Jungle Drums

Hiking to the end of Blakeney Point, a gravel spit that stretches 3.5 miles along the North Norfolk coast, in the middle of January isn’t what most people would chose to do on a day off, but that’s exactly what Liz and I did last Saturday. I worked for Urban Jungle throughout 2010, spent 2011 travelling and now, in 2012, I’m back at Urban Jungle. I’ll be Blogging about all that’s going on here at Urban Jungle and you can still follow Liz’s botanical musings on

Now anyone who knows Liz will know that even on the balmiest of summer days she can be found in the hothouse, amongst the plants, soaking up the heat and humidity with great relish. Bearing this in mind, my initial suggestion to her was “Do you want to see a fine specimen of a Yucca gloriosa?” Of course, being a plant junkie, she said yes, not knowing that it was growing at the end of windswept Blakeney Point.

Yucca gloriosa flowering at the end of Blakeney Point in mid winter.

We set off from Cley along the low tide-line into grey skies and a very brisk head wind. The dark skies made for a spectacular seascape when the sun broke through and we have the blustery westerly winds to thank for the mild weather of late. We paused from time to time to watch the Grey seals playing in the surf and lounging about on the beach and admired the patchwork of lichens, mosses and ferns as we made our way through the dunes in search of the Yucca. Quite incongruously, it sits overlooking the salt marshes not far from the old Lifeboat House. Despite its desolate location it appears to be thriving and even in winter was sporting a few flower spikes. If you’re looking for a plant that will tolerate exposed coastal locations and salt laden winds we can testify with great certainty that Yucca gloriosa will serve you well. As we trudged back along the top or the shingle ridge, helped along by the wind behind us and feeling refreshed, we wondered just how it got there!

Grey seal pups chilling out in the lea of the dunes. Blakeney Point is one of the best places in the country to observe seals. Grey seals give birth to their young between November and January.


A beautifully corroded wreck stranded atop the shingle bank.


Liz admiring the yucca in a fleeting ray of sunshine.

Yucca gloriosa (Spanish Dagger, Moundlily Yucca, Soft Tipped Yucca, Spanish Bayonet or Sea Islands Yucca) is native to the South Eastern coastal regions and Barrier Islands of North America. It is said that it can tolerate temperatures down to -20oC without damage and will tolerate prolonged periods of cold and snow unscathed. We know of several that sailed through last winter and think it’s an invaluable plant for any arid or exotic border thanks to its toughness, architectural form and spectacular flower spikes. It will form a multi headed shrub around 2m by 2m. The yucca on Blakeney point is closer to 3m high and 4m in diameter but this is a particularly old specimen. Just give it full of sun and excellent drainage then leave it to it. We’ll have Yucca gloriosa and variegated cultivars available this spring.

Ensete

Putting the Exotic Garden to bed has now begun in earnest. And, with spectacular timing I’ve put my back out. I constantly move heavy plants around the nursery without any problem – (no concessions at Urban Jungle for being female) but last Thursday, in a dash to tidy the kitchen before leaving for work I leant into the cupboard under the sink for a bin bag – and crack. In excruciating pain I managed to crawl to bed where I stayed for the next 4 days. Oh the agony – both physical and mental. But Monday was my first day up and about, and unable to physically get into the car, I managed to hobble on foot into work to check on progress and take some photos. The journey into work was eventful. A group of travellers have set up camp on the footpath through the piece of waste ground on my cross-country walk into work. I had no choice but to weave my way around their caravans and felt as though I was trespassing through their living room despite it being public land. A pack of dogs circled me, snapping and snarling at my heels but thankfully they were all bark and no bite and were quickly called off. Adrenalin is amazing and for a while I completely forgot I had a dodgy back.

As I arrived at the nursery, work was starting lifting the Ensete Maurellii (Abyssinian red bananas).

Craig had the honour of wielding the bread knife and cutting off all the leaves – a job he took to with somewhat disturbing relish.

He was quite brutal with the knife, removing all foliage except the newest leaf, and even this was reduced by half. There really is no need to leave any more foliage on than this – it simply takes up too much room and blocks the light to other plants in the greenhouse.

The Ensetes are dug out of the ground with very little root and most of the soil is shaken off. The lower leaves are removed and then the plant is turned upside down, to drain any excess water from between the leaves. (We used to leave our Ensetes to drain, lying on their sides on the floor of the greenhouse for a few weeks but found this to be unnecessary – and it looks messy.)

The now very much reduced Ensete is placed in a pot with just enough compost to hold it stable. Any cheap compost will do but don’t use garden soil.
It’s then placed on an upturned crate in the greenhouse. We’ll be maintaining a temperature of 8 degrees centigrade over the winter, which is ample to keep an Ensete in good health. 4 or 5 degrees would be fine but they share a greenhouse with other, even more tender plants. The greenhouse is bubble-wrapped and is heated by two thermostatically controlled fan heaters, which keep the air moving continuously – something that is very important to control Botrytis. Botrytis is a fuzzy, grey mould that thrives in cold, humid conditions with poor air circulation. That’s why it’s also important to leave the greenhouse door and vents open as much as possible during mild days in winter. We’re still leaving ours open day and night at the moment.

It’s a really god idea to keep your plants off the floor if at all possible – if you don’t have crates, upturned pots will do. We’ll keep these dry until spring when we’ll gradually begin to water and then they’ll be planted out again next May/June.

Ensetes are capable of making stupendous growth in favourable conditions. They love warm, wet weather but we had a horrible cold and dry summer - poor things and their growth was only average this year.
We’re often asked if it’s possible to keep Ensetes in the garage or shed for winter. Well if they’re wrapped well and the winter is mild, it may be possible but after the last three winters – forget it.
I’m always fascinated to hear other people’s techniques for getting tender plants through winter. I would never use bubble wrap but have customers who use it every year and swear by it. We’ve thought about using fairy lights or heated cables on a few plants this year – if you have any experience of this please let us know.

About this time last year, after a day away, I returned to a box of rooted cuttings that a customer had kindly left for me at the nursery. Apparently they were a selection of rare goodies, but as with most small rooted cuttings they didn’t look very exciting and were put to one side to be dealt with later. I am ashamed to say they were virtually forgotten for several months, but were at least watered and protected from frost. This spring we used them to plug a few gaps in our garden. And now those little ugly ducklings have transformed into beautiful swans.

Salvia indicia ‘Indigo Spires’ with masses of buds.
First there were some Salvias, including the gorgeous Salvia indica ‘Indigo Spires’ with its deep blue 30cm long flowers. It’s become a monster of a plant at 3m tall, and would probably have benefited from a chop half way through the season to make it bushy rather than leggy – we’ll remember that for next year. It’s absolutely covered in flowers and buds at the moment. With luck they'll open before severe frost finishes them off.

More rare and unusual however were the selection of Plectranthus. Plectranthus are tender perennials or shrubs and are related to the mint family. This year we've grown the annual Leonotis nepetifolia, which is now 4m and still blooming and is a member of the same family, with its distinguishing lipped flowers and square angled stems.

Leonotis nepetifolia still flowering at 4m.

A curtain of Plectranthus madagascariensis
A few Plectranthus species are commonly used as bedding plants or conservatory specimens but are easy to over-winter with minimal heat and are easy to propagate. Many gardeners are familiar with P. madagascariensis (Variegated mintleaf). It’s a popular hanging basket plant. You can see it at Urban Jungle trailing to the ground from a pot, planted with variegated Brugmansia and Colocasia ‘Ruffles’ and Iresine 'Blazing Rose'. It's covered in small blue/grey flowers.

The silver, hairy leaves of P. argentatus contrasting with the huge, glossy black leaves of Colocasia ‘Diamond Head’
We also grow the vigorous Plectranthus argentatus in a shady part of the garden where its silver stems and soft, hairy silver/green foliage create a foil to the huge glossy black leaves of Colocasia ‘Diamond Head’. It’s in flower at the moment, at about 1.4m high and is covered in pale blue/white flowers although these are less showy than its handsome foliage. We’ve already had a couple of nights of frost this autumn but argentatus remains quite content and is doing its thing in the garden.

Plectranthus ciliatus ‘Sasha’ has spent the summer illuminating a shady spot of the garden
In contrast, Plectranthus ciliatus ‘Sasha’ is compact and ground hugging with bright yellow leaves (these have faded now the weather is turning cold) and bronze and green markings. This appeared at the nursery last year – I think it may have sneaked its way over to us as a cutting from Will Giles’ Exotic Garden. Like most Plectranthus it’s incredibly easy to propagate and it’s best to plant afresh with rooted cuttings each year as these give far better foliage – older plants become woody and rangy. This has looked zingy this summer growing next to the black leaves of Ipomoea ‘Sweet Caroline Purple’.

The wonderfully named Plectranthus zuluensis
Among the newly acquired Plectranthus is P. zuluensis. The leaves are rich green and heavily textured, and they densely clothe the purple, square angled stems These are topped with lavender flowers spikes, held erect above the foliage. Very pretty and in flower at present in our garden.

The extraordinary undersides of Plectranthus fruticosus leaves
Plectranthus fruticosus has grown to 1.3m and has superb foliage with toothed dark green textured leaves with a rich burgundy underside and burgundy stems. It hasn’t flowered yet (it’s not going to either as I’ve chopped it into pieces to propagate) but next year I’ll look forward to spikes of purple and blue flowers.

Plectranthus fruticosus ‘James’
Plectranthus fruticosus ‘James’ is shorter, growing to about a metre with smaller, more succulent leaves, slightly hairy with purple veining. It’s just beginning to flower and I’m looking forward to a display of spikes of purple speckled pink flowers very soon. I've only seen pictures of it in flower and it looks superb - can't wait. You can see it here growing at the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, South Africa.
So Nick, if you’re reading this – thanks for the cuttings.
What’s great about all these Plectranthus is that they will grow happily outdoors in the summer/autumn, enhancing a shady spot, and their foliage creates a great contrast to the larger leaved shade lovers such as Hostas, Colocasias, Musas. And if you’re lucky enough to have a conservatory you can enjoy them through the winter too.

It’s that time of year when those who grow tender exotic plants start getting the jitters. We want to savour our gardens for as long as possible and indeed many specimens such as Cannas, Gingers and Dahlias are at their peak. They’re still growing and blooming and the cooler weather will harden them off before they spend a long winter under cover. However none of us want to be caught short – it’s all well and good planning to leave everything to the last minute but what if it takes a week of lifting or wrapping to protect the plants and the Met only give us a couple of days notice of frost. That may be the case but I’m not going to get into a panic about it - I believe at this time of year, the chance of frost severe enough to kill most tenders is highly unlikely. Indeed many gardeners use frost blackened leaves as their cue to begin the big dig and wrap. So, we have yet to take a spade to our Exotic Garden, but are keeping a very sharp eye on the weather forecast.
But we must start our preparations for winter somewhere so today we began lifting some of the evergreens we planted in our stock borders earlier in the year. In April we planted sixty or so tiny Pittosporun tenuifolium ‘County Park’, to fatten up into chunky plants for sale next year.

County Park is one of my all time favourites of all plants and I am astounded that it isn’t in wider circulation. It’s a very architectural evergreen shrub, forming soft, round orbs, about a metre in diameter, with fresh, shiny green, wavy-margined leaves.

It’s incredibly tactile and springy; I can’t resist prodding it every time I pass just so I can watch it quiver and bounce. It’s a superb alternative to Box and much faster growing (Box doesn’t bounce either).

Although our plants were damaged by last year’s severe weather (so was Box), they have now made a complete recovery. It’s possibly my fault as I pruned them in late September, which of course breaks all the pruning rules, and I paid the price with blackened late growth. Although County Park is naturally spherical I clip ours, as I prefer compact round balls as opposed to loose shaggy ones. Why more nurseries don’t list this wonderful shrub remains a mystery to me.

So today, we dug up the County Parks and potted them into 10L pots. We’ll keep them under unheated glass, just in case we suffer another severe winter, and they should be peachy for next spring.

I love gardening on the dark side with purple and black plants. They add glamour and sophistication to any planting scheme. If you want to look inconspicuous wear dark coloured clothes. But, if you want your garden to stand out from the rest, use dark coloured plants.
Here’s a list of some of my favourites at the nursery.

Ipomoea batatas ‘Sweet Caroline Purple’ isn’t really purple at all – it’s one of the blackest plants we grow. It’s 5 fingered leaves carpet the ground although it would quite happily trail from a container and it has very pretty purple/pink flowers. The small tubers of this sweet potato are edible, though not as well flavoured as other varieties.

Iresine herbstii ‘Blazing Rose’ forms the little hedge at the entrance to the Edible Jungle. It’s called the Beefsteak plant but it doesn’t have any edible use that I know of. The leaves are puckered and quilted and are a deep purple black with heavy pink/purple veining.

Persicaria microcephala ‘Red Dragon’ is a fast growing hardy perennial of the knotweed family. It's very vigorous but not invasive like the dreaded giant knotweed. It has arrow shaped purple leaves with a pewter-coloured chevron, unfilled with deep purple/black. It can become leggy but cutting back keeps it bushy. The deer have been pruning ours for us recently.

Colocasia esculenta ‘Black Magic’ is one of the blackest of all plants. Its huge mat black leaves on dark purple stems absorb all light. The last few summers haven't been ideal for growing Colocasias - too cool and dry but Black Magic can reach huge proportions in favourable years (2003) and we have grown it to 1.5m.

Colocasia esculenta ‘Diamond Head’ has equally black leaves but with a soft metallic sheen - lovely with rain drops.

Nymans lettuce should be cropped before it starts going to seed as the leaves become bitter and unpalatable. We’ve left ours and they’ve formed these metre tall towers of intense purple/brown foliage – so ornamental. We have replacement plants ready but are reluctant to pull these out of the garden.

Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurellii’, the Abyssinian black banana has the most tremendous leaves in the garden; great paddles, well over a metre long. These vary greatly in colour but on those with really good colouration they can be streaked in tones of green, red and almost black.

Heuchera ‘Obsidian’ makes lovely clumps of overlapping deep purple/black leaves. Amazingly these are evergreen and extremely hardy. It does well in shade and can even tolerate dry shade, at the base of a tree or hedge as long as it’s given a little help to establish.

Cotinus coggyria ‘Royal Purple’, the Smoke bush, has deep purple leaves, turning redder in autumn. You can cut it back hard each spring to maintain it as a large leaved, short shrub.

Only ‘Platt’s Black’ is darker than Phormium ‘Black Adder’ but it lacks the vigour of its larger relative. ‘Black Adder’ has rich purple/black foliage and is outstanding.

Coprosma repens ‘Pacific Night’ is captivating with highly glossed rich purple/black/green foliage. This lovely shrub from New Zealand isn’t quite hardy enough to survive a hard winter outside and the flowers are pretty insignificant but as a foliage plant alone it warrants space in a greenhouse over winter.

Oxalis triangulis subsp. triangulis pops up every year all over the nursery. Funny that it used to be sold as a houseplant. I love its deep purple, velvet, shamrock leaves, and they way they close like butterfly wings in the evening. It has small, pretty pink flowers in summer. Its little pink shrimp-like tubers are allegedly edible but I haven’t tried them yet.

Pittosporum tenuifolium ‘Tom Thumb’ is a delightful small, rounded, evergreen shrub with rich, glossy purple/black foliage. New growth is green, quickly turning darker during summer and very black during winter. It has very tiny, honey-scented flowers. A tough little number, this winter really put it to the test at the nursery. The plants in the ground survived outside with little or no damage.

Phyllostachys nigra (black bamboo) is a popular bamboo, but it needs a little pruning to look its best. We strip the leaves and branches from the lower metre or so to reveal the shiny, ebony canes. Nigra needs to be planted in full sun for really black canes to develop.

Aeonium urbicum ‘Zwartkop’

Aeonium ‘Voodoo’

Aeonium urbicum ‘Zwartkop’ intensifies in colour in warm sunny weather. In winter it’s green but as spring turns to summer its large rosettes turn a polished deep brown/black. Chopping off its head can encourage branching.

Aeonium ‘Voodoo’ can reach monster proportions but never quite attains the same intensity of black as Zwartkop.

But the title of blackest plant of all must surely be awarded to Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’, the Mondo grass. It’s a dense, tuft-forming little evergreen perennial (it’s not actually a grass) with arching deepest black leaves and pink flowers in summer followed by shiny black berries.

More dark plants to follow in the next blog.