Cactus Garden (Jardín de Cactus) Lanzarote César Manrique - Beautiful Sl...

If you find yourself at a loose end on the Cany island of lanzarote then hire a caba and check out this truly gorgeous, and well thought-out cactus and succulent garden designed by local Lanzarote artist Cesar Manrique. It is a jewel in the crown of this island and I would recommend to anyone who is horticulturally minded.

Sited in a disused quarry, the excavated sides and man-made terracing dramatically compliment the specimen cacti and succulents therein.

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Snake Charmers Traditional Moroccan - Marrakesh (Marrakech) - Jamaa el F...

This short film is part of our lost video collection from when we first visited Morocco in 2010. It was a little wild in Morocco at that time and being tall Europeans we stood out like a sore thumb making us an absolute target for the locals. The whole time we were then we were being approached by unwanted salesmen, scammed several times until we realised what was going on, and generally ignored in the cafes and restaurants presumably because of either local religious reasons or because I was with my wife.

That being said we visited a few years later after the King of Morocco wanted to create an environment that would attract more foreign visitors and we found it felt a lot safer with much less unsolicited encounters.

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Tropical Gardens UK: Tree Fern Winter Maintenance - Dicksonia antarctica

Once we have completed our winter protection of Tree Ferns we tend to forget about them until the spring when we have to take it off again. Now, depending on the prevailing temperatures, weather and type of protection provided a certain amount of maintenance may be necessary - especially if the fronds are wrapped. In this video we discuss what can be done to make sure that come the spring, your tree ferns start the year in the best condition possible.

This is so important, especially in years where there are unseasonably low temperatures or late springs otherwise your tree fern can struggle to get back to conditions and in extreme cases severely damage the plant. So by giving your tree ferns a head start you will have a luxurious canopy in no time!

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Tropical Gardens UK: Nerine Collection at West Dean Gardens

Its rare to come across any nerine in the UK unless it is the ubiquitous (and the only species proven to be hardy in the UK) Nerine bowdenii - the Guernsey lily, name as such despite its South African origins! However there are approximately 20–30 other half-hardy and tender species in the genus, the exact number of which is still being debated by scientists.

As you would expect from a genus with such a showy blooms, Nerines have been widely cultivated and much hybridized worldwide, especially Nerine bowdenii, N. masoniorum, N. sarniensis and N. undulata. Notably, the hybrid cultivar 'Zeal Giant' with its umbels of deep pink flowers up to 5 cm across has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. However most of the other 20 species are rarely cultivated and very little is known regarding their biology. 

In fact many species are threatened with extinction due to the loss or degradation of their habitat which is why the collection of Nerines on show in the Victorian glass house is something very species indeed. Where else are you going to see such a range of quality plants in bloom?

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Tropical Gardens UK: How to Overwinter (Winterize) Glory Lily, Flame li...

Most gardeners responsible for exotic gardens dread the late autumn as with it come a huge amount of plant winterisation. One such plant is the Glory lily which cannot be left out in freezing, wet conditions otherwise the root tubers will easily damage and rot! There are a few techniques which you can employ, usually I tip the pot over mid-autumn to prevent rain water from soaking the root-ball then I bring the pot into the greenhouse and leave it to dry out until I bring it back in the spring. This year I have done it differently as I am out of space in the green house which turned out to be perfect as a number of my hardy exotic have been damaged despite being in the greenhouse due to an exceptionally cold spell!

So now the tubers have been washed clean, dried and stored in a drawer in the kitchen. Once the threat of late frosts have passed they will be potted on again, placed outside in full sun and watered thoroughly.

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Tropical Gardens UK: Simon's Top 5 Cold Hardy, Tropical Effect, Exotic P...

Welcome to my current Top 5 list of my favourite tropical effect plants with hardy bananas going straight to the top spot. All of these are tried and tested for their ornamental value, hardiness and 'tropical look' so you can be confident in planting them in your own garden and not worrying to much about whether they will survive or need much maintaining.

If you are interested in such things then the garden we are in is the Exotic garden at RHS Wisley and is one of our top favourite gardens here in the UK.

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Tree Echium (Echium pininana) winter Maintenance and caterpillar Damage

Ahh, Tree Echiums or as I clearly like to call them 'Giant Echiums', which of course they are! The problem with growing them on the south coast of England is that they live on the very edge of where they can survive. This means that a harsh winter here can really damage them. So in order to survive into the following season they will need some frost protection - which creates its own problem. When left hidden under cover, it is possible that caterpillars are in there too meaning that they can happily munch on the succulent new growth throughout the winter leaving you with a damaged, poor quality specimen come the spring!

No at first sight your specimen my look absolutely fine, and of course these plants really want to grow so will happily produce luxurious side shoots as soon as the weather improves. The problem is that these side shoots are always weakly connected to the main branch. So as they grow upwards to produce the flower spike they will not be able to hold themselves in strong winds resulting in fallen spikes which has snapped where they join the trunk.

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Majorelle Gardens, Jardin Majorelle, Marrakech (Marrakesh), Morocco, Exo...

We have visited Majorelle gardens a couple of times, but for this first visit the gardens were exceptional! Everywhere was so tidy, staff were around clearing the paths, it was like a breath of fresh air. Typically Moroccan, as you would expect, it was fantastic to see gardeners using different techniques to us in northern Europe to cope with the hotter dryer conditions.

Recently Lorna had reminded me that I have taken some footage here, something that I didn't remember doing - which was fair as it was 13 years ago!  However, after an argument, I was made to go into the loft and drag out the old video camera. Of course Lorna was right, there was enough footage to make this short video from the previously lost footage.

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Quickest, Easiest Way to Overwinter (Winterise) Hardy Banana - Musa basjoo

The hardy Japanese banana is often the jewel in an exotic garden. So if an unexpected cold spell is forecast that could damage your prized specimen you will need to provide adequate cold protection and fast! So here on the south coast of England winters are generally mild, but on occasion significantly cold temperatures a can arrive which will need managing. In this video, English horticulturist Simon explains the quickest and easiest way to save the day and hopefully your banana pseudostems for a more established exotic garden in the spring. Just make sure you have the required paraphernalia to hand! Remember that this is at the lower end of winter protection and the colder the region you live in the more cold protection will need to be put in place!

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Tropical Gardens UK: Lornas Top 5 Must-Have Exotic Plants

If you are thinking about creating a cold hardy, tropical effect, exotic garden and are looking to find out which plants are going to give you a great ornamental effect then why not check out English horticulturist Lorna's top 5 plants which are among the toughest and eye-catching available?

In this video Lorna has journeyed to RHS Wisley to check out their magnificent exotic garden and see which plants are looking the most impressive. Bearing in mind that this was filmed in December it was easy to pick out her top 5 outstanding cold hardy, tropical effect plants.

If you have any great suggestions for your own top 5 cold hardy, tropical effect, exotic garden then why not let us know in the YouTube comments?

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Gorgeous Alpine Garden at Nymans - We were Barred!

The alpine garden at Nymans in West Sussex is one of the key features here. Unfortunately and despite being a glorious autumn November day we found that we were barred (along with all the other visitors that day) from visiting this part of the garden! Why? Well the ground here was so wet that water was beginning to pool on the surface so anyone walking across it will cause damage. 

That being said you can see the overall landscape in which the alpine garden sits which will give you an indication of how good these gardens really are.

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