In its original sense the term ‘exotic’ could be applied to anything non-native, but more often it conjures up images of curious things from faraway places, colourful and extraordinary objects, exciting people with alluring and sensual features, and plants with extraordinary shapes and textures. Exotic places makes you think of hot, steamy jungles dripping with lushness, where tree frogs and monkeys emit deafening sounds, and slithering anacondas and silky black panthers await in the shadows.
And so when Christopher Lloyd wanted to create an exotic garden at Great Dixter back in 1993, he imagined an other-worldly place ablaze with colour from cannas and dahlias, and swashbuckling bold foliage. I, on the other hand, visualised a scene out of a Rousseau painting, with palms and large green leaves creating a place…
