Brad's Tropical Paradise

It's the last day of November, and it has been very warm this year, so I am not seeing any damage to the Elephant Ears. But it will come with colder temperatures. The good news is that they won't die, they will just get all ugly and mushy and be a real pain to trim back. But a labor of love to see this for so many months of the year! I have left this area, which is just to the right of Macintosh's doggy door, get as dense as it wants to be. In cold weather, the more huddled up your plants are, the better. They benefit from the warmth of each other. The most cold-sensitive are the Elephant Ears, and then the cannas. They will show cold damage, but luckily, they can be cut back severely and come back strong. What I really want to protect this winter is the little cycad, a dioon spinulosum , underneath it. The leaves on a cycad do not grow back quickly, so I'm hoping that its companion plants will keep the damage to a minimum this year, or not at all. That would be nic...

As you know, cycads, such as sago palms, don't grow at all during the winter. In fact, they usually only push out a flush of leaves once or twice a year in the spring and summer. The rest of the time they are dormant, and they are at risk. And that risk is over-watering. The biggest danger to your cycads in the winter is root-rot from overwatering. The best thing that you can do for the next few months (December, January, February) is to not water them. At all. I turn off the automatic watering system here at The Tropical Paradise in mid-December and turn it back on in February. I keep an eye on the temperatures - it's been exceptionally warm this November, but when it gets cold, that's the time to turn off the water. If your cycads sit shivering with wet feet, this is what will happen: their roots will rot and the plant will die. You won't see this until spring, but when it happens, the heart of the plant fails and becomes mushy. I know - I've killed a few ...

It's Thanksgiving today, and your daffodils and freesia should be showing some strong growth. They won't bloom until January of February, so this is the time to build up their strength. And the good news is that you can't "kill them with kindness". If you are like me, bored on a Thanksgiving morning, and feel like going out and watering your daffodils and freesia, go for it. The more water the better. These plants love water. Water them as much as you want. If you're the kind of person who is concerned that you might hurt them, like giving your dog too many treats, or over-feeding a goldfish, don't worry. You can't overwater these plants. There are some tricks to help keep the soil consistently wet around your bulbs. I always plant my bulbs with moisture crystals. They are little pellets that expand and hold water in the soil. You can get them at Home Depot or any nursery. Use just a little bit - and be sure to clean up if you spill some. They ...

I can't say that I ever intended to create a rock garden in The Tropical Paradise, it just happened. For me, rocks were functional, and I would have preferred plants. But it all started with a few rocks... The biggest rocks in The Tropical Paradise are directly over the watering lines. Not only does that help hold the lines in place, it gives me a reminder where they are. Not that I haven't accidentally cut through a line with a shovel a couple of times! There are other functional rocks, which I call "pointy rocks" which are specifically placed to discourage people from stepping into the garden. These rocks have to be pointy, as if they are flat rocks, they look like stepping stones, and, well, that's not what I want. I have one flat rock that you can see there, that I need to replace with a pointy rock. Still working on getting one! The other rocks are river rocks. Again, their function originally was just to fill in low areas. I got a bunch of them from a ne...

It's November 11th and last night was the first really cold night of the year here in The Sonoran Desert, the Phoenix, Arizona area. The temperature right now, as I write this at 8 am, is about 40 F (5 C). And it's something that surprises a lot of people who live here, that the temperature falls so fast at this time of year. It was just a few weeks ago that I was able to keep the windows open and not have the air conditioning kick in. I switched over to heat last night. The good news at this time of year is that the cold is only in the early mornings. In fact, if you sleep in until ten, you would be surprised to hear someone mention how cold it was. The sun warms up the desert very quickly, which is harsh in the summer but gorgeous in the winter. This is the "Chamber of Commerce Weather" that I have always talked about. As for your plants, well, there's nothing to worry about. Most plants, except the most tender tropicals, can get through freezing weather w...

It's November and your Cape Honeysuckle should be flowering like crazy now. And it will continue to flower all through the winter. That is, unless you don't allow it. Cape Honeysuckle is an easy plant to get to flower. You don't need to do anything. At all. You don't need to fertilize it to get it to flower. All you really have to do is to wait for some cool weather, which we are having now, and leave it alone. If you insist on trimming your Cape Honeysuckle down into a neat shrub, you will discourage flowering. So, if your neighbor is being "helpful" with a power trimmer, stop them. This is a vining, flowering plant, not a box shrub. If you're a neat gardener, get out your hand trimmers and watch what you are doing. In the photo at left you can see the beginning of a flower. Leave the bud alone. Elsewhere you will see ordinary growth, and you can trim that off to be neat. It's good to be neat. But leave the flowers alone! Then just sit back an...

It's November 1st, the day after Halloween. And even though I've lived in the southwest and California all of my adult life, I am still amazed by how beautiful the weather is here now in the Phoenix, Arizona area. I grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and believe me, you don't see this on November 1st. Many people who did grow up here in the Phoenix area talk about how terrible the weather is, and it must have been pretty awful for kids who try to play outside during the 100-degree-plus temperatures in the summer. But I didn't move away from Minneapolis until I was 20. And I have been fortunate to have worked in air-conditioned buildings and owned air-conditioned cars during my career here in Arizona. I can't imagine how people can work outside in Phoenix in the summer. But I also can't image how people can work outside in Minneapolis in the winter. In my mid to late twenties I lived in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, California. I wanted to live somewhere...