Maui trip spurs ideas for using tropicals in garden
Submitted by Lisa on Sun, 2010-05-02 15:15
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I just returned home from a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Maui! My husband (with me, below, on a sunset cruise we took there) won the trip as part of some work performance award. Nice, huh?
Well, anyway, of course I had to whip out the camera and snap a pic of every tropical garden and plant I came across. And with such a colorful buffet of tropical foliage and fantastic flowers in front of me, it got me to thinking, "Why can't I have some of that in my Zone 6a garden?" OK, maybe I can't line a whole walkway with it, since it'll die over winter. But on the other hand, why not just put a few of these stunners in a container on the patio, or feature them as colorful, exotic specimen plants? After all, my home is my personal retreat … why can't I have some vacation there, too?
The best way to go about using tropicals in your garden or landscape, I've since learned, is to buy them for use as indoor houseplants during the cold season and then move the container to your landscape or patio in the summer (you can even bury the plant in the pot, to fake the look of an established tropical plant in your garden). And while you're at it, heck — bring all your houseplants outside for the summer for a tropical flair in your beds, borders and containers. Just make sure to look up each plant's particular requirements or ask a local garden center that sells tropicals for advice on how to grow these beauties inside and out in your area. Some tropicals, for instance, will survive in lower light levels indoors during the cold season (perhaps without blooms or as vivid colors, but will nonethless survive), but they need misting and higher temperatures to thrive. Conversely, when taken outdoors, tropicals that grow as understory plants in the rainforest might not be able to handle constant, direct sunlight. Still others are so heat-loving that the chill of cold water direct from the garden hose will make their leaves drop.
Also check out this WONDERFUL St. Louis Dispatch article on using tropicals in your garden.
So moving right along, here are some of my tropical plant pics from Maui — along with some ideas on how to use them in your landscape. If you live in a warmer climate and can grow these tropicals year round, take note of where, how and with what other plants the landscape designers have used them. If you're like me and live in a colder climate, you might have to resign yourself to using them as colorful, dramatic accents or treat them as annuals and ditch them at the end of the season.
First, here's some spiky, swordlike phormium (New Zealand flax) in purple-brown, complemented by a green spike of dracena and a ti plant's burgundy and pink tropical foliage. Of course, I think this container combo would look even more dramatic with Tesselaar's darker, glossier, burgundy-black Black Adder™ Phormium, with its elegantly nodding, pendulous tips.
Another beautiful tropical plant I saw a lot of was bromeliads. The top image here, of the purple-blue bloom atop lemon-lime, waxy foliage, is aechmea. Below that is a giant, yellowish-orange bromeliad nestled in a bed of tropical fern (I believe it's Phymatosorus grossus, or laua'e (maile-scented fern). Third down is a red-centered bromeliad accented by a green, wavy-leaved tropical fern. Below that is what I like to think of as the 'lollypop planter' of red, orange and yellow flowered bromeliads. Fifth down is that orange-yellow bromeliad as a tall, architectural backdrop for an otherwise common bed of impatiens. Below that you'll see the same bromeliad atop a purple-black groundcover (what a stunning contrast, especially with the companion planting of yellow-green bromeliads. Seventh down shows the view of a bromeliad from above, with its tell-tale pool of water in the center. The bottom shot shows how a mass planting of bromeliads, in different colors, makes a strong, tropical statement.
Bromeliads, by the way, make some of the best houseplants on earth. For more information on growing bromeliads indoors and out, check out this great eHow article on bromeliad care.
Here's a raised bed with more aechmea, rainbow-leaved croton, and what looks to be either a variegated dracena or carex (could be Tesselaar's own Everest™) and one of my favorite new plants ever — tradescantia (the purple-pink spiky plant down in front). And below that is a close-up shot of the same plants backlit by the morning sun. Awesome!
Here are other images of croton … virtually unmatched in its brilliant colors and many leaf forms (this is one of those plants, however, that can't take chilly water. For more information, check out this great article on croton.
Or, of course, if it's rainbow-colored foliage you crave, and you're not sure how well croton will do in your yard, you can also plant Tesselaar's Tropicanna® Canna (the bottom picture in this set shows it used along with coleus, Mexican sunflower and caladium in the winning design of Garden Gate magazine's 2009 "Container Challenge" design contest.)
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Well, that's all I could stuff in one post for now. But stay tuned for more tropical plant photos — and videos! — from my trip to Maui. In the meantime, if you want to see more pics from my trip (including the set where Adam Sandler, Jennifer Aniston and Dave Matthews were shooting their next movie!) check out my Flickr site.
Comments
These flowers are made so irresistible
These flowers are made so irresistible by these pictures, although I have to say I agree with Samuel D, particularly if you intend to ‘import’ plants. Many states do not allow mixing of native and imported plants because they upset the native ecosystem. Best is to do extensive research, and if you are so inclined, plant and enjoy them in greenhouses or pots instead of in the ground.
Regards,
Richard
Contemporary Oak Furniture
what amazing colors!
What I've done is go directly into the "houseplants" section of the garden center… that's where I found croton and bromeliads, which not only performed wonderfully in a container on my patio last year, but also as houseplants with my Festival Burgundy cordyline in the same container over this past winter! If you're looking for something a little more exotic, there are some wonderful mailorder sources for tropical plants (like www.logees.com). I also saw some otherworldy bromeliads on display at the IGC trade show this past summer in Chicago, but I have to look up who was selling them…
What amazing colors!
What amazing colors! Those folks in the tropics sure are lucky to get such a visual panorama all year long. It almost makes me want to build a greenhouse so I can share in the fun. One question though, where would you source plants like this in the midwest?
Regards,
John
Gardening Services
Hawaii is a flower paradise
Hi Paul - thanks for visiting, and regularly commenting on, Your Easy Garden. I went to Maui on my honeymoon and this latest trip was just a gift from God. If you'd like to see more of the wonderful plants I photographed on my trip (including a rainbow eucalyptus and some of Hawaii's last pineapple plantations), please visit my Flickr site. Thanks again!
Hawaii is a flower paradise
Hawaii is a flower paradise and I have seen a few stunning species there which I haven’t seen anywhere else. The bright red flowers of the Ohia tree reminds one of the volcanic lava which the island is made of, and one of the hotel staff showed me how to make tea out of the ‘ilima flower which is a close cousin to the hibiscus family (taste pretty good too I must say, and it’s meant to be more beneficial to the body than drinking black tea). Talking about these flowers brings me back to Hawaii again!
Regards,
Paul
Orangeries
Great pictures!
First I have to say that I love the pictures! There are some very gorgeous specimens there. You’ve got to be careful though when mixing exotics with native plants. It’s one thing to use exotics to adorn a patio, but mixing the two can have ghastly effects. There is usually a reason that these exotics don’t grow in certain environments, and in many cases that reason involves one of the two choking out the other. I would advise everyone to do their homework before planting ANY exotic plants, especially if you value the native species you have already. Cheers!
Samuel D.
Director, Horticulturists Anonymous
www.braunability.com
Beautiful pics! I have a few
Thanks so much for visiting Your Easy Garden! And I’m glad I clicked on your link about 10 easy-to-grow houseplants. I was wondering, with your expertise in plants, if you could weigh in on the idea of using houseplants as tropicals in the garden. I’m particularly interested in croton because of its fantastic, bright rainbow of colors. Here in the north, where I don’t have the intensity of light to keep croton happy over the winter, should I just put one in a planter combo (in direct sun) in the summer and throw it out at the end of the season - treating it as an annual? Or can it survive inside over the winter, but just not with all the wonderful color? Also interested in trying to grow stromanthe. What would you recommend to cold-climate gardeners like me?
Beautiful pics! I have a few
Beautiful pics! I have a few of the green spiked dracena, they’re so easy to grow. Would love to have a few of those plants for my garden!
Keep the posts coming, I am
Thanks so much for visiting Your Easy Garden! I just updated some of the Maui pics I posted on my Flickr account. Includes the last pineapple plantation on Maui, soft mahogany trees, my bus trip to Hana, a rainbow eucalyptus and much, much more (including shots of the set where Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler are filming a new movie!) Video to come soon!
Maui Tropicals
Thanks so much for your post! I agree, bromeliads and crotons wouldn’t be happy here if left out past summer…but I do wonder if it’s OK to keep them as houseplants and then stick them in the garden - provided you put them in the right place? I looked at the tag for croton at the garden center and it said keep it out of direct light, so maybe summering croton - and other colorful houseplants that actually can’t take direct sun - outside would be a great way to brighten up a shady spot? Either way, thanks again for stopping by! Oh, by the way - was thinking about your post on hating moving around the mulch while I was busy doing the same thing just last night! We just discovered we could get it for free from the town hall - wonder how many other communities do that?
Maui Tropicals
Oh, you’ve made me so jealous. It’s cold and damp here and I’d give anything to be floating around Maui. Crotons and bromeliads would not be happy here. I think it’s amazing that tropical gardens have such vibrant color, even without flowers. I guess you need vibrancy to stand out in all that sunlight.
One of the things I love best about growing cannas is that I can pack them away for the winter and pull them back out next summer. I find that a great feature in a plant. They’re my little touch of the tropics.
Keep the posts coming, I am
Keep the posts coming, I am very interested in seeing your new stuff from your trip to Maui.
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