Guest Blog: Emma Allen – Creating A Tropical Paradise At RHS Garden Wisley
Tropical gardens are adored by many for their dramatic mixture of lush, bold foliage, and showy, vibrant colours. In 2017, Haddonstone was commissioned to supply the stone features for the beautiful new Exotic Garden at RHS Garden Wisley. Here, Emma Allen, the garden’s manager, shares some of her favourite plants for creating an exotic paradise in your own garden.
Emma Allen, Garden Manager (Formal & Decorative Display), RHS Garden Wisley
Emma is responsible for several of the gardens at RHS Garden Wisley including the Glasshouse, Rock Garden and the alpine collections.
She also manages some of the formal ornamental areas such as the Bowes Lyon Rose Garden, Mixed Borders, Wisteria Walk and of course, the incredible Exotic Garden, which features Haddonstone’s RHS Wisley Exotic Garden Fountain as the centre piece.
Emma shares planting advice and garden information on Twitter @EmAllGP
Exotic Gardening with Hardy Plants
One of my first projects at Wisley was to create an exotic garden, this was literally a dream come true as I had always wanted to create a tropical paradise, but one that worked in the UK climate.
Wisley’s Exotic Garden has a mix of hardy, half hardy and tender plants, and visitors always stop and ask which plants here are hardy.
Naturally the tenders such as Colocasia and Begonia are stored in glasshouses over winter or propagated from cuttings for the following year’s display, and we wrap our bananas and a couple of palms over winter or give the dahlia a thick mulch.
But that sounds like hard work, so if you want the exotic look with less bother, then try these groups of plants.
Below – images of the Exotic Garden at RHS Garden Wisley, featuring several Haddonstone designs including:
Left: RHS Wisley Exotic Garden Fountain and Pool Surround (image: RHS/Joanna Kossak)
Centre: Double Curved 54 inch Bench Seat (image: RHS/Joanna Kossak)
Right: RHS Wisley Exotic Garden Fountain and Pool Surround (image: RHS/Joanna Kossak)
Hardy palms
Where would we be without the Chusan palm Trachycarpus, a signature plant in this garden and we have a few forms. Trachycarpus fortunei is hardy to -15oC and appears in a variety of sizes, some with their coir removed giving a striped effect to the trunk. Trachycarpus wagnerianus is just as hardy but has smaller stiffer leaves so is more wind resistant. T. ‘Nova’ is probably the fastest growing Trachycarpus out there and lovely arching fronds.
The other super hardy palm is Chamaerops humilis which is native to western and central Europe. We have a fantastic cultivar called Chamaerops ‘Vulcano’ with a lovely stout trunk. Other palms to consider, especially if you are in the south are Jubaea chilensis, Butia capitata, Washingtonia robusta and Rhapidophyllum hystrix – we don’t protect any of these over winter in Surrey.
Also, worth noting that the thicker the trunk becomes the more reliably hardy these palms are.
Conifers
At Wisley we couldn’t have an Exotic Garden without conifers as these are the passion of the Curator, Matthew Pottage and we have some stunners. As well as his favourite, the monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), we have used the incredible Pinus montezumae ‘Sheffield Park’, a quirky characterful pine with beautiful long blue needles.
Although ultimately a large tree it can be pruned to keep it to a suitable size. See also the Mexican pine (Pinus patula) and Cryptomeria araucarioides.
The great thing about using conifers as well as palms is that they provide an evergreen backbone to the garden so there is exotic structure in winter too.
Below left to right:
Lagerstoemia Violet d’Ete
Fatsia japonica
Albizia
Other trees and shrubs
Continuing the evergreen theme, plants such as Eriobotrya japonica and Fatsia japonica are a must have. These hardy plants don’t get too tall and they come in a variety of forms with fantastic leathery/shiny leaves. A particular favourite is Fatsia polycarpa whose leaves are more dissected than F. japonica.
Albizia and Lagerstroemia – Wisley holds the National Collections of both of these wonderful late summer flowering deciduous trees. They love a long hot summer – Lagerstroemia in particular needs this to flower prolifically. Both are quite small and respond well to pruning – the Albizia is short and broad. Lagerstroemia has fantastic autumn colour too, as well as dwarf forms.
Ferns
So many to choose from, any fern will give a touch of the exotic. However, some favourites are Woodwardia – try any of W. fimbriata, W. radicans or W. unigemmata with its fantastic red juvenile foliage and the unusual Lophosoria quadripinnata – a member of the tree fern family that doesn’t form a trunk and is completely hardy.
However, others that are easier to come by are Blechnum chilense, Dryopteris wallichiana or just a straightforward harts tongue.
Herbaceous perennials and bulbs
Where would an exotic garden be without flower power! There are a wide variety of herbaceous plants that will give you this such as unusual forms of Echinacea or daylily – try Echinacea ‘Hot Papaya’ with its unusual pom-pom shaped flower heads or Hemerocallis ‘Valley Monster’ a large spider form. For a shady corner try Tricyrtis formosana, with small spotted purple lily-like flowers in late summer.
Pineapple lilies come in a wide variety of forms too, such as the dark leaved Eucomis ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ or the huge Eucomis ‘Goliath’.
Try growing a hardy ginger (Cautleya spicata) or exotic looking bulbs such as Tigrida (an unusual bulb in the iris family) or tree lilies, which as the name suggests are huge lilies.
My new favourite plant this year
Last but not least, my new favourite plant this year is the herbaceous hibiscus (Hibiscus moschuetos) with flowers the size of dinner plates – and it’s completely hardy. It will die down each year and re-emerge in spring, flowering in late summer until the first frost – simply a must-have!
There is a range of cultivars out there now – try ‘Cherry Cheesecake’, ‘Extreme Hot Pink’ or ‘Midnight Magic’.
The main thing is to have fun and plant what you like to create your own jungle.
RHS Wisley Exotic Garden Fountain
This striking design was commissioned by the Royal Horticultural Society for their acclaimed Exotic Garden at Wisley.
It features stylised passion flower designs on the pedestals and a custom-made pineapple finial.
The RHS Wisley Exotic Garden Fountain was so popular that it was included into Haddonstone’s range of centrepiece fountains the following year.
This image is taken at RHS Garden Wisley and showcases both the fountain and Haddonstone’s Medium Pool Surround, kerbs only.
Double Curved 54 inch Bench Seat
Six Haddonstone Double Curved 54 inch Bench Seats with special inscriptions were all commissioned for the Exotic Garden.
This sizeable double curved stone garden bench seat, featuring five intricately designed Scrolled Seat Supports made a beautiful addition to the tropical garden setting.
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