Brad's Tropical Paradise

It's May 18th, and to my surprise I'm seeing some sprouts from the dollar store bulbs I planted a couple of days after my birthday. I snipped off a little bit of the label, and wrote a date on it, but I'm not sure what kind of flowers they are - I think maybe gladiolus? My motto here at the Tropical Paradise is to "give it a try". I've planted a lot of things here, some of which have succeeded, and many of which didn't. Luckily for me my memory of my failures is poor, so I don't let it worry me. Over the years I've planted a lot of plants, including bulbs, some of which I paid high prices for online, and some of which I got at the dollar store. And I have to admit that none of the dollar store bulbs has ever even gotten this far, so I'm happy. And I give everything I plant here the royal treatment. It's called "digging a hundred dollar hole for a fifty dollar plant", and these bulbs are no exception. I dug a nice deep hole, filled...

I have several agaves in my backyard, and while they're very low maintenance, every once in a while I need to trim the bottom leaves - carefully. They're very sharp! This is not a job to do in a hurry, but luckily I have all the time in the world. Start with some good gauntlet gloves - even the slightest scratch can be horribly painful, and I know because I've made that mistake more than once. Hopefully I'm older and wiser now. You will also need a good curved knife, like this one. I got it online and I'm sure you can find them at your local garden center. Get a good one! You don't need a giant machete or anything, just a decent curved blade which you will use to saw the agave's leaves (or are they pedals? Fronds? Whatever). The trick to this is body placement. I like to squat down, or sit, so that I can trim from the correct angle. And watch out for those spikes! They can puncture the gloves, which will only protect you from the edges. Take your time! I do ...

Although med palms are supposed to look bushy, every once in a while I give mine a good haircut. Trust me, it grows back! And in addition to having a nice-looking garden, I like to do it myself, and not get hurt. It's a slow process, and I'll see if I can explain. First of all, you need some gauntlet gloves, like you would wear trimming rose bushes. Med palms have deadly thorns, and you don't even want to think about getting stuck! No, I don't recommend a particular brand, but I do want to mention that if you're a man that you'll need to get a larger size than you normally wear. Gardening gloves are sized for women (because that's their major market). My hands are a medium man's, but a large woman's. Still, you don't want them too big - I recommend that you go somewhere where you can try them on. I bought these online and they're very tight! Now don't be tempted to just start cutting and leaving stuff all over the place. I have a cardboar...