuttings, it’s supposed to be foolproof but none of them took 😊

I’m no expert but I think some brugs flower in summer and some in autumn, and the summer ones are more scented than the late flowering ones. Some are more hardy than others. More info here https://www.rareplantfair.co.uk/news-and-articles/brugmansia-growing-in-a-frost-prone-uk/

Exotic earth has lots of choices, but their website is crap. Urban Jungle also has some. I’m pretty sure Grow Paradise also does them. There are lots of Brugmansia videos by Craig (the Grow Paradise guy) on YouTube.

If you are happy to start from seed, jungle seeds has several brugmansias. Probably a bit early for most places that sell plants just yet, but do update if you find some.

Thanks @Koulibiak Interesting article and I hadn't looked at exotic earth before. I do look at urban jungle now and again but haven't tried them myself yet, they look good but are a bit pricey. The online sellers I have used and been happy with (Big Plant Nursery, Todd's Botanics, Hillside Exotic Gardening) don't seem to do Brugmansia.
I don't know why but I hadn't thought to look at Grow Paradise, even though I have watched many of their videos.
I've always been a bit wary of the big online plant sellers, especially for exotic stuff. However, due to your success, have bitten the bullet and pre-ordered some Brugs from T&M. I was thinking of ordering the MSE special offer plant bundle already so had to pay the postage for that anyway.
offer here if its any use to anyone I'll definitely use those plants in other areas of the garden and I do love an agapanthus or six!
I think I might buy a bigger Brugmansia from GP or UJ (who have some available now) later on. I've run out of space to house plants frost free at present, and it will be a while before I can start moving them outside as I am in the north. We have frost forecast for tonight and the next week.
@SprigatitoYouAndIKnow Thanks, that's interesting. I don't really have the space for growing from seed just now but might have a go at some point. I need to get some of my bigger plants in the ground this year and protect them outside next winter. I can't keep bringing them all in like this, they are everywhere!

@SprigatitoYouAndIKnow I just ordered a few Brugmansia arborea seeds from eBay. I’ve never grown them from seeds but I will give them a go. I shall report on success/failure in a few weeks.

@PsychedlicSally I watched a video on YouTube where the guy said the key to getting it tall, is to chop off all the side shoots. Brugs start forking very early on (under one foot tall), and once they do, they want to produce flowers so don’t grow tall. If you only keep the main stem, or the most upright, it will grow to six-foot plus in one summer, and when it’s tall enough you can then let it fork so it produces flowers. I’m going to try it this year. 🤞

Thanks @Koulibiak I will try that.

Speaking of Brugmansia, I had a look last week at mine, that I left outdoor under fleece for the winter. It looked like a dead stick, completely dry so I chopped most of it off. However, today I spotted green growth by the collar 😮. Good girl - I think I’m going to give her a name if she survives. Willa maybe, as she is showing strong will.

This is the one I got from Thomson and Morgan as a 9cm pot last year.

i haven’t started my brug seeds yet as the propagator is full.

Has anyone else grown canna from seed? I have some, but the instructions look like a lot of faff.

@SprigatitoYouAndIKnow I haven’t. My kitchen is canna central at the moment, I’ve got over 20 growing from rhizomes, some of them already close to two feet tall, DCs are getting annoyed ☺️

Currently trying to grow cleomes from seed, also a bit faffy for a beginner like me as they need cold stratification and seem quite capricious… I’m not sure why I bothered, I’ve never even seen one in the flesh.

@SprigatitoYouAndIKnow I haven't either, not sure I'd have the patience. All mine have been bought as plants, meant to try some rhizomes this year but its a bit late now.
@Koulibiak I also have lots of cannas in the house, the hallway in my case. They have grown quite a lot already this year, no new ones, all overwintering. I grow all mine in pots, some of them are going to need repotting and/or splitting they are so huge, the oldest ones are on their 3rd overwintering with me.

Well done with the brug and good luck with the cleomes.

In more good news, the Colocasia esculenta and Jack’s giant that I left in the ground with a heavy mulch and cloche, have started growing again. No sign yet of the other colocasias… but if I have three varieties that are hardy (pink China being the third), I’m going to be grateful for that. Any others will be a bonus.