How to create a tropical-looking border in the Northwest

  • By Steve Smith Special to The Herald
  • Tuesday, July 21, 2015 3:29pm
  • Life

The missus and I have a very convenient arrangement. The back yard is hers and the front is mine. So in the back yard she has created a very pleasing cottage-garden with lots of flowers and raised vegetable beds.

In the front yard I have gone the tropical route. In fact, I have done the tropical thing for many years, using real tropicals that have to be dug and green-housed every winter. It is truly a labor of love and a monumental endeavor.

Several years ago, though, I decided that while I like the tropical look I was no longer going to dig up and put everything under cover for the winter. So I started to create a tropical-looking border that consisted of plants that were hardy enough to survive our Northwest winters. The results have been stunning if I do say so myself.

To create a tropical border one needs to develop an eye for foliage, particularly bold leaves and strong colors like gold or purple. This contrast in colors is what creates drama in our gardens. Hot colors like the reds, oranges and yellows also connote excitement. Hot steamy excitement like one would expect to encounter in the jungles of tropical America.

To build a tropical paradise you’ll first need some structure. A great plant to use for structure is a Musa basjoo, a hardy banana plant — sorry folks, no Chiquita bananas here, just foliage — that will grow 12 feet tall in one season. Pair that with a Paulownia tomentosa tree, which grows to 15 feet in one year (if chopped to the ground the previous winter), and you have the bones of a tropical border.

Next, plant a few gold and purple smoke trees, a golden Leycesteria, some common calla lilies, dark-leaved dahlias, red-flowering crocosmia, one or two bronze-colored cimicifugas, a golden tiger eyes sumac, some persicaria brush strokes and of course some ornamental grasses like cabaret maiden grass and zebra grass and you have the makings of a tropical garden. Add in some hot-colored annuals around the edges and voila, you have a tropical garden.

I would be remiss not to mention painter’s pallet persicaria, Jessie euphorbia, cardoons, melianthus major, red hot pokers, scarlet floral carpet roses, black lace elderberry and the monster of all tropicals, tetrapanax papyrifera “steriodal giant,” the Chinese rice paper plant. All of these plants work together to create the illusion of a tropical jungle.

What I find truly amazing is the transformation that takes place between early March and mid-August. During this time my tropical border goes from nuclear waste zone to biomass extraordinaire. Where there was exposed soil in April, there is now overlapping leafy vegetation. Plants that were visible in May are now obliterated by adjacent foliage. The border that was virtually transparent in February is now impenetrable.

This rampant growth is the essence of a tropical border. It personifies what we think of as a tropical jungle. In a very primeval sense, it is intoxicating and sensual in nature.

The month of July is the perfect time to find tropical-looking plants at the garden center — along with real tropical ones as well. Come down and check out my garden — my home is next door to the nursery — and if you find yourself getting excited perhaps it’s time to plant your own tropical border.

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville and can be reached online at info@sunnysidenursery.net.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.