Brad's Tropical Paradise

It's mid-January, and even though it's chilly outside, you can still enjoy a blooming hyacinth. Actually, you can do this with any flowering plant that grows from a bulb. It's called "forcing", and in spite of that name, it requires no effort at all. This how you do it: I recommend buying the bulb and the pot together, like this one, which is on my windowsill. This was $2.99 at the grocery store, and while the plant itself will fade away after it blooms, you can keep the pot, and just buy a bulb next year. If this is your first time, I recommend getting the whole package. As you can see, the bulb sits into the space at the top of the pot, and the roots grow into the water. By the way, I just noticed as I was writing this that the water level was going down, so I just went and added more water. That's all you have to do. Well, it has to go on a sunny windowsill. I turn it every few days to keep the bloom looking even, but you really don't have to. It...

I love the look of my backyard. There are interesting plants to look at, a table where I can sit and ponder this and that, and plenty of space for my tiny little dachshund. And I especially like the artificial turf (the fake grass). If you have a small backyard like mine, I recommend artificial turf. When I first moved here there was grass, and as nice as grass is, it's annoying to care for, and keep looking nice. Plus you can't put furniture on it the way you can with artificial turf. And while it's still just plastic, and can't possibly be as soft as real grass, it's a whole lot softer than paving or concrete. I've seen backyards with hard surfaces and I think they're just awful. The heat and glare, especially in areas like Phoenix, is just horrible, and they start to look terrible just about right away. They need to be constantly swept, or they look messy. My artificial turf actually looks better with a few fallen leaves on it - makes it look more na...

Agaves are beautiful plants for the desert landscape. They use precious little water, don't mind the extremes of hot and cold, and while they're not really "tropical" they're a nice complement to tropical plants. They do require a few tricks to keep them looking their best, but luckily, it's easy. First of all, they're deadly deadly deadly sharp. Be sure to plant them well away from where anyone would be walking, or even if they strayed a bit off the path. If you put them where people can be jabbed by them, or children can run into them, I hate you. So don't do that. I know you won't. After finding a safe place to plant your agave, you will find that, like all other plants, it will grow, and need to be trimmed, or it'll look ratty. I have a strong opinion about how my plants, and trees, should look, and it includes trimming. That's the difference between a garden and just out in the wild, care. Gauntlet gloves and a gardening kni...