Our top 5 hardy exotic plants - for outdoor use in the UK

Ever since reading 'The Exotic Garden' by Will Giles (sadly missed) I have been enjoying a hint of the tropics in ours and others UK gardens.
This video highlights our top 5 best tropical choices for our garden on a south / south west facing hillside on South Wales UK. Some of these exotics are hardier hardier than others, the hardiest of our top 5 is the Trachycarpus Fortunei - but we have had Yucca, Cordyline and Fatsia all growing outside without any winter protection for well over 10 years - so they have coped with quite hard frosts (as low as - 8C at times). But every soil and garden is different, so take a look at some of our other videos in our Exotics playlist
• Protecting tender plan...
We also look at some other exotics that didn't quite make our top 5 - but can still make a beautiful addition to your garden - but may require some winter protection - such as Ensette Maurelli (red leaved banana), Bottle brush plant (Callistemon), and Tree Ferns Dicksonia Antarctica.

[@tedscott1478]

Great introduction to exotics

[@rogthegardener1]

Many thanks for your comment - enjoy your garden!

[@DJSupaflyguy]

👌👌👌👌

[@paulamewies4798]

Hi from Bridgend 👋 Great little video 👍

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi - greetings to the Bridgend massive! - I lived in Cefn Cribbwr for a few years .. in fact one of our Cordylines has followed me around from my Cefn days and is still going strong 35 years later - thanks for your comment

[@Fire-gv2wz]

Hi there I’m in Merthyr and do the same type of garden has you. I had a lot of damage to my Tobey trees this winter i did catch me out because they were ok for the last winter. Nice to find someone local 👍

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi, yes I keep on thinking that spring has arrived and then we get more rain ... I have just come in from getting soaked again! Did all yours come through the winter undamaged?

[@rogthegardener1]

@@Fire-gv2wz thanks for the info - will look up the welsh page 🙂

[@Fire-gv2wz]

@@rogthegardener1 Okay fabulous IT’s Welsh tropical gardening 👍😉

[@roxanncreese1587]

Hello, Roger saying hello from Canada. You do very educational and informative plant videos. One of my favorite plant is the angel trumpet. Can you do a video on angel trumpet please. Care, Fertilizer and soil. I just purchased one and want to ensure that I am taking great care of it. Keep putting out great videos.

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi Roxan - hello back to you and our Canadian friends / family! Where in Canada are you living? We visited for the first time 2 years ago (Mississauga) and loved your country. I love Angels trumpets, so lovely perfume on some of them and those exotic flowers, however I do not currently grow them...mainly because we do not have a greenhouse, and they will need good winter protection. I would love to do a video on them and my best bet may to do produce one when visiting another garden and interview somebody else who grows them successfully - would that be of interest?

[@peterjohn8625]

This plant survives easily in Australia, so you shouldn.t have much trouble there. Happy tripping. 😂😂😋😋🤔🤔 Edit. Be careful, take care.

[@juliegriffiths4272]

I really enjoyed watching this. I'm also in South Wales, a bit further east. Would you recommend any of these for an often windy hill top garden, about 1 mile from the sea?

[@rogthegardener1]

Hiya! Well apart from the banana I have been growing all the others (so, Yuccas, Tree fern [with a little protection], Cordylines and Trachycarpus) in our hillside exposed garden in Caerphilly for over 20 years with no real problems ( and we have had some quite cold as low as -8C temperatures during that time albeit briefly. You may get some windy damage which can soil their look for a few months until they put on new growth. I have successfully grown a 'hardy' banana Basjoo in the school garden near Pontypridd with minimal protection but it is in a warm sheltered position .. it even flowered once or twice ... a few Cordlines in some gardens have been damaged in the last winter especially if they were very young / soft or the red / variegated varieties. We have about 5 green Cordylines in our garden which had no protection att all - and look fine and are producing loads of flower buds as we speak!

[@juliegriffiths4272]

@@rogthegardener1 I'm a bit further south of you. I have an exposed small ish garden. It's been an interesting challenge. The majority is over a sunken air raid shelter from ww2 and an emergency water tank. It's the first time I have ever had to dig with a hammer and chisel, pulling out corroded metal, huge stones, melted conglomerations of tamrac and melted metals.. All in all, a knew challenge. Thankyou for your help, it is much appreciated. Happy planting, planning and growing.

[@JosExotics]

cant wait for my cordylines to get a bit of size on them. Do they need special soil in pots?

[@rogthegardener1]

How many seedlings have you got Jo? I normally use my favourite reduced peat compost (Westland multipurpose with added john innes) exciting times !?

[@davidbanner9001]

So you put a non-palm that isn't as hardy as a true palm in at #1? Ahead of Trachycarpus Fortunei or a Trachycarpus Wagnerianus? Interesting?

[@rogthegardener1]

Thanks David for your comments, in a sense you you are of course absolutely correct on both counts. I do reference the hardiness issue, and the 'is not a true Palm' issue in the video. I did think about putting our Trachycarpus in at number 1 for the issues you mention - but this is only 'our' top 5 - and Cordylines are by far the most popular exotic plant here in the UK and are referred to as Palm trees / Torbay palm by most amateur gardeners ... which is who these videos are aimed at ... I don't often see T. Wagnerianus it looks lovely on-line - do you have any?

[@davidbanner9001]

Thank you very much for replying. I do understand why you put the Cordyline at #1, based on your viewers and not being hardy tropical specific. But also to be fair Trachycarpus Fortunei are available everywhere these days. B&Q, B&M, even Tesco's at times. Yes I have a couple of Waggies and they are also very wind tolerant compared to fortunei. Again thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

[@peterjohn8625]

I live in Australia, and if these exotic plants can survive there, how can I fail. 😜😜 Edit: I planted two red star, they are very hardy. What you meant to say was they are not hardy to frost, which I don't get much of.

[@rogthegardener1]

Thanks Peter, yes you should a great time with them ... which part of Australia do you live in?

[@peterjohn8625]

@@rogthegardener1 I live in South Australia, in the country north of Adelaide.

[@absolutepsyvids4444]

Great advice on this video! do you know why they sometimes have brown spots on their leaves?? My cordyline has brown leaves on bottom and the green ones are full with spots 😔 .

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi, Thanks for your comment, Can I ask where you live?... here in the UK the brown spots are quite common but doesn't seem to have a long term affect on the plants growth - here is my video about it kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKTYep2ElJ6IrJo - hope it helps?

[@absolutepsyvids4444]

@@rogthegardener1 thank you very much Roger! I live in northern Greece, zone8b ! It's not like coastal greece here 😩🤣

[@rogthegardener1]

@@absolutepsyvids4444 Ah - how lovely a bit drier than Wales!

[@absolutepsyvids4444]

@@rogthegardener1 and hotter too haha 🙂

[@stewartthompson5481]

When do I cut out the flowers cordyline Roger it’s now July and they have lovely big flowers on them 😇

[@rogthegardener1]

Hi Stewart, thanks for your comment. It is up to you really, some people just leave them on the tree and eventually (after a year or two) they fall off. Others leave them until the winter and then cut them off when the seed has ripened so that they can grow the seeds. But you can cut them off once they have finished, Some say you can do it as soon as you want so that all the energy goes into leaf production rather than setting seeds, but only slight concern would be that if they are cut off when very fresh there could be some 'bleeding' of sap ... but even the website of the RHS says to cut them out as soon as you want ... so it's up to you ... hope this helps, let us know how you get on. Here's a video of me cutting out a flower spike later in the year to collect the seeds kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJK8o2CGrqxjhLc

[@BB-hx1ei]

I can't stand the smell of thoughs white flowers that grown in them yuccas lol as I also have a big yucca mines grown about 8foot or maybe taller I also cut them off as I definitely can't do that smell

[@rogthegardener1]

Yes, I know what you mean, I quite like it but not everyone does, thanks for your comment - enjoy your garden

[@seansmith445]

The pungent smell of the flowers on the cordyline isn't to everyones taste.

[@rogthegardener1]

That’s true!