South America

With the Pacific to the west and the Atlantic to the east, the southernmost tip of the continent of South America almost grazes the Antarctic, then spans the equator and stretches north to Panama. It is home to wonderful regions like the Andes mountains that run the length of the western coast, huge forests, great plains and savannas famed for Gauchos and pampas, the Brazilian rainforest and that most mighty of rivers, the Amazon. The flora and fauna are equally gloriously diverse, and we offer many a plant from this continent.  

Some of our most extraordinary, and some of our most cherished plants have their origins on the continent of South America. First to come to mind is the highly prized Myrtus apiculata, the Bambi tree from the temperate rainforests of the central Andes. Then thick and fast come Monkey puzzle and Drimys winteri trees, dwarf pampas grasses, Canna indica and Eryngium pandanifolium, the elegant Maytenus boaria and one of our evergreen climbers, the self-clinging Hydrangea seemanii. Or imagine climbing the dry, rocky southern slopes of the Chilean Andes and stumbling upon a clump of Puya alpestris with their metallic blue flower spikes.  

For most of us, this will forever be the stuff of dreams, but we can still enjoy some of these wonderful plants in our own gardens.