Exotic Garden

The Exotic garden is already special to me. A film clip of Christopher Lloyd showing Rosemary Verey around the exotic garden broadened my horizons to what gardening can be. It inspired me to follow my ambitions and come to Dixter. Christopher has a captivating manner, his words and choice of language engage people to really listen and learn. At times a cheeky side to Christopher's personality surface, as he drops little lines almost teasing Rosemary. I particularly enjoy the ending "Oh gosh... what do we mean by an English country garden anyway? A garden is a garden; it’s stuffed with excitement, good plants and arrangements of them. Whether it looks English or not, I would not care."

Veiw from the terrace to the exotic garden, the tall structural plants instantly catch your gaze: Acer negundo 'Flamingo', Miscanthus sinensis var. condensatus 'Cosmopolitan', Musa basjoo

Begonia luxurians in the centre of the picture, looking into the garden from the hovel

The exotic garden is the area I begin the day in; sweeping, deadheading and irrigating in dry conditions. What a joy it is to navigate through the different textures, foliage and tropical colours.

The exotic garden was the original site of a Lutchens designed rose garden. The roses had reached a position where they were leggy and heavily spotted. In 1993 Christo took the decision to remove the majority and create a new feel to this garden. The intention was to create a garden that was at its best late into the season and to experiment with large leaved plants to give a feeling of being closer to the equator. 

Bold tropical foliage of Colocasia esculenta 'Fontanesii'

The situation of the Exotic garden helps create its atmosphere enclosed, sheltered and warmed by the Yorkstone paving. The layout of the close beds allows for a variety of interesting textures and focal points; however it is not possible to see the whole garden in a single position so visitors must be within the picture itself, interacting with the plants to explore these views. This year the sense of feeling is that you are negotiating your way through a jungle environment. One morning while I was deadheading Dahlia 'Twynings After Eight' I could hear roaring, as children from the 'garden explorer club' came rustling through the vegetation with faces painted like tigers. For children closer to the ground the exotic garden must be an ‘other-worldy’ experience.  

Amicia zygomereis

Dahlia australis

Dahlia 'Chimborazo'

In terms of planting in the exotic garden the rule is there are no rules, just an awareness of sense of place. A whole range of plants are selected on the merit that they are of interest late summer and possess bold textural characteristics, but can still knit together to create an environment. Exotic colour is dotted throughout by the use of Dahlias, Cannas and original roses. Verbena bonariensis is allowed to self seed throughout and help brings unity to the garden.

Wonderful examples of contrasting foliage that creates a big picture

Japanese banana Musa basjoo

The exotic garden is an experimental garden inspired from Christos travelling. By seeing chronological slides of the exotic garden it becomes obvious that it is an area of evolution and can look completely different year on year. This decision is usually finalised by Ferg in June when the garden is planted up fully.

Tetrapanax papyrifer

Cyperus papyrus

A splash of exotic colour in Dahlia 'Witteman's  Superba'