Tropical style planting thrives in our humid, sunny, rainy climate in Auckland. There are so many plants that do well with our mild winters and subtropical temperatures that it’s easy to create a lush garden, the difficult part is deciding what to choose. If you aim for layered planting with different heights, textures, and foliage shapes, the garden will look interesting and full throughout the year. A good place to start is with what you like and then add to that.
Here are some tropical plant ideas and give it a New Zealand twist by including some of our beautiful natives:
Palms
These palms are mid sized and friendly – no poisonous spikes (looking at you Phoenix palm) or 20 metre giants here. Some favourites of mine are:
Kentia – Howeria fosteriana grows to approx 5 metres in 10 years. It has a slender trunk and graceful fronds.
Bamboo Palm – Chamaedorea costaricana – Grows in full sun to semi-shade and forms clusters in a non-invasive way. Its great for narrow spaces where you want to achieve some height or screening. Reaches approx 3mtrs high.
Chatham Islands Nikau – Rhopalostylis sapida ‘Chatham Island’ – an iconic NZ palm with sculptural fronds. Nikaus are relatively slow growing and can eventually reach 10 metres. They are tolerant to high winds and salt.
Sago Palm – Cycad revoluta – Grows to approx 1M x 1M and very hardy. Its wind tolerant, drought tolerant and manages coastal conditions.
TREES
Trees will form the canopy layer in your garden and help to attract native birds. They can be underplanted with smaller species that need a bit of shade.
Puka
Meryta sinclairii
Native stunner with gorgeous big paddle shaped leaves. Coastal, wind and salt tolerant.
Magnolia
Magnolia ‘Vulcan’
Deciduous magnolia with huge bright crimson flowers when not much else is flowering.
Cabbage tree
Cordyline australis
Another native stunner and the flowers smell unexpectedly delicious. Make sure to plant away from lawns or you will be cursing the fallen leaves when they get caught in the mower. Otherwise only maintenance really required is to pull off dead fronds.
Camellia
Camellia spp.
So many varieties to choose from – be sure to pick a camellia that suits the conditions in your garden, some like semi-shade, some can take more sun. Colours are mostly red, pink or white.
SHRUBS
Forming the middle layer of a tropical garden, choose shrubs for a variety of foliage shape and colour.
Taro (Elephants Ears)
Colocasia esculenta
Large leafy foliage. Needs to be contained as has a vigorous growth habit. Very easy to grow.
Lobster Claw
Heliconia spissa
Likes semi-shade. Spreads by rhizomes. Needs a good tidy up when leaves start to look messy.
Hibiscus
Hibiscus spp.
Hawaiian varieties have larger flowers but are less hardy than the Fijian varieties. Full sun and free draining soil required.. Tons of colours to choose from. Prune hard after flowering.
Bird of Paradise
Strelitzia reginae
Prefers full sun. A low maintenance plant in the right position.
Brazilian Plume Flower
Justicia carnea
Must be planted in shade. Pink tubular flared flowers.
Vireya
Vireya rhododendron spp.
Multiple colours to choose from, just deadhead after flowering. When vireya are established and happy they will flower almost continuously.
Dragon Tree
Dracaena marginata ‘Colourama’
These plants have a reputation for being nearly unkillable so may be a good choice for a hesitant gardener. They prefer dappled – indirect light, so don’t leave them in full sun.
Gardenia
Gardenia augusta ‘Florida’
I’m loving ‘Florida’ & ‘Veitchii’ varieties at the moment. They don’t seem to get leggy the way ‘Professor Pucci’ can. Grows to approx 1 x 1 metre with beautiful fragrant white flowers.
More shrubs….
- Tibouchina – so many varieties and any colour you like as long as it is a shade of purple! ‘Blaze of Glory’ is a reliable small shrub approx 1 x 1 mtr with variegated foliage and bright purple flowers. It flowers for months on end.
- Dwarf frangipani ‘Gold Nugget’ Hymenosporum ‘Gold Nugget – although the flowers are amazing, I would actually chose this for the thick, dense foliage.
- Frangipani Plumeria spp. – stunning flowers and scent.
- Swiss cheese plant – Monstera deliciosa – super low maintenance and just grows and grows in Auckland. Very sculptural leaves.
- Abutilon – This very easy going shrub flowers in late winter when there is not much other colour happening and carries on through summer. Comes in yellow, pink and red. The flowers look like upside down small hibiscus. Needs a good prune to keep in shape annually. Can get a bit leggy if doesn’t get enough sun. When it’s planted in the right place, Abutilon is a very low maintenance plant.
- Pohutukawa shrub – Metrosideros ‘Tahiti’ – I’ve found this can be quite slow to get established, but once it gets going it doesn’t stop flowering.
Groundcovers
Evergreen ground cover will fill the base of your tropical garden. Dense ground cover suppresses weeds
Ajuga
Ajuga reptans
Their superpower is tolerating a huge range of conditions: wet, dry, sun, shade and in-between. Ajuga will slowly spread but not in an annoying invasive way. Blue or pink flowers in spring.
Bergenia
Bergenia cordialis
Grow them for the large round foliage with bonus white, pink or red flowers over winter. Bergenias helpfully have a long flowering season when not much else is in bloom.
Mini-agapanthus
Agapanthus spp.
Often sold as Eco-panthus, these are non-invasive, sterile plants that are safe to plant in Auckland. The old school Agapanthus praecox weedy version is on the Auckland Council pest list and it is illegal to buy, sell or plant it.
Philodendron
Philodendron xanadu
Tractor seat
Ligularia reniformis
The iconic Tractor seat plant does best in semi-shaded conditions with moist soil. Can droop if it gets too much afternoon sun. Grows to about 80cms x 80cms.
Blood leaf plant
Iresine herbstii
Year-round deep red foliage with pink veins. Iresine is drought tolerant but prefers a sheltered position in semi-shade to thrive.
Approx 70 x 70 cms.
Clivia
Clivia miniata spp.
Traditionally clivia flowers are orange but recent cultivars have yellow, red or green blooms. Clivia need to be planted in shade or the dark green leaves bleach out. Approx 60 x 60cms.
Renga renga
Arthropodium cirratum
‘Matapouri Bay’ is a good variety. They grow to about 80 x 80cms and I’ve found they prefer semi-shade, or at least shade from afternoon sun in Auckland. Very graceful, lace-like flowers in spring and summer.
FLOWERS
To build a layered tropical garden, flowers can bring a pop of colour while helping to fill a small space.
Canna
Cannas look great in a mixed planting in the middle or rear of a border. They need to be cut back after flowering and will leave a visible hole in the garden if placed at the front. They flower profusely in Auckland, and come in shades of red, pink, orange and yellow with foliage colours ranging from bright green to variagated to dark burgandy.
Rain Lily – Zephyranthes
These cute white flowers open after a rain shower. The bulbs spread over time in a non-invasive way. Rain lilies are also very easy to grow from seed.
Osteospermum
Pink, white or purple flowers and hugely drought tolerant once established. They flower for months and then cut them back when they start to look a bit ratty.
Fuchsia
Preferring light shade and protection from harsh sunlight, Fuchsias will flower for months on end. There are endless colour combinations available now.
FERNS
Ferns generally like dappled shade or at very least protection from the harsh afternoon sun. They also tend to like moist, well drained soil. They are great for a south-west corner in the garden.
Hen & Chickens fern
In the right place, these ferns are super low maintenance. The leaves will burn if they get too much sun and dry out.
Silver Lady
Slowly grows to a metre high. Silver lady has very graceful foliage. She will burn if the sunlight is too harsh.
Ponga
Our beautiful tree fern needs a mention and deserves a place in any garden with enough space and the right conditions.
BROMELIADS & SUCCULENTS
The definition of easy-care, succulents & bromeliads can compliment the ground cover layer of a tropical garden and are good for filling gaps.
Sedum ‘Gold mound’
Gorgeous lime greeny-gold foliage. To encourage it to spread, break off a little bit and gently plant in the soil.
Echeveria
Also known as Mexican Roses, these pretty little succulents are extremely drought tolerant.
Aeonium arboreum
Prefers full sun and dry soil but will grow in many conditions.
Silver Vase
Aechmea fasciata
Watch out for the sharp edges on the leaves of these beautiful bromeliads. Beautiful pink flowers appear for months on end, contrasting nicely with grey-green foliage.
CLIMBERS & VINES
Cover a wall or fence with these climbers and vines that grow vigorously when established.
Flame Vine
Pyrostegia venusta
Flowers late autumn through winter and has a vigorous growth habit once it gets going.
Jasmine
Trachelospermum jasminoides
Highly fragrant small white flowers in spring. Very easy to grow.
Kawakawa
Macropiper excelsum
Lush native climber. The leaves have a peppery taste and you can make tea from them too.
3 Kings Vine
Tecomanthe speciosa
This native climber will need support but will reward you with glossy green leaves and tubular white flowers.
Beautiful climbers that did not make it on to the list:
Mandevilla – I have found Mandevillas to be very difficult to grow here. On my street 5 of us planted them because we had admired them in each others gardens and none of us were able to keep them alive for more than two years, even though we are all experienced gardeners. So although they are incredibly beautiful I don’t think they work very well in our conditions.
Bougainvillea – Love the flowers, hate the thorns. End of story.
Tropical plant nurseries
Support some of our fantastic local plant nurseries who have a great selection of tropical plants. These guys are really helpful and because they are local, you know their plants will grow in our conditions.
The Green Grower – https://www.thegreengrower.nz/
Matakana Palms – https://matakanapalms.co.nz/
Touch of the Tropics – https://touchofthetropics.co.nz/
Matakana Frangipani – https://matakanafrangipani.nz/
Not specially tropical plant nurseries but do stock tropical plants:
Kings Plant Barn Silverdale – very convenient & local, very knowledgeable staff
AWA Nursery – a bit of a hike out to Waimauku, but worth the drive if you need lots of plants. They have a huge selection and are very well priced.
Concept Botanica – gorgeous plant nursery in Whenuapai and they can source just about anything.
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