The back of my house is a little harder to plant but I manage.
This area gets about two hours of direct sun

I use lots of potted plants back here...
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To top it all off I have a sea monster looking after it all.

wow, that is lovely!!! thanks for sharing the pics..you are inspiring me to try to bring a little tropical flair to my pennsylvania gardens next year!

datdog, congratulations on your beautiful plantings.
Is that Canna 'Australia' in the second picture (and what's the large-leafed plant at left)? And if you could supply the name of the pink Brugmansia...

Here's a sampling of my subtropical-overtoned bed, now reaching peak.

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Here is a link that might be useful: The Victor/Victorian Garden '04

drop dead gorgeous dahhhhhlings !

Eric your bed is wonderful. Very tropical... I'll check on the canna name for you. The large leaf plant is a grocery store taro, it's sold in the produce section. The pink brugmansia is Kyle's Pink it's been a great bloomer this season. If you'd like some brug cuttings come fall I'd be happy to send you some.
Thanks Michelle wish I had your zone to do it year round.

mich gets some credit (or blame, depending on your point of view re design) for sharing a division of Canna 'Tropicanna' with me (seen at far right in the above photo). I broke down and bought a couple additional pots of it as well to make a fair-sized grouping. The other cannas in the bed this year are 'Wyoming', 'Pretoria', 'The President' and 'Red King Humbert' - not unusual hybrids, but I'm enjoying all of them.

I apppreciate the brug cutting offer. I don't have that one (it's a beauty), but 'Betty Marshall' has already been in flower in the same bed and a couple other varieties are currently in bud.

Wow! Those pics are so inspiring!
Datdog-2 questions:
Are you putting your brugmansias directly in the ground in NJ and then digging them up for the winter?
For perspective purposes-how much space are you utilizing for your gardens (How big is the yard you are working in?

Wow!!! Those yards look great!!!

I'm new to plants and tropicalesque as of this year and I'm pretty proud of my plants. But I've got no landscaping whatsoever. Any pics I put up would be "scrawny and weak" compared to Datdog's and Eric's. Hopefully next year . . .

Thanks for sharing!

Here's a link to a photo I took just a few days ago. The tropicals LOVE all the rain we've been getting. (Click on "back to album" to see more shots of my gardens.)

Here is a link that might be useful:

WELCOME TO CT !!!

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let's try again !!!

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I'd like to post a photo of my tropical garden. I don't see a spot to insert the link to my photo. Help?