Cyclamen and begonia in The Tropical Paradise

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My big idea of starting annual flowers from seed is pretty much of a dismal failure, so I went to Lowe's yesterday to find some nice plants to fill in the area in front of the dioon spinulosum cycad. Originally, I had planned to have the lettuce there, but the slugs ate every plant! Darn slugs.

Anyway, I choose a couple of nice small cyclamens. They are very expensive, so look for them in small pots at Lowe's. There's a red blooming one and a white blooming one. The best way to choose a good one when you choosing a plant is to find one that has a lot of buds, but not a lot of flowers in bloom. The flowers that are in full bloom now will just fade away, but the buds will open soon after you plant. But be sure to get at least one flower in bloom - to be sure that you got the right color! Cyclamens are great here in the Phoenix area - they do great in the cold. Well, as cold as it gets here.

In addition, I got a six-pack of begonias. I have never tried them in The Tropical Paradise, but I now have a very shady area because of the elephant ears and cannas. You can barely see them - they are way over on the left in the shade. You can also see just starting to come up - some daffodils, freesia, and a hyacinth. Should be pretty nice by mid-February! By April the flower show will be over as it gets too hot here.

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