Brad's Tropical Paradise

Like so many things here at The Tropical Paradise, my "grass" is an illusion. It's plastic. And like any illusion, it doesn't take much to spoil it. And one of the places where the illusion was failing was at the base of my olive tree. I've had artificial turf here for seven years, and it's the best thing I've ever done. It always looks great, it allows water (and uh, other stuff from my dog) to percolate into it, and it never needs maintenance, other than the occasional blowing off of leaves. And it actually looks better, and more realistic, with neglect. Olive trees grow very slowly, but they do grow. By the way, please don't get me started about allergies - olive trees are innocent compared to the number one allergen here in the valley, that nasty weed that so many people have in their yards, Bermuda grass. Oughtta be a law against that! But I digress. In the time since the artificial turf was laid out, the "grass" had started to g...

It's September 25th and The Tropical Paradise is really starting to look good. Summers are very harsh here in the Phoenix, Arizona area, but the weather turns pretty quickly, and by September and October this is one of the most glorious places on the planet to be, both for plants and people. I call it "Chamber of Commerce" weather. Cannas, like this Canna Tropicanna , are grown for their beautiful foliage, not their flowers. But flowers are kind of nice to see. On cannas, they only last a day or two, and open in succession, so if you want them to look their best, just reach over and pull off the spent blooms. That's part of the reason why cannas should be planted where you can get to them regularly. If you've seen them in front yards, or in public places, they usually look pretty ratty. To get the best look from the foliage, cut it back severely, and regularly. This year I am looking to limit the height of these plants to about four feet. They can get over s...

It's September 23rd, 2013, and I am planting tulips here at The Tropical Paradise. No, not ordinary tulips, these are the type that tulips looked like before the Dutch started hybridizing them in the 1500s. And that's why I am hopeful, because you really can't grow tulips here in the Phoenix, Arizona area. I am planting  Tulip Dasystemon Tarda . I got these from Easy to Grow Bulbs, my source for some pretty cool stuff, and some great advice. Anyway, over the years I've planted a lot of bulbs, so I figure that I have made most of the mistakes that can be made. Although I expect I will make more! If I described all of the wrong ways to plant bulbs, this post would be waaaay too long, so here is the right way: Prepare a planting bed.  If you just stick the bulbs in the ground and hope that they will be OK, you're gonna have a bad time. I had this bed all prepared a couple of days before the bulbs arrived. Get a stick and break off a piece each time you ...

Just saying that Elephant Ears "get big" doesn't really help you to picture how much room to allow for them. I planted this one in February of this year (it's September 23rd today) from a tiny sprout and it is now 52" wide from extreme tip to extreme tip of the widest leaves. That's just a little over four feet wide. In height, the plant is about three feet tall. I just went out and measured. Tropical plants look great when they are a little crowded, which is how they grow in the wild, jostling for space and light. But they don't look so good if they smooshed up against a wall, or if they are blocking where you need to walk. So give your Elephant Ears space to grow! I like to have a lot of rocks around, which helps to fill in some of the visual blankness while the plants grow. It also tells me where the water, and misting lines, are. To make them grow their best, plant them in rich potting soil. I use a lot of Miracle Grow Moisture Control (no, th...

If you want a spectacular tropical look for your garden, even here in the desert, plant bulbs. Unfortunately, it isn't an instant effect. In fact, at first it looks kind'a sad. Like this planting bed for Elephant Ears and iris. This area is triangular in shape and is about ten feet wide by about five feet at its widest point. And I have planted two tiny Elephant Ears and three iris bulbs, which I can barely see. This is a nice shady area that gets plenty of water, which these plants love. Elephant Ears get to be about four feet tall and splay out even wider, so they need some space. Iris (which is really just a giant blooming grass) is pretty big, too, and it looks best with room to spread. To do this, I moved away all of the gravel, removed the plastic that had been there since the house was built, and dumped a big bag of Miracle Grow Moisture Control potting soil. Then I dug down into the soil, which is kind'a soggy in this corner of the courtyard, and planted the...

No, you can't grow tulips here in the Phoenix, Arizona area. You can plant them and watch them die, and that's about it. So when I started pondering tulips, I asked the experts at Easy to Grow Bulbs . No, they don't pay me to say this. I wish they would. But actually, I'm just glad to know a place like this with this type of expertise. And when I have some money floating around in Paypal that I have long since forgotten about, I buy some stuff from them. The recommendation that I got from them was  Tulip Dasystemon Tarda . And if it doesn't really look like a tulip to you, I understand. It's what tulips looked like before the Dutch started hybridizing them in the 1500s into the forms we know today. And the modern forms, you know the ones developed after the 1500s, can be pretty tricky to grow unless you have the right climate for them. And it's not the desert! I'm experimenting mostly. And since I've never seen these growing anywhere in the v...

No one is more surprised than me that my Elephant Ears have done so well here in Glendale, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix). I wish I could say that I planned it, but I didn't. But in the years since they have been here, I have learned a lot. And since, like all bulbs, they reproduce, I have divided them and re-planted them. There are several wrong ways, and only one right way. Here it is: Dig a hole and remove the native soil. Actually, if you could prepare an entire bed, that would be better. Elephant Ears, like all tropical plants, won't grow in the native Arizona soil. That's why I have an ongoing need for potting soil. Ask any of my friends - what do I want for Christmas? To just cheer me up? Potting soil! I have no idea how many bags of potting soil I have used over the years, but no matter how much I get, I always seem to need more. I like to say that my plants aren't planted in Arizona, they are planted in potting soil in holes in Arizona! Pour in a generous...

One of the nice things about planting bulbs is that they will grow back year after year. It's September and I am seeing a lot of tiny sprouts here at The Tropical Paradise. But one of the frustrating things about bulbs is to know if it's a weed or not. And while you can find lots of photos of plants on the web that are full grown and in full bloom, I have found precious little that tell me if a particular sprout is a weed, or a re-sprouting bulb. So here are some. They don't look like much now, I'll admit. But these are freesia sprouts, which will grow and have a beautiful bloom in the early spring. Google it. They smell great, too. In the meantime, you can see why I really, really, don't want people walking onto the gardening bed. These sprouts are absolutely tiny. But since I know what they are, I will begin nurturing them by feeding them some Miracle Grow right away. And since I know they aren't weeds, I won't pull them up! Freesia sprout, about...

Agaves are beautiful, and do well in arid places such as Phoenix and Southern California. But many of them grow way too well. I've seen places where agaves have taken over and gotten out of control. Many of them get huge, with razor sharp ends, and multiply like rabbits. Huge, razor-sharp-ended rabbits! So before you pick up that innocent-looking agave at Home Depot, beware. Once it turns into a group of deadly monsters on your property, not only will it look terrible, it will cost a lot to remove. And because of my lack of knowledge of these plants, and the fact that I have seen them absolutely take over an area and essentially destroy it, I have resisted planted agaves, until recently. The one in the photo has been here for many years. It's an Agave Colorata . It is very slow-growing, and produced no "pups" along its edges. It has pupped, but only by sending out a runner. And it has produced two pups in many, many years. Two. That I can handle! This plant wa...

Cycads, like this dioon edule , may look like small palm trees, but they are not even related to them. They are related, believe it or not, to pine trees. And it isn't until you see one start to produce cones that it even makes any sense. Once you see it, it does. If you are seeing a strange growth like this on any species of cycad, including the common "sago palm", you are seeing the plant that is mature enough to begin its reproductive cycle. And since it can take over twenty years for a cycad to cone, many people never see this at all. It's a sign of a robustly healthy plant, and it's kind'a cool to see. Even mature plants, like this one, don't cone every year. This one has coned three times since I've had it, but it usually pushes out a flush of leaves instead. The really, really, mature ones can do both cone AND push out a flush of leaves. I guess this one is still too young for that. Male cones of Dioon edule cycad. Cycads are dioecio...

The first step in preparing a sago palm ( cycas revoluta ) for bare root transplant is to cut off all of its leaves. In the case of the one pictured at left, it needs to have the cones removed as well. An experienced gardener can do this for you safely. The leaves on a mature sago like this one are sharp and spiny, and the cones are toxic, but only if you eat them. Still, it's a good idea to wear gloves while handing them, and to dispose of them promptly. If you have a dog that likes to chew things, don't even think about leaving them on the ground. Cycads can be removed to be transplanted at any time. In an established landscape like this one, it's best to treat them as "bare root". That is, there is no need to dig up a huge rootball and make a mess. The plant needs to be "undercut", which starts with removing the "pups" along the bottom and then carefully digging and cutting the roots. Removing the pups and doing the undercut of the roots...

The best place for tropical plants here in the desert is against an eastern exposure. That is, morning sun, afternoon shade. When I bought this house I insisted on having a backyard that faced east. If your backyard faces east, you are in luck. If not, then things get a little bit tricky. And since you really can't pick up your house and turn it around, here are some suggestions. • If your backyard faces west, or south, it will get the maximum amount of sunshine and heat. Unless you can provide some type of artificial shade, tropical plants will not do well there. Yours is a back yard that is best for a pool, or for sun-tanning. In "the fires hell", as I call it, I have planted palma sola cycads, agaves, and some Phoenix species of palm trees. They are OK, but they struggle. Next to my driveway is a cactus, which is flourishing. • If your backyard faces north, you have the most serious problem. I have planted many things along my north-facing wall, most of which ...

If you live in the desert, like I do, you have an important part of what tropical plants need - heat. In fact, here in the Phoenix, Arizona area I have never heard anyone complain that it doesn't get hot enough in the summer. What you have to add to that is water - and the type of soil tropical plants like. What tropical plants want is acidic soil. The native soil here in the desert is exactly the opposite, alkaline. No, I have no idea about ph numbers, or anything like that. All I know is that coffee grounds help to acidify soil. And tropical plants love it! Luckily, you can get all of the coffee grounds that you want to for free from your local Starbucks. They usually have some wrapped up and sitting around. I ask at the counter for the largest bag they will give me. The last time I was at the Starbucks at 75th Avenue and Thunderbird, the cheerful young man went and got a HUGE bag of coffee grounds, double bagged. I gave him two bucks and told him to buy a cup of coffee (al...

It's September 5th and now that the summer rains are over, and the worst of the summer heat is over too, it's time to thin the cannas. Cannas are beautiful, but they are a lot of work once they start growing well. I use the landscaper's trick of laying out a tarp, tossing the cut stalks on it, rolling it up, and disposing of them. It's still a lot of work! But it has to be done. There are several reasons for this. The main reason is that cannas get ratty-looking very fast. The old leaves get sunburned and shredded on the ends. By the way, in the winter, they look pretty rough, too, so this is a two-times-a-year major project. Another reason is that they make too much of themselves. I also noticed last night that they were getting as tall as the pygmy date palms, and were blocking my view of them. From a design standpoint, the cannas are supporting characters, not the stars of this garden, and they need to compliment the stars, not get in the way. But the main ...

Adding Malibu lights to your backyard tropical paradise is a great finishing touch. But there are some tricks to make this work. The most important thing to learn is "uplighting". Not long after I bought my house, I made a trip to the fanciest resort in town, The Phoenician, and just wandered around looking at how they did their lighting. And since they have a lot of palms, they do a lot of uplighting. This simply means placing a spotlight at the base of a plant and pointing it up. But be careful here. Even low-voltage spotlights can be nasty and glaring if they are pointed at your eyes. And be very careful not to point them at your neighbor's house! And if you have them glaring back at you while you sit in your backyard, It's as unpleasant as having someone's high-beams hit you in the eyes on the highway. By the way, these types of lights take very little electricity to run. My whole backyard is illuminated with the equivalent of two 100-watt light bulbs....

Even though I have lavished a lot of attention on my backyard, and have an acceptable display in the front, the courtyard area here has been neglected for years. I guess "out of sight, out of mind" explains it. Because of a low wall, the courtyard is not really visible from the front of the house, except for the tree, which, uh, is taller than the wall. And it's been an area that I have used to store sick plants, pots, and assorted rubbish. And, in my defense, like most people in suburban Phoenix, I go in and out of my house, not through the front door, but through my garage. So the front door has been seen mostly by the UPS guy, or Jehovah's Witnesses. Apparently I have not been concerned with impressing them with a nice garden. I am about to change all of that. Taking lessons that I learned from developing "The Outback" in the backyard, I am working on the courtyard. It's a tricky little piece of land. Although there is a nice tree for shade in...

Here at The Tropical Paradise I am experimenting, mostly. And something that I like to do is to plant indoor plants outdoors. The Phoenix area has a beautiful, mild climate most of the time. It never snows here, and while it does get very hot, most "indoor" plants do well as long as they have some shade. Here in the foreground you can see some typical indoor plants, sansevieria. When I was growing up, they were called "Mother-in-Law's Tongues" but now they are mostly called "Snake Plants". They have been in the ground now for a few weeks and are adapting fine. But before you rush over to go buy some, stop. There is a trick to it. And the trick is to find "indoor" plants for sale outdoors. Here in the Phoenix area, the best place to look is in the K-Mart garden center. Because you are not looking for fresh, healthy plants newly-delivered from the green house. You are looking for sad, tired, ready-to-burst-their-pots plants that have gotten...

Sago palms ( cycas revoluta ) do well in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Some do better than others, and like real estate, it's all about location, location, location. Whenever I see a sago palm out in the middle of someone's front yard, facing the blazing sun, I just want to get out my guitar and sing a sad song. Luckily, I don't. But if you've seen sago palms that are all horrible and sunburned, and thought that they wouldn't do well in this climate, think again. They just can't stand out in the "fires of hell" all day. So, as you look at your property, here at the best places to plant your sago palm. • Along an east-facing wall of your house. Keep it about six feet away, to allow it room to grow. Your house will give it shade from the nasty afternoon sun. If you have a tree nearby, even better. In the Phoenix area, you can't have too much shade for a sago, as long as it's outdoors. • Under the shade of a tall tree. Not the best option...

Even though a drip system, like the one I have at The Tropical Paradise, is low pressure, if the tiniest hole is created in the trunkline, it will spray out at high force. This doesn't happen often, of course, but here by a wall that I had repaired a while ago, it looks like the trunkline got nicked, and when I uncovered it to see what was wrong, I got "fountain hills"! There are a lot of wrong ways to do this repair, believe me, I've tried. You stick "goof plugs" in, you can glop a bunch of silicone glue on the hole, you can try to wrap it up with electrical tape. None of these things work. Ask me how I know! The correct way to fix this, and fix it right, is to replace a section of the trunkline. And the most important part is to get these cool 1/2 inch fittings. I've tried the simple "under pressure" fittings and they fail right away. These fittings, which I bought for a whopping $1.38 at Home Depot this morning, not only attach firmly,...