Can philodendrons grow outside in Brisbane?

Yes, and they thrive here. Brisbane's warm, humid climate suits the garden philodendrons well, especially in shaded and part-shaded beds. Give them filtered light, rich soil and regular water and they grow into lush structural foliage; the main thing to avoid is harsh western sun, which scorches the leaves.

What's the difference between Xanadu and Hope philodendron?

Mostly size and habit. Xanadu is compact and mounding, spreading into a low sea of foliage around a metre high, which makes it a great groundcover. Hope is larger and self-heading, building into a substantial clump around 1.5 to 2 m, so it works more as a feature. Both are grown for the bold cut leaves rather than flowers.

[ Plant Profile ]

Philodendron

Philodendron species, the bold-leafed foliage plant that can carpet a bed as groundcover or clothe a post as a climber.

Philodendron species · Also known as Xanadu, Hope Philodendron

Philodendron is a plant most Brisbane people first met on a windowsill, but the garden forms are the ones that do real design work outdoors, bringing big, glossy, deeply cut leaves to the shady middle and lower layers where you want structure without flower. The two we plant most are the compact, mounding types like Xanadu, which spread into a low sculptural sea of foliage, and the larger self-heading forms such as Hope, which build into a substantial architectural clump.

What makes the genus so useful is its range of habits from a single family: some carpet the ground as bold evergreen groundcover, while the true climbers will run up a tree trunk or a post and clothe it in ever-larger leaves. We use them for that reliable structural foliage, the confident green shapes that hold a shaded planting together between the fine textures of ferns and the height of palms.

Type

Evergreen foliage plant; clumping, spreading or climbing by form

Sun

Filtered light to part shade; most dislike harsh direct sun

Water

Moderate; wants regular water, dislikes drying right out

Soil

Rich, free-draining soil with plenty of organic matter

Mature size

Xanadu to ~1 m; Hope 1.5–2 m; climbers as high as their support

Flowering

Occasional; grown entirely for the foliage

Frost

Frost-tender; cold winter wind marks the leaves

Maintenance

Low; tidy tired leaves, contain spread, guide climbers to support

In a Brisbane garden

Philodendrons are well suited to our warm, humid climate and grow strongly through the wet season, filling out into the lush structural foliage they're planted for, and in the shaded parts of a Brisbane garden they're among the more forgiving plants in the tropical palette. They still want regular watering to look their best, sitting honestly in the middle of the range rather than at the drought-hardy end, so a bed that dries to dust through a rain-free winter will leave them dull and marked, while one kept reasonably moist keeps them glossy.

Light is the other thing to match, because most of these want filtered light or part shade and will scorch in hard western afternoon sun, which suits them perfectly to the dim spots where colour is hard to grow. The self-heading types stay where you put them, but the spreading and climbing forms will keep travelling, so we place the spreaders where a widening carpet is welcome and give the climbers a trunk or post to run up, guiding rather than fighting their habit.

Bold glossy deeply lobed philodendron leaves filling a shaded bed in a lush Brisbane garden in a Brisbane garden setting

Photo: Piwaiwaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How we design with it

We use the mounding philodendrons as bold evergreen groundcover in the shaded understorey of a tropical garden design, where a drift of Xanadu carpets a difficult dim bed with confident green foliage and almost no upkeep. That tolerance of low light makes them a mainstay of the palette in our guide to shade gardens in Brisbane, filling the spots where flowering plants sulk.

In a small garden the larger self-heading forms earn their keep as a single architectural clump in a shaded courtyard or a generous pot, doing the work of a feature plant without demanding much in return. The climbers we treat differently, running one up a palm trunk or a dedicated post so it clothes a vertical line in ever-larger leaves, and we always match habit to place so a spreader lands where it can spread and a climber lands where it can climb.

Bold glossy deeply lobed philodendron leaves filling a shaded bed in a lush Brisbane garden detail

Where we write about philodendron

Tropical garden design for Brisbane: lush, layered, liveable. · Design guide

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