I won a copy of Marianne Willburn’s inviting book on tropical plants at a gardening event last fall. The author cheerfully signed it for me, though I warned her that tropical plants were not really my thing. “Maybe this book will change your mind,” she said. It may have, too, judging by the list of tropicals I’m pondering adding to my containers come spring.
Tropical Plants and How to Love Them (Cool Springs Press, 2021) is all about understanding your relationship with plants that are very far out of your zone. How you love (or just use) tropical plants depends on your time, energy and garden style, Willburn says, and she offers plenty of tips and plant suggestions to employ whether you choose a summer fling or a long-term and challenging commitment.
Willburn, who has also written on gardening in small spaces, came reluctantly to using tropicals in her temperate garden in northern Virginia. Over time, she discovered tropicals fill design niches in outdoor gardens and that they do not have to be cash drains or plant divas. The first half of the book is about deciding what kind of a relationship you want to have with tropicals. She divides these relationships into five fun and apt categories:
- Summer Romances. If you grow coleus, impatiens or caladium in your pots you understand this relationship. Love them for a season and into the compost they go.
- Long-term Commitment. These are houseplants of tropical origins that go outside for the summer to give your garden or containers architecture and interest.
- Best Friends. Like your best buddy, these are reliable and easy-going plants that shine in the garden in summer and can be tucked away in the basement all winter with no hard feelings. Cannas, dahlias, zonal geraniums and many others fit in this category.
- High-Maintenance Partner. Plants that require high humidity in winter, strong light and constant pest patrol may be worth the work. Or not. Willburn helps you decide which of these difficult plants (if any) you want to add to your garden or houseplant collection.
- Friends with Benefits. Some tropicals are edible, such as turmeric, ginger and lemongrass among others. These plants look great in containers and add spice to your kitchen.
In addition to helping gardeners decide which tropical plants are right for them, Willburn offers ideas for designing with and caring for tropicals. She suggests how to choose a container, when to move houseplants to a larger container (she recommends spring) and how to place containers to create tropical vignettes. Advice on storing bulbs for the winter is especially helpful to northern gardeners, including her suggestion to wrap some bulbs in a towel before storing to prevent drying out. The last quarter of the book is filled with profiles of more than 30 tropical plants, including what kind of a relationship she recommends you have with them, potential pests and ideal growing conditions.
If you’re not sure you want to grow tropical plants but like the look, she also recommends “mocktrops,” hardy plants that look tropical, such as northern favorites like butterbur, Ligularia and Rodgersia.
Filled with solid advice and inspiring photos, Tropical Plants and How to Love Them is a helpful introduction to growing tropical plants for new gardeners (or young gardeners expanding their houseplant collection outdoors) and for experienced gardeners who didn’t think tropicals were their thing.
Mary Lahr Schier is a long-time Minnesota garden writer. Follow her on Instagram at @mynortherngarden_mary.
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