The trend for exotic gardening actually started more than 100 years ago with the Victorian plantfinders bringing back exotics from around the world for their plant-loving employees. Conservatories were filled with these luscious, verdant and floriferous plants and they were highly prized and coveted, no expense spared in their upkeep. Today, they are readily available from most garden centres but people tend to admire and pass them by in favour of more traditional bedding, thinking, wrongly, that exotics need so much more care and attention. In many cases they are simpler to look after and give a far more dramatic display. In addition many are surprisingly hardy, especially in town and sheltered gardens with the advent of global warming. Their annual rate of growth, be it from a small plant or seed, is phenomenal, giving the grower far more for their money than a tray of bedding. "Exotics are Easy" is a compilation of leading articles from "Exotic and Greenhouse Gardening" magazine. Written by experts for novices and professionals alike, they are easy to read, clear in detail and often amusing. Popular plants such as bananas, cordylines, phormiums and palms are covered in depth together with flowering exotics such as cannas, ginger lilies and bougainvilleas. Origins, propagation techniques, cultivation and, if necessary, overwintering advice, is given for each genera and all the articles are well-illustrated with tempting photographs of their subjects. Just a flick through this should tempt the reader into buying that banana or agave rather than passing them by with regret that they are 'difficult' and should inspire a new outlook on the possibilities of tropical gardening, once thought of as being available only in holiday destinations.
