Looks nice!

I love this picture! Great idea with the mileage sign.

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Here are a couple of views of my back garden that I took a couple of weeks ago; the 'Margarita' sweet potato has about doubled in size since then!

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More photos in my album--see link.

Here is a link that might be useful: August garden pics

Jonnie- What is that purple plant next to your sweet potatoe vine--so pretty!

Eco-Such a nice composition as well. Thanks

Thanks for the nice comments! Johnnie, I agree the sweet potato vine grows like crazy this time of year, my 'Blackie' has spread about 2 feet in the last 2 weeks. I plan to get some hardy palms this coming spring and just planted a 'Natchez' crepe myrtle a couple of days ago.

Lucinda - I believe Johnnies plant is Persian Shield, one of my favorites.

Yes, the purple plant is Persian shield, Strobilanthes dyerianus. I find that it wilts a bit in mid-day sun so if I plant it again next year I will move it closer to the japanese maple where it will get a bit more afternoon shade. I like the color and it has otherwise done well but the leaves have stayed quite small; when I have seen them in greenhouses or in other gardens they had much larger leaves and I'm not sure why--perhaps it gets bigger leaves with more shade?

Your garden is incredible!! How do you get so many plants in there?

Thanks for responding about the Persian shield. Johnnie- perhaps the plant takes a while to grow to maturity. Have you thought of digging some up and overwintering it in a sunny window to see what happens?

Anyway, love the pictures-such a richly textured backdrop you've created.

Lucinda

Backyard in Denton Texas. John

Here is a link that might be useful: Backyard pictures

I loved all your pictures. It makes me long for warm days. Ekoboat: Did you grow your Datura from seed? It is absolutely beautiful. I have always wanted a double (or triple?) but have never dared. Are they difficult to start?
Jon1949: Are those Elephant ears? Any specific variety? They are just impressive!
Thanks for posting these pictures everyone.

Flora - Yes I did grow those from seed. They took a long time to germinate and grew very slowly until about the 4th set of leaves, then they took off! 1st bloom was in mid August. I started them in 6 inch pots this year, just let them sit outside all spring. I will try to start them in trays this year - maybe I can get a head start.

Jonnie and Eko-

I am bringing back this thread and the georgeous pictures to kick myself for not buying some colocasia, a banana and the persian shield this spring.

I rather backed into tropicals over the last few years: Been growing dahlias for 5 or six, canna for two, bought my first impulse-buy Home Depot elephant ears last summer and fell in love with how huge they grew. A little like having my own personal corner of a jungle.

Well this is a process...and theres always next spring. Thanks again for the inspiration!

Lucinda

Hi. Thanks for bringing this thread back. I love pictures. Here's most of what I've got going on.

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Thanks Lucinda, it has been a long, cool (and pleasant) spring here but now that we're finally getting some warm weather the tropicals have really put out a lot of new growth in just a few days. I've planted a similar color combination this year, but I couldn't find the same coleus ('Sedona', a brighter orange than it appears in the photo) so I'm trying a no-name coleus from the local nursery that has orange leaves with chartreuse edges. In addition to the usual Latin grocery store "malanga" (Xanthosoma sp.) I'm also trying Xanthosoma 'Lime Zinger' for BIG chartreuse leaves, in addition to 'Margarita' sweet potato. Purple, orange and chartreuse--who would have thought they would go so well together???

Jay, that's going to be quite a garden when the bananas put out a bit more growth! But something tells me you're going to be itching for more flowerbed and less lawn...

I have a young landscape. The spot where my house/yard is now, was a barren field four years ago, so all of the plants in my yard are just a little bit over three years old, and some were recently planted. Here are a couple of planting that i have:

In this corner, i have pygmy island date palms, giant bird of paradise, mirabilis jalapa, passiflora edulis, jujube tree, yucca guatemalensis, and TONS of young aloes and ornamental agaves that will spread and serve as ground cover within a couple of years.

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And here are two of the seven queen palms i have throughout the yard:

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Here i have a tropical white guava underplanted with cymbidium orchids and with a madagascar jasmine growing up the trellis on the right.

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And some accent plants i have throughout the yard: Tecoma stans, duranta, pomegranate flowers, pink oleander and a brugmansia shrub.

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Hi Jonnie- are you still there?

I grow dahlias and do many flower arrangements with purple and orange blooms and people rave about them. You are working with secondary color triads so no wonder they look great together! Also, have you ever noticed chartreuse new growth on the purple sweet potatoe vine? Nature is amazing, perfect and instructional!

Thought I'd jump in and show off a corner of the yard. It's been a cooler spring than last year and things are slow going so far. I'm trying a new fertilizer this year to see if it makes a difference. It's called Milogranite and I hear it does wonders. Stay tuned. Here is a photo of some plumeria, a Musa Basjoo and soon to be huge elephant ears in the lower right. They are really slow to appear this year.

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Everything looks very beautiful guys/girls.

Central Cali - I envy your climate. Great plants/trees and beautiful flowers.

Johnnie - Thank you. Funny you should mention extending the flowerbed. The area right in front of the smaller bush was added this spring. I had to make room for the brazoria and other plants there. I need more flowers but I cant really have any because in my location the wind gets pretty bad. The flowers in the pic are just to add some color. I do like the new guinea impatiens the canna lily and the African daisy but the geranium is just there to add some red. I think its more of a granny plant. LOL! No not really.

Jay

Here are a couple more photos from my yard.

What i like about this arrangement is that it is drought tolerant.
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And here is an aloe striata in a bed with other showy succulents and some pineapples. Many of the succulents are still too young to be noticeable.
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Great photos--keep them coming! I love seeing other peoples' gardens. I dug out a couple more from my album, from September 2006:

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My yard is on a fairly steep hillside going up to our garage in the back; here's a closer look at the upper garden, showing what it can look like when you let the "tropical look" get away from you...

Same garden, same day, but not looking quite so tropical from this angle:

Ekoboat, What type of banana is that to the right of the pergola? I want to get my bananas that big. What is your secret? I also love those huge cannas. Would you mind passing the name of that variety on to me too.

I found the cold hardy bananas last summer and love them. I now want to move all my landscaping by the pool out and change it over to a more tropical look. I love what you did with yours.

Thanks,
Roy

You may have seen these from last Fall, but if not, here are some pictures from zone 4:

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Wow, zone 4-that is amazing! Do you think the long summer daylight period helps, w/ plant growth? How much of your garden do you dig up & overwinter? Your garden is gorgeous & must give you a great deal of pleasure...

Thanks thistle5! We have lots of summer sunlight. It gets warm during the daytime (85-90 F.) but cools off at night (45-60 F.) here in the mountain valleys. Humidity is quite low, so I'm surprised how well the tropical plants do. The Trachy palm seems to thrive on hot days and cool nights, because it's growing like a weed. I've only had it in the ground as a 2 gallon-size plant for about 5-7 years (I can't remember) and it is 9 feet high already, and bloomed for the first time this year. Unfortunately, I must dig all of the cannas and elephant ears every Fall, but they reproduce to the point that I sell about 800 rhizomes each year to a local nursery.

Here are a couple more photos from this week.

White Brugmansia

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Queen Palms

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More Brugmansias (Frosty Pink)

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Bougainvillea

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Tibouchina Urvilleana

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White Bird of Paradise

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Kentia Palm

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Canna

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Meyer Lemon Blooms

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Overhead view of a tropical corner

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Passiflora Cerulea

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Canna Wyoming

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Dahlia

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Madagascar Jasmine

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Brugmansia

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Asclepias

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Mixed Cannas

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Salmon Cannas

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Mirabilis Jalapa

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Red Oleander (Relative of the Plumeria)

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Bougainvillea Buttiana

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A couple of daylilies

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Blue Potato Bush

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Shrimp plant

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