Exotics

Elegant cascades of vivid, elongated flowers with large, arrow-shaped, neatly serrated, green leaves. Begonia boliviensis ‘F1 Sun Cities Mixed’ feature the three ‘Sun Cities’ of the USA: ‘San Francisco’ has slmon-pink blooms, ‘Santa Barbara’ features white blooms and ‘Santa Cruz’, fiery red blooms

Be prepared to get your funk on. The Funky Begonia has entered the dance floor, and she's ready to boogie all summer long. Huge, voluptuous flowers with superior heat tolerance and semi-trailing yet dense, sturdy growth habit, in six fantastic colours – Light Pink, Bright Pink, Orange, Red, Scarlet and White.

Brugmansia sanguinea is probably the most spectacular of the species and distinguished from all others by the abundance of vibrant fiery red blooms. The elegant, trumpet-shaped flowers starting out yellow blend into a burst of brilliant red and makes an exciting addition to any garden or conservatory.

These exotic beauties, native to South America, can transform a terrace or patio into a tropical paradise. Angel Trumpets are large shrubs with lush foliage and masses of delightfully fragrant trumpets. In the cool, moist air of evening, their fragrance is spellbinding.

This shrubby brugmansia is a heavy bearer of stunning pendulous yellow flowers, it is delightful when grown in a patio pot and may be grown indoors with bright light and warmth, where it can be pruned to desirable size. The flowers are especially fragrant in the evening.

Brugmansia versicolor, commonly called Angel's Trumpet is a tropical shrub, with exceptionally large, pendulous, trumpet-shaped, peachy-apricot flowers, 37cm (15in) long. It is delightful when grown in a patio pot, in the cool, moist air of evening, their fragrance is spellbinding.

Canna indica is a superb tall strain with gorgeous foliage and bright vermilion red blooms. Growing to around 150cm tall, the wide banana-like leaves add a tropical feel to the garden. They are ideal to plant at the back of a border where they are in full sun, or to add colour to a partly shady area.

Canna 'Large Flowered Hybrids' create an undeniably tropical look, producing large flowers in hot colours in yellow, gold, fiery orange and red. With their lush tropical foliage and showy flowers they make borders and beds come alive with their bright colours all summer long until first frosts.

Cardiocrinum giganteum is a truly spectacular plant, which produces glorious vanilla scented, trumpet-like flowers on stems up two to three metres tall. Most gardeners agree growing this rare beauty is well worth the wait. I suppose you do have to be patient to be a gardener. We all know the longer we must wait for a beauty, the more we treasure it.

For anyone who wants something different for the border next year, I should like to introduce Echium russicum. A remarkable hardy species that has a unique flower colour for its genus. In July to August multiple throngs of striking upright spires, bearing crimson flowers emerge from a basal rosette of hairy leaves.

Luffa acutangula is a very versatile plant. As a vegetable, the leaves can be eaten in a salad, the very young gourds, known as Chinese Okra they taste like aubergine. The matured dried gourd develops into a fibrous netting. It is an excellent sponge and makes a wonderful exfoliator.

The development of bananas is a source of both pride and amazement to those unfamiliar with banana culture. Musa acuminata is a 'dwarf variety' with broad, long, graceful leaves, and is extremely suitable for containers or gardens.

Musa Balbisiana is a fruit bearing variety and one of the progenitors of the present-day commercial bananas. The clumps of lush, dark foliage make it ideal for creating a jungle landscape. It develops large colourful inflorescence of bright red and maroon.

Ricinus communis 'Carmencita' is an outstanding new variety with shiny dark brown foliage. The palmate leaves have deeply incised lobes and grow 30 to 75cm (12 to 30in) across. The plants have red stems and in late summer clusters of bright red blooms are followed by stunning scarlet seeds pods.

Named after the Russian Emperor Nicholas I, Strelitzia nicolai, the 'White Bird of Paradise' is native to South Africa. It is a very dramatic, impressive specimen plant. The foliage is large and sword like, rather like a banana tree and the trunk resembles a palm. The flower is white with a light blue 'tongue' and sits in a purplish bract.