The Tropical Look: An Encyclopedia of Dramatic Landscape Plants - Softcover

Riffle, Robert Lee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1604690836 ISBN 13: 9781604690835

Publisher: Timber Press, 2009

Synopsis

Meant primarily for gardeners in USDA zones 8–10, The Tropical Look encompasses most of the southern U.S. and the West Coast. This groundbreaking encyclopedia of lush plants will also be useful to gardeners in other zones who are interested in growing tropical-looking plants (as opposed to strictly tropical plants, which cannot endure a frost) as half-hardy, annual, or conservatory plants.

This book is only available through print on demand. All interior art is black and white. 

About this title

About the Author

Robert Lee Riffle (1940–2006) was an internationally recognized authority on palms and tropical plants. His landmark book, The Tropical Look: An Encyclopedia of Dramatic Landscape Plants (1998), won an American Horticultural Society Book Award, as did An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms (2003), which he co-wrote with Paul Craft. For 25 years Bob was a strong presence online, answering questions and encouraging gardeners in their endeavors via postings on garden and plant message boards. He generously shared his extensive knowledge gently and with wit as the moderator of the International Palm Society's active PalmTalk message board. Bob was an accomplished pianist, a gifted photographer, and an enthusiastic film buff. He had finished writing the manuscript for the Timber Press Pocket Guide to Palms when he passed away unexpectedly.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

MEGASKEPASMA (meh-gas'-ke-PAZ-ma)

Acanthaceae: The Acanthus Family

BRAZILIAN RED-CLOAK

Large herbaceous shrub; immense ovate leaves; gigantic terminal red flower spikes

Zones 10b and 11 as a permanent perennial; zone 9b as a returning perennialSun to partial shade

Average but regular amounts of moisture

Average well-drained soil

Propagation by cuttings
A monotypic genus that occurs naturally in southern Venezuela.
Megaskepasma erythrochlamys
(e-rit'-ro-KLAY-mis) (synonym Adhatoda cydoniifolia) is a magnificent shrub with a grotesque botanical name. It grows to at least 6 feet in height and, without frost, often to 10 or even 12 feet. The leaves are a foot, sometimes more, long, and are elliptical to ovate in shape with a prominent and lighter colored (rarely pink) large midrib and slightly depressed lateral veins, which give somewhat of a quilted effect to the blade. The plants bloom mainly in the fall through the spring, but summer blooms are not uncommon. The erect terminal inflorescence is a foot or more tall and consists of closely packed large scarlet to purplish red bracts enclosing elongated arching two-lipped white flowers, which peek out in the same manner as those of Justicia brandegeana (shrimp plant). This shrub is breathtaking in the landscape as a tall background subject underplanted with almost anything that is not as tall; one of the most intriguing partners is the shrimp plant whose more subtle flower colors are extremely complementary with those of the red-cloak. The plant in bloom is shockingly spectacular when one first encounters it because of its unexpected size in leaf and flower cluster. This shrub has soared in popularity in the 1990s. Plate 279, above.

1999 AmericanHorticultural Society Annual Book Award Winner

Edition details

• Publisher: Timber Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1604690836
• ISBN 13: 9781604690835
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 524