The Tropics in a Container

Turn your patio, deck or a sunny spot in your garden into a tropical paradise using containers. To achieve that lush, overgrown tropical look use a large container or group several smaller ones together. Use a good potting mix, a timed release fertilizer and a bi-weekly dose of liquid fertilizer. Some tropicals like cannas and bananas will grow six feet or more in a season so be generous with your pot size and with fertilizing and watering.

For a large container start with a banana, Ensete Maurelli, with its stunning red coloration and long, wide leaves, add a coleus like 'Solar Flare' or Coleus 'Alabama' to pick up and accentuate the red in the banana and  a trailing plant like plectranthes to spill over the side.

Another combination could use Colocasia 'Black Magic' paired with Cordyline 'Red Star' and Calibrachoa 'Crackling Fire". Or pair Colocasia 'Black Magic' with Canna 'Tropicana' and Colocasia 'Illustris' as seen in the photograph.

For more subdued color palette combine Brugmansia 'Grand Marnier" with its' fragrant, pendulous,soft apricot blooms with Calibrachoa "Superbells Peach,and a heuchera like"Miracle' or 'Pistache'.

Another soft color palette could include Angelonia 'Angelface Blue' with trailing plectranthes ,Spanish lavender and golden sage. Or pair Angelonia 'Angelface White' with purple Heliotrope and Scaevola.

For a somewhat shadier spot try Fuschia 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt' with Coleus 'Sedona'and Phormium 'Bronze Baby'.Each of the colors in this selection are subltle echoes of each other.

Another fuschia with a tropical look is 'Dark Eyes'. Its' double purple corollas and red sepals with a trailing habit could certainly stand on its' own in a hanging basket. However paired with Hakone 'Red Wind' and Coleus 'Black Magic' or Coleus 'Kiwi Fern' it becomes a beacon in a shady spot.

Whatever combinations you choose, step out of the box. Be bold. Be playful. Try something new. It's only for a season. If you don't like this years' combos there is always next year.*

*Many tropical are easily wintered over as houseplants or kept in a state of dormancy in a cool garage or basement. For further information read "Hot Plants for a Cool Climate: Gardening with Tropical Plants in Temperate Zones" buy Susan Roth and Dennis Schraeder

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