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Tropical Plants

What perennial temperate plants grow best in the tropics ?

13 years ago

First of all the ones I have that do well. Roses are surprisingly good though they need a lot of pruning so they don't get leggy and some types are not long-lived. Camellia is excellent; pity its flowering season is so short. Honeysuckle oddly. Fuschias, hm, quickly get leggy and don't flower at all profusely. Azaleas - only if you "cheat" with the Indian variety which is tropical not temperate. Crocosmia - but that's from S America anyway. After that my invention runs out. Any plant that needs a cool rest is a no,no. Suggestions?

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Comments (4)

sdorell
13 years ago
Not sure about your zone, but Jasmine and gardenias do very well in Florida
bahia
13 years ago
Ironic that so many of us temperate gardeners would love to be able to grow the wealth of tropicals from Brazil. Even a garden in the tropics doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the possibilities. I wouldn't waste my time, personally, and would follow the example of Roberto Burle Marx, and celebrate the diversity of your native flora. I've spent time in Sao Paulo and Rio, and lived in Salvador, Bahia; so I've seen how roses, camellias, azaleas, etc seem to be a sentimental favorite amongst so many Brazilians. In my opinion, they always look out of place, and never as good as some of the local natives or tropicals from elsewhere around the world. I suspect the urge to grow what isn't really climate appropriate has more to do with seeming to be a master gardener and controlling nature, or simply horticultural one-upmanship, to show that you can do it when others can't. Or is it just a sort of "saudade" for what you grew up with?

Where the temperate stuff looks best,(or at least grows the best), is at higher elevations where it actually cools off at night sufficient to get temperate plants to grow well. I've seen apple plantations, agapanthus, hydrangeas, even some of our California natives such as Monterey Pines, Monterey Cypress, etc looking beautiful in the high mountains of Sri Lanka and the islands of Java and Bali, or the Hill Stations of Malaysia.
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ifraser25
Original Author
13 years ago
Oops, that's a little bit unfair, Bahia. Yes I do miss some temperate plants but that isn't the principal reason why I want to grow them. Yes sure, there are lots of great locals like Cosmos,Salvia,Morning Glory,Busy Lizzie, Passion Flower etc. The problem is a lot of them are extremely invasive and time consuming in the garden, the temperate plants I have are much more well-behaved! Thanks for your advice, however. Hydrangea, yes I have it and it does great, forgot that one. Agapanthus, not sure if that's truly temperate,but yes we have some, you have reminded me to plant more! I don't want to get into trees as we already have plenty and they are much less of a problem generally. Gardenia, I think someone else mentioned that. Jasmine - is that temperate? - we have one very small non-climbing plant. I'm told the poet's jasmine, Jasminum officinalis doesn't do well here because of the wet summers, but I will look out for other types.Still open to more suggestions....:-)
User
13 years ago
Interesting question. I'm in zone 7 and always trying to push the the zonal marginals. Zone 7 is interesting botanically, because there is already an overlap between some of the hardier "subtropicals" and conifers to the north. But getting back to you question, keep in mind, that many species that might be considered "temperate", frequently have more tropical relatives in related species (and so do better for you). Some of the "temperate" plants I might list, however, have a decidedly "tropical" look to them--despite their ability to survive prolonged subfreezing weather, snow and ice. Sounds like you are primarily interested in flowering plants and not too concerned whether they look "temperate" or not--just that they are non-invasive. Is this accurate?

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