The Outback at The Tropical Paradise at the end of May

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The area south of where the artificial turf ends is a place that I have started calling The Outback. The wall that you are looking at is what is known as a northern exposure, and it is an area that is notoriously difficult to grow plants along.

The reason that growing plants on a northern exposure can be seen by looking at the wall. Even this late in the season, there is precious little sunlight. In the winter, it's in deep, cold, shade. I've tried to grow along that wall, but everything there has failed. Luckily, this is the "way off in the background" area of The Tropical Paradise.

I've been putting in plants that mostly take care of themselves in The Outback. In the background is a Mediterranean palm, which grows fine as long as you don't mess with it. It's growing in a nice, rounding, clumping form, which fills a space like this nice. This one has a ways to go, but it will get there. I've also planted fountain grass, which needs no maintenance at all, until it gets it's yearly "haircut" to the ground. To the left you can see an assortment of agaves, aloes, and, well, succulent plants. This is a very hot area, with little shade, and they only get water that trickles down the slope.

The pointy rocks at the edge send a clear message to casual visitors - the path ends here. Authorized personnel only - like Macintosh, the good little wiener dog!

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