The Babies will be Big Boys one day!

Size does matter in the world of exotic gardening! One of the many books that I've read before and has given me inspiration (and ideas) in creating an exotic and tropical look is Big Leaves for Exotic Effect by Stephen Griffith, who also happens to be the curator of Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens in Devon. The main gist of the book is that you can use plants that produce big leaves to create an exotic and tropical atmosphere in the garden, even if some of these plants are totally hardy (and not so exotic) in our region.

It's a fantastic resource especially if you're just starting with the hobby and after a particular look. Or even if you are very experienced and would like to introduce some changes to parts of the garden using bold, lush, and leafy plants. There are indeed many plants listed and featured in the book and some of them have made their way into our garden, and most have been growing here merrily for the past few years.

Admittedly, I haven't flicked through the book for quite some time until recently when I found myself gravitating towards it again. Having read it several times before, obviously nothing's new to me but it did remind me to feature a few new plantings I've done recently that are potential 'Big Boys' in the garden once they have established themselves after a few years.

I'm not referring to plants that attain great height and size after years on the ground like trees, and even palms. But more like lush and leafy herbaceous perennials and shrubs that make spectacular displays of large foliage in the spring and summer, but goes dormant and/or deciduous in the autumn and winter. It's these sort of plants that add so much drama to the garden and can add so much to the tropical theme!

As what I'll be featuring are just new plantings, they are obviously still small and I'll have to borrow a few images on the net to show their potential size when established. I was slightly hesitant at first to feature new plantings, but on second thought it's also good to show some of our 'little babies'  now and keep a track of their progress in months and years to come. They may not be showstoppers yet in our garden but it's good to share what's available out there and hopefully give you ideas of new plants to acquire, especially if they're appropriate for your garden and location.

Here's just a few of our 'Babies' that, with time and care, eventually become 'Big Boys' too and reward us with huge leaves for that exotic effect!


Tetrapanax papyrifer 'Rex'

T. papyrifer 'Rex' is a form of the Rice Paper plant that produces much bigger leaves. I think this plant is a must in jungle style gardens. Ok, not exactly a new plant in our garden as we have one already growing here for the past few years and never fails to perform when it comes to throwing out huge leaves. It's also good at throwing out alot of suckers, some quite a distance from the main plant but they are easy enough to control by pinching out unwanted growth and lifting out the superficial rhizomes. Some of the suckers are even potted and passed on to other gardeners.

Not counting the suckers of this one particular plant, why not introduce another one to a different part of the garden? And so we did this year, this time with a plant coming from a different source in case there will difference in their behaviour and vigour (whether better or not). I have high expectations of this new one as our original one did start from this size.


Matteuccia struthiopteris 'The King'

A gigantic form of the Shuttlecock or Ostrich Fern. The usual form you see in gardens and sometimes naturalised in the wild can grow up to a metre in height of fronds coming out from singular crowns, but 'The King' is supposed to reach double that size, with fronds up to 2 metres in height! Now that sounds impressive and exciting!

After pondering for awhile I finally gave in and bought one a few weeks ago and planted it out the other day. Even at such a tiny size it has several rhizomes already coming out from the rootball, ready to spread and send out more shoots on surrounding areas.

This colonising fern can spread out indefinitely but again I find it easy to control with a bit of forking out plants that go where they are not supposed to. Some fern enthusiasts say that you can naturally find two forms in certain parts of the country, one being much more bigger than the other so it's possible that 'The King' is just this sort. Either way if you want one that is supposed to get much, much bigger than the usual then this is the one to go for.

Oh, and one tip that I received (but I haven't tried myself) is that, for this fern if you keep severing the rhizomes and removing the shoots the main plant sends out, it concentrates its energy and the trunk gets bigger, and bigger, and.....


Hosta 'Empress Wu'

I came across this hosta after it was recommended on a gardening forum early last year, and even caused a brief buying sensation amongst members of the forum who got excited at the prospect of its potential size. Reputed to be one of the biggest leafed hostas one can grow with leaves that can potentially reach more than 19" in length, it will be a fantastic addition to a jungle style garden. 

Not exactly a new planting here as it's been on the ground for over a year, but so far so good as it has doubled in size since then.



Photo by Brian Skaggs

There have been hostas before that were supposed to get huge (some even suggested by their names) but they never really lived up to their expectations, let alone their names. I hope this one is an exception and lives up to it's promise. Somehow, my gut feeling says this one will.


Hosta 'Jurassic Park'

Now this hosta I came across with whilst reading more about Hosta 'Empress Wu' and saw a debate aptly titled 'Empress Wu vs. Jurassic Park', whether which one is bigger than the other. It was an interesting debate and the results seem neck on neck.

The verdict is still out and I never did get to the bottom of the discussion but it was enough to convince me that I should have one! On maturity the clump can reach up 8.5' wide with leaves that can grow up to 16" by 14'' in size. What I have at the moment may be tiny but based on the photos I have something big to expect in the next few years!

Photo taken from Nothern Grown Perennials http://www.mwt.net/

So these babies will be big boys one day, and I can't wait! :)

Posted in: Hosta , Matteuccia , Tetrapanax