IF YOU love botanical gardens and plant collections when you’re on holiday, why not bring that feelgood factor home by growing some of your far-flung favourites?
Plant inspiration can come from all over the world – from South Africa and the Caribbean, to Japan and Southern Europe – and you can grow many of the plants you see on your holidays at home. What better way to spark those special memories and hopes of sunnier times…
1. Protea: A native of South Africa, along with agapanthus, restios, strelitzia (bird of paradise) and tulbaghia, the protea (the king protea – Protea cynaroides), is the national flower of South Africa. You can spot them growing wild on Table Mountain, but you can grow them here too.
Treat them as an alpine but be aware they won’t behave as they do in their natural habitat, as they don’t like wetter, warmer winters. They are not hardy, but if you live in a mild area they should thrive in full sun and poor, acid soil, with plenty of air flow.
In cooler locations, grow them in a well ventilated greenhouse or conservatory, as they…
