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Tropical Pleasures

© Marge Talt

The Last Hurrah

Before frost's icy caress blackens their leaves, a handful of tender plants turn part of my garden into a tropical paradise. The waning days of summer find them at their prime; a most satisfactorily gaudy sight in an otherwise fairly restrained setting.

These are not, strictly speaking, shade plants. Indeed, most of them relish all the sun you can give them. However, they all perform quite well in my USDA zone 7 garden with about four hours of direct sun a day - with no overhanging trees.

Serandipitous Satisfaction

Last winter, my huge, venerable Phlomis fruticosa succumbed to cold and, perhaps, old age, leaving a equally huge hole in one of the pair of large stone planters on either side of the steps down from the covered walk to the raised bed garden.

To fill that gap for the summer, I planted two cannas, 'Wyoming' and 'Phaison', underplanted with coleus 'Inky Fingers' and Ipomoea batatas 'Blackie'.

In a large pot on the adjacent steps lives a long coveted tender Pennisetum rubrum (dwarf form). The grass's flower heads exactly matched one of the reds in 'Phaison', while 'Inky Finger's' green edging matched the bright lettuce green of a weeping pine that lives in the planter. 'Blackie' and 'Wyoming' played point - counterpoint in dusky purples. All in all, a most pleasing, rich tapestry of color in that corner.

A closer view of the above, in which you can actually see the coleus - the pine needles are just visible on the right lower edge of the photo.

I've carried these Canna 'Wyoming' along for well over twenty years now - I would hate to be without this plant. In my less than full sun garden, the leaves are often not as deep a purple as they are in sun, but even so, the dusky veining is satisfying.

'Phaison' is new to my garden this year, courtesy of generous net friends...I have long wanted it. Some sources suggest that 'Phaison' is identical to 'Tropicanna' and 'Durban', which was introduced to the UK from South Africa in 1994.

Whatever the correct name, this is the most flagrantly colored canna to date; truly a '70's psychedelic mix of purple, pink and orange with rich orange flowers. 'Wyoming' also has orange flowers - of a softer hue. The flowers are a bonus; I grow these plants for their foliage.

At the opposite end of the raised bed garden, these same two cannas, joined by C 'Bengal Tiger', underplanted with Ipomoea batatas 'Marguerite', create an entirely different effect - pure gaudiness - enhanced by the huge leaves of my nameless Colocasia or Alocasia, (whichever it is); a true elephant ear.

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