The Ten Plants I Wouldn't Be Without!

Ok, I've nicked this idea from Chrissyboi here!

The first one is easy; Clerodendrum Ugandense......

I've already covered it in a separate post (here), so quickly on to my next choice. This is Tibouchina urvilleana.......

I bought this from a charity plant sale for 99 pence, not really knowing what it was. Hell of a good result though, even if it's a bit of a fussy plant to care for, Overwater it and the buds drop, same if you keep it too dry as well. And never, ever give it tap water unless you want the leaves to develop nasty white growths!

Both of my first two choices are tender, but the next one is fully hardy. I would have to have at least one Toad Lily, and if I had to select just one it would have to be Taiwan Adbane......

Another tender one next - Abutilon Victory........

There is a little indecision depending on which source that to use as to whether it is hardy or not. As it's one of my favourites though, I'm not taking any chances!

My fifth choice is a plant that I never though that I'd bother with - Alstromeria. I've always found them a little too "busy" for my taste, but this A.psittacina "Royal Star" is different; The flowers are longer and thinner than the common A.aurea, borne on stems of a metre or more........

Fully hardy too.

Fuchsia Perscandens is a native scrambling Fuchsia from New Zealand.......

Lobellia cardinalis "Queen Victoria" is my favourite garden plant. Young plants up to a couple of years old tend to be fully hardy, but after that they can be a little hit and miss, so it's a good idea come September time to pot up the small offsets in order to over winter these undercover and plant out in the spring.

Another tender plant for my next choice, this time from Mexico. Polyanthese Tuberosa.....

If you want it to flower for you, do not expose it to temperatures below 20 deg c. It will handle temperatures down to pretty much freezing, but you won't get the incredibly fragrant flowers, so it's best grown in a pot so that you can bring it in at night.

My penultimate choice is Digitalis Lunata Lutea........

Hopefully, this will have seeded itself all over a little corner of my little garden next year!

My final choice is a bit of a cheat as I have two forms of this; Sollya Heterophylla........

It's common name is the Bluebell Creeper and it is an Australian native. As you can see though it is available in both blue and white forms. Apart from being tender (again) and susceptible to red spider mite, it needs very little care and will reward you with masses of the small (6 to 8mm) flowers all summer long.

I'm not going to proof read this, cos if I do I'll be here all night shuffling plants around that I think should be in (sometimes it's just best to dive in without too much thought!) so please forgive any typos or spelling/grammar mistakes!
Have fun!