Re: Tropical medit gardens? Was: Autumnal musings
- To: M*@ucdavis.edu
- Subject: Re: Tropical medit gardens? Was: Autumnal musings
- From: R* F* D*
- Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1999 00:56:53 -0400 (EDT)
At 08:24 AM 10/4/1999 -0800, you wrote:
>Thanks to David Poole for a wonderful virtual trip through his garden -- a
>delight as usual!
>
>David's description brought to mind a puzzle that I have been thinking
>about in my own garden. I have a small area (20' x 25' or so) that I have
>been turning into a tropical garden. I find that many of the plants I
>have planted have the same basic leaf shape/structure, even if the plants
>are different sizes. The garden is dominated by banana, canna, hedychium,
>heliconia, and calla. Of course there are some other plants -- a mango
>(still tiny), a crotalaria (the one they call canary bush), a brugmansia, a
>michelia figo, some acanthus. But I really want some tall plants, to give
>it some atmosphere and shade. I'm tempted to plant some palms, but I don't
>want to put in the same old palms that I see everywhere (king, queen, and
>some others that are very overused in our area). Can anyone make any
>suggestions? Any of the less common figs work in this case (I know some
>are notorious for invasive roots and the garden is basically a courtyard
>surrounded on three sides by house walls)? Any other ideas?
>
>Thanks!
>
>Nan
Nan:
Say, how about a Salvia like madrensis (7' with yellow spikes),
gesneraeflora (10+' tall with 3" scarlet flowers), karwinskii, and a lot of
others? I'm guessing these sages might create a problem of clashing foliar
textures in the landscape.
Richard F. Dufresne
313 Spur Road
Greensboro, NC 27406
336-674-3105
