Some like it HOT
...but don’t despair, with a little TLC you can grow these exotic beauties too
ON A recent break to the Portuguese island of Madeira, I was taken with a flowering shrub that popped up everywhere. Known as Lantana camara, it featured in public gardens, at roadsides and on mountainous slopes. The nectar-rich blooms, which start off yellow before turning orange and red as they age, were magnets to bees and butterflies.
As a discerning plantsman, I hatched a plan to grow one of these beauties in my own garden. However, a little research revealed that they wouldn’t last five minutes over winter in Britain. Lantana is likely to perish when temperatures fall beneath 10C, or 50F.
I know I’m not the only one to fall under the spell of plants seen abroad. Over the years I’ve been asked to identify numerous species raised from seeds brought home from overseas, or have given care instructions to those who bought something special from a nursery after seeing it on holiday. Unfortunately, some simply aren’t suitable for growing outdoors in Britain, while others require precise watering or special soil to survive.
But the good news is that not all plants from warmer climes are fussy – there are plenty that are happy outdoors all year round, provided they are given some attention when the weather turns. Even exotic perennials and bulbs will thrive in some parts of the country, or can be raised in pots to allow them to be moved before the first frosts.
Oleanders (Nerium oleander) are tall, spreading shrubs that are common in Spain, Greece and Italy. They are blessed with pink, white or red blooms that appear above lance-shaped leaves until mid-autumn.
When I started out in gardening, experts regarded oleanders as far too tender to be grown outdoors. In fact, my 1987 copy of the RHS Encyclopaedia Of House Plants suggests it makes a ‘large handsome pot or tub plant for the conservatory’ as it needs a minimum of 10C in winter.
THESE days oleanders are considered hardy down to at least minus 7C. It makes a striking specimen for a sunny, sheltered spot with well-drained soil that doesn’t become cold or waterlogged in winter.
If your soil isn’t up scratch, improve it by digging in plenty of grit and well-rotted manure or garden compost. Consider creating a bed or border using plants with similar requirements, and mulching the entire surface with pale-coloured gravel to complete the look.
Unless you live in a frost-free area, oleanders will need some protection from a cold snap. Reduce the height of branches by about a third, then wrap with horticultural fleece. Keep the roots snug by covering the base with a 3in or 4in blanket of bark chippings.
Another shrub that’s far more robust than originally thought is bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus), an evergreen from Australia with cylindrical spikes of red, pink and yellow flowers. I first grew this inside a heated greenhouse in the Midlands, but it will endure temperatures of minus 5C for short periods.
There are more than 100 varieties of bottlebrush, ranging in height from 20in to 13ft. They prefer neutral to acidic soil in full sun, and will thrive if given some shelter from drying winds. Young plants will also need protecting from frost during their first few winters. Honey spurge (Euphorbia mellifera), myrtle and Pittosporum tobira are some other care-free shrubs that capture the holiday spirit.
And for sheer flower power you can’t beat hibiscus. The trumpet-shaped blooms come in many colours and sizes, from white to purple – ‘Red Heart’ is a cracker, with large white flowers with a red eye.
Typical perennials found in faraway gardens include bird of paradise (strelitzia reginae), Clivia miniata and alocasia. Sadly none of them is hardy, so they will need to be grown in pots. If you want something that’s capable of putting up with our climate, try agapanthus, canna lilies and red hot pokers.
For the past decade or so I’ve grown Geranium palmatum, an evergreen geranium from the Canary Islands that forms a large clump of deeply divided leaves topped with 3ft sprays of pink flowers in summer. Although it will happily bounce back from being hit with a minus 5C frost, I always cover it with fleece as a precaution.
A plant that never fails to draw gasps abroad is bougainvillea, a climber with clusters of purple or pink petals. This spectacular vine will bloom almost all year round if grown in conditions above 10C, so it will thrive in large containers during summer but must be kept frost-free in winter.