Top 50 Unusual Plants Unusual or Exotic Plants to add a unique twist to your garden List Curated by Thomas McBride From research data collected and collated at the National Botanic Garden of Wales NB: Butterflies and Moths are not studied at the NBGW so any data on nectar plants beneficial for them is taken from Butterfly Conservation 51 Map Maps depict the native area of the plant (in green) Guide to using these pages: They also show areas the plant is naturalised (in purple) Latin Binomial All maps shown Name are derived from ‘Plants of the Common World Online’; English courtesy of Kew Name Gardens Flowering Period Photograph (this is when it is good of the plant for pollinators!) in flower Plant Family Insect groups known to Growing habit favour the and mature size nectar of this of the plant plant Useful knowledge or warnings about the plant RHS AGM cultivars of this species (or a related species occasionally) i Key to these Pages Warnings Additional information on these garden plants This plant would The flowers only be suitable for and/or leaves meadow-style have a Pleasant Plant tissue is highly planting scent toxic if ingested The plant has edible parts that are Sap may cause irritation Plant is often used in commonly eaten or (Wash hands after touching traditional Herbal Remedies used in cooking or avoid touching) ii Temperature RHS Hardiness Scale Some of the plants listed in our Top 200 are not fully H1a - Above 15ºC hardy in all or some parts of the United Kingdom. H1b - Minimum 10ºC Plants without a thermometer symbol are fully hardy in the severest UK Winter; equating to H5 or hardier. H1c - Minimum 5ºC Plants with a coloured thermometer symbol are hardy to varying degrees as follows: H2 - Minimum 1ºC H3 - Minimum -5ºC H4 - Minimum -10ºC H5 - Minimum -15ºC Almost Hardy Half-Hardy Not Frost Hardy Not Hardy (H4) (H3) (H2) (H1) iii Pollinators Our data on pollinators has been collected from studies spanning over a decade. Pollinator symbols appear when plants are proven to be good nectar (a) (b) plants for certain insects. It should be noted that all bee and hoverfly data is ours but lepidoptera data is taken from Butterfly Conservation. Our data spans a wide range of different insect species. For simplicity, these species have been condensed into six easy icons to represent them: (c) (d) a) Honeybees c) Bumblebees e) Moths b) Hoverflies d) Butterflies f) Solitary Bees (Includes Moths) (e) (f) iv Actinidia tetramera Rosy Crab-Apple Kiwi China Var. maloides Spring . Actinidiaceae Kiwi Family 12ft Climber Photograph from Flickr (CC) BBC Gardeners World 1 Alstroemeria x hybrida S. America Garden Peruvian-lily Complex group of hybrids of unknown parentage Alstroemeria genus ‘Apollo’ ‘Sirius’ Late Summer - Mid Autumn ‘Spitfire’ ‘Tessa’ Alstroemeriaceae Peruvian-lily Family 3ft Tuberous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Terry D Lucas 2 Amaranthus caudatus S. America Love-lies-bleeding None Midsummer - Early Autumn Amaranthaceae Amaranth Family 2ft Annual * Will not survive a frost, only half-hardy Photograph from Flickr (CC) Alwyn Ladell 3 Anaphalis margaritacea Asia Pearly Everlasting Related species: Anaphalis triplinervis Summer . 'Sommerschnee' Asteraceae Daisy Family 2ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Per Verdonk 4 Buddleja globosa S. America Orange-ball Butterfly Bush -Species- Summer . ‘Sungold’ (Hybrid) Scrophulariaceae Figwort Family Large Shrub Photograph from Flickr (CC) Margrit 5 Callicarpa bodinieri Bodinier’s Beautyberry East Asia Summer . ‘Profusion’ Autumn (Berries) Lamiaceae Mint Family Medium Shrub Photograph from Flickr (CC) Dietmut Teijgeman-Hansen 6 Campsis grandiflora Chinese Trumpet Vine East Asia Related Hybrid: (C. Radicans x C. grandiflora) Summer . Campsis x tagliabuana ‘Madame Galen’ Bignoniaceae Trumpet Vine Family 10ft+ Climber * This plant will not survive below -10’c night temperatures, protect from very harsh winter nights Photograph from Flickr (CC) Philip Chang 7 Capparis spinosa Mediterranean Caper Bush Arabia None Spring . Capparaceae Caper Family Medium Shrub * This plant will not survive below -10’c night temperatures, protect from very harsh winter nights Photograph from Flickr (CC) Tracie Hall 8 Carthamus tinctorius Caucasus Safflower None Summer . Asteraceae Daisy Family 2ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Marcus Winter 9 Ceratostigma plumbaginoides Hardy Blue Leadwort China -Species- Midsummer - Early Autumn Plumbaginaceae Leadwort Family 2ft Perennial Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) David J Stang 10 Cercis siliquastrum Eurasia Judas Tree ‘Bodnant’ Spring . Fabaceae Legume Family Small Tree Photograph from Flickr (CC) Andreas Rockstein 11 Cleome hassleriana S. America Common Spiderflower ‘Helen Campbell’ Midsummer - Early Autumn Cleomaceae Spiderflower Family 5ft Annual Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) Anon. 12 Commelina communis Asiatic Dayflower Ukraine, Caucasus & East Asia None Summer . Commelinaceae Dayflower Family 2ft Perennial Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) Reinhold Möller 13 Dahlia imperialis C. America Tree Dahlia None Summer . Asteraceae Daisy Family 6ft Tuberous Perennial * This plant will struggle to survive below -5’c night Photograph from Flickr (CC) James Gaither temperatures so plant in a sheltered spot and wrap the stems/mulch the base during the winter14 period. Delosperma lavisiae Drakensberg Ice Plant South Africa - Species - Summer . Aizoaceae Ice Plant Family 1ft Perennial Photograph from Wikipedia (CC) Alexander Klink 15 Dierama pulcherrimum Angel’s Fishing Rod South Africa None Summer . Iridaceae Iris Family 5ft Cormous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Nick Kenrick 16 Digitalis x valinii Europe Illumination Foxglove Digitalis purpurea x Digitalis canariensis (syn. Isoplexis caneriensis) Macaronesia Digitalis canariensis Digitalis purpurea None Summer . Plantaginaceae Plantain Family 3ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Fitz Clarke 17 Echium candicans Pride of Madeira Macaronesia -Species- Late Spring - Midsummer Boraginaceae Borage Family 6ft Biennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Christian Arballo * This plant can only be grown outside during the summer (above 5’c night temperatures) 18 Eucomis comosa Common Pineapple-lily South Africa ‘Sparkling Early Summer - Early Autumn Burgundy’ Asparagaceae Asparagus Family 2ft Bulbous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Yew Chan 19 Mediterranean Ferula communis & East Africa Giant Fennel None Summer . Apiaceae Carrot Family 10ft Perennial * This plant should be grown in a sheltered location (cannot survive below -5’c night temperatures) Photograph from Flickr (CC) Lotus Johnson 20 Francoa sonchifolia Chile Common Bridalwreath Potentially ‘Pink Bouquet’ Summer . Francoaceae Bridalwreath Family 3ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Eric Hunt 21 Fritillaria imperialis Western Asia Crown Imperial - Species - Spring . ‘Maxima Lutea’ Liliaceae Lily Family 3ft Bulbous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Emma Patsie 22 Gardenia jasminoides Cape Jasmine, Gardenia East Asia - Species - ‘Daisy’ Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Kleim’s Hardy’ Rubiaceae Madder Family Small Shrub The two varieties listed are almost hardy but may not survive Photograph from Flickr (CC) David Hill below -5’c winter nights. Other varieties may be much less hardy so be careful to select cold-hardy varieties if you wish to grow23 them outdoors. Grevillea rosmarinifolia Australia Rosemary-leaved Grevillea East Asia - Species - Midwinter - Early Summer ‘Canberra Gem’ (Hybrid with G. juniperina) Proteaceae Protea Family Small Shrub Photograph from Flickr (CC) Richard Lane 24 Hedychium x moorei Hedychium coccineum Hedychium gardnerianum Hardy Ginger-lily Hedychium coccineum x Hedychium gardnerianum (Probable) SE Asia ‘Tara’ Late Summer - Mid Autumn Zingiberaceae Ginger Family 6ft Perennial * This plant will not survive below -10’c night temperatures, protect from very harsh winter nights Photograph from Flickr (CC) Esin Üstün 25 Ipomoea tricolor Mexico Morning Glory ‘Heavenly Blue’ Summer . Convolvulaceae Bindweed Family 8ft Climbing Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) Maja Dumat * This plant can only be grown outside during the summer (above 5’c night temperatures) 26 Kalmia latifolia N. America Mountain-laurel ‘Freckles’ Mid Spring - Early Summer ‘Pink Charm’ Ericaceae Heather Family Medium Shrub Photograph from Flickr (CC) Nicholas A. Tonelli 27 Lamprocapnos spectabilis Bleeding Heart East Asia - Species - Mid Spring - Early Summer ‘Alba’ ‘Valentine’ Papaveraceae Poppy Family 2ft Perennial Photograph from Flickr (CC) Mark Wordy 28 Leucadendron salignum Common Sunshine Conebush South Africa ‘Safari Sunset’ Midsummer (Hybrid with L. laureolum) - Mid Autumn Proteaceae Protea Family Small Shrub * This plant should be grown in a sheltered location (cannot survive below -5’c night temperatures) Photograph from Flickr (CC) Eric Hunt 29 Lilium lancifolium Tiger Lily East Asia Related sp: L. pardalinum Summer . Liliaceae Lily Family 4ft Bulbous Photograph from Flickr (CC) Katie Steiger-Meister 30 Limnanthes douglasii N. America Poached Egg Plant -Species- Midsummer - Early Autumn Limnanthaceae Meadowfoam Family 1ft Annual Photograph from Flickr (CC) James Gaither 31 Lobelia cardinalis N. America Red Cardinal Flower - Species - Midsummer - Early Autumn ‘Queen Victoria’ Campanulaceae Bellflower Family 3ft Annual* *Or short-lived Photograph from Flickr (CC) Kerry Woods Marshlands 32 half-hardy perennial Magnolia acuminata N. America Blue Magnolia, Cucumbertree Related Hybrids: ‘Elizabeth’ Spring . ‘Gold Star’* Magnoliaceae Magnolia Family Medium Tree *The species can vary