Very nice yard tropicalzone7:)

impressive buddy! you have tons of beautiful plants!

You have a beautiful yard, thanks for posting your pictures, I really enjoyed looking at them. It looks like you have a lot of the same plants that I do. My pygmy date palm looked pretty bad after spending the winter in the garage but it has made a pretty good comeback and its
actually starting to bloom. I also have a plumeria that is a pretty good size but it has yet to bloom. Do they normally bloom in the late summer?

I love your bromeliads too! They have become my lastest obsession and I have quite a few of them on my patio. I love their bright colors and yours looks nice mounted in the tree.

Linda

Wow Beautiful. Awesome diversity you have in your yard. I am sure every year the collection grows larger.

Thank you all for the nice comments and for looking! Im glad that you all liked everything!!
Tropic lover, Im also know of new to bromeliads. I have a few now and I love the color they bring! The one I have mounted on the tree was only 6 dollars so I had to get it and I hope I can sucessfully take it off the tree in the fall because I would hate to lose such a nice plant. Plumerias naturally bloom throughout the growing season, but with the exception of my Plumeria "divine" all my plumerias seem to bloom later in the year. This is only my 2nd year with plumerias but I have about 8 now and 4 out of the 5 that have bloomed, bloomed after August. If they dont have there inflos showing by now than they probably wont bloom until October at the earliest and they might be inside by then. So far My plumeria divine has been my best bloomer. Its a dwarf plumeria but also a fast grower. Its only my second year with it (It was very small when I got it), but now it pretty big, but still not very tall in height. Pygmy palms seem to hate being indoors but they are always so determined to make a comeback! Im going to try to give them a good spot this winter because I think they deserve it after such a nice recovery!
Thanks and good luck!
-Alex

Hey Alex,

Where do I begin?

Everything has double or even tripled in size from just two months ago...I can't believe the growth!!! You must be so pleased with the beauty of your yard...

What a beautiful escape to return home to such a peaceful and relaxing oasis!!! That is exactly what I wanted when I planted my palm trees. To be able to feel like you are on vacation somewhere down south..anywhere where tropicals are abundant... You have really mastered that feel!! Congratulations on a fine looking yard!!!

Ok...let me think of all of the great shots...I love the agave (it's grown so much!!!) The Oleander is so different than any of the other ones here in my area..quite interesting and beautiful. The Hibiscus (peach) is probably one of my favorites...as well as that wonderful Divine. The coloration on this Plumeria is wonderful. It really loves the heat considering the quality of the rich intense orange/pink color. The Lava plants are a great find. Did you ship them from Hawaii?

Everything looks wonderful...You have done a great job on your beautiful yard...I'll bet at night (with the lights on the plants) would be quite a sight to see!!! Kind of like being at the Ritz Carlton!!! LOL... Ok... I'll stop!!!

We have had alot of Hummingbirds here as well...they really love the Texas Star Hardy Hibiscus...I put up a feeder next to my window looking out my backyard and they are feeding all day. The males constantly fight each other for the feeder territory (quite a show) If you want some seeds or even some babies let me know... always welcome to them!!!
The flowers are a large red that attract them...so they are always hiding in and around to attact the other birds who try and feed at the feeder...Love the hummers too!!!

Always enjoy seeing the progress of everyones yard!!!

Keep the pics coming everyone!!!

Take Care...

Laurain VB

Chicago palm, The collection is definitely growing larger every year!! Its amazing how many more plants I have this year compared to last! I think I must have added at least 30-40 more tropical plants to the collection this year!
Good luck!
-Alex

Thanks Laura! I do love all the growth that my plants have gotten this year! They all love the heat!! The do look pretty good at night with the lights shining on them! I love the texas star Hibiscus! Thank you so much for the offer but right now I have a ton of plants to put in the ground. I think by next spring when I take out a few shrubs and fit in some of the tropicals, I will definitely know if I can fit one more cold tolerant beauty! I love the hardy hibiscus. Rose of sharon is a VERY popular plant here (so much so that they are starting to grow by the forest edges too!) but Texas star is rarely seen and I think it should be grown a lot more. Ill definitely post a pic of the plumeria pudica when it blooms. The wait for the first plumeria bloom to open always feels like forever!!
Good luck and thanks for the complement and for looking!! Your yard always looks like the tropics to me! Im hoping for my palms to get that tall one day!!
-Alex

Super Super pics. like mrs. Laura said everything has basically doubled in size! great job! also i bet you are happy your coconut's fronds are finally splitting... thats a beautiful first sight! keep it up and talk soon -Justin in VB

Thanks Justin! The coconut palm leaves splitting was a great sight for sure! I was so happy and now its growing pretty fast so Im really happy its doing so well! Thanks for looking!!!
-Alex

DUDE! You are a true artist. Fantastic job. The obvious question (and something that I struggle with every October) is where to keep all the tropicals inside. Do you have a large greenhouse? My wife likes 'a few plants' indoors but she says it looks like a jungle over the winter; which I see nothing wrong with :) I have read that the fire bromediads become a beautiful red when they are exposed to full sun. In your picture it looks as though they are in partial shade? Great job once again and I will end this post with the Alex signature goodbye:
Good Luck!
-Christopher
:)

Thanks Chris! I wish I had a greenhouse, but I dont really have a place where it would look good and get the benifits of the sun. I usually just put the plants around the house with the tallest palms going by the tallest ceiling . Last year all the plants barely had a place to go and this year I have a LOT more so Im starting to get a little worried. I think Im going to partially convert a room into a greenhouse since it has nice south facing windows and is rarely used. But one day I would really love to put all these plants in a greenhouse! Until then my house becomes a jungle with all the plants are fighting for their lives until spring finally comes! I think I am going to look up about greenhouses and maybe see where one can go. I can dream :)
And thanks for the tip about the Fireball bromeliad. Originally when I took them out in late march, they were in full sun, but when the tree grew leaves for the summer, It got a lot more shade. I think next year Im going to look for a place with more sun and maybe if I get enough pups, I will have a few more plants too!
And you got my ending signature just right! Sometimes I dont even notice Im writing it, lol....
Good luck!
-Alex

Everything looks nice Alex/super healthy!

I think Bougs need heat/drought stress to flower well,
give it a try.(-:

Thanks jim! I also heard that bougainvillea need to be very dry before they flower which is why I never watered mine. But then it started wilting so I watered it only enough to keep it from wilting (a little bit every 3 days). I gave it as much neglect as I could, but it never really worked! I heard that they like being root bound and mine is in a huge pot so I think thats probably the reason why its not blooming. But Im hoping next year it will have better blooms. It has made lots of progress since last year (last year it was only 6 inches tall!). Next year its getting more sun and as little water as possible so Im hoping that it will be filled with blooms!! I see about 10-20 buds on it now so maybe it will have a good amount of blooms before fall! I sure hope it does!!
Thanks for looking and for the advice!
Good luck!
-Alex

Everything looks amazing! you take good care of your yard & i love those banana plants. am thinking about getting a few my self. i was at disneyland last week and came across a banana plant that had several bananas hanging from it & it looked beautiful! very tropical. i should of brought my camera, oh well next time good thing my girlfriend & me have a season pass. i much rather have a season pass to six flags or even universal studios but my daughter & girlfriend love it there. & i dont mind site seeing, there alot of palms & plants there to see so its a win/win. anyways great stuff keep doing what your doing everything looks very happy!

Thanks james! I wouldnt mind going to an amusement park just for the plants! I do love Disney World, but I hear Disneyland is small and only a very few rides in Disney are really fast and fun. But next time you go, you should definitely snap a few pics of some of the plants on the site! I love to see banana plants in fruit and hopefully one day mine will give me some fruit too. I really recommend banana plants because they really add to the tropical look and they are pretty quick growers too. But they are water lovers and cant ever go completely dry.
Thanks for commenting!!
Good luck!
-Alex

Very nice garden. You may want to consider that line of work.

Where do you store all the potted tropicals in the winter? Do you have a big window?

Thanks jacklord! Right now Im considering being a meteorologist but I really think that I will be growing tropical plants like crazy no matter where I live or what I do!
The potted plants dont really have just one window they go to. There 2 south facing windows where they stay and seem to like and then theres also a north facing window which is very bright and a lot of the plants also really like. A room upstairs has a window they also really like and then there a few cornders that get a few minutes of direct sun later in the day. The garage is also becoming a popular spot too now! Im constantly trying to find new spots for them all indoors and somehow I always manage to find a place for them all!
Thanks for looking!
Good luck!
-Alex

What a great tour. Its more than just palms but a experience. Nice touch with the passion fruit and moth:)How tall was your Oleander when it bloomed?

Some of my palms are burried a bit too but I figure they'll have more sun when the tomato plants die back. Us urban gardeners use our space to the max:)

Thanks greg! The passion fruit is new and Im excited to have it as an addition to the yard and the moths are everywhere! They both made some pretty decent pics though!! My oleander has been blooming almost since I got it this year as a 3 gallon plant about 3 feet tall. It didnt start blooming like this until july though! Ive always wanted an Oleander but I couldnt find one locally until this year. The oleander does have a few seed pods on it so I might be able to give out some small plants when the pods ripen (one of the pods have been on there for almost 2 months now!)
Urban gardeners really have to use there space to the max! I consider my area suburban but there isnt a lot of planting space, definitely not enough for the full tropical effect. The Windmill palms seem to actually like being a little crowded so they arent too upset but once winter comes mine will also have there own space again.
Good luck! Thanks for looking!!
-Alex