Cardoons are real garden characters
Bold, statement plants will create drama in the tiniest of plots
AS A novice gardener — back in the days of hotpants, flowery shirts and big hair — a friend gave me a cardoon. I had no idea what it was, but soon, huge silvery leaves dominated my little garden. Later, towering stems carried giant thistle flowers that made an enchanting outline through autumn and winter. That cardoon taught a valuable lesson. Big plants make wonderful garden features, even in tiny plots.
Trees and shrubs are obvious architectural plants, but take years to mature. A cardoon will impress in a single summer and knock your socks off in two.
Other examples include big banana plants, fancy bamboos, and even 10ft sunflowers.
You’ll get the best from these if they stand out, even when part of a general planting scheme. Singletons or small groups do the trick, but plant too many and you could dilute their effect. These plants can be costly and may need winter protection, but you won’t need many and they will impress all year round. A BANANA plant or tree fern makes a brilliant feature, especially if its base is surrounded by lush foliage. Remember to protect both in winter, especially the fern’s growing tip.
Huge sunflowers are fun with their frying-pan blooms and the stately Angelica archangelica has a beautiful outline.
For permanent planting, the foxglove tree Paulownia tomentosa offers two choices. Leave unpruned and it will grow nearly 40ft high and have superb spring blossom. Cut back young saplings savagely each March, and new stems will produce gigantic leaves for summer. You can grow superb architectural plants in containers, too. Cannas are brilliant. Mix bronze- leaved General Eisenhower and stripy-leaved Durban with green varieties. Source from Hart Canna ( hartcanna.co.uk). A FRIEND once planted the tropical Alocasia macrorrhiza or Giant Taro for its huge, elephantear leaves. It looked fantastic for one summer, but overwintering was hard, as it must be kept at temperatures above 15c.
Potted palms can also be architectural. The hardiest, Chusan palm Trachycarpus fortunei, is also the ugliest with hairy hit trunkskandd stiff,tiff rattlyttlf fan leaves. I prefer the canary palm Phoenix canariensis.
Big bamboos are beautiful, but be cautious. Grown free, they’re ruinously invasive. Confined to pots, they are delightful.
Phyllostachys nigra has shiny blackish poles and green leaves — gorgeous teamed with P. aurea, which has golden stems.
For minimum maintenance, try succulents such as aloes, tall aeoniums and echeverias. Potted agaves such as yellow striped A. americana Marginata are superb, too. But for a Wild West feel, Yucca gloriosa has spiked leaves and tall flower spikes.
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