my jungle garden

Prudence · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:51 pm Post subject: my jungle garden

Though I'd share a few pics of a part of my garden - the jungle part. This is where I try to push the zone boundaries. This part of the garden is 2.5 years old and was previously part of a field.

These photos were taken last month

To the left of this pic is Miscanthus saccarifolia, standing at 13ft. This is being trialed as a bio fuel.

This pic shows Chlorophytum (spider plant). Usually treated as a house plant, but this one stays out all year and is about to flower.

Next pic is of Tetrapanax papyrifer 'Rex'. This is the plant that rice paper is made from. It's around 7ft at present. The leaves are more than 3ft across.

Next pic is of Schefflera taiwaniana. Scheffleras are usually house plants, sometimes commonly know as the umbrella or parasol plant. This one is hardy and evergreen and laughs at frosts!

This next pic is the last for now. Taken in May this year, the plant with the red flowers is Clianthus punicens, also known as the lobster claw plant. Totally hardy here and puts on quite a show. Everygreen too.

I hope I haven't waffled on too much but hope that it may tempt a few to try something a little different.

All the best.

Sue

paddy-s · Hazel Tree Joined: 01 Aug 2008 Posts: 26 Location: Sligo

Love it. You obviously live in a micro-climate. The Land that Time and the Irish Weather forgot.

Very impressive Prudence, well done.

medieval knievel · Sessile Oak Tree Joined: 03 Sep 2007 Posts: 318

what's the plant on the bottom right in the first pic?

Sive · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 7:19 pm Post subject:

Quite amazing Prudence, super garden and photos......and your spider plant looks the picture of health, compared to my housebound one! I think I might try "liberating" it!

Prudence · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 8:09 pm Post subject:

Many thanks for your comments. To an extent there is a microclimate due to the trees that surround the garden on the north and west. Last winter temps got down to -7C and nothing gets protected (because I can't being doing with all that fuss Smile

. I believe anyone can grow these sort of plants (if that is your desire) by providing a bit of shelter round the boundaries. But I think, most importantly is to give the plants good drainage.

Medievel - the plant you asked about is Eucomis which is a bulb. Again, very hardy.

I'll post some more pics tomorrow.

All the best.

Sue

inishindie · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:43 pm Post subject: Hi

Hi

I've moved my message to the hello section. I thought it was more appropriate.....

Cheers

Sive · Posted: Sun Sep 14, 2008 11:01 pm Post subject:

I think Inishindie is hallucinating! We've had non-stop rain since 2pm in Wexford! I drew the curtains in disgust at 8pm. I think I've given up all hope of an Indian summer.

verge · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:30 am Post subject:

The spider plant looks well outdoors, congrats Prudence. Are those chimney pots in the last pic? If so they are a great way to add a touch of striking uprightness to a planting area.

Prudence · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:58 am Post subject:

verge · Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:51 pm Post subject:

Dublin here.

Sive · Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:02 am Post subject:

I'm in the sunny south-east!!!
We moved here in 2007 and we've had the two wettest of summers so far! Everything is squelching here, and we're possibly not the worst-off in the country! It HAS to be better next year, don't you agree?
The wonderful Wexford light and magnificent skies still make it a beautiful place to live, so we're quite content. And we didn't have to water all our new trees and hedging once! So we can't complain.

paddy-s · Hazel Tree Joined: 01 Aug 2008 Posts: 26 Location: Sligo

Sunny Sligo Laughing

Prudence · Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:33 pm Post subject:

Verge - Dublin has to be milder than the mid-west so your spider plant should do great.

Sive - an enviable place to be, and again your temps would be milder than mine. Did you move from England?

Rain, rain and more rain. Yep, everywhere is squelchy. I gew some grapes in the polytunnel this year, and didn't expect the grapes to ripen with the lack of sun - but surprisingly they have. Same with the fig tree.

Paddy-S - Sligo is beautiful - so scenic. Not sure about the temps up there.

Sue

Sive · Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2008 4:29 pm Post subject:

No, Prudence, not England.......we moved from "up the N11"....south county Dublin to be exact, and haven't regretted it once! Wexford people are very easy-going and friendly. It feels like being on permanent holiday!

Prudence · Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 4:41 pm Post subject:

Sive - I stand corrected.

Just in case anyone is suffering from a bit of wind in the garden ( Smile

) , the hedge below is 2.5 years old. The plant is leycesteria formosa, commonly known as pheasant berry or himalayan honeysuckle. I can't praise this plant enough. It's tough, wind-resistant, flowers, has great stems and is semi-evergreen. The hedge has been cut back several times already but currently stands at 7ft.

This is the actual plant:

And this is a pic of the preparation of the 'jungle' area in 2006. The polytunnel and greenhouse have just been put up. The hedge above can be seen just beyond the grass to the right. More hedge was added to the left later that month

Digger came in to 'fluff it up' December 2006

Designing the shapes with cow poo.

Pic to show the scale:

And more recently, the veg beds have been added:

It's interesting looking back over old photos and seeing how much the garden has changed.

All the best.

Sue