This blog features shrubs which I think are a useful addition to anyone’s garden and will help give it an exotic look.
All are easy to grow and shouldn’t pose any problems.
An acid to neutral soil suits most of them best and they can also be grown in pots, tubs and raised beds.
To get the ball rolling, I’ll start with one which is guaranteed to give your garden an instant exotic look.
Introduced into the U.K. in 1838, F.Japonica seems to have been one of those “instant successes” rapidly gaining favour as a house/conservatory plant.
Eventually, it found its way out into the open garden where it’s usually grown today.
The bright green palmate shaped leaves have a distinct waxy appearance and they're reputed to be the largest of any hardy shrub.
Even as a small plant, F.Japonica has a tropical look and with its spreading habit, this just gets better and better as the plant grows to maturity.
Fortunately, F.Japonica isn't one of those "prima donna" type plants, being suitable for growing in sun or shade.
It isn't fussy about soil type either as long as it's well drained and preferably enriched with some well rotted manure.
A good mulch is definitely benificial and a feed or two with a good general purpose fertilizer will help keep your plant in tip top condition.
Normally it isn't troubled by pests or diseases, but for some reason, some people seem to dislike the way it sheds its lower leaves.
This is probably because it leaves bare stems, but it's easy enough to plant something else in front of it to hide them.
I think that F.Japonica is a very underated plant and for the instant tropical look it can't be beaten, so if you haven't got one, dash out and buy one. Now!
Although I only grow a couple of Camellias, if I had the room I'd certainly grow more of them, they really are magnificent shrubs.
There are some 200+ species native to East and South East Asia from the Himalaya to Japan.
Camellias have always been popular with hybridisers both amateur and professional and today there are literally thousands of named and unnamed cultivars.
If you just want a plant or two, the most easily available are cultivars of C.Japonica and C.Williamsii which itself is a hybrid between C.Japonica and C.Saluenensis.
There's no doubt that over the years Camellias have had a bad press.
This is due to their habit of dropping buds and the damage that can be caused by strong spring sunshine falling on open flowers that have been frosted.
Initially, I grew my plants in pots in shade at the back of the house, but results here were poor with few flowers.
So four years ago I moved them and they now live in a south facing raised bed with protection from early morning sun provided by a Laurel hedge.
They get full sun for roughly 3 or 4 hours in the afternoon and they now flower like mad.
Because these beds dry out quickly I have to keep them well watered, but this is a small price to pay for the pleasure they bring.
Regular feeding with a fertilizer suitable for acid loving plants keeps them happy and although I still haven't quite cracked the bud dropping problem (I still lose three or four but you can't have everything) I'm persevering.
There are seven species of Pieris native to mountainous areas of eastern and southern Asia, eastern N.America and Cuba.
They are excellent shrubs for bringing some much needed colour to the late spring and early summer border.
The small urn shaped flowers, which depending on the species can be white or pink are nice enough, but it’s the colour of the new leaf growth that really gets these shrubs noticed.
Again depending on the variety, the new leaves can be red, bronze or pink.
In the case of what is probably the most popular variety P.”Forest Flame” (P.formosa ”Wakeham” x P.japonica) the new growth is red turning to pink then creamy white before finally turning green.
I grow two varieties, P.j.”Mountain Fire” and P.j.”Little Heath” and apart from a bit of shoot dieback when I first planted them out, they have proved to be pretty much problem free plants.
A position in light shade suits them best, but they will stand some sun provided they’re not allowed to dry out.
A moist free draining acid to neutral soil is fine and like most shrubs, they benefit from a mulch in the spring.
Aristolochia are a genus of plants containing evergreen and deciduous vines and herbaceous perennialsThey're found in most parts of the world from temperate to tropical and as usual, the more flamboyant of them come from the warmer regions.
Here in the U.K. they're probably best known as plants growing in the tropical house of your nearest botanical garden where the unusual shape of the flower gives us all something to ooh and aah about and gives rise to the nicknames of "Dutchman's Pipe" and "Birthwort".
The reason for the first name is pretty obvious when you look at the flower, but the second name is because it's supposed to resemble a birth canal.
Certain Aristolochia species have a long history of use by Man for medicinal purposes.
Unfortunately, it seems that some of the concoctions can have nasty side effects one of which is death.
I grow Aristolochia Macrophylla which is a hardy deciduous vine from eastern N.America where it's a popular plant for growing up walls, fences and old tree stumps etc.
A glance at the photo, shows that the flowers are pretty insignificant looking things, but this is more than compensated for by the leaves.
On a well grown plant, these heart shaped lustrous beauties can be up to 12 inches long and almost as wide.
As they grow they overlap each other forming a dense screen that's almost impossible to see through. (A great place for hiding the family heirlooms, at least for the summer.)
In nature, A.macrophylla is found in damp woodlands and alongside streams and this gives us a clue as to how it should be grown.
A well prepared soil enriched with plenty of well rotted organic matter is ideal and if combined with plenty of water and fertilizer during the growing period, the result will be a superb plant.