Brad's Tropical Paradise

If you have a miniature palm tree, sometimes called a dwarf or pygmy date palm, you may have noticed that the base of it gets kinda weird. But don't panic, that's perfectly normal, and it's how they grow. No, I have no idea why, and it's called "stilting". The roots get exposed and it looks as if the plant isn't really in the ground correctly. But it's fine. Here at the Tropical Paradise I've had miniature palm trees for over twenty years, and they're doing great. They're big miniatures, over six feet tall now, but they really won't get all that much taller, maybe a few feet. Kind of like "jumbo shrimp"! Of course if they were full-sized palms they'd be thirty feet tall by now, and would have long since outgrown the space, so I'm glad the younger version of me was smart enough to plant miniatures over two decades ago. And, as I say, they're fine, strong and healthy. And other than looking kinda weird, the st...

Ordinarily, combining a dachshund with a garden is a terrible idea. As a breed, dachshunds like to dig, and bark constantly, so when I got Macintosh, the good little wiener dog, thirteen years ago, most people thought that I was crazy to introduce that type of dog to my Tropical Paradise. And yes, I'm crazy. I'm crazy about my dachshund, and I'm a believer that with attention and love, it was possible for us to share the garden. I can't recommend that you do this, but I did, and as of this writing I'm preparing to bring another doxie into my life. I have a wonderful garden, which I love sharing with my wiener dog. This past year I looked up to realize that she's been with me for thirteen years, and while I can expect many more years from her, I will outlive her, and I'll be getting a little sister for her, another dachshund. Of course, like the garden, I made it all up as I went along, and what I've got now, which looks like a success, is just t...

Agaves are beautiful plants that do well even in the terrible heat here in the Phoenix area. I have lots of different varieties, and out in the front I have some variegated ones. They serve two functions, they look great, and they keep people from walking across my yard. No, I don't have any grass, so I'm not the cranky old guy who shouts "get off my lawn!" but I do have tiny hidden water sprayers, so it's best that people don't walk through the garden, and accidentally kick them. I've done that quite often myself, and I even know where they are! They're hidden for a reason, because I don't want the plumbing to be obvious, but they are very easy to kick accidentally. I really don't get too many people walking in my front garden, but when someone visits me, and parks in the front, they usually want to cut the corner and walk diagonally across the garden. So I put in extremely sharp plants, that also look extremely sharp, to discourage tha...

I don't have a lot of plants in pots here, but the ones I have always have me wondering if they're getting enough water, or too much? The plants in the ground seem to regulate their intake of water just fine, taking what they need and letting the rest drain away, but in pots it's not so easy for the plant, and they need a little extra help. That's why I use a moisture meter. I've had this one for many years now, and it was very cheap. It measures moisture and pH, although all I've ever used it for is checking moisture. And I'm no rocket scientist, but I can see if the needle pegs to the right, I don't need to add any more water. Most of the potted plants I've killed have been from overwatering, so it's good to check. As you can see here, this plant needed a bit of water, so I gave it a nice drink right before I came in to write this post. All of the plants on my Tiki bar were kinda dry, so I watered them. I checked the potted plants on the...

All gardens attract flies. If you have a dog, like I do, and even if you clean up regularly, you'll have flies. At the very least flies are attracted to water, and your garden has water. I've been controlling flies here at the Tropical Paradise for over twenty years. And if you're wondering how it's done, it's just a continual battle. I like to pick out something different every year when I'm out shopping. The brand doesn't matter, as long as it's something that controls flies. I picked this one today because I like the color blue. My preference is something that either sticks, or traps them. I made the mistake when I first starting doing this of hanging the trap out where I could see it, but that's disgusting. Fly traps attract flies, and very soon you'll have a collection of dead flies to look at, so I put them behind my tree, and along the side of my house, out of sight. And that's it. If you're looking for some miracle that w...