Brad's Tropical Paradise

I treat my backyard as another room in my house. I spend time there, in addition to gardening and relaxing, doing some physical therapy exercises, which I have been doing for over ten years. I like the idea of an *outdoor room*. Done correctly, it's a cozy, inviting space. But I've seen some *outdoor rooms* that just don't work. Here are some stray thoughts: • Use outdoor furniture. Not furniture that looks good in a catalog, or a showroom. Furniture that can be left outside, in the rain, and in the sun. I've seen furniture in backyards that obviously hasn't been used in years, they're either covered with dust and cobwebs, or the cushions have gotten all moldy. It probably looked good the first day it was all set up, but that's all! The chaise lounge there is a plain aluminum one from Target, and the table next to it is plastic, probably from K-Mart. By the way, the arm protectors are made from pool noodles. • Install artificial turf. Real grass rarely...

A few seasons ago I decided to go ahead and plant annual flowers. Before that, I resisted planting anything that would only live for a short while, but, well, annuals are worth the trouble. But, as you would imagine, I've made mistakes along the way. So, here are some things that I've learned. • Avoid the temptation to come home with too many. Yeah, they're only $2.19 a six-pack, so I've filled up my shopping cart and brought a whole bunch home at one time. Mistake. If you've got twenty-four, or thirty-six, little plants to get in the ground, you just aren't going to be very careful about it. Unless you're doing it the way it's done in front of shopping centers, where they prepare a huge bed and them jam them all in next to each other in quantity, chances are that you will either try planting them too quickly, or fail to get them into the ground in a timely manner. I limit myself to two six-packs. I've done back to Home Depot about three times th...

One of the really cool things about cycads, including sago palms, is that they can be planted bare root. In fact, cycads are often shipped this way, with no leaves, and no dirt. It does no harm to the plant, and it's a very clean and safe way to ship them. If you're about to plant a bare root sago palm, just be sure to do it right. First of all, it's a good idea to trim it down as much as possible. Leave the roots alone, but trim the leaf stubs down as closely as possible. The new growth will come through the middle of the top, so all of what you're seeing now will be the trunk of the tree. Doing this trimming before you plant it is much easier than after. I did it last night while it soaked in a bucket of water. Be sure that the soil is free-draining, wherever you decide to plant it, and never, ever, at the bottom of a slope. If in doubt, plant it on a little hill. I've found that the best way to treat a sago palm is as if you were planting a cactus, but be...

A friend of mine had a sago palm that had grown too close to where people needed to walk, so he asked me if I wanted it, and how to go about removing it. And I got it today! So, if you want to move a sago palm (cycas revoluta), here is the process. • Cut off all of the leaves. Yes, all of them. In the process of transplanting bare root they would all die, anyway. • Keep as much of the roots as you can. You don't need the dirt, just knock that off. What you end up with looks like the photo. Basically the stump, and probably a few *pups*, which themselves can be grown into plants. By the way, a plant like this can stay out of the ground for a long time, so you don't need to hurry. You do need to plant it in warm weather, and never, ever, when the soil is cold. Trimmed, pups removed The first step for me was to soak the rootball. Luckily, it was raining when I brought it outside, and hopefully will rain some more, and there's nothing like *blessings from above*...

If you have cannas right now (late September 2014) in the Phoenix, Arizona area, they should be incredible until the winter frost. And that's because of the heavy rains that we've had recently, in combination with doing all of the right things. I've had cannas here at The Tropical Paradise for many years, and this is what I've discovered that they need: • Trim them back hard. It's the new growth that looks so nice and lush. So trim the canes all of the way back to the ground on a regular basis. Look for sunburn on the leaves, and trim them away. When in doubt, trim. Believe me, they will grow back! • Fertilize them. I like using the houseplant spikes that I get at the Dollar Store. Use as many as you like! Tropical plants look their best with fertilizer. By the way, I don't spray liquid fertilizer on the leaves, because Phoenix has hard water, and it leaves spots. I will apply liquid fertilizer towards the bottom of the plants, that's all. • Water th...

One of the reasons that I left Minnesota, and came to live in the desert in Phoenix, is mosquitos. As a kid I only remember two seasons in Minneapolis, cold - and mosquitos. So when mosquitos started appearing here after our unusually heavy rains lately, I had met an old foe. I just finishing spraying around my yard with Bug-B-Gone. I also inspected all of my property, and insured that there was no standing water. I kicked over stuff that had been lying around in my side yard. I poked and prodded everything. And yes, I scared out a few mosquitos. The good news about spraying mosquitos is that they don't attack. In fact, mosquitos only bite as part of their reproductive process. They need blood for their eggs. They aren't bees, so don't be afraid of chasing after them. I mix up (very carefully) the spray insect poison in a hand-held gallon sprayer. And I spray everything, from the plants to the hard surfaces. The type of insecticide that I use has the ability to stic...

I started planting bulbs many years ago here at The Tropical Paradise. My motto here is *I'm experimenting mostly*, so I just grabbed all kinds of bulbs at the Dollar Store, or anywhere. Then I dug a hole not much bigger than the bulb, and jammed it in. What I got was better than nothing, but not much. Then, on impulse many years ago, I bought some bulbs from  +Easy to Grow Bulbs, Inc.  and suddenly everything changed. No, I don't mean to imply that their stuff has something magical in it, although the quality definitely beats the Dollar Store, and even the sad-looking bulbs at Home Depot. It just had to do with the process. Please let me explain. There really is something cool about mail-order bulbs. And I imagine many generations, looking at catalogs, reading up on how to care for the plants, and waiting with great anticipation. And this kind of attitude lends itself to the kind of stuff that you need to do to have success. Of course, I made mistakes at first. I orde...

After the heavy rains this past month in the Phoenix, Arizona area, there is a lot of work to be done, mowing grass. But not here. I've had artificial turf (fake grass) here for seven years and I love it. If you're thinking of getting it, do so. If you're concerned about its installation and maintenance, here it is: • Have it professionally installed. It's not carpet. And it sits on a thick layer or well-compacted granite sand. Mine was done right. I've seen it done wrong, and it's pretty painful to look at. They did it so right here that people have walked on it, and had to reach down and touch it to believe it was plastic. And by the way, if you're wondering about rain and, uh, other stuff (like dog piddle), relax. Artificial turf is perforated, so it flows through. • Leave it alone. I blow the leaves off of it every once in a while, but this is one instance where laziness is best. *Too perfect* spotless artificial turf looks, well, artificial. Lea...

Sago palms are beautiful, and they grow slowly. However, they do grow, and often their beautiful spiky leaves often end up getting a little too close to where people need to walk, along a sidewalk, or wherever, and the plant needs to be moved. Luckily, sago palms, like all cycads, can be moved, and transplanted, easily. And no, you don't have to take out a huge rootball, you just need the trunk, and the roots. This is how you do it: • Cut off all of the leaves. Yes, all of them. If a plant has been in the ground for many decades, you may be surprised at how much cutting is necessary. Wear gloves, the leaves are sharp. What you will end up seeing will look like a pineapple, or a torpedo. Sago palm "torpedo". I left a couple of leaves on, but they dropped off almost right away • Dig down as deeply as you can, trying to get as much of the rootball as possible. The more roots you save, the faster the plant will recover. Knock the dirt off, you don't need that....

A friend of mine in Los Angeles asked me yesterday about a sago palm that has sad-looking yellow leaves (pictured). He told me that he had been watering it, and I told him to get it out of the ground. If he had continued to water it, it would have died. If you have a sago palm that looks like this, don't panic. The first thing to do is to check the caudex (the pineapple, the trunk) and squeeze it to see if it's firm. It is, you'll be OK. If it's mushy, sorry, it's too late and it has rotted. Throw it away. To rescue a plant like this, take it out of the pot, or out of the ground. Yeah, I know it looks extreme, but you will need to do some serious surgery on this. Now cut off all of the leaves. Yes, all of them. What you will end up with will look like a large bulb with a bunch of roots at the bottom. Knock the dirt off of the roots and set the plant in the shade for a couple of days. Now, go prepare its new home. If you're gonna plant it in the ground,...

There's nothing quite like relaxing on a warm day in a chaise lounge. Here at The Tropical Paradise, the olive tree gives some nice dappled shade from about ten a.m. on. And so one of my favorite things is to just lounge around and listen to an audio book (that's my iPod and mini speaker on the table). But even with the dappled shade, the aluminum arms of the chaise lounge would get painfully hot. I was trying to drape a towel over them, which kind'a worked, but today I am trying another trick, which is using a ordinary *pool noodle* over the arms. So far (and it's only be a few hours), I like it. Here's what you do: • Get a narrow pool noodle. I found this one at Lowe's, and the color complimented the color of my beach towel. Most of the colors are pretty obnoxious, so try to find one that won't offend you too much. This teal-colored one amazed me at how well it blended in. • Cut the noodle in half and slit one side. I'm a graphic designer, so I...

Yesterday I impulsively bought a six-pack of Gourmet Bibb lettuce at Summerwinds Nursery in Glendale. I really know nothing about this plant, except that it looked interesting, I liked the shape and color, and I do like lettuce. I have tried to grow lettuce before and, after watching the slugs eat them all up, swore that I would never do it again. But circumstances have changed since the last time I tried, and failed, to grow lettuce. First of all, these plants are much bigger than the ones that I tried to grow many years ago. I had grown them from seed, and put them out in the garden when they were very, very small. This time, I spent the four dollars for these bigger plants. Also, this area is dryer than it was in previous years, as I have removed several of the misting heads from here. In years past this was a soggy area, which I imagined is what made it such a haven for snails. Now, don't get me wrong, I can keep this area well-watered, but it won't be with the auto...

It's mid-September and now is the time to start planting annuals flowers, such as the Vinca that I am planting this morning. You can plant annual flowers in the Phoenix, Arizona area (and by that I include all of the way to Tucson, to Las Vegas, and to Palm Springs) through the winter. If you come from back east, like I do, it seems kind'a strange, but there is a reason. The best weather here will start in October and last through April. That's what I call *Chamber of Commerce weather*. Back in Minneapolis, where I grew up, it would be in the springtime. Here the springtime weather is in fall, and winter. So, if you visit Phoenix to play golf in December, you will see a riot of color from annual flowers that were planted in September, and October. Right now it's still hot enough that I just felt my air-conditioning come on at 10 am. So, if you want to drag your feet a bit, you can wait until October. But I like to start annuals as early as possible, in mid-September...

I finally did a serious trim on my Mediterranean Fan Palm yesterday and today. I liked the bushy shape, but I had noticed that many of the leaves were dragging on the ground, looking ratty. So I risked life and limb (those things are sharp!) and trimmed away quite a bit. By the way, if you have anybody trimming a med palm, be sure to stand by with the bandages, and a couple of extra bucks! Of course, it will grow back even stronger and fuller now, but I am going to try to keep the leaves from getting too low. Just a matter of personal preference, I guess. And then I discovered something that always happens when I do this type of trimming, I have opened up a new planting area. Before I trimmed the bottom leaves off, I couldn't see the area at its base, which looks kind'a ratty now. Of course, it's an opportunity for more planting, and I have already put in a couple of Agave Parryis. The trick here is to plant things that require no maintenance, like these agaves. Fro...

It's typical for young gardeners to over-plant. That is, putting in too many plants for the space to allow them to look good when they achieve their full size. It's a lesson I learned a few years ago when I had to remove a tree that I had planted way too close to a block wall. So, I have done some homework and have researched mature sizes of the plants that I have here at The Tropical Paradise. And, of course, my biggest concern is for the cycads, like the one pictured, a Dioon spinulosum . According to my calculations, this plant will have room to grow to its mature size. The trunks on these plants don't get terribly wide, so there will be room next to the house as there is a good three feet from the wall. Of course, it will always need shade, but the olive tree that it sits under will grow right along with it. Dioon spinulosum in Los Angeles. The largest cycad in the United States. The largest Dioon spinulosum in the United States is in a little park in Los...

This year I've started adding aloes as companion plants to my cycads. When the cycads were first planted, they were smaller and much lower to the ground, but as they've grown, and gotten taller, they have opened up a lot of bare ground that now needs some visual interest. Luckily, most of my cycad friends also are collectors of aloes, so I'm learning more now. The aloes that you see here were given to me from my friends as *pups*. That's one of the nice thing about aloes and agaves, they pup (create offshoots) that need to be trimmed away, and can be given away to friends. Aloes take root readily, and just need some dappled shade, and steady moisture. At first I started asking the names of all of these aloes, but I've stopped now. I'm sure an expert could identify them, but to me, they're just aloes. They seem to be very happy here with the cycads!

September is the best time to plant irises in the Phoenix, Arizona area. You can plant them all fall and winter, but if you get them in now, in September, they will get the best chance to grow the most, be their biggest, and have the biggest flowers by February of next year. The best place to plant them I've found is in a sunny area that collects a lot of water. This area along the edge of the yard collected so much water that it started to sink, so I put a big piece of flagstone there recently, and made a mental note to plant irises there. In fact, many of the iris plants are still growing there from last season, as you can see. The new ones are just bulbs, you really won't see them until they start to grow. In a month, the leaves will be about two feet tall, and much wider. In spite of their size, I have learned to keep irises as foreground plants. That's because their blooms don't last, and need to be trimmed off constantly during the blooming season. If they...

Many years ago, a young idiot (me) planted a tree waaay too close to the wall. A couple of years ago, I paid to have the tree removed. I like trees, but this one was at risk of falling, and taking my nice block wall with it. It had to go. I didn't pay extra for stump removal, and I figured that I could cover it up with rocks or something. Everything that I tried has failed, so I'm going to cover it up with a plant - cape honeysuckle. You know, like a comb-over. Cape honeysuckle is a wonderful, fast-growing tropical-looking plant that can be kept at just about any size you want. The one on the right (behind the cycad) has been here since right after I bought the house, and I keep it a couple of feet tall and about six feet wide. The new one, in front of the stump, I got it as a one-gallon at Lowe's and I cut off most of the foliage. I am going to want this plant to grow in a bushy way. Once it's established, it will be in front, and over the stump, and that's a...

Most of the outdoor furniture that I see for sale just looks good on a web page, or a catalog page, or in a display in a store. The reality of outdoor furniture is that it lives outdoors, and it's meant to be used outdoors. That means it gets dirty, dusty, rained on, that sort of thing. And one of the best things I've learned is to use cheap furniture, and towels. Here is my favorite place to relax in The Tropical Paradise. I spend most of my time on the computer, since I work at home, so when I go outside, I like to give my brain, and my eyes, a break. That's my iPod there, connected to a portable speaker. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, and just like a book, I hit pause to bookmark, and get back to it later The chaise lounge is an inexpensive one from Target. It's aluminum, so it's light enough to easily move around to follow the shade. The table, as you can see, is plastic. Also lightweight and easy to move. But it's the towels that really make this ...

If you're interested in growing ferns in the Phoenix, Arizona area, you need a greenhouse. Sorry. I've tried to grow all types of ferns over the years, and the best I can say is that they lived for a while, but unfortunately, they suffered, and died. I remember once asking the guy at the nursery his advice for where I should plant a fern that I was buying and he just sighed and said, *a greenhouse*. The reason that ferns do so poorly here is the same reason that people love living here - low humidity. And believe me, there is no way to add enough humidity to make ferns grow outside. Better gardeners than I have failed, even though they had high-pressure misting systems, and deeply shaded areas. So the solution that I've found is an illusion of ferns, cycads. If you've never heard of cycads, that's not surprising. The one in the photo is called a Dioon spinulosum, and while it has been here for many years, doing great, I've never seen one for sale at the lo...

There are a lot of places where tropical plants grow naturally. These are places with high humidity, which is wonderful for plants, but not very comfortable for people. I live in the desert, where the humidity is very low, so that even when it's hot here, it's comfortable. And it rarely rains here, so the skies are blue and clear and you can go golfing just about every day. So, I am happy living here, but I would really rather live in an oasis than in a desert. Fortunately, it's possible with a few tricks. The most important thing is water. Seems a no-brainer, but I've seen people try to water tropical plants outdoors here with a hose, or a watering can. If you're one of those people, no wonder you're so frustrated that *nothing can grow* where you live. There are two watering systems here in my backyard in Glendale, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix). The one you are seeing the effects of in the photo is the misting system. It's the same thing that you see...

I've been adding a lot more companion plants to my palms and cycads lately. Something that has worked well here, and looks good with cycads, is the Sansevieria Cylindrica (African Spear plant). I just planted this one a few minutes ago, and it was an offshoot from a plant that belongs to a friend of mine here in town. Like agaves, sansevierias send out runners and *pups*, which you can detach from the main plant, doing no harm, and start a new plant. As you can see, it's planted in dappled shade. The soil that I've amended there is light and sandy, and I also added some slow-release fertilizer, and some moisture crystals. This particular plant doesn't have it's own dedicated watering head, it will just get runoff from the cycad to its right. I will be sure to hand-water it until it gets established, then it should be OK on its own. In addition to runoff, this area gets a good amount of additional misting. As Sansevieria Cylindricas grow, they fan out, so it...