The Whistling Gardener

by Steve Smith

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville, located at 3915 Sunnyside Blvd., and a respected local expert on all things horticultural. You can reach Steve at 425-334-2002 or by e-mail at [email protected].

The Missus and I have a very convenient arrangement. The back yard is hers and the front is mine. So in the backyard, she has created a very pleasing cottage garden look. But 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. But several years ago 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 for 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. (I should note that, having been raised in southern California, hot steamy colors are somewhat of a comfort zone for me.)

So to build your tropical paradise you first need some structure, and what better plant to use than a Musa basjoo. This is a truly 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 that will grow 15 feet in one year (if chopped to the ground the previous winter) and you have the bones of a tropical border.

From here you plant a couple 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.

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 'Steroidal 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 leaf-to-leaf vegetation. Plants that were visible in May are now obliterated by adjacent foliage. This 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. Viagra comes nowhere close to the thrill a tropical border creates. Trust me when I say that if you want some excitement in your life, plant a tropical border and get ready for some action.

In reality, the Missus and I have managed to infiltrate each other's gardens in a rather subliminal way. She has slipped in some Penstemons and hardy Geraniums and has bedded out some Impatiens for summer color in my tropical garden. And I don't mind her horning in on my domain because I have polluted her blasé cottage garden with containers of dramatic dark purple cannas juxtaposed with golden Angelina sedums, and a few glazed containers strategically located with Torbay Dazzler Dracenas in amongst the fine and frilly flowers of baby's breath. My favorite, though, is the pot of tricolor geraniums and a tall yellow and red Kangaroo Paw. It's a real shocker and looks fabulous in front of her weeping purple beech.

So if you need a little excitement in your life, then maybe a tropical garden will do the trick. If you don't want to go to the trouble, just come by our house and you can hang out in ours. We're right here in Marysville on Sunnyside Blvd. and the rest of this month and all of September is prime time to view it. Hope to see you in the garden.

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville and can be reached at 425-334-2002 or online at [email protected].