Tropical gardens are fast becoming very popular amongst gardeners in the UK. No matter how large or small your garden may be, there are plenty of fantastic tropical style plants to choose from. This list includes our top 10 favourite low maintenance tropical style plants. Whether you want a tropical garden bursting with big leaves or bold blooms, this list of plants from a tropical style garden is sure to help you get started.
1. Tetrapanax papyrifer
Tetrapanax papyrifer will grow to produce some of the largest leaves of any plant in your garden. Each leaf of this jungle style plant will grow to be up to 1m wide! Growing taller each year on a woody stem, this tropical style plant will eventually cover your UK tropical garden in a canopy of jungle leaves. What’s great about this stunner is that it is surprisingly cold hardy across most of the UK! In severe winters it may get cut back to ground level, but it will quickly regrow in the warmer weather of spring. If you want an especially striking form of this must have tropical garden plant then try Tetrapanax papyrifer ‘Rex’.
2. Canna Lillies
Canna’s have long been a favourite of gardeners who love to bring a touch of the tropics to their garden. This herbaceous perennial will grow from ground level every spring, quickly producing an incredible display of large tropical leaves. Beautiful blooms are produced at the top of each leafy stem from mid to late summer and come in a wide array of colours including yellow, red, orange and pink. A favourite Canna of ours is Canna ‘Cleopatra’, a cultivar with beautiful maroon streaks through its lush green leaves. In mid-summer Canna ‘Cleopatra’ produces bi-coloured red and yellow blooms, it’s a real head turner. If your garden doesn’t get severe cold and has good drainage you can cut back the leaves and mulch the rhizomes to help the plant survive winter in the ground outdoors. However, UK tropical gardens with cooler winters will benefit from lifting Canna rhizomes in early winter to protect them from excessive wet and cold.
3. Fatsia japonica
An old favourite for good reason. Commonly called the ‘False Castor Oil’ plant, Fatsia japonica is an essential plant for starting a tropical garden in the UK. This tough evergreen shrub has incredibly exotic looking glossy green leaves. Fatsia will thrive in partial to full shade, making them a very versatile plant for any garden. Over time these stunning plants can grow to reach heights of 3m, but they can be hard pruned to help them suit tropical gardens of any size. Fatsia japonica is a super low maintenance and one of the easiest exotic looking shrubs you can grow in the UK.
4. Clumping Bamboos
Bamboos have earned a bad reputation in gardening circles, mostly because of the invasive nature of many species. We’ve all heard stories of a Bamboo plant running under a boundary fence and popping up next-door, what a nightmare! Thankfully there are plenty of well behaved Bamboo species that we can choose from to add a touch of the tropics to our UK gardens. Clumping Bamboos behave much like other herbaceous perennials in UK gardens, gradually spreading outwards to form an established clump without any unexpected surprises! One of our favourite clumping Bamboo species is Fargesia rufa, commonly called the ‘Fountain Bamboo’ because of its graceful arching canes. Clumping Bamboo plants add height to a tropical garden and provide movement and soothing sounds as the leaves rustle in a summer breeze.
5. Musa basjoo
Yes, you can grow Banana plants in the UK! Musa basjoo is a very cold hardy Banana species that thrives in a not-so-tropical UK climate. There is nothing quite like the enormous sail-like green leaves of a Banana plant to add that tropical vibe to your garden. In mild parts of the UK this fast growing Banana will not require any winter protection and will grow to reach heights of 3m. However, in colder parts of the UK tropical gardeners may opt to protect the stems with a wrapping of horticultural fleece to prevent them being damaged by cold weather. Thankfully even if your Banana plant is cut back to the ground by cold weather, the hardy rootstock will rapidly send up several new Banana plants in the warm weather of spring. Fun fact: Banana trees aren’t actually trees at all, they have no woody stems so are in fact one of the largest herbs in the world!
6. Persicaria runcinata ‘Purple Fantasy’
This stunning hardy herbaceous perennial looks like something straight out of the forest floors of some far flung tropical location. Persicaria runcinata ‘Purple Fantasy’ is such an easy plant to grow in a tropical garden, adding interesting foliage to those spots between all of your larger tropical style shrubs. This plant is extremely easy to grow, just cut it back in winter and let it regrow all spring and summer.
7. Fascicularia bicolour
Bromeliads are synonymous with tropical forests and tropical jungles, fortunately there are some we can grow easily in UK tropical style gardens. Fascicularia bicolour, commonly called the ‘Crimson Bromeliad’ is a ground dwelling species that thrives in the UK provided it has good drainage. In late summer the central leaves turn hot red and surround the bizarre cluster of small purple flowers that appear in the centre of the rosette. Over time your plant will form a healthy clump of rosettes, each turning fiery red when they bloom. Although it looks tropical, Fascicularia bicolour is very easy to care for. Cut back any dead leaves in spring and ensure this tropical style garden plant has good drainage and it will thank you with its colourful displays and evergreen leaves.
8. Begonia emeiensis
There are a whole host of cold hardy Begonias that can be grown in the UK, helping you mimic the lush jungle floors of the tropics. A favourite of ours is Begonia emeiensis, with its enormous green leaves and thick herbaceous stems. This fantastic Chinese species will produce pink flowers in late summer. Hardy Begonias make great additions to tropical style gardens as they look super tropical and thrive in shaded conditions.
9. Echiums
If you want to attract pollinating insects to your tropical style garden then you can’t beat the blooms of Echiums. Echiums are sun loving plants that thrive in mild gardens with good drainage. Echium pinanana is our favourite, it produces an enormous spike of flowers that reach heights of 2-3m! In their first year Echium plants will put all their energy into producing an architectural rosette of silvery-green leaves. In the summer of year two Echium plants will send up their enormous flower spike. Echium pininana is available in shades of red, blue, purple and white. For a tropical garden we recommend giving Echium plants a spot in bright sunlight. When Echium plants bloom your garden will be alive with the buzz of passing pollinating insects.
10. Colocasia ‘Pink China’
Colocasia is a truly beautiful tropical plant that will grow enormous heart shaped leaves. There are hundreds of colourful cultivars to choose from, most of which require protection from cold in winter. However, there are hardy Colocasia plants that we can grow in our UK tropical style gardens. A favourite hardy Colocasia of ours is Colocasia ‘Pink China’. Colocasia ‘Pink China’ is a vigorous grower that thrives in moist soil and will regrow from the ground every year.
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