Cottage Garden

WHICH EXOTIC PLANTS IS IT POSSIBLE TO GROW IN BRITAIN'S TEMPERAMENTAL CLIMATE?

Most truly exotic plants aren't hardy and do need protection in our climate. But there are some plants which look exotic but are perfectly hardy. These exotic plants include Black Bamboo (Phyllcstachys nigra), the huge-leaved Petasites japonicas, and the ornamental Rhubarbs -
Rheum palmatum.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO GROW EXOTIC PLANTS WITHOUT A GREENHOUSE?

It's always a bit chancy to risk more tender exotic plants outside all year - it's not so much the cold, as the wet and cold that gets to them in a UK winter. We keep most of outs in an unhealed polytunnel, mostly to protect exotic plants  from excess wet. The woody exotic plants such as Paulownta, Butia capttata and Dicksonia antarctica can be protected outside using straw piled
up around the bases and wrapping in fleece or hessian. The banana, Musa basjoo, is actually a herbaceous exotic plants perennial, so even if you lose the main stem to frost, it usually re-shoots from the base to give you new plants next year if it has been well protected. With most of the softer plants such as Cannas and Colocasias it does pay to dig them up and put them outof the reach of frosts for the winter. A garage will do!

WHEN SHOULD YOU GO ABOUT PLANTING EXOTIC PLANTS?

Planting out exotic plants depends on your region's last frost date. I planted our exotic garden in
late May here in Cheshire. This may seem late, but there is still plenty of time for exotic plants to grow and produce their peak performance from July on wards. If exotic plants go out too early a cold spell will check their growth and leave them susceptible to attack from predators and pathogens.