My Climate Change Garden » Plants

Mild weather and winter cuttings

Debbie — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 19:08:27 +0000

It continues to be really mild in the South of England and many gardeners have not yet bedded down tender tropical and exotic plants for the winter . Temperatures of 15c are forecast for this weekend which is amazing for November. Apparently it is warmer than it was in May this year. Another sign of our confused weather patterns?

http://theweatheroutlook.com/

Now is a good time to take cuttings to produce even more beautiful tropical and exotic plants for your garden next summer. Will Giles has uploaded a short video on his new Exotic Gardening video channel which shows how simple and easy this is to do. Your garden might even end up looking as wonderful as this fantastic display from his garden this August. Notice how Will packs in loads of plants and creates depth and texture with different shaped leaves and splashes of bold tropical colours . http://vimeo.com/31725718

Another interesting site for hardy tropical and exotic gardening in the UK is Hardy Tropicals, managed by the delightful Dave Brown from Kent. This useful site and forum promotes the use of Exotic Gardening in the UK and other cool temperate climates. Great place to connect with exotic and tropical gardening experts if you feel confused by the choice and care required to get the most out of these fascinating plants. Be warned – they are addictive and are often expensive which is another reason to take cuttings or even grow plants from seed. In 1992 Dave managed to grow a Washington Robusta from seed. He shares its journey into a fine specimen and how it survived even the harshest of UK winters on the home page at http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk/

Clocks back ready for brrrr winter

Debbie — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 05:30:21 +0000

We might get an extra hour in bed tonight but it will be getting darker earlier tomorrow and possibly much, much colder.

Weather forecasters are warning that the UK may suffer from the coldest Winter in decades. Here are some suggestions from the RHS on how to prepare your garden for the next few dark and frosty months.:

http://press.rhs.org.uk/Press-releases/Beat-the-Cold.aspx?utm_campaign=Nov%20Monthly%20Non-members%20&utm_source=emailCampaign&utm_medium=email

Exotic garden video warms longer nights

Debbie — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:28:39 +0000

If you are dreading the shorter days and longer nights that always seem to begin with the changing of UK clocks this evening, try watching this inspirational video.

The stunning visuals combined with dreamy music will help you drift off to a far away tropical island. – even though it was shot in Norwich during October at Will Giles Exotic Garden by a very talented photographer called Chris Ridley. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fplayer.vimeo.com%2Fvideo%2F31240964%3Ftitle%3D0%26amp%253Bbyline%3D0%26amp%253Bportrait%3D0&h=CAQHn-HzY“

Confused plants and seasons

Debbie — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:49:19 +0000

Took this photo in Russell Square in central London today which clearly shows the confused seasons.

The summer geraniums are still flowering beautifully whilst the leaves are turning a lovely Autumn colour .

If you want to catch some gorgeous late flowering Exotic plants visit Will Giles garden in Norwich this Sunday 23rd October for his final 2011 open day http://www.exoticgarden.com/public-opening-times.php

Time to start thinking about how to protect tender plants from the cold and wet that I presume will eventually arrive in the South over the next few weeks .These sunny October days have been a delight for plants and lets hope we dont get the harsh winter that is predicted again. http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/basics/techniques/growflowers_protectingplants1.shtml

UK September gardens

Debbie — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 11:07:54 +0000

Autumn has officially arrived in the UK and many gardens are starting to loose their colour and form. One garden that always looks spectacular at this time of year is Will Giles Exotic Garden in Norwich which is open to the public every Sunday from 1-5pm untill 23rd October. This video shot a week ago reveals just some of the delights that you will experience if you visit over the next few weeks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpIaLiVEhOQ

http://www.exoticgarden.com/public-opening-times.php

Less Growing Days highlight hardiness issues

Debbie — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 06:17:36 +0000

Has anyone noticed the decidedly Autumnal feel in the morning and evening now that the days are getting shorter? This is a sure sign that growing days for many plants are starting to reduce.

Sad to think that very soon I will be starting to protect some of my exotic and tropical plants in the garden so they can survive the English winter. Hoping that we will not have a repeat of the last two winters when many previously categorised “hardy”plants were destroyed by continual low temperatures which reached as low as – 12c in some parts of the UK.

Growing tropical, exotic and mediterranean plants is a rewarding experience but making sure they survive our wet and sometimes cold winters is one of the biggest challenges for UK gardeners.This is complicated by the fact that many parts of the UK experience completely different weather patterns during the winter.

Cornwall, located in the SW of England, is one area that seems to provide conditions that enable these plants not just to survive our winters but actually do extrmely well. Perhaps this is why Phil from Trebrown Nurseries in Liskeard is such an expert on the subject. There is an excellent plant hardiness map on their site although it only goes to 2000 and does not yet include the record low temperatures of the harsh 2009/2010 winters. http://www.trebrown.com/hrdzone.html

Here is Phil sharing his thoughts on hardiness and growing days :

The map is very much an underestimate due to the data being an average record of 40 years.

If we’d only focussed on, let’s say all the years post 1979 then the map would be very different, as the climate is much warmer today.

We plan to revise it in 2010/2012 for records up to 2010. It will be interesting tosee if the records from the last decade show significant changes to the map.

Of-course the map doesn’t really tell us much regarding what can be grown here. No zone map can be accurate due to the fact that it doesn’t take into account the number of growing degree days for a particular latitude. This would be different for different species. UK summers are short in comparison with other similar world-wide zones. Although our summer day length is long, they seldom reach high enough temperatures to count as Growing Degree Days (GDD) for truly tropical plants. A GDD for a particular species is a day that can be counted as a day that that plant grew. Quite often a zone 9 or zone 10 plant will put on no growth whatsoever during the whole year here in Cornwall.

We have a very strange climate here in the UK. There is very little change between our
cool summers and our mild winters. Very little temperature swing compared to almost everywhere else in the world outside the tropics. For this reason plants can manage to pull through our winters but then sit waiting for the summer heat which almost never comes. Therefore we should be looking for plants that can put on growth at low temperatures, high elevation tropical plants make reasonably good candidates. It’s not
possible to make a map to reflect this information, because every plant has it’s own ideal temperature Growing Degree Day.

At some stage we will include the minimum GDD temperature for each species contained in the species’ growing information on our site. We have quite a lot of information on file here, and all this information will eventually be placed on the Trebrown.com website.

Currently there is an interesting article about Growing Degree Days (GDD) on our server here:http://www.trebrown.com/documents/climate/climateadaptedness.php

Exotic autumn garden

Debbie — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:23 +0000

Exotic gardens look at their best at this time of year jut when traditional english herbaceous borders start to look sad and messy.To buy exotic plants explore these nurseries:

http://www.athelasplants.co.uk/

http://www.urbanjungle.uk.com/

http://www.hardyexotics.co.uk/

Or visit Will Giles website to indulge in more exotic delights:http://www.exoticgarden.com/

Canna warm London September days

Debbie — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:14:33 +0000

Great to see these beautiful cannas radiating a fabulous glow in Russell Square on this warm 1st September day in London.

Cannas grown in the UK are are normally at their best at this time of year and can provide a truly exotic look in one season as they grow very fast if fed and watered well.They do need consistent full sun to fully develop but also need damp soil that does not completely dry out. They are wonderful container plants but always keep the moisture content high.

These showy plants vary in size and stature from the very small Canna Lucifer which grows to no more than 45cm high, to giants like Canna Musiflora, which, in an average season will easily reach 3m or more.In total here are around 300 different types of canna now available . A popular choice is Canna Wyoming with orange flowers - far right below.

Most cannas are green leaved but a good many have variagated leaves in delicious shades of pewter-purple-maroon. A few are particularly spectacular with vivid variagation such as Pretoria and Durban.

Although they are manly treated as perrenials in the UK, some growers in sheltered locations do leave them in the ground, mulching with the dead foliage or straw. Only do this if you have light soil or a winter microclimate. Clay or waterlogged soil is just not suitable for leaving canna in the ground.

If you dig them into the ground make sure that you give them lots of rich compost in a sheltered spot where they can catch a good deal of sun during the day and enjoy the evening light as the sun goes down – they look wonderful with dappled light on them. For more information about choosing varities, take a look at Will Giles’ wonderfullly illustrated book called The Enclyclopaedia of Exotic Plants for Temperate climates http://www.exoticgarden.com/books.html .

To buy plants visit THE nursery specialists at http://www.hartcanna.com/ or many of the specialist nuseries listed on this blog can also provide an excellent range of canna plants http://www.myglobalgarden.com/blog/nursery-reviews

Bank Holiday garden visit

Debbie — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:00:19 +0000

If the heavy rain is getting you down and you yearn for some colour and heat in the garden this weekend, take a trip to Norwich in East Anglia to sample the delights of a subtropical garden in a temperate climate.

Will Giles opens his wonderful Exotic Garden every Sunday from late June until 23rd October between 1-5pm and I can assure you it is an experience you do not want to miss. I was there a few weeks back and the heavy rain has brought a spectacular lushness to the garden.Even though Will lost many of his larger exotic specimens such as phormiums and a few bananna plants to the heavy frosts and snow of winter 2010 ,the garden has taken on an exciting new look this year as Will has cleverly mixed impressive tropical specimens with huge blousy dahlias and a host of other delights.

VISIT THE EXOTIC GARDEN IN NORWICH THIS BANK HOLIDAY SUNDAY

Here is the description from Will’s web-site to inspire you to make the journey to this unique subtropical garden.

“ Will has experimented with plants from the extremely hardy to the ludicrously tender, endeavouring to find a balance of plants that grow well in his one acre microclimate and fit into his ideal of a lush sub-tropical setting.

He has developed a wondrous paradise for himself and the many visitors that flock to the garden during the summer months. Unlike many other gardens, this haven of fantasy has been crafted by Will and voluntary helpers, on the smallest of budgets, using reclaimed materials where possible and a lot of hard work. This is a hands on creation, giving the Exotic Garden a very personal identity – that of a true artist at work.”

To discover this tropical oasis visit http://www.exoticgarden.com/public-opening-times.php

Elephants Ears

Debbie — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 23:15:29 +0000

Keeping with the exotic theme here is one of my favourite plants that copes well with heavy rain and muggy atmospeheres interspersed with sunny moments.If you prefer the Latin name they are known as Colocasia Esculenta

This is an absolutely fabulous exotic with enormous leaves up to 30cm across by 90cm long. The leaves are held on thick stalks a meter or more above the ground. More unusual varieties can be purchased from specialist grows such as ‘Black Magic’ which, as its name implies, has deliciously purplish-black leaves.

It is borderline hardy taking several degrees of frost if well mulched otherwise do dig the plants up and store over winter like potatoes. I kept mine in a pot located in a light, very warm room last winter and managed to have new leaves appearing all through the dark days of December and January.

It can grow to around 1-1.5m and loves full sun to dappled shade in any well-drained garden soil with lots of extra organic matter. The soil needs to be kep moist at all times so do mulch heavily to retain moisture.

These stunning plants provide a really full-on jungle effect and take extremely well to container growing as you can see. Find out more at

http://www.gardeningchannel.com/growing-elephant-ear-plants/