Source: Daily Mail
When the weather's bad, forget about setting foot in the garden - snap up some exotic houseplants to create a stunning indoor display you can enjoy without having to endure frost, snow, rain or biting winds.
There are hundreds available, from plants with dazzling foliage to those with eye-catching flowers. Some are compact enough for a windowsill while others will turn into small trees capable of reaching the ceiling in a few years.
Most prefer a light spot near a window but plenty will thrive in partial shade, making them perfect for the corner of a room.
To find out which plants are best for perking up a home, I paid a visit to The Living Rainforest in Berkshire.The attraction is home to around 700 different plants from tropical parts of the world, displayed in a one-acre glasshouse in Hampstead Norreys, eight miles from Newbury.
Divided into Lowland and Amazonica, the interior landscape is navigated by a network of paths, steps and wooden bridges that pass over pools.
Apart from the array of plants that thrive in a humid atmosphere, there are free-range birds and lizards and enclosures housing pygmy marmosets, snakes and even a West African dwarf crocodile.
Guiding me through this exotic paradise is assistant horticulturist Harriet Evans, 34, who has helped to look after the plants and displays at The Living Rainforest for six months.
Starting in the leafy Lowland region, we pass a bed crammed with tall aroids, a huge tribe of plants that generally have arrow-shaped leaves.
These have been under-planted with calatheas, plants with ornately striped foliage and anthuriums, evergreen perennials with brilliant red and pink flowers (technically, spathes) above glossy leaves.
'All of these like low light and are perfect for growing at home,' says Harriet, who is itching to show me a robust Swiss cheese plant in the corner.
Unlike most specimens I've seen indoors, this must be at least 12ft tall and has a mass of glossy foliage.
'Most people underestimate how tall this can grow,' says Harriet. 'Give it the right-size container and enough room to spread and it will make a wonderful specimen.'
Many other spectacular plants can be found in the greenhouse, including a copa palm (Iriartea deltoides), the leaves of which fan out like a fox's tail, and a collection of pink phalaenopsis orchids arranged among moss placed on an old tree stump.
Perhaps the most intriguing is a 3ft Platycerium bifurcatum, known as stag's horn fern due to its green arching fronds that resemble reindeer antlers.
Although The Living Rainforest has existed for almost a decade, exotic plants have long been grown on this site.
The glasshouses were used by an orchid nursery before being bought in the early Nineties by late shoe magnate Keith Bromley.
The former head of the Russell & Bromley chain, who died in 2003, created Wyld Court Rainforest. In 2000 the site changed hands again and took on its current name.
Today, nearly 80,000 visitors a year come to marvel at the displays, created largely by leading garden designer Myles Challis, head of horticulture at the attraction.
Wander into the Amazonica section and you'll notice it's less humid but three times the size of the Lowland. There are bananas with pendulous flowers, gingers, a coffee plant (Coffea Arabica), multicoloured crotons and a grove of hibiscus with giant white flowers. All need a light and warm spot to thrive.
At the heart of this interior landscape is a huge pool that's home to a family of ring teal, colourful ducks that herald from the Amazon.
Around the outside is a grove of edible bananas (Musa acuminata 'Dwarf Cavendish') and a big tree stump brightened by a collection of bromeliads.
Originating in tropical woodlands and rainforests, bromeliads are a large group of plants that grow on trees in their native environment. They are ideal for turning an unsightly old log, dead tree or stump into an attractive feature.
Exotic plants can be used in many other ways indoors. Individual large plants are perfect for adding colour to a corner of a room, while smaller plants are better grouped to create an eye-catching spectacle.
Another way to bring colour inside is to make a hanging basket with tropical plants. Try placing upright spider plants, anthurium or an asparagus fern in the centre of the container, then surround with trailing plants such as hoya, epipremnum or columnea. Like baskets outside, this will need regular watering to keep plants healthy.
So what is Harriet's best tip to ensure tropical plants thrive indoors? 'They hate a dry atmosphere but love humidity. In the glasshouses we use misting systems or damp down the floors with water.
'At home, try standing the plants on waterproof trays filled with an inch of gravel. Keep the bottom of the gravel wet at all times - it will provide the humidity the plants need to thrive,' says Harriet.
Other than this, looking after plants is a doddle. Occasionally wipe the foliage of glossy-leaved plants with a soft, damp cloth to remove dust, and trim off dead leaves or flowers.
Pests are rarely a problem but you might occasionally have to deal with mealy bugs, which look like tiny white clumps of cotton wool, and scale insects, hard-shelled creatures that weld themselves to stems and backs of leaves.
Either remove by hand or spray with an organic pesticide such as Bayer Organic Pest Control.