“It’s cottage style, with a twist” Exotic blooms, palms and bananas transform this pretty Devon cottage garden in late summer
In late summer this pretty cottage garden in Barnstaple is transformed by exotic blooms, palms and banana plants. Owners Dawn and Steve Morgan show us around
Surprises lie around every corner of this enticing Devon garden. “We like surprising visitors with our planting,” says owner Steve Morgan. “In June, it looks like a traditional country cottage garden full of colourful perennials, but come late summer it goes through a tropical transformation, and is brimming with large-leaved exotics such as cannas, banana plants and colocasia.” Late-summer treats include the satiny blooms of arum lilies, dangling trumpets of brugmansia and exquisite passion flowers. “A few years back we visited the National Plant Collection of passion flowers and became hooked,” explains Steve. “They look spectacular, with purple or cream petals and a fringe of neon-bright filaments. Some passion flowers are hardy, and in our mild Devon climate we get away with growing them outdoors in terracotta containers all year. The more tender
species have to be kept above 8C or 9C (46-48F) in winter. We’ve focused on growing the ones we like, keeping any tender cultivars in our greenhouse. We have about 50 of them now – collecting them is very, very addictive.” Dawn and Steve also keep an exciting collection of ginger lilies (hedychium). “They’re the real stars of the show,” says Steve. “They have large spikes of tangerine or cream flowers. They’re not strictly tender, but some flower very late – November and December – and risk getting caught by frost.” Vivid orange canna ‘Taney’ adds a flash of tropical summer colour too. “It has huge
“Come late summer the garden goes through a tropical transformation”
roots the size of an arm,” says Steve. “It’s very invasive so we’d recommend that people only grow them in pots. We also have canna ‘Panache’, which is lovely but also has a tendency to wander.” Large-leaved shrubs, trees and palms help convey the jungly feel. “Our huge Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Rex’ suckers all over the place,” says Steve. “There’s also Paulownia tomentosa and a hardy ornamental rhubarb, Rheum palmatum.” Other handsome specimens include a golden Catalpa bignonioides planted beside Colocasia esculenta ‘Black Magic’, and three types of Ricinus communis – ‘Blue Giant’, ‘Red Giant’ and fiery ‘Carmencita’. “The tall Spanish cane, Arundo donax is another dramatic plant for a jungly look,” says Steve. “We have both gold and silver variegated forms, which grow to about 6ft. If that’s too big, you can always grow Miscanthus sinensis ‘Cosmopolitan’, which is hardier and looks almost the same.” The couple collect musa and ensete banana plants too. “We have seed-raised Musa sikkimensis, which has broader leaves and better colour than Musa basjoo, Musa paradisiaca ‘Dwarf Orinoco’ and Musella lasiocarpa (golden lotus banana), which flowers for 18 months.” Come mid-October it’s time to prepare the more tender specimens for winter in the greenhouse. “We really don’t get too much frost here – perhaps half a dozen nights below -4C (25F),” says Steve. “First we move the potted plants inside – the lemon trees, some of the passion flowers and brugmansias, then dig up the colocasias and ensetes for storage inside. We cover the cannas and hedychiums with organic mulch to keep their crowns from freezing. “We’re big fans of these wow-factor plants, but we didn’t want to end up having no flowers at all. So, in among the exotics we’ve got perennials for colour and texture. In late summer we have drifts of yellow rudbeckias and helianthus, blue agapanthus and Stipa gigantea. They blend with the exotics surprisingly well.” The Morgans moved to their idyllic home 20 years ago, taking on a plot that had been used as a makeshift builder’s yard. “It was stacked high with slabs and blocks,” says Steve. “We had to move more than 40 tonnes of building materials before we could even start to dig. Some areas were concreted over, so instead of trying to remove the concrete we built raised beds.
“We really don’t get too much frost here – perhaps half a dozen nights below -4C”
“The land used to belong to the local potteries, which gives you some idea how heavy the clay is,” he adds. “You get to the solid yellow stuff without much digging! It gets so dry that cracks emerge in summer, so it made sense for us to get rid of the lawn and build raised beds to plant in.” The couple didn’t follow a design plan. “We knew what we wanted and just went with the flow,” says Steve. “We were inspired by Biddulph Grange in Stoke and East Ruston Old Vicarage in Norfolk – they have hidden areas to explore. It’s much more fun to go round corners and discover interesting views or unexpected plants. “Our previous garden was tiny, so every plant had to justify its place,” says Steve. “When we got here, we thought, why change all that just because we have more space? So even now, everything we grow is one of our favourites. It’s amazing how well everything has come together.”