The Tropical Paradise with Macintosh, the good little wiener dog

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Here is Macintosh, the good little wiener dog, in The Tropical Paradise. Macintosh is a purebred miniature dachshund, whelped in Missouri, and I found her at a pet shop in Scottsdale. Her doggy door, along with the sliding glass doors and the windows, were from Home Depot, and I had them installed. The chairs are from Target, as is the outdoor pillow on my yoga mat, which I got online at Amazon. I don't sleep there, the pillow is to provide neck support while I do my stretching exercises. Sometimes Macintosh sleeps on it, though.

The miniature palm tree, right above Macintosh, is a Phoenix roebellini (dwarf date palm) that I purchased at  K-Mart in a gallon container for $1.97 when I bought the house in 1993. I knew that I wanted a miniature palm, as if it were a regular palm tree, it would be a telephone pole by now. The Canna Tropicannas I ordered online from Easy to Grow Bulbs, which has some very cool stuff that works well for this climate. But I've seen Tropicannas for sale locally here in the Phoenix area now.

The Dioon spinulosum cycad, just below the window, I purchased about ten years ago at a nursery down in South Phoenix. I used to go visit big commercial nurseries and look around for interesting plants. It's leaves were all torn up, and it couldn't be sold that way, so I got a bargain. The other spinulosums that I have in the garden came from my trips to Los Angeles, where they are sold at Home Depots and ordinary nurseries.

The ground cover behind the cycad is Ajuga reptans (Carpet Bugle). I bought it in a tiny container for a couple of dollars at Lowes and it has spread. It handled the cold well, but it seems like it likes shade. And water, lots of water!

The flagstone was all donated to me by a fellow member of the Arizona Palm and Cycad Association, who was just disposing of it when he re-did his garden a few years ago. I laid it all in myself, including the little steps for Macintosh, who suffers from a weak back. I know the feeling!

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