With the excessive amount of rain we have been receiving over the last few days and with more scheduled to come I am noticing how the different sections of my garden are coping. Over half of my garden is in heavy shade and of that half again is planted out with rainforest and local shade tolerant species. 

It is challenging to garden in these areas but with the recent rain they are looking marvellous, far better than other areas of my garden. There is new growth on the ferns and Crinum Lilys and the Dianellas are going crazy, everything is looking lush and sucking up all that extra water. Where in other areas it is just pooling and looking soggy!

In the above photo you can see a great example of a rainforest planting, using the striking foliage of Doryanthes palmerii, with lower planting of Macrozamia spps. and Alocasia brisbanensis, plus there is a very showing elk horn and birds nest growing from the tree. All of these plants are easy to grow and will give you that rainforest or tropical look.

this photo is of a plant that is a new discovery for me, I have noticed it here and there though never as a mature specimen. It is Anopterus macleayanus or Macleay Laurel, native to QLD and northern NSW. I love the colour of the stem against the leaves and the way it seems to colonise an area as a shrub. This is very useful for an understory planting in a rainforest shade garden, it has colour and adds interest as a foliage contrast plant. So why not make use of all this extra moisture and plant a rainforest section in your garden?