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The Victorians fell
for them. Now we have, too.
Tropicals. Many bring not only exotic blooms but
colorful, even flamboyant foliage to the summer
garden.
Tropicals are lush and
architectural. These plants aren’t shy, and unlike
many that wilt in our heat, tropicals are at their
best. Hybridization has stirred
new interest in more familiar types. Coleuses, for
example, display every leaf
design imaginable, and there are cultivars for sun
and shade. Cannas, too, are more
striking these days, and those with colorful,
striped foliage add vertical interest at the back of
the bed.
Gingers, which vary from inches to several feet in
height, are a must in the summer garden. The tall
shell gingers and fragrant butterfly gingers are
longtime favorites here, but more recently other
genera of root-hardy gingers are available. The
peacock types, with large, variegated leaves and
daily flat, iridescent blooms,
are excellent low-growing groundcovers in summer
shade. Add height with the
complementary Persian shield, a perennial tropical
with purple, green and silver foliage. The hidden
gingers carry the tropical look well with large,
pleated leaves and are ideal companions with
fragrant plumerias. Spiral gingers have foliage
arranged along a stiff stalk that winds as it climbs
to its mature height. Midsummer, the stalks sport a
brightly colored cone.
Most tropicals are
easy to grow. Check the moisture needs of those
grown in containers daily during the summer as the
soil dries quickly in the heat.
Frequent watering also leaches nutrients from the
soil, so adjust fertilizing schedules accordingly.
Tropicals benefit from applications of a balanced
formula, such as an 8-8-8. You will find special
formulas for long-flowering tropicals such as
hibiscus (which prefers more potassium than
phosphorus) and plumerias.
We stock a large
variety of tropical plants year round, but have the
largest selection during the warm, spring and summer
months.
Add a
root-hardy banana, blue butterfly bush (Clerodendrum
ugandense), the flashy scarlet pagoda flower (Clerodendrum
speciosissimum) the highly fragrant angel’s trumpet
(Brugmansia), an exotic rangoon creeper along a
sturdy trellis, and pots of
tropical hibiscus in a wild array of colors to flush
out the tropical garden.
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