Brad's Tropical Paradise

To my surprise, my Partridge breast aloe (Aloe variegata ) is doing well here in The Tropical Paradise. This is in an area that I have started calling my *transitional zone*. It gets a lot of sun but some shade. It's in an area with a lot of sandy soil that drains freely, and it receives no direct spray of water, just whatever runs downhill, and then runs away. I am greatly encouraged by this and have added haworthia to the area (which are very closely related to aloe), and as the slope gets dryer and sunnier, I am transitioning over to agave, which has a similar shape, but is much tougher. Aloe and haworthia are small, easily-damaged plants by people who may step into the garden, so my plan is to get more pointy rocks to protect them. These types of plants grow naturally in rocky outcrops, so it will look better when the rocks are in. Haworthia

It's near the end of March here in the Phoenix, Arizona, area and the season for flowering annuals will be ending soon. If you just moved here from back east, that may seem backwards to you. But that's because when the weather is getting nice for flowers back east in the summer, it's getting way too hot for anything here in the desert. So, the planting season for annuals here is in October. The flowers develop their root system over the winter and start to bloom in February and March. When the heat starts coming on strong in April, they die. In order to start by seed, you will need to get your plants started indoors, in the summer. So, working your way backwards from your projected planting date of October 1, it's best to allow a couple of months of getting the seeds started and then potted on. So, plan on getting your indoor setup going by no later than August. July isn't too soon. But don't get anxious and start putting out the tiny plants in September - i

This combination of a sago palm ( Cycas revoluta ) and freesia is just amazing me. As you can see, I am getting so many blooms that some of the flower stalks are tipping over. You can see where I tied them onto some of the fronds - and I need to get some bamboo sticks for staking the ones that won't reach. My recommendation if you want to do this is to have the flowers in an area that is easy to tend to. The old blooms need to be plucked off regularly and you need to keep an eye on plant tipping. I had a bunch of them in the front yard, and they all just tipped over and looked terrible. Looks good here, don't you think? By the way, it's March 26th and this is in the Phoenix, Arizona area. The freesia flower bulbs were planted in October. They are called *Sunset Sisters* and came from Easy to Grow Bulbs .

I have recently discovered that my careful and artistic arrangement of my watering heads,  misters, and lights has caused an inadvertent effect - people are accidentally kicking them. Since I've gone to such great lengths to have them be as invisible in the garden as possible, I really shouldn't have been surprised, but I was. Walking around with someone telling them not to step in the garden is guaranteed to insult your visitors! Don't do that! Of course, everyone knows that you shouldn't step into a garden (anymore than you would walk across someone's dining room table), but, well, they don't. So I have recently discovered a solution -  which is using rocks. The type of rock that you use for this is very important. If you choose a flat rock, it will just look like a stepping-stone, and you will be encouraging the very thing that you want to discourage. You need pointy rocks. Even the most nimble-footed person will be reluctant to step on a pointy rock. It

Sago palms, like all cycads, don't flower. They are from an ancient lineage of plants that developed before the evolution of flowers. Google *dinosaurs* and you will see them. So, combining cycads and flowers is historically and botanically wrong, but it does look kind of cool. Here are some freesia that started blooming a couple of weeks ago (beginning of March) in front of a sago palm. As you can see, the weight of the flowers is pulling them down so I have *woven* a few stems into the fronds of the cycad. The other flowers will need to be propped up somehow, with a bamboo stick or something. This is the first time I've tried this, and didn't realize the flowers would be so top-heavy. Live and learn! If you are going to do this, keep in mind that cycads and flowers don't like the same amount of water. Flowers like a lot, cycads like very little. To get a combination like this, you will need a slope. As you can see in the photo, the flowers are at the base of the

I planted some Caladium Gingerland  bulbs at The Tropical Paradise today. The package says "sun tolerant" - and I have planted them in the shadiest and wettest part of the garden so I have some hope that they will make it. I have tried growing caladium here before, and failed, but I am experimenting mostly and I am encouraged by how well my Elephant Ears have been doing for a few years now. I'll let you know how they do.

It's March 16th and I just received my Alocasia Amazonia (African Mask plant) from Easy to Grow Bulbs this morning. Wow - is it beautiful! I have to admit that I had no idea that the presentation would be so spectacular - I was just expecting a bulb. It came in a container very well protected with two beautiful leaves. I've got it in the ground already - in the area where my other Elephant Ears have been doing so well for years. This is definitely the wettest and shadiest area that I have here at The Tropical Paradise. Other plants that are doing well here are the begonias and the zamia "coontie" cycad. No, I don't know if it will be OK here in Arizona. But I am growing Elephant Ears here, and it's planted right near my back door so I can keep an eye on it if it shows signs of suffering from heat, or, in the winter, cold. A plant like this is worth the extra care! I will let you know how it does. I'm experimenting mostly.

It's March 11th and the freesia that I got from Easy to Grow Bulbs are starting to bloom. They are beautiful, but I have to admit a couple of things - I didn't realize that they were going to wait until March to start to bloom, and when they did, I didn't realize that they would be so top-heavy that they would fall over. I tried a trick with some sticks from my olive tree, but I can't keep up with the flowers. I will have to design something better for next year. Maybe I'll look to see how the florists do it. I think I've seen some type of thin wire with a twirl at the end to hold the flower stalk. Anyway, here is a clump of freesia that is growing near a mescal agave ( Agave parryi ) at the foot of a dwarf date palm ( Phoenix roebellini ). Off to the right you can see a little bit of ice plant and some asparagus fern. This is what I would call a *transitional area* of The Tropical Paradise, which gets more sun that the northern part of the yard, but not qu

It's the first week of March here at The Tropical Paradise, and the sparxis are starting to bloom a little more. The freesia appear to be waiting to bloom until much later than I had expected. They are blooming out in the front yard, but not much in the backyard. The freesia are the clumps that you see on the left, in front of the sago, and off to the right. The sparaxis are just above the tip of my right foot. Not yet what I would call a profusion of flowers! But we will be patient.