Brad's Tropical Paradise

We got a good freeze last night here in Glendale, Arizona. Not unusual for this time of year here. I just walked around the backyard and looked at the damage, nothing really severe. My Zamia furfuracea got some frost damage, interestingly, only on one side, which surprised me. It shows that cold air flows and location makes a big difference, even if it's only a matter of inches! The purple color on the leaves will get worse with time, and those leaves will need to be trimmed off. But remember that it's best to wait until all danger of frost has past before you do any trimming! Trimming now can be fatal to a plant. Leave it alone, try not to look at it. Macintosh, the good little wiener dog, helped me record this video taken at 10:30 am. That is, until it got too cold for her and she scampered inside! It's about 35 (F) right now.

The temperature has dropped dramatically here in the Sonoran Desert, after the day of rain yesterday. It's now in the mid-forties and with a bitterly cold wind. We had some light rain this morning, which turned, for just a few moments, to snow flakes. The last time I saw snow flakes here in the desert was back in 1990. They are very, very, tiny, and perfectly round. You have to look fast! The forecast is for 27 degrees (F) tonight, so cover your tender tropicals. I don't have bougainvillea, but that should definitely be covered. If you have any Phoenix roebellini (Dwarf Date Palms) that are small or were just planted this past year, cover them. If you have any tiny cycads out in exposed areas (and you shouldn't!), cover them. Your Cycas revolutas (Sago palms) don't need to be covered tonight. Dioon edule, var. edule will be OK if it's fairly large, Dioon edule, var. palma sola will be fine. Dioon spinulosum , if small or newly planted, could use a cover tonigh...

Here in the desert, we are fascinated by rain. Hey, we don't get all that much! Right now we are having a typical "Christmas rain", as I call it, soft and gentle. This will supply all of the water that your cycads need here in the Sonoran Desert, which is why I turn off the water in the garden from November to May. This is the view from my dining room window. As you can see the Caladium (Elephant Ear) is now growing right into the Dioon spinulosum cycad. Looks kind of strange, but I will leave it alone for right now. The more the plants are all crowded together, the better it will be for them during the cold days of January coming up! The lawn furniture is aluminum, so it will be fine in the rain. The little table is plastic, so I don't need to worry about it, either. Having furniture that can be left out in real air, dirt, sun, and rain in the garden is the way to go! When it stops raining, I can hose them off and they will air dry. If there are other plants, s...

It's December 28th and it's another beautiful day in paradise here in Glendale, Arizona. It's at this time of the year that I remember that tourists are here just for the weather, and Macintosh, the good little wiener dog, as you can see, is making the most of it. It's 60 degrees (F), no wind, and not a cloud in the sky. Absolutely gorgeous. The forecast is for rain tomorrow, but I'll believe it when I see it. We do get rain in the winter, but not much. As you can see, most of the yard is shaded by the afternoon (it's 12:30 as I write this). The sun is low in the south, so the shade falls to the north, where the grassy area is. The southern part of my backyard is just the area of the path to the side of the house, and the low-lying area where water drains during heavy rain. This means that sunshine in my backyard is scarce in the winter! The plant that you see in the foreground is a Dioon spinulosum cycad. The two cycads behind Macintosh, the good little ...

If you are wondering if daffodils do well in the Phoenix, Arizona, area, they do! This season I am seeing blooms beginning today, on December 25th. What a wonderful Christmas present at The Tropical Paradise! Merry Christmas!

We got a good rain yesterday and last night. It was mostly typical of what I call a "Christmas rain" here in the Phoenix area, pretty gentle. Although we did get some hard rain - with thunder and lightning later on, which is not so typical. Anyway, rain at this time is expected. And we got some. Not as much as Los Angeles, but some. Here in The Tropical Paradise, I have artificial turf, which, in addition to looking good and being easy to maintain, is perforated to allow drainage. The flagstone is solidly placed and with just the tiniest tilt to allow drainage. And, of course, the planting beds are raised, where the cycads are. Some parts of the planting beds have a considerable angle, some only slight. But slight is all you need for good drainage - and that's what cycads need! Cycads can't stand to "have their feet wet", so if there is standing water around the roots of your cycad, it's time to move it! You can raise the area, or move it to another pl...

Real flagstone is gorgeous, and it's expensive. I have been lucky, all of my flagstone was donated to me by friends. If you are fortunate enough to have real flagstone, there is a right way and a wrong way to grout it to show it off. First of all, real flagstone should not be cut or trimmed. Yes, it takes a long, long, time to mess with the "puzzle pieces" and it can be hard on your back, but that is how it's done. I do have some pieces that had been specifically cut, but most are in the shape they were taken out of in the quarry. Keep in mind that you are looking for a natural look, so the "seams" don't have to be perfect, in fact, they shouldn't be. It's OK for some of the edges to touch. And of course, the idea is to use the biggest possible pieces so you don't have to fill a lot of gaps. But gaps will happen. I am going back to re-filling the gaps in a contrasting color, and in my opinion, it looks great. Flagstone is a walking surfac...

I got some bags of sand and some grout (actually they call it "Premium Polymer Sand") at Home Depot today and am beginning the process of grouting the flagstone. Macintosh, the good little wiener dog, is satisfied with her new stairs. You may recall that she suffered a herniated disc in her back but has made a miraculous recovery. There were some people who suggested a ramp, but that would be very bad for her (or anyone with back or ankle injuries) in your yard. Remember that someone (or somedog) with these injuries find slopes and inclines very difficult, even painful. If you have never suffered an injury like this, you may find it hard to imagine, but just imagine that you are being asked to go up and down a very steep slope and you will get the idea. Stable, flat surfaces are critical. But keeping your Tropical Paradise accessible doesn't mean it has to be ugly. I used some spare flagstone that I had sitting along the edge of my house, experimented to see what worked...

Like most tasks in the garden, doing a little bit often can be much easier than letting it go and then trying to get it under control. This season, I have really seen problems with my neglect of my olive trees. I have two olive trees, one in the backyard and one in the courtyard. They are wonderful for the desert, keep their leaves all winter (non-deciduous), use very little water, and don't mind the heat at all. I also find them beautiful. They are the trees that Jesus prayed under in the Garden of Gethsemane. And contrary to popular belief, they do not cause any more allergies than orange trees, which also have an undeserved reputation of causing allergies. The worst plant here in Phoenix for allergies is Bermuda grass, and I have none. But I digress. This year I failed to do two things - I didn't spray a fruit stop in the spring, and I let the sucker growth get out of control. And no, I am not being funny here, "sucker" is the term for growth that sprouts u...

Like most people, I started my cycad collection with "sago palms" (Cycas revoluta ) . They are very common and can be purchased at any nursery, at Home Depot, Walmart, and even as houseplants in grocery stores. And, yes, they make good houseplants in a sunny area. I live in the Phoenix, Arizona area and they do quite well outdoors. If you are outside of 30 degrees latitude, or anywhere that gets snow, they really shouldn't live outside in the winter. Keep them in pots and let them summer in nice weather. Once you see the other species, your task becomes more difficult. In fact, as a cycad collector, you will soon find yourself in the world of conservation, and, like me, begin to understand the fragile balance of threatened and extinct animals and plants in the world. All of this just because you wanted to make your yard look nice! Anyway, here in Phoenix, the only other cycad that I have seen for sale in ordinary nurseries, like Lowe's, is the "cardboard pa...

You can't put plants everywhere. Believe me, I've tried! But safe walking surfaces don't need to just be ugly concrete. Here in The Tropical Paradise, I have been using flagstone for years. Because the ground doesn't freeze here, it can be laid on top of sand and then grouted. Be sure that the flagstone doesn't rock, or "teeter-toter", even a little bit. If it does, pick it up and put more sand below it and test it again. For me, it's a process of trial and error. I ask friends to walk on the flagstone blocks after I have laid them down and test them. If they fail the test, even a little bit, I make a note that I will have to refine how they sit. Grout will not fix that, all you will end up with is broken grout and "teeter-totter" flagstone, which is not only annoying, but can be dangerous to walk on. Here Macintosh, the good little wiener dog, is looking at her new steps to her doggy door. I am watching very carefully and if they rock, or ...

Among the many cycads that "won't grow here" is a Macrozamia . I've had this one here for about six years and it's doing fine. It requires no special care, just the usual good drainage and afternoon shade that most cycads like here in the desert. This is the a Macrozamia mooreii , the most common one. By the way, to clarify all of this terminology, mooreii is the species. Macrozamia is the genus, and the family is Cycadaceae , which is what all cycads are. If you are going to collect cycads, you are going to have to get used to using Latin. I tell people that it's not difficult - you were doing it as a kid when you talked about dinosaurs - like Tyrannosaurus rex , or Triceratops . Don't worry about mispronouncing it, no one really knows how to pronounce Latin, anyway. As a general rule, here in the states we tend to pronounce the "c" in Latin as soft, like an "s". In England, Australia, and South Africa, our friends there tend to p...

Sometimes a cycad will lose all of its leaves. In the case of the one pictured here, it didn't like being transplanted this past year. In spite of all my tender loving care, it started drooping, then the leaves just dried up. But this doesn't mean that the plant is dead. Don't throw it away! With the correct care, it will be fine. If you have a cycad whose leaves are drying up, you can test the health of the plant by squeezing the caudex. The caudex is the trunk, or the "pineapple", or if it's really little, the "golf ball" of the plant. If it's firm, your cycad will be OK. If it's mushy, it's a goner, throw it away. This Encephalartos lehmannii is a worth the trouble of rehabilitation. The first thing that you do is to cut off all of the leaves. Then you lift the caudex, that is, gently remove it from the ground. Chances are it will go pretty easily, as it's probably the root system that has failed. Don't be surprised if t...

Don't water your cycads in the winter. At all. Here in Glendale, Arizona, I turn off the automatic watering system in late November. It will go back on when the soil temperatures begin to go up in May. The biggest enemy your cycad has is you over-watering. In the winter, when the soil is cold and your cycads aren't doing any active growing, over-watering can cause their roots to rot. It's OK to water a bit with the hose, to rinse the leaves off of bird poop, but don't get carried away. If you have annuals, you will need to selectively water them for the first few months. Annuals really can't be over watered, so if you feel that you must water, you can water them as much as you like. Where I live we get gentle rains in December and January, and that is plenty for The Tropical Paradise. By the way, it's December 7th and it's 73 degrees (F). Life is good in Arizona!

I intentionally got a house with the backyard facing east to maximize the amount of shade in the summer. This is the Sonoran desert, and it gets really, really hot here. Shade is a premium. In the winter, unfortunately, it makes my back yard fairly cold, and there are only a few sunny areas. Macintosh, the good little wiener dog, follows these sunny areas around and makes the best use of them. Here she is lounging in front of a dioon edule, var. palma sola cycad. Right behind the cycad is a nice little clump of Cape Honeysuckle (Tecomaria capensis ). Immediately next to Macintosh's ear is a small clump of ice plant. I've had bad luck with ice plant here in The Tropical Paradise. I rooted quite a few and planted them all over the place, but most didn't last the summer. The plant to the left, which is light green, is asparagus fern, shaped like a fox tail. these grow very well here. It's not deep green because I haven't remembered to fertilize it, but I will! The ...

There are lots of tricks for avoiding frost damage if you live in an area, like I do, where the temperatures can get below 32 degrees F (0 C). In fact, the tropical plants in my yard have survived temperatures down into the teens (F). If you were here in Phoenix during the "big frost of 2007", you remember those temperatures! Here are some tricks to give your tropical plants as much help as possible during those cold winter months. • Plant on a slope. Cold air flows down, like water. Don't plant in a "cold air puddle"! • Keep the plants growing close together. This is the simple idea of "huddling for warmth". Not only, in my opinion, do tropical plants look better crowded together, it helps them during cold temperatures. • If you are fortunate to have block walls, that helps, too. The heat from the day is held in the block and released at night. Don't stucco them, paint them, or cover them up with a lot of decorations. They work best as is. ...