To heliconia and back: a jungle odyssey

James Henderson admires tropical giants on a Barbados gardening retreat that offers inspiration for an exotic garden at home

It’s hard not to be impressed by the flora of the Caribbean – a botanical pandemonium with greenery that creeps, crawls and scrambles over itself, furring up fences and exploding out of hedgerows. Whole trees come out in bloom here and there is a tale behind every plant. A gardening retreat adds an intriguing spin to a Caribbean holiday. In October, I joined “Love your Garden” in Barbados, a series of workshops given by Katie Rushworth, one of the presenters of the ITV programme of the same name. The retreat was hosted at the Sugar Cane Club, one of the island’s smaller hotels inland from the west coast.

There is no better island than Barbados to look at Caribbean flora. It has the finest gardens in the region, from the simplest yard with its mango tree and a line of yellow and green crotons or a spray of purple bougainvillea, through to the manicured gardens of the villas and plantation houses. There are several public gardens to visit and an active horticultural society.

As we assembled on the first morning on a covered terrace with a view to the Caribbean, a question gnawed. It’s one thing to learn about tropical plants, but how does this help in our colder climate?

“I’ll be showing people how to create an exotic garden when they get back home,” said Rushworth. “It’s quite possible. Some plants can be brought inside during the cold weather. Others have equivalents that can be grown in their place.”

So it’s all about the inspiration of the surroundings, and applying the colour and shape of Caribbean gardens to create a tropical effect.

The first workshop covered garden design, with Rushworth chatting over a series of slides, occasionally throwing questions to the audience.

“So, what makes an exotic garden?” she asked. “Palms? Big bright blooms?” we ventured. I looked at the greenery all around. “Jungle?”

“Ooh, yes,” said Rushworth, “there’s nothing I like more than moving a huge leaf aside as I explore a garden.”

We chatted about creating a sense of mystery with big plants, about layers and leading the eye, entertaining space and quiet zones. And then we sat drawing, with Rushworth giving hints.

The schedule over the five days was leisurely, with workshops for two hours in the morning ranging across design, plant selection, container planting and exotic kitchen gardens.

The daylily, above, is part of the colourful flora of Barbados; the Sugar Cane Club, below

Garden glory at Andromeda, left; Katie Rushworth, below