Orchid tree. Photo: Don J Schulte
One of the first , if not the first thing to consider when creating a new garden or re-vamping an old one, is to work out which plants do well in your locale. There are more micro-climates around than you or I realize – even in Phuket. So it’s a good idea to go on reconnaisance in your area, and discover which garden plants are successful and why. Let’s take one example. A friend has an English wood that is carpeted with wild primroses every March. A mile away, a friend can’t get any primroses to grow for love nor money, even though the conditions appear similar. Why? Who knows . But an educated guess would probably link the disparity to soil conditions, and the availability of suitable nutrients and moisture in the earth. Primroses need little sun, but plenty of water and an acidic soil. Plants only naturalize when conditions are right.
Switch 7000 miles to Phuket… Owners of an island spa have just taken the decision to clothe a bare, sun-drenched wall with some new shrubs. They have chosen pairs of wrightia religiosa, ylang ylang, bauhinia blakeana ( Hongkong orchid tree) already in flower, magnolia champaca, and, at each end , fiddle-wood trees (citherexylum). There are already mature ylang ylang vines clothing the trellis outside the sauna, already a row of wrightias flourishing in shade behind the relaxation area, a single magnolia champaca set in a grassy area. All of these are doing well in their new environment, having already shown that soil conditions in the spa are conducive to their particular needs. And the newly planted wrightias are not phased by the remorseless sun, since they are shrubs that will take to almost any conditions – except bone-dry soil. The tulip trees, magnolias and fiddlewoods , used to sunny aspects, are also doing ok. Interestingly, all these species are happily growing in gardens in the vicinity.
So up to a point, the spa people have, quite literally, done their homework in choosing shrubs and small trees appropriate for the location. Furthermore, the new plants have been regularly soaked, and a raised ridge of soil forming a circle round each one has ensured the retention of plenty of water.
A second matter to consider with a new planting is the relative size and the growth habit of your new charges. For example, the ylang ylang( cananga odorata) is technically a vine and will need support. In time, maybe, it can be attached to the adjacent wall. The tulip trees will eventually reach fifteen to twenty feet and will stand on their own. No problem. Always a good choice. Likewise the champaca which will become an elegant small tree. So too the fiddlewoods which are the fastest growing, and ultimately the largest of this quintet. Sensibly they have been placed at each end of the wall, so that they will not crowd out their smaller brethren .The wrightias are perhaps the most surprising selection, since they are small shrubs, rarely more than six feet in height, and with a a very open structure.. Still, they will doubtless prove effective understorey shrubs once the others get into their stride.
I almost forgot. All these varieties produce beautiful blooms: the orchid tree, the largest and most exotic purple flowers, the champaca attractive cream or pale yellow flowers. The fiddlewood blossoms abundantly, producing long spikes of tiny white blooms, ylang ylang has distinctive deep yellow flowers which hang downwards, and wrightia has delicate drooping white blooms.
Oh, and one other very relevant thing…. All these shrubs and trees, with the exception of the scentless bauhinia,a exude the most delightful fragrance. And in the setting of a spa, that is surely the most important consideration of all…
green galoshes 