Zone Bending Lecture

Plant Ideas for the temperate “Tropical” Garden:

Adam Pyle

Palms:

  1. Needle Palm – Rhapidophyllum hystrix – native to north central Florida
  2. Windmill Palm - Trachycarpus fortunei, takil, wagnerianus, etc.
  3. Dwarf Palmetto – Sabal minor
  4. Other Sabals – Sabal x brazoriensis, Sabal minor var. louisiana, Sabal Mexicana, Sabal ‘Birmingham’
  5. Cabbage palmetto - Sabal palmetto – state tree of SC, less hardy
  6. Jelly Palm – Butia capitata – one of the hardiest of the pinnate palms.  Mummy wrap trunk and lower leaves in winter in a very protected site.
  7. European Fan Palm – Chamaerops humilis – native to Mediterranean Europe, have seen growing unprotected in zone 8 Norfolk Botanical Gardens,

Broad-leaf evergreens (approximately listed in order of increasing cold hardiness):

  1. Loquat - Eriobotrya japonica
  2. India hawthorn – Raphiolepis indica
  3. Japanese tobira – Pittosporum tobira
  4. Oleanders – Nerium oleander ‘Hardy Red’, ‘Mathilde Ferrier’, ‘Calypso’, many others
  5. Eucalyptus – various species and cultivars
  6. Loblolly Bay – Gordonia lasianthus
  7. Fatsia japonica
  8. Anise Trees – Illiciums – I. floridanum, lanceolatum, henryi
  9. Gardenia – Gardenia jasminoides (‘Chuck Hayes’, ‘Frostproof’, ‘Summer Sunday’) & augusta (‘Kleim’s Hardy’)
  10. Camellia – Camellia japonica, C. sasanqua
  11. Red tip Photinia – Photinia x fraseri
  12. Daphniphyllum macropodum
  13. Cleyera - Ternstroemia gymnanthera
  14. Japanese Aucuba - Aucuba japonica
  15. Prunus carolinana (also P. laurocerasus)

Other Trees:

  1. Southern Live Oak - Quercus virginiana
  2. Monkey Puzzle Tree – Araucaria araucana
  3. Japanese Umbrella Pine – Sciadopitys verticillata
  4. Figs – Ficus carica
  5. Wollemi Pine – Wollemia nobilis
  6. Monterrey Cypress – Cupressus macrocarpa
  7. Arizona Cypress – Cupressus arizonica

Bananas:

  1. Japanese Fiber Banana – Musa basjoo
  2. Mekong Giant Hardy Banana – Musa xishuangbannaensis ‘Mekong Giant’
  3. Chinese Yellow Banana – Musella lasiocarpa
  4. Sikkim Banana – Musa sikkimensis (‘Bengal Tiger’)
  5. Pink Velvet Banana – Musa velutina

Yuccas, Agaves, Cacti:

  1. Yuccas – Y. filamentosa is common, but others are hardy
  2. Y. aloifolia (Aloe Yucca), Y. gloriosa (Spanish Dagger), Y. rostrata (Beaked Blue), Y. schottii (Schott’s Yucca), Y. treculeana (Spanish Dagger)
  3. Red False Yucca - Hesperaloe parviflora
  4. Agaves – especially A. parryi, many other species to try
  5. Opuntia – O. humifusa, O. cacapana ‘Ellisiana’

Marginally Hardy Shrubs, Perennials, etc.:

  1. Cestrums – Cestrum parqui, Cestrum ‘Orange Peel’
  2. California Lilac – Ceanothus – various species and cultivars
  3. Banana Shrub – Michelia figo
  4. Texas Mescal Bean – Calia (Sophora) secundiflora
  5. Mexican Orange Blossom – Choisya ternata (‘Sundance’)
  6. Mexican Bird of Paradise – Caesalpinia gillesii
  7. Lily of the Nile – Agapanthus – A. praecox, ‘Storm Cloud’, ‘Midnight Blue’, etc.
  8. Cannas – ‘Pretoria’, ‘Minerva’, ‘Wyoming’, ‘Australia’, ‘Orange Punch’, ‘Angele Martin’, ‘Pacific Beauty’, ‘Intrigue’, Canna musifolia
  9. Gingers
  10. White Butterfly Ginger - Hedychium coronarium
  11. Hybrid Ginger Liles – Hedychium ‘Tara’, ‘Moy Giant’, etc.
  12. Myoga Japanese Ginger – Zingiber mioga
  13. Shell Ginger – Alpinia zerumbet ‘Variegata’
  14. Elephant Ears
  15. Colocasia esculenta – ‘Illustris’, ‘Elena’, ‘Fontanesii Black Stem’, ‘Pink China’, ‘Limeade’, ‘Red Stem Rhubarb’
  16. Chinese Taro - Alocasia cucullata ‘Yellow Tail’
  17. Pineapple Lilies – Eucomis – many species and cultivars
  18. Dahlias
  19. Amaryllis – Hippeastrum
  20. Society Garlic – Tulbaghia violacea
  21. Plumbago – Plumbago auriculata ‘Royal Cape’
  22. Sages – Salvia guaranitica ‘Black & Blue’ & ‘Argentine Skies’, ‘Mystic Spires’, ‘Indigo Spires’, S. leucantha ‘Delilah’, S. madrensis’, S. canariensis var. candissima, S. gregii, S. microphylla, etc.
  23. Spiderworts/Purple Heart – Tradescantia pallida ‘Purple Heart’, ‘Variegata’, ‘Kartuz Giant’, T. flummingensis ‘Maiden’s Blush’, T. sillamontana
  24. Makino’s Mallow – Hibiscus makinoi
  25. Turk’s Cap Mallow – Malvaviscus drummondii, ‘Alba’, ‘Pam Puryear’
  26. Calla Lilies – Zantedeschia aethiopica and various hybrids
  27. Mexican Petunia – Ruellia brittoniana, ‘Chi-Chi’, ‘Katie’ Hybrids
  28. Gold Jasmine – Jasminum officinale ‘Fiona Sunrise’
  29. Confederate Jasmine – Trachelospermum jasminoides

Perennials that add to tropical look:

  1. Ferns (pretty much all of them)
  2. Grasses, especially:
  3. Mexican Feather Grass – Nassella tenuissima
  4. Pampas Grass – Cortaderia pumila & C. selloana
  5. Fountain Grasses – Pennisetum alopecuroides
  6. Feather Reed Grass – Calamagrostis × acutiflora hybrids
  7. Wright’s Dropseed – Sporobolus wrightii
  8. Fakahatchee Grass – Tripsacum dactyloides
  9. Bear’s Breeches – Acanthus spinosus
  10. Peruvian Lily – Alstroemeria
  11. Hardy Begonia – Begonia grandis
  12. Wine Cups – Callirhoe involucrata
  13. Snow Fairy Bluebeard – Caryopteris divaricata ‘Snow Fairy’
  14. Smokebush – Cotinus coggygria (especially ‘Purple Robe’, ‘Golden Spirit’, etc.)
  15. Crinum lilies - Crinum powellii, C. bulbispermum, etc.
  16. Crocosmias
  17. Cardoon – Cynara cardunculus
  18. Leopard Plant – Farfugium japonicum
  19. Japanese Forest Grass – Hakonechloa macra cvs.
  20. Hardy Hibiscus – i.e. ‘Lord Baltimore’, ‘Kopper King’, Hibiscus coccineus, moscheutos, etc.
  21. Soft Caress Grape Holly – Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’
  22. Trifoliate Orange – Poncirus trifoliata
  23. Beebalm – Monarda didyma ‘Jakob Kline’
  24. Chaste Tree – Vitex agnus-castus

Re-seeding Annuals that add to tropical look:

  1. Aibika – Abelmoschus manihot
  2. Tropical Butterfly Weed – Asclepias curassavica
  3. Bush violet – Browallia americana
  4. Flamingo Feather – Celosia spicata
  5. Devil’s Trumpet - Datura meteloides ‘Evening Fragrance’
  6. Shiso – Perilla frutescens (Purple Forms)
  7. Red Texas Sage – Salvia coccinea
  8. Brazilian Verbena –Verbena bonariensis
  9. Cardinal and Cypress Creepers – Ipomoea × multifida, I. quamoclit

For more information on this subject: