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By Kenn Outzen
There have been several people asking about our "tropical" feeling garden. So I thought I would tell you about the concepts and about some of the plants to achieve the look.
Like all aspects of gardening, it starts with soil prep. And what is the soil in the tropics like? It is very high in organic material. Therefore, it is very moisture retentive and well drained at the same time. I know that sounds rather contradictory but until the floor litter of boughs and twigs break down completely into the soil, they are well drained and moisture retentive.
By using this theory, we feel we can plant some things that are marginal. Because the soil is so well drained, the root system is not encased in a tight ice mass. Unless, of course, we have a very wet late fall. We have had many zone 6 and 7 plants winter over. When we have lost them is during times in the spring when the topsoil has thawed but the lower subsoil is still frozen. With the subsoil frozen and early rains or fast snow thaw, the water has no way to move out of the topsoil and it turns into that killing ice mass.
Well, now that you have gotten your soil conditions taken care of and Mother Nature under control, you are ready for plants. Dean has made a list of tropical-looking plants that is included at the end of this article.
Tropicals do require a lot of water so we water almost daily and feed once a week with a hose end sprayer and a general purpose fertilizer. The plants that require a special fertilizer get a slow release fertilizer to fill their needs at planting and one other time later in the growing season.
What does it take to create the look and feel of a tropical garden? It takes texture and color. Texture is in leaf size, shape, and color. A texture in a form such as large, dark, shiny, green leaf planted with smaller, yellow, leaves gives the garden interesting color contrast and texture. An example would be the broad, solid leaves of a canna planted with bamboo or some of the small leafed spirea. Hosta is a great plant to use in mass as a tropical looking plant with the finer leaves of a Japanese maple.
Another way to achieve the look is over planting. The tropics are not a neat place. There are large masses of everything just as nature planted it. Make your mass plantings overlap and blend into each other. This is where using masses of hosta interplanted with other plants of contrasting leaf size, shape and color can give you the look and feel of the tropics.
Foliage color is also a big part of the tropical look. Mixing the subtle shades of green alone can give depth to your planting. Then, if you mix shades of yellow or white to that same planting, it will bring a brightness or glow and liven things up. Splashes of color can be added with red or orange leafed plants. Mass together the yellow and white varieties of Iris with their vertical shape with Purple Palace Coral Bells with their horizontal shape. The contrast of color and shape will be an outstanding focal point at the corner of a path or along side a pond.
I've not mentioned much about blooms. It has been my experience that the eye stays at or stays focused on light colors. Plant them in the background so that the eye can better pick up on the other bloom colors in the garden.
So what are some of the things that it takes to have a tropical garden? Good soil preparation, a good watering and fertilizing schedule. To achieve the look and feel of the tropics, have mass plantings of many different sizes and shapes of plants, adding color through the use of variegated foliage, all with a dappling of bold colored blooms.
This is a rather short overview of gardening for the tropical look and feel in the Midwest. More articles on this subject to follow.
By Dean Koob
Streilesis aconitifolia, shredded umbrella plant, 15" tall, light shade to shade
Petasites japonicus 'Gigantus', green leaves, and Petasites japonicus 'Variegated', green and yellow leaves, both 3 ft. tall, leaves up to 4 ft across, blooms in spring before it leafs out, does best in shade
Damera peltata, 3-4 ft tall, maybe taller, 2-4 ft leaves
Astilboides tabularis, partial shade, 3 ft. tall, 2 ft. leaves, astible-like plumes in July
Aralia elata 'Aureovariegata' and 'Variegata', shrubs
Bamboos - height probably lower here, cold hardy to temperature listed.
Spreading:
Phyllostachys nigra, black bamboo, 25', 0°
P. nigra Henon, 40', -10°
P. nuda, 20-35', -20°
P. aureosulcata, 20-25', -20°
P. aurea, golden bamboo, 15-20', 0°
Clumping:
Fargesia nitida, 12', -20°
F. muriale, bamboo that pandas, eat, 12', -20°
F. dracocephala, 15', -10°
Chusquea cuelo, 15-20', 0°
Rogersia, several varieties, 3 ft and up
Ligularias, several varities with big serrated leaves, tall spires of small yellow flowers, some have orange daisy-like flowers
Angelica 'Gigi', up to 6' tall, maroon sedum-like blooms in summer