gardens

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Shade-tolerant plants with broad leaves are vital in tropical gardens; phalaenopsis and dendrobium orchids (see pg 81) are
used in containers for temporary impact; the city of Bangkok and its high-rise buildings push in on all sides, but the garden remains a calm urban retreat;
dracaena rises out of traditionally clipped shrubs. The lush dark green foliage contrasts with the red paint used to help preserve the woodwork of the house.
allow clear views of them and not prevent
a free flow of air in the upper rooms.’
Very different it may be to the details of
the original conception, but the basic idea
is the same - which is the precise opposite
of many attempts at gardening in the
tropics. All too often tropical gardens
follow the colonial model of open spaces
filled by lawn or groundcover plants with
tree, shrubs and perennials around the
perimeter. Lawn
grass is completely
unnatural, and
open space is
naturally filled by
tree and palm seedlings with great rapidity.
Thompson’s desire for an aesthetic jungle
was a far more natural approach, besides
which the shade is always welcome.
Layering of vegetation is key to
naturalistic planting in the tropics. An upper
layer of palms and trees shades the ground,
and provides a framework of mostly
vertically thrusting stems and trunks. There
is still plenty of light for a rich array of
44 the english garden February 2013
low-level ground-layer plants, most of them
cultivars selected from species which
naturally grow on the rainforest floor:
aglaomena, maranta, calathea and such,
many of which have attractively marked
leaves, or, if they are the default dark green
of the tropics, have interesting shapes.
In between, there are taller shadetolerant
plants, most of them also chosen
for having attractive foliage, such as
The pleasure of this garden is in its rich array of foliage
colours, textures and shapes, lit by dappled light
species of dieffenbachia, spathiphyllum
and dracaena. A few large perennials
grown for both their broad foliage and
colourful long-lasting flowers complete
the picture. At the Jim Thompson House,
a few varieties of heliconia are used -
members of the banana family with
brilliantly colourful bracts.
Temporary colour is provided by
orchids: varieties of phalaenopsis and
Dendrobium phalaenopsis, grown
clustered in containers so plants can be
easily replaced when necessary. Otherwise,
flowers are relatively few - tropical
gardening is overwhelmingly about foliage.
The flame of the forest tree (Delonix regia)
and frangipani (Plumeria acutifolia)
scatter their flowers on the ground at
times, but on the whole the visual pleasure
of this garden is in its rich array of foliage
colours, textures
and shapes, lit by
dappled light and
contrasting with
the distinctive red
of the buildings. The Jim Thompson
‘orderly jungle’ model of gardening seems
to have been influential in Thailand -
rightly so, for it is what is respectful of
climate and ecology.
Jim Thompson House, 6 Soi Kasemsan 2,
Rama 1 Road, Bangkok, Thailand. Open
everyday, 9am to 5pm. Tel: +66 (0)2
167368. www.jimthompsonhouse.com