cover image Exotic Garden: Designing with Tropical Plants in Almost Any Climate

Exotic Garden: Designing with Tropical Plants in Almost Any Climate

Richard R. Iversen, Richard R. Averson, Richard R. Iverson. Taunton Press, $27.95 (176pp) ISBN 978-1-56158-232-7

Aimed at gardeners who, horticulture writer Iversen believes, ""crave something new and different"" but still ""focus on times past,"" this book reprises the Victorian passion for banana trees, elephant ears and a host of other cold-defying tropical plants. And who better to guide temperate gardeners in tropical matters than a Caribbean transplant? A longtime horticulturist in Barbados, Iversen now resides and gardens on Long Island, where he insists tropicals are ""as easy to plant and grow outdoor as a tomato or zucchini."" When the author thinks tropical, he thinks fast, flamboyant and fabulous foliage. Most plants mature by midsummer to become autumn showstoppers, and garden design emphasizes foliage and texture over color. Favoring a totally tropical setting, the author spotlights the popular 19th-century lawn beds and garden enclosures, mentioning little about mixing tropicals with traditional American/English perennial, shrub and annual borders. Although gardeners may be awestruck by the ""absurd scale"" of plants that ""defy our prim garden conventions,"" a chapter on container gardening shows how space need not constrain the dramatic effect of tropical plantings. In smart, spirited prose that suits his subject, Iversen may convince even skeptics that ""you don't need a jungle to grow plants from the jungle."" Included is a 100-plant glossary and 234 color photos. (Apr.)