Brad's Tropical Paradise

Trimming and repotting Euphorbias takes a little bit of care. It's mostly the same as any other plant that has gotten too big for its pot - you trim it back and put it in a slightly larger pot. But these tough plants have a secret weapon - the white sap - which stings like crazy. So be careful! • Before you do anything, put on some gloves. I get the Dollar Store kind, three pairs for a buck and they do just fine for this. You just don't want the sap to touch your skin. No, it won't kill you or turn you into a zombie, but it will hurt. If you do get some on your skin, go wash it off right away. And throw the gloves away when you're done. Euphorbia • Like any other plant that has gotten rangy, or "leggy", trim it back. I took about half of this plant off. Note that I put a paper towel nearby and I immediately transferred the cut shoots into a trash bag. The white goopy sap gets everywhere, and is sticky too, so treat it as if it were "hazardous ...

It's mid-October and your Cape Honeysuckle should be starting to bloom now in the Phoenix area. If it isn't, it's probably your fault, but don't worry, it's an easy fix. If you're a neat gardener who is always trimming plants into tidy shapes and cutting back runners, you are probably making it impossible for your Cape Honeysuckle to bloom. The blooms occur at the end of long branches. So if you want blooms, this is how you do it: • Trim the whole plant down to the stubs. Yeah, I know that's kind of extreme, but it's what they do with rose bushes. Then the plant puts its energy into long stems and large flowers. • Let the plant grow back with long branches. Don't trim them back to keep them neat. Don't shape the plant. Let it get rangy. • Learn what the flower buds look like. Take a close look at the photo above. The leaf shape where a flower will emerge is slightly different. So whenyou see it, leave it alone. That's where the flo...

I was in California a few weeks ago, and I noticed that because of the drought, some of the houses were proudly displaying dead lawns, dead plants, and dead trees. I even heard an expression for it as "California Gold" - everything being brown and dead. And not only is it the ugliest thing I've ever seen, and a fire hazard, having dead plants around the house, it isn't even necessary. Here in the Phoenix area we've been using a technique called "Xeriscape". And that doesn't mean that everything is dead, it just means some very careful water management, and correct selection of plants. Here in my yard I've managed to create an illusion of a Tropical Paradise - but believe me, it's just an illusion, and it uses precious little water. Here are some of the tricks. • A low-pressure watering system. This is the exact opposite of a wasteful watering system that sprays everything, watering the sidewalks, and running down the streets. This is ...

Cycads are amazing plants. The kind'a look like miniature palm trees, or very large ferns. The most common one is called a "sago palm" - although cycads aren't really palms at all. I've been growing cycads here in the Phoenix, Arizona area for almost twenty years now and I get a big kick out of them. If you're wondering if it can be done, yes, it can. And here are a few things I've learned along the way. • Start with a simple sago palm. Real cycad collectors called them cycas revolutas. Yep, we speak Latin. Because as your collection gets more diverse, you will need to be specific about the name of the plant. But don't worry about speaking Latin - I've been doing it since I was a kid, for example Tyrannosaurus Rex, or Triceratops. The cycad in the photo at the top of this post is a Dioon Spinulousum. I've heard collectors call it a "spinner", or just a spinulosum. And, by the way, most of the people who have these plants in their...

It's October, and here in the Phoenix area that's the best time to plant petunias, or any annual flower. Unlike back east, where you plant in spring, here you plant in fall. Annual flowers will bloom all winter (how cool is that?) and then will die when the desert heat returns in April. Of course, you can plant all winter, but if you plant in October or November, it will give your petunias more time to grow. So get planting! This is how: • Go to your local nursery, or Home Depot, or Lowe's, and buy some six-packs. I bought six six-packs yesterday and with the help of the Woman in My Life, we got them all in the ground in a couple of hours. Yes, buy them small. There is no point in buying them in larger containers. If you plant them properly, they will grow like crazy. • Dig a hole about the size of the rootball of the plant (a couple of inches). I like to "punch them in" all over the garden. I add a tiny amount of Osmocote (or any dry fertilizer) and a ...

After another VERY hot summer, it's finally October here in Arizona. And that means for the next six months it will be the best weather on planet earth. This is, as you'd imagine, tourist season, and the Chamber of Commerce isn't kidding. I've lived here for over twenty years and it's just glorious. There will be the bluest skies that you can imagine, the cleanest and freshest air, and just plain nice weather. We do get some small gentle rains, like we had early this morning, but they're rare, and they don't last long. Here's the forecast: Nice. And definitely no snow! This is annual flower season here. In the past I've made the mistake of planting too early, in September, but now I'm gonna wait until Monday (tomorrow, October 5th) to plant annual flowers. And I've already decided that this year will be white petunias. I will punch them in all around the garden. If you plant annual flowers now, they will be beautiful and in bloom all t...