Tropicalissimo in the Pacific Northwest.  It is hard to imagine my garden without my huge wonderful tropical plants. I did not grow these lovlies when I first started gardening. I would not have even attempted. Then I went to Hawaii. On the garden island of Kauai I fell totally in love with the lush big bold textures of leaves, bright colors and glorious earthy scents of a tropical garden. I went from an dabbler into a dunker and just had to have anything big and glorious. I have killed many things that were ‘marginally’ hardy in my garden. I once tried an imperial dahlia known to grow large in my area but never flower (it was as advertised). The princess flower overwintered successfully one year and not so successfully the next year or the year after with a new plant.  While these were great to experiment with the foliage wasn’t enough for me, I had to go bigger. Next I put in a Tetrapanax p. ‘rex’, it has lovely huge leaves that were spiky and toothy. I still have it but have to chop the baby shoots off every year so it doesn’t devour the rest of the garden.  The hardy banana beside it comes back each year stronger with more stems coming up from the ground (Musa Basjoo).

hardy banana Musa Basjoo

Near by there is a whip of a magnolia tree that at first struggled to produce even 3 leaves. After 5 years I saw it’s first bloom and the leaves are now enormous. The flower only lasted for about a week but I would go out every day to see it and smell it.

magnolia

magnolia flower worth waiting for

I have several hardy Gingers. Here is one as seen from the entrance to my pond area with it’s hornbeam hedge. Sometimes it’s fun to come out of a formal area into wild, lush foliage.  This Ginger (Hedychium coccineum ‘Tara’) is reliably hardy in my garden. It spreads each year and does bloom in the late summer. Last year our weather was so bad that I only got a few blooms in September. This year the heat has really brought the blooms. I also dedicated a sprinkler head to it so it gets plenty of water in the summer.

Hedychium coccineum ‘Tara’

It is unusual (I think? maybe not) to build a greenhouse to house one plant. I purchased this red Banana several years ago now. Most people said don’t worry you can just buy another and throw it away but I was determined to try and keep it. With much persuasion I convinced my family to create a little greenhouse under the decking by my bedroom. That year I brought in my red banana, ensete ‘maurelli’ several echevarias, burgmansia, and Queens’ tears . I already had many orchids so now they also have a place to grown with higher light and humidity. The first year it survived, the second year it pushed to the top of the greenhouse

ensete ‘maurelli’

Each year I struggle with algae in my pond. The combination of warm water and fish waste creates the perfect situation for algae bloom. I’ve put floating plants, lilies and other plants in the pond to combat the algae but the fish really like them (and by “like them” I mean in the ‘I’m a vegetarian’ way). They eat the roots off of most everything I put in there and nibble the leaves off emerging plants. This year I decided to try to throw some common water hyacinth in the pot fountain. I thought maybe it would keep the major source of algae down. It succeeded beyond anything I imagined makes the whole pond area look magically lush and tropical. The wires you see are my Koi pond animal deterrent system. This keeps heron, river otters, raccoons and the occasional dog from getting in the koi pond.

common water hyacinth

This canna from Plant Delights nursery in North Carolina has been in the ground next to the pathway for 4 years. The first year I thought it was dead after winter but it struggled back. It has increased in height each year but not that much in width likely due to the pathway in front of it or lack of water in that area beneath the edge of the deck but it doesn’t seem to mind. The pods on this canna are so cool too. I love to bring them in in the fall and dry them out.

canna

The tropical look extends into the vines too. I have the hardy Kiwi, actinidia, down in the main garden where it can vine everywhere and it has fruit each year!! Up in the tropical area of my garden I have a passion vine that likes to throw itself around. It vines between the fence, a palm tree, and a manzanita. While the manzanita is outside the hedge it still wants its tropical neighbor to climb on it each year. I mulch the roots in the fall, it looks dead in the winter through early spring, then suddenly it is sprawling around. By the time August and September come it is blooming with its other worldly flowers. Fabulous!

Let me know what you think about tropical plants in a non-tropical place. What do you grow in your area that is not quite the norm?

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