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Tropical Perth
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Posted by Yisraelee Perth, WA (My Page) on Mon, Nov 8, 04 at 1:56
| Hi all
Im new to this forum and want to create an exotic/tropical garden here in my Perth (northern suburbs) garden.
I am a qualified horticulturist from the UK and have made a few tropical style gardens over there, but I realise the soils around Perth and the summer heat are another matter.
I also have a fondness for cacti and succulents and would like to conbine the both.
A few questions I have here to settle a few matters on my mind.
Where are the best nurseries to buy good tropical plants (ie Crinum Lily, Heliconia, and any other large leaved species of plants) in the Perth Metro area?
Do you guys have tropical gardens that you might be willing to allow visitors to see for inspiration?
What plants which would be considered borderline here are worth a go?
Please feel free to visit my Cornwall Tropicals website I made a few years ago. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Cornish Exotics
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Tropical Perth
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| Hi Yisraelee, After moving from Karratha to Mandurah we have begun to plant a tropical/Palm garden. A really good palm and Tropical nursery is "Palms and Plants Galore" on Wattleup road, Wattleup (between Freo and Rockingham). They have a large variety of tropical spp.(including Crinums and succulents) suitable for the Perth area and are very helpfull about which plants to choose. Hope this helps. |
RE: Tropical Perth
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| Hi, I've never been to Perth, but I did live in Adelaide for two years : I believe that Perth has a similar 'Meditteranean' climate, with milder Winters. WA is also famous for the lack of humidity (said humidity here in the East means that we cant grow some of your natives) and infertile soils - I'm sure that keen gardeners have overcome all of these factors to achieve the tropical 'look', and you cant beat local knowledge. I would suggest that you contact the local branch of the SGAP (Society for Growing Australian Plants) : they are sure to have members with knowledge in this area. If they can build Balinese gardens in Melbourne, you can do something similar in Perth :) Good luck, Artie |
RE: Tropical Perth
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| If you want to grow Heliconias you should try some of the more cold tolerant varieties such as Heliconia subulata, Heliconia angusta and Heliconia scheideana. They should handle Perths colder winters reasonably well. Andrew. |
RE: Tropical Perth
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| How do Tamarillos (Tree Tomatoes) do in Oz? They are very exotic looking. |
RE: Tropical Perth
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| Anyone willing to send me any Heliconia subulata corms? |
RE: Tropical Perth
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| I don't have a permit to send plant material into Western Australia sorry. |
RE: Tropical Perth
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Put a post in the Australian Garden Exchange Forum.
Maybe someone from WA will see it who had some to spare for the price of postage. MM. |
RE: Tropical Perth
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Thanks Guys.
I have planted a mixture of exotics and succulents like Aloes, pigface family etc as understorey stuff.
How do Pawpaws do? Are they fast growing and useful for ornamental look?
Ive planted a Brachychiton acerifolius which has similar leaves. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Rugby in Perth
RE: Tropical Perth
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Hi
Not sure how cold you get in Perth. The Brachychiton acerifolius will handle a fair amount of cold and frost, much more than a Pawpaw will. My Tamarillos have handles below 0C, but no frost and must be protected from strong wind. There are some beautiful Australia East Coast Rainforest trees that handle cold well and look Tropical. Target Warm Temperate ones or high altitude Sub Tropical. Ivory Curl Flower (Buckhinghamia celsissima), Blue Berry Ash (Elaeocarpis reticulatus), Black Bean (Castanospermum australe) and Riberry (Syzygium luehmannii) are excellent. They also attract birds to your garden (on the east coast at least). There are now a large number of species including a good range of lillypillies (Acmena, Syzygium and Waterhousia) in cultivation. If you can get Syzygium cv cascade grab it. It is a 1.8-2m weeping bush with stunning new growth and watermelon pink shaving brush flowers. The new foliage is very tropical and as the leaves mature they go through hot pinks, red white and then to green. If you have a frost free area, try Costus Barbados. It is an excellent tropical looking plant for places that get to a min of -1C and no frost. Looks fantastic with it's big head of deep red bracts and yellow dayflowers through summer. Also Zingibers can grow well down to –1C or -2C if protected from strong winter wind. My Zingiber specible cv Champagne is currently in flower and has been through a few -2Cs. Protect when young and you will lose foliage for the first winter or so. The deciduous Zingibers are very hardy if grown with a dry winter. There is also all the Kaempferia, which grow well even in cold areas as long as the ground doesn’t freeze and stays on the dry side during winter, but note snails love them. Hope this is helpful. By the way I enjoyed your web page. Very well done. Regards Rob H. |
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