Brad's Tropical Paradise

As a tough guy, I think it's always puzzled people why I love to be in the garden. But it's my favorite place to be when recovering from injury and illness, which I've done quite a lot of in a long life. Yes, I have a workout room. I train every day, and consider it a part of who I am. As Phillip Marlowe might say, "I'm six feet of raw leather, with hard muscles, and no glass jaw." But even the toughest guys get hit with illness and injury, and have to find a place to return. Mine is the garden. I'm recovering from the flu this morning and I did a bit of trimming. That means that I'm up on my wobbly feet, doing a tiny bit of reaching and stretching. And if you could see my garden, you'd see how much time I've spent there in recovery. Gardening is my basic physical therapy. And it starts with the most gentle stuff, like what I was barely able to do this morning, to more energetic stuff, like moving heavy rocks (which will have to wait a...

If you live where it's warm enough to grow agaves, such as in Phoenix, or Los Angeles, they're wonderful. I've been learning more about them lately, and there are many varieties, or types of whatever you call them - different colors and sizes. But there are some tricks to getting them in your garden. The first thing to note about agaves is that they are dangerously sharp. Not, "oops sharp" like a thorn on a rose bush, more like "suddenly bleeding all over the place" if you get stuck sharp. So wear sturdy leather gloves. The other thing that you need to do is cover your body. I tend to be a shirtless gardener, but if you're a "belly itcher" like I am, and you touch your skin with the gloves after cutting an agave, the sap stings like crazy. No, it won't damage your skin, but it hurts, and you have to go take a shower right away, or it will just burn and sting until you do. Ask me how I know this? So, shirt, gloves. OK? I got sever...

As a man who is just entering his golden years, one of the saddest things that I'm seeing is gardens owned by people who are just a little bit older than me becoming unusable for them. And the reason for this is the same reason that people often have to give up living where they've been for decades, the design doesn't allow them to "age in place". If you're familiar with the concept of "aging in place" it means that a person can continue to live somewhere, and enjoy it, as they go into old age. It's a difficult concept for most people to accept, that they will get old, and certain things will become more difficult. I have a unique point of view, as I had a preview of what old age limitations would feel like when I had a stroke in my mid-forties. I was able to get up on my feet, but I suffer from some of the "nuisance problems" of people older than me, such as poor balance, and impaired vision in dark areas, with contrast. But I...