Kyle they are incredible. It must be a real joy to go to work everyday when you are so passionate about what you do. It really shows in your work
Update on my tropical gardens at work
All of the flowers look beautiful except the pot with the prairie weeds, maybe next year they will leave them out in the country. Thats like using chicken manure on plants, you don't want to use it to fresh because sometimes it will burn the plants & so it's better to use the stuff you buy at the garden store.( If you have any chicken manure they say it's good for chapped lips!!! It won't CURE chapped lips but it will sure keep you from lick-em..)
Yes, Kyle, you seem to have my dream job. I would love to spend all my summers and winters with tropical plants (except for battling whiteflies, spider mites, etc). Congratulations on another great season there in Des Moines!
Tigerlily, check out Coontie ( Zamia floridana) http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/53667/index.html
It does not get nearly as large as the other cycads, but it is very soft. Also Cardboard Palm (Zamia furfuracea) is much softer than a Sago palm. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/51472/index.html
I have Coontie in a pot (grown from seed I got in Florida in 2001). It is a slow grower. There are toxicity warnings for both of these cycads so if you have dogs or children, they might be off limits. Also, they are not hardy for your area outdoors.
Toxi
Kyle , what a talant you have, amazing.
Sorry to hear about the vandals.
What happens to all the plants in the winter ?
Celt, I move most of the tropicals back to the range of greenhouses, some I toss,especially the ones that grow quickly or multiply outta control, some I save because they take years to reach a certain size. It has taken a few years to get some of the plants really large. When I first started doing tropicals downtown we had all small plants, didn't feel right so now when I plant the planters in the spring the plants are impressive right from the start.
:-)
Kyle, can you provide a map to your dumpster?????? :-)
I was just wondering the same thing.
LOL..
:-)
Kyle...
Great looking planters... well I guess I'm the only one seeing the humor of the planter of grass ..in plater with the picture of land as it used to be.. for 1000's of miles there...
you've a unified look to your planters.. without them seeming to be cutsie desidned.. all the same items.. plenty of color/texture interest items..
Thankfully there is a budget of some sort for plants there.. i wasn't many years ago they were compleatly ignored by the powers that be...
You're doing a grand job there.. they are so lucky to have you on staff... andsome moneys come out of your pocket... now that's a real find for them...
and vandals probually not kids .. but perhaps husbands.. harranged to have a garden like downtown.. but perhaps bigger taller planters.. as a determent to them... but vandals are all over .. A "Y" in NJ.. plagued by vandals [ like them hitching the basketball goals to their SUV's..and pulling the 4" pipe and hoop to the ground ] wanted a play play item for the kids... SO I built a fantacy play ground out of 3" thick ferro cement... [ about 3X the strength of a 50 ' yacht ] no problem in the 30 years it has been up..
Keep up the good fight there.. Gordon
Eclipse, I usually just "lurk" areound the DG Forums, but this display has brought me out of hiding! I lived in Miami 50 years and loved Fairchild Gardens, our HUGE botanical garden there. I don't think I ever saw any displays there that have impressed me so much......just beautiful!
Now, if you will excuse me, I'm going out and kick my pots of tropicals who have every advantage of living in the proper zone and are nowhere as lovely as yours!
Pati
Patti, thanks..I'm available for design jobs.............especially if I get a trip to a warmer climate!!LOL
Kyle
This is it Kyle. I found it. These are soooooo beautiful. Now if I can figure out whats in them, that will be good. Awesome job. I will look for some of yours at home too. Bet it's beautiful....
Debbie
Debbie,
If you have a question on a certain one, post it and remind me that you need id's.
Kyle
Soon I'll be doing all this again.
ok.... did someone really decide to plant prarie plants in that last one, or is it that it is just overgrown with weeds, and you made a joke that i didn't get?
Hi Kyle, thankyou so for these awesome photos of your beautiful work. I love all of them , but especially the first one. If you list the id's of the plants shown in the first pic, that would be so great. We are going to a nursery sale this Thursday and I would like to try to find some of the items there. As you saw in the dmailed photo, I have alot of beds to fill. (Alot for me :) So I thought now that I have my island sort of done, I should focus on my four corners, by putting in some of the tropicals you have used in the first photo. I am so excited to see your new photos. You are a gifted designer and landscape artist.
Debbie
Diehrd, 7 planters of native prairie plants in the heart of downtown, management can be so shallow sometimes, even the homeless people cheered when we removed these plants.They are back to tropicals again!!! yea!!! :-)
i'm sure even the blind and mute were cheering also, because those prarie platers were the ugliest mess i ever saw! it looked like weeds!
Debbie, take notes...LOL Clockwise from the lower right of the pic.
Canna musafolia
assorted tropical ferns
majesty palm
variegated mahoe (green white variegated)
colocasia imperialis
Iresine herbstii
acalypha (copperleaf)
canna seedling, moving to the right again.>>>
> philodendron selloum
alocasia robusta (rippled leaf)
Alocasia macrorrhizza (huge ee)
Center of the bed is a grouping of tropical hibiscus standards..Common kinds.the left edge of the bed is flanked with caladiums,sweet potato vines, and impatiens.The bottom edge is ferns and begonias.
Hope this isn't too confusing? LOL
Kyle :-)
Heres another pic of the ((Gag , choke,puke) prairie planters, never to be seen again.If you look to the east at the planters across the street you can see what a difference the plants make.They wasted a lot of money on the plants for the ugly planters.We have an 8,000 acre prairie reserve just east of Town, with free roaming buffalo herd, elk, turkies,coyotes, etc....so why did we need to plant this crap downtown?? LOL Bosses...where do they find their insights?????? DUH!
Kyle
the ones across the street look MUCH better. did they have a tag or sign explaining what the abominations were and what they were doing in the planters???
a pic of some edging plants, I use tons of caladium White Queen in pots and beds, takes sun or shade and stays great all summer and fall. Coleus,alternantheras,new guinea impatiens, etc. diverse shapes and textures, many colors make for great visual impact.Mild to wild combos,
Kyle :-)
They had signs printed up explaining the mess but no one really even read them.too boring. Prairie plants are best appreciated in situ. out on an open range.not in pots.People thank us all the time for the flower displays, but not one thank you on the grasses,etc. Go figure?? :-)
wow ... THAT'S that's a shocker!
Kyle.. Thats why the grasses should stay in prairie city for the buffalos. If they would bring some buffalos to town then they would thank you.HAHA
LOL Amen reverend..
Kyle
Kyle I can't thankyou enough for all the plant names. I'll take a pic of mine when I get it completed. You are so sweet to share your knowledge with me. Thanks again. Look forward to your next photos. The caladium bed is fabulous too. What a gift for design you have.
Debbie