Its always hard to select a favorite plant, but the following are looking particularly good at the moment.
The Szechuan pepper - Zanthoxylum schinifolium which as well as being used for spice also has edible
young leaves
Rhodiola fastiata, another lovely ground cover plant.
Rubus lineatus,with very distinctive leaves. This has really taken off this year.
Euodia fargesii, quite a rare shrub, we have had this for a couple of years.
Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii', known as the Abyssinian Banana, we are growing on several small plug
plants this year in pots, which should reach quite a large size next year. We havent grown this
particular banana for a couple of years, so it has made a welcome return to the middle patio area this summer.
Ficus carica 'Adam' famed for its huge leaves, supposedly the fig used by Adam to hide his modesty in
the bible. Judging by the size of the leaf he obviously had something to hide!
This one almost needs no introduction, Schefflera rhododendrifolia.
Personally i prefer the name it used to go under -S. impressa as I think it suits the plant well. This one has been with us for about 5 years and is now over 6 feet tall. Lower down it has numerous small buds and side shoots, so we may well find it ends up a bushy plant. Although I may take some of them off the preserve the shape, and have a try at taking some of the shoots off as cuttings and see it I can increase our plants, (I'm sure you will agree we need more plants :) !!)
Quite a mix of different plants, Persicaria sp. kunming, Euphorbia, Sedum and a Lysimachia all jostling
for space. We featured a number of Persicarias in a dedicated post earlier this year, worth a look if you
are not familiar with the various forms.
Even this little fella was enjoying the foliage, although I must confess he didnt get to have his desert.
The summer this year has given many plants a real boost with them having so much water, and we have had a boost too with some more sunshine recently.Gaz
