Tropical Collection

Tropical Collection

The Bartlett is the only Arboretum or Garden in the state that maintains an in-ground, continuous tropical garden. The Bartlett’s Tropical Collection features many interesting specimens, including the coastal South African Haemanthus Albiflos, which blooms yearly, in late August. (According to the garden curator and caretaker, the plant blooms like clockwork on August 23, so mark your calendars!)

By mid to late summer, the Tropical Garden reaches its crescendo, with Banana Tree and Colocasia leaves fanning out, spanning 4 feet or more in length, flapping in the breeze. Every year, the plants are either cut down and covered with up to four feet of mulch or dug up and moved into the Bartlett’s Greenhouse. A complete list of plants currently included in this collection are:

Bougainvillea (1)

Tree Ferns (2)

Ponytail Palms (3)

Alocasia (Giant Taro) (4)

Colocasia (Elephant Ears) (17)

Chinese Fan Palms (10)

Passion Flowers (3)

Strelitzia Reginae ( Bird of Paradise) (5)

Haemanthus Albiflos (6)

Papyrus (1)

Philodendron (4)

Dipladenia (4)