Dig into the joy of a life outdoors
Find peace and purpose by reconnecting with nature, creativity and the joy of making things in your own patch of paradise.
Discover extraordinary, unusual, and beautiful plants from around the world — each with growing and care tips to help you cultivate these weird and wonderful species in your own space.
Begonia fusca
Dusky-leaved begonia
A large-leaved rhizomatous begonia grown for its bold, deeply veined foliage rather than its flowers.
- Partial shade
- 0.5–1 m (2–3 ft)
- H1b · Zone 10
Abutilon × milleri ‘Variegatum’
Variegated trailing abutilon
An arching evergreen shrub with cream-marbled maple-like leaves and pendent orange bells.
- Full sun, Partial shade
- 1–1.8 m (3–6 ft)
- H3 · Zone 9
Gunnera × cryptica
Giant rhubarb
A colossal, umbrella-leaved perennial widely sold in the past as 'Gunnera manicata', now restricted in the…
- Full sun, Partial shade
- 1.5–2.5 m (5–8 ft)
- H5 · Zone 7
Hosta ‘Empress Wu’
Giant plantain lily
An immense hosta with heavily veined blue-green leaves and tall spikes of pale violet flowers.
- Partial shade
- 1–1.5 m (3–5 ft)
- H7 · Zone 3
Aloe polyphylla
Spiral aloe
A remarkable aloe whose fleshy toothed leaves form a precise clockwise or anticlockwise spiral.
- Full sun
- 20–50 cm (8–20 in)
- H3 · Zone 8
Begonia ‘Benitochiba’
Benitochiba rex begonia
A striking rex begonia with deeply divided silver leaves, dark green veins and vivid pink young…
- Partial shade
- 20–45 cm (8–18 in)
- H1b · Zone 10
