JUNGLE magic

Get up close and personal to some of the wildest plants around

Leave behind the mundane and head into the lush tropics. Sink into their warmth and chill out on their charm – all without leaving home. Just pop out to your balcony or courtyard, where the colliding colours and fascinating foliage are your escape plan. And it all just comes in a pot! Cool!

MAKE IT HOT

Rich red, shocking pink and deepest burgundy highlight the variety of foliage shapes. Matching Cordyline ‘Rubra’, bloodleaf (Irisine sp), the big, bold Siam tulip (Curcuma sp) and a red-hearted bromeliad, all in similar green pots, creates cohesion.

CARE

All these plants want indirect light or light shade, a rich, moist soil and lots of heat and humidity. Protect the cordyline leaves from strong winds.

CANNA FROM HEAVEN

Take your pick from the many varieties of canna lily – big, striped or plain, colours from black to lime, topped off with their decadent flowers – then create a cushion of dark-leafed begonias leading to a garden path of calibrachoas.

CARE

Cannas require a moist soil, while begonias and calibrachoas need it to be free draining. So choose a large planter, put in canna, then contain begonias and calibrachoas in separate pots and place these in the planter with the lily.

GET THE TROPICAL LOOK

Many temperate-climate species have the look of tropical plants, so you can live in a cooler climate and still have a tropical theme. Here’s how to get the look!