Transform Your Garden: How I Blended Exotic Plants with Edible Vegetables for a Jungle-Inspired Oasis

yorkshirekris
Aug 20
2 min read

Wide shot of the garden showing lush foliage, towering palms, and vegetable vines

Introduction: Where Jungle Meets Kitchen Garden

What happens when you combine exotic tropical plants with everyday vegetables? You get a lush, productive paradise that’s as beautiful as it is bountiful. In this post, I’m sharing a walk-through of my exotic jungle garden with a vegetable twist, and how it's worked wonderfully—both visually and practically—this summer.

🌴 A Lush Layered Garden with a Purpose

This year, I transformed a key part of the garden into a multi-layered edible landscape. As we head into late August, the gingers, palm trees, canna lilies, and scheffleras dominate the upper canopy, while the lower levels are filled with nutritious and surprisingly ornamental crops.

🥕 Edibles in the Jungle: What I Planted

Here are the four main edibles that have been thriving:

Winter Squashes – Huge leaves and strong vines, doubling as foliage.
Yellow Courgettes (Round & Long) – Prolific producers since early July.
Tomatoes – Nestled among the tropicals, ripening steadily.
Amaranthus – An edible, grain-like leaf crop with stunning structure.

🌸 The Ornamentals Still Shine

Despite all the vegetables, the ornamentals still steal the spotlight. Here's what’s added color and vibrancy:

Zinnia ‘Purple Prince’ – Rich, vibrant purple blooms.
Red Gladioli – Reliable and dramatic vertical spikes.
Begonias – Thriving after being left in over winter.
Dark-Leaved Dahlias – Contrast beautifully with green foliage.

💩 Soil Secrets: The Power of Manure

In spring, I added two tons of well-rotted manure to this bed—and it's made all the difference. Even under a hosepipe ban, the plants stayed lush thanks to the soil's moisture-retaining qualities.

🌿 When Squash Goes Wild: Vertical Gardening Surprise

The winter squash went rogue this year—climbing palm trees, umbrella trees, and even forming fruit in the canopy. One vine even dropped its fruit onto a garden table during a storm—but the squash survived and is ripening nicely!

🔄 Big Changes Ahead: A Garden in Transition

This tropical-vegetable fusion garden won’t be here next year. I’m planning to turn the area into lawn and open up the space.

That means:

Digging up tropicals like cannas, gingers, and bamboo
Dividing rhizomes for overwintering
Relocating ornamentals to new garden areas

🪴 Hardy & Low-Maintenance Favourites

Some surprisingly resilient performers this year:

Begonias – Survived the winter in raised beds
Colocasia Pink China – Hardy and spreading from unexpected places
Tradescantia & Impatiens – Provide ground cover and pops of color

📆 What’s Next: Overwintering and Redesign

As we move into autumn and winter, I’ll be sharing:

How I dig up and store tropical rhizomes
Techniques for dividing plants like gingers and cannas
The new garden design plans for 2026

🌺 Final Thoughts: Jungle Gardening with a Purpose

This experiment has shown me that exotic gardening doesn’t mean sacrificing productivity. With thoughtful planting, you can harvest vegetables while enjoying bold, tropical beauty. It's been a joy to see how well these elements blend—and the colors, forms, and flavors have all come together beautifully.

📺 Watch the Full Video Tour on YouTube

👉 Don't forget to like, subscribe, and follow along as we transform this space for next year!