what kind of mulch is that dark stuff and do you get it by the truck load? joe

It's the standard bark mulch around here that is colored black with a dye, I had it installed by the guy who takes care of my grass.

Just amazing, X!

Imagine what you could do if you actually lived where the weather really cooperated!

I was just shoving my Baobabs under benches so that the lovely HAIL that was falling would stop shredding their leaves - nice!

Ugh.

T

I think that's just about the best display of a tropical garden in a cold winters,temperate garden as I have ever seen. My eye can see you've gotten fast and lush growth that we might not get in our summers with those same plants.Not sucking up,it really is an awesome display.Congrats.
PS. What is that behind the Thai Colocasia? Thalia sp?

stanofh

a few months of hot weather really helps. I don't even want to show a "before pic", it looks like dirt and a few weeds :-)

Behind Thailand Giant is Canna musafolia, another ridiculously fast-growing species, it must be almost 10ft tall by now, and we still have another solid 6 weeks of growing season left. There's also some bamboo hiding back there. When everything dies back for the winter, I have to leave something behind to look at.

x

Wow! how big is the bottle of your bottle palm? I got my eyes peeled for one of those. How do you manage this stuff in the winter?

Just love the variety of stuff -- aroids, succulents, etc. Wish I had a someone to do my lawn, so I could concentrate on the beds!

WOW! Everything looks great and all your hard work has really paid off.

Rigo

That is EXACTLY what I am striving for. Excellent job! I am soo into alocasia/colocaisa as well. I think they are a dramatic contrast and add such a tropcial look. I was scared to try the Thailand Giant as they get SO huge! I bought a gigantea and it hasnt taken off as yet. Well done xerophyte!

Fantastic garden! You really have a knack for design and placement. What is the purple flower in the basjoo pic? How much of that do you actually overwinter in ther ground? And how much of that comes in for the winter? You must not be married because my wife would have left a long time ago if I had all of that to overwinter.

Gorgeous....!

Josh

At a loss for words ... amazing will have to do.

Mike

Do you have a greenhouse to keep all those lovely plant alive and well in the winter?

caudex

the bottle measures 23" diameter, I just checked, but it's still a juvenile plant. It's hard to see in the photo because the Caladiums are smothering it.
The winter is not so tough, most stuff just gets hacked and packed. The bottle palm is the biggest challenge actually. I have a 175W metal halide lamp hoisted over it for supplemental light.
Most winter-growing succulents fit in my garage under a 1500W metal halide lamp. The dormant stuff stays in the dark, no light needed. I keep the agaves outdoors under cover, they need protection from the rain.
Some things get crammed by some windows but its not too bad.

bradleyo
among the basjoo are some Amaranthus, they reseed every year. few things are overwintered in the ground, but some stuff stays outdoors under an awning.
LOL, I am married, with 2 kids, one of them 3 months! I spend about 10 min a day watering, that's it. No weeding because of mulch. No fertilizing because I use slow release granules.
Luckily I have a big garage with enough space for everything.

fishinfool
most plants remain dormant, they grow quickly in the spring. I have lights in the garage for overwintering. My greenhouse is mainly for summering outdoors of succulents and cactus that can't get rained on.

Everyone else - many thanks!

That is absolutely beautiful!! Wow!! puts my garden to shame and I live in FL!! Thanks for sharing your beautiful pictures...You are very creative and talented.

Can't add much more than whats already been said but I will try anyway-LOL
I really like the combination of plants and color you have there and I was going to add that it looks like your bottle palms trunk doubled in size from last year but I think you already said that-very nice!must be such a joy to kick back and enjoy the beauty of your little paradise,also that pachy should really be interesting in a few years,they are one of my favs(all the pachys)and I really got back into them last year after a 10 year break,(ahh the joy of shopping on the internet!)anyway,the cold hardy palm thing just took over.I am curious,you said you cover some of the agaves,which ones and how do you protect?

Hi xerophyte,
Thanks for the bottle palm tip. I had my bottle out if full sun over the summer and used allot of cedar mulch as a soil additive to keep it well drained (as I did for all my palms). It developed small black spots that started at the tips and then spread. Some sort of fungus?? I pruned all the fronds so now all I have is one frond that is opening up. Other than what I did is there anything else that can be done? This is sort of a hail Mary attempt at fixing it and I have a feeling that I wont be able to save it. I was ready to give up! Also, do you cut down your Ensete maurelli and start them again in spring? They are so similar to a giant burgundy canna that I have! Another question, did you split your calidoras or did you purchase all those separately? I know I know so many questions! You inspire xerophyte, you truly do!

jimhardy, I agree, the Pachy will be a beauty in a few more years. I'm still not sure how I'm going to handle some of these guys when they get big. With the agaves, they are buried in their 5-gal pots which have holes drilled along the sides for root run. I yank them out of the ground and trim the roots back. The Agaves (only A attenuata goes into the garage, it would fry outside at freezing temps) are placed along the side of the house under an awning so they stay dry. I keep them outdoors that way unless we get a severe cold snap and temps dip below about 15F in which case I bring them inside temporarily. Luckily for me, this is only about 1 or 2 times a year. Last year my low was 15.7F once. The 2nd coldest night was 21F. My local microclimate affords me that luxury as I am about 100 ft from the open bay.

protemp - I'm not sure cedar mulch is a good soil additive. Any discoloration that begins at the leaf tips is more likely something related to the soil or soil chemistry, or the plant's metabolism. I doubt it is fungal. I would repot while gently washing away the old soil with a hose, into a fresh soil mix with lots of perlite, pumice, or similar aggregate. A basic mix that will be adequate for one growing season would be something like 50-50 perlite-peat moss. You can try to nurse your plant back into health and then repot into something better after the palm is better. Just a suggestion, I'm not a palm expert by any means.

I don't cut down the Ensete, I just trim back all the leaves except the newest one, and store the stem along the floor in the garage.

I had a few Calidora's in the beginning, and they have multiplied and split off since. My Canna musafolia multiplies like crazy. I started with 5, the next year I had almost 40.

Glad to be of help. Enjoy!

x

Thanks

x How big was this bottle when you got it ?