Coleus, aloe, haworthia and caladium in the understory

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This is the first year that I've really tried to create a canopy/understory in The Tropical Paradise. Most of my experiments fail, but since I have a poor memory, that doesn't bother me. The successes live! This area, which is under the canopy of some palms, cannas and elephant ears is really starting to show some life after the brutally hot summer.

Just like in real estate, location is everything. And with plants this small (you are looking at a space that is only a couple of feet wide), I have found the best thing to do is to generous, plant a lot of small plants and bulbs, and hope that life finds a way. And if an area that I thought would be perfect turns out to be a death-trap for a plant, I hurry and try to find it another home.

The two plants in the foreground (the spiky ones) are aloe and haworthia. They are actually not under the canopy, so they have to be able to stand at the full force of the morning sun, plus the reflected heat of the rocks and flagstone in front of them. When it's nearly 100 degrees early in the morning, even an area like this, which gets afternoon shade, is a deadly place to be for a tender plant. Surprisingly, these have done well, especially the haworthia.

To the left is a coleus that I purchased at Summer Winds up on Bell Road last spring. I have since cloned it many times and am hoping that the area off to the left (beyond the photo) will grow thick and full with this coleus. The one you are seeing is the mother plant.

The real stars of the show are the caladium "gingerland", which were planted as bulbs last spring. They have made repeated attempts to grow all summer, have gotten burned up, but keep trying. I have planted quite a few caladium bulbs here in the understory, and all are doing well, although this one is the only that it is easily seen.

Drizzling rain today, so it not only looks like a tropical paradise out there, it smells like one. Nice.

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