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Walking around the new exotic garden at RHS Garden Wisley, you鈥檒l be transported to faraway places amidst great leafy banana plants, pint-sized pineapples, zingy yellow and orange cannas, lush-leaved ginger and wafting palms.

You might think that the British climate might struggle to accommodate such exotics, but 70% of the planting is hardy. This means that the garden contains a fantastic range of surprisingly hardy plants, including palms and exotic-looking conifers. These include long leaf pines, including the Mexican pines, Pinus montezumae, with big needles and other large leaf evergreens like eriobotrya.

Other hardy plants which look surprisingly tropical in the right setting include, Broad-leaved fatsias, huge-flowered magnolias and ferns with wispy fronds. Colour is achieved by underplanting with rudbeckia, Echinacea, Zantedeschia and hardy begonias with huge deep veined pink leaves.

One of the more unusual groups of plants featured are the gingers. These are a lot tougher than people think and are quite underused plants. They typically flower later in the season. They have exotic foliage through summer and flowers can go right through to the autumn, depending on how the summer鈥檚 been. The frost will take them back and they need to be mulched over in the winter along with other tender plants such as the dahlias and abutilons.

Royal Horticultural Society
RHS Garden Wisley
Woking
Surrey
GU23 6QB

Tel. 01483 224234

(www.rhs.org.uk)

A small enclosed hidden garden bursting at the seams with unusual features. Perfectly cloud pruned shrubs punctuate a lush green oasis full of tree ferns, hostas and a tropical mossy lusciousness with year round interest.

Five amazing 12,000 year old wooden pinacles from ancient Asian flooded forests rise up out of this green carpet giving sculptural focal points. This is a magical garden where there is something to excite the senses at every viewpoint.

Several water features wind through the garden giving a constant feeling of motion, but also tranquillity. Hidden seating areas allow intimate places for contemplation. Part of the National Garden Scheme open by appointment through to October.

37 Turpins Lane
Chigwell
Essex
IG8 8AZ

(www.ngs.org.uk)