Trachycarpus Fortunei
Vining and climbing Plants
Planting vines and climbers is a fun way to add beauty to your garden and a way to add more green and flowers without losing gardenspace. Since Im planning my new garden I made a list of viners and climbers that will fit in a tropical garden in plantzone 8. It covers everything from climbing flowers for sun or shade, vining perennials and annuals.
Vining plants are a beautiful way to add color and texture, create a living privacy screen, and round out your garden’s design with a vertical element.Â
Here are my climbing and vining favorites for the garden:
Akebia Quinata
Akebia quinata is an unusual climber, with little stunning flowers which have a spicy chocolate/vanilla kinda smell to them, therefor it is also known as the chocolate vine. Because of the shape and abundance of little flowers it is a very pretty vine to grow on a wall or trellis. Because of the cup shaped hanging flowers that grow in bunches like grapes I think the best view is from below.
Plant your Akebia in a warm spot in the garden, since the flowers are prone to damage from late frosts. They stand out against a background of light purple, three-lobed leaves, most colourful in full sun. In mild conditions the leaves last all winter but in cold areas they will shed. After a particularly warm summer, large sausage-shaped fruit dangle enticingly from the stems. In dutch it is called the Schijn Augurk which translates to ‘ Fake Pickle’
Grow Akebia quinata in moist but well-drained soil in full sun or partial shade, ideally with some shelter provided.
The Akebia grows really fast (easy to prune) and flowers in april/may.
Lonicera x Heckrottii
Plants that will help drain your garden
If you have a wet spot in your yard, you may want to add plants to absorb some of the excess water. Most plants do not do well in these conditions and wet spots can lead to rot and other diseases.
It may seem like soggy or wet areas in your garden are off-limits when it comes to planting. It’s true that many plants just can’t thrive in excessively wet soil… but there are some plants that are built for these conditions that will not only look great but can also help you out by absorbing excess water. There are many options available for moisture-loving trees, shrubs, or flowers that do a great job of soaking up water. Knowing which plants absorb excess water in a yard can help you design a water-tolerant landscape that complements your home and resolves drainage issues.
Rather than allowing a soggy area in your garden to harbor nothing more than mud and mosquitoes, establish watertolerant plants. Perennial flowers, ground covers, shrubs and even trees soak up excess water with their extensive root systems. Depending on how much of an area you need to cover, you may opt for a large tree, shrubs or simply one or two flowers or ground covers.
Many different plants can tolerate excessive moisture in the ground and they can be planted at the edge or even in the ponds or in very wet areas. A lot of plants like ferns and grasses will help to drain lower points in the garden by quickly absorbing the water. In this blog I focus on the plants (shrubs and flowers) that like moist and soggy conditions and that will fit into a garden with a tropical look in zone 8.
Ground Covers
Low-growing plants that tolerate wet areas are obvious candidates for soaking up excess water. Check out this blog for more tropical ground covers. I realy like the Soleirolia Soleirolii and Irish Moss.
Ferns
Most ferns have dense root systems and water-absorbing foliage and they are able to absorb a lot of water. If you choose taller types of ferns, they will absorb more water. The Ostrich fern, for example, can grow to a height of 2 meters, making it a great plant to soak up lots of water.
More Moss
Every garden needs some moss in my opinion. I love the overgrown, natural aged and green look it gives to a garden.
You can grow moss on gardenwalls, on pots, in between stepping stones or even on garden furniture
Winterhard Begonia’s
Most Begonia species are very tender and will not survive freezing temperatures even with protection, but some do have a robust underground root system that allows them to make it through the winter in climates where temperatures fall well below freezing.
Here are some winterhard Begonia’s that can survive in the Netherlands (zone 8). They will die back above ground during winters but they will grow back in spring. Help them through hard winters by mulching the soil.
Rhizomatous begonias grow and spread via horizontal stems called rhizomes, and some rhizomatous species are nearly as cold tolerant as hardy begonia. The Mount Emei Begonia (Begonia Emeiensis) and Taiwan Begonia (Begonia Chitoensis) are winter hardy in zones 7 to 10.
Most tuberous begonia species are hardy in zones 9 to 11 and will die during frost. The species commonly called hardy begonia (Begonia grandis), however, is able to survive winters in zones 6 to 10. Fall frosts and freezes will cause the above-ground portion of the plant to die back, but the plant will regrow in the spring from underground tubers that go dormant through the winter.
Hobbit Houses
Im planning hobbit house as a gardenshed, some examples I saved:
Trees for a Tropical Garden
A selection of tropical trees (or tropical looking trees) for in the garden in a colder climate (plantzones 6-8). Beware some of these trees can grow big so if you have a smaller garden you can pot them up so the wont take over the garden. Also be aware that some treeroots can have extensive and/or destructive roots, so you should not plant them near your house or near a pond for example.
My personal preference goes out to the following characteristics: colorful, large leaves, crinkly trunks, bonsai shapes and weeping trees.
Parttime Ninja 