Dede Sophie

  It is easy, or at least relatively so, to create a cold-hardy, tropical effect garden, but is it still possible to produce a tropical effect garden if you experience extremely cold winters? By that I mean parts of the world where winter temperatures can drop to around – 15 degrees celsius or 5 degrees Fahrenheit in old money! Well the answer is of course yes, however there will be some more cultural work involved with some of the plants in my following selection to give them a helping hand over the finish line of survival. To promote the effect add canna and dahlias which can be lifted and brought in under protection each year. Also consider growing salvias and tobacco plants as cheap annuals for their vibrant colours and architectural effect.  Palms Trachycarpus fortunei ‘Chinese Windmill Palm’ -15 Celsius Bismarck Palm ‘Bismarckia nobilis’ -9 Celsius (my absolute favourite) Mediterranean Fan Palm ‘Chamaerops humilis’ -12 celsius Bamboo  Phyllostachys aurea -15 to possibly -20 Celsi

  The giant ornamental onion – Allium giganteum is not only one of my favourite of all the flowering bulbs, it is one of my favourite plants of all! And why wouldn’t it be with its strongly held, large spherical globe-like blooms it is arguably the best of all ‘drumstick’ style flowers. However the bulbs can be difficult to obtain and then difficult to find ones large enough that will flower in the following year. However there is a low cost option to growing plenty of  giant ornamental onions and that is to do so from seed. So why not check out English horticulturist Simon as he explains the very simple method of propagating Allium giganteum. If you would like to see more content like this then consider subscribing to out YouTube channel – ‘Walking Talking Gardeners’. Click on the notification bell and you will be notified of all our future videos