A couple folks have asked me to send pictures of my summer garden. Here are a few shots that will show where most of my Hoyas go for summer camp! I have several other gardens under the trees and on the sides, but these are the sunny spots. You will note my most faithfull friend and garden companion, Uggie. Bless her heart. No matter how hot it is, she wants to be right beside me. I have to make her go inside when I can tell it is just too hot for her!
Beautiful place to hang out. Looks so lush and tropical.
Mel, what a paradise....even your dog is loving it!....
This picture shows one of my biggest plant conquests…the AeAe banana. Unfortunately this will be the mother plants last year in my garden and I will morn as I have to "whack" her in the fall. Alas, she will live on through the 4 pups she is leaving behind. I have also been researching and have purchased media and supplies to start a home tissue culture lab and the Mother plants apical meristem will be one of the first subjects of my experiments.
Mel...aka....the mad scientist
Thanks ladies! It is a sickness that keeps me mentally healthy!
Here is the other side of pool.
Hibiscus..the path....
And, the bat plant...just becasue it is so darn cool!
Looks like PARADISE to me!!
Thanks for sharing. I just LOVE that variegated banana tree. However, after growing several different types of ediable bananas for 20 years, I got soooo sick of having to cut off dead leaves and thinning and digging them out to fit in my limited spaces that I have had it it with banana trees. I do love the tropical look of them though especially when combined with palms and gingers, etc.
Hey, what is that tub with the hose? I assume you have a method of siphon/pump watering or misting with it? That would be one way to let water set for awhile to declorinate & also add your fertilizer, etc.
Also, in the picture titled "the other side of the pool", what is the redish plant in the center, and the plant in the terra cota pot next to the pool?
Your little Uggie looks like a sweetheart.
Marcy
Mel, all I can say is wow!! That is absolutely amazing. I couldn't even begin to imagine bringing all of those wonderful plants inside. How daunting. I can see that they are all well loved, and taken care of. I can only imagine how refreshing, clean and relaxing it must be to just reside amongst such tropics, once their summer vacation is over, and the cold weather moves in.
This is inspiring to me. My plants are indoors year round, and if you can move all of that inside, there must be more room in my house, I just need to utilize my spaces better! HA! Just wait till I tell DH, that I really don't have a problem, my friend Mel, has way more than me. That should take care of everything. Thanks Mel. ( and I am sure that Bryan will thank you too) :)))
Sara
Oh Mel, that is stunning!! I have garden envy!!! Karen
Marcy, thanks Dear. Actually the AeAe is the only banana I still bring in. The big plants are musa basjoo and perennial.
I'll have to figure out what the tub with the hose is! I should, however, make something up to make me sound resourceful. I fear, however, it is just a tub that I threw a hose into! I have rain barrels to use for some of my plants. They have been pretty useless this year as we have had no rain. I do keep a 75 gallon barrel in the greenhouse that has been filled with the hose this year. That is how I solved letting the water sit without tripping over water buckets.
Sara, you are too funny! Believe me, I have had many plant friends bring their husbands to visit me. It seems to help get their DH's to lay off them! Thank goodness mine just shakes his head when he trips over plants or runs into branches as he tries to get to the garage. He used to complain until we divived the garage in two. Now he only complains when my stuff "accidentally" walks over to his side.
Mel
Oh Mel...how wonderful that the variegated banana has trived for so long!!! and pups!! You will be rich, girl! I recently learned that the name of that form of variegation is actually Koa'ae (two shades of green and white) while the 'ae'ae is one form of green and white. The variegateds were only grown by the royalty... So, there you go! We are using them as 'shade producing' plants here...they grow so quickly and really give good shade!!!
Mel, So are you saying we can come and vacation at your paradise?
Do I need to make reservations ahead of time? LOL hat pool with all the tropicals around it is incredible. What a place to relax and regroup.
Karen
Just stunning, Mel. Your arrangements really highlight the beauty of each individual plant, while providing an absolutely breathtaking poolside paradise!!! I'm jealous.
Ann
Very nice Mel!!! How early can we make reservations for next spring?? Tami are you ready??
Blessings,
Awanda
Oh Mel, looks wonderful, tropical, soothing, and some where I need to be.. No wonder you can't find the cabanna boys.... O.K. Awanda, I'm heading to Iowa in April, so I will just swing down and get ya. We can hit every nursery on the way.... But you'll have to do a little mushroom hunting on the way... LOL
The bananna tree is just really cool. Why do you have to wack it down? And I love the colors in the hibiscus. Really a beautiful place.....
I don't think I would ever go inside the house,Mel just stunning!!!
Dianne
Mel, another question. Did you get 4 pups in one year from that one tree? Amazing!!! And, how were the bananas it produced? I love to make chutney and pickles from mine!!!
Did the pups come up in different years?...Oh do tell all. Being the God-mother of that tree (I assume it is the same I sent you) I am dying to know!
:>) Carol
Mel
That has to be the most stunning poolside I have ever seen. What a dream it would be to sit and sip your morning coffee among all that beauty.
Simply Gorgeous!!!
Bea
Thank you all for the nice comments. Reservations are not required and plant loving friends are always welcome. My house remains a disaster area in the summer as I tend to spend all my time off in the garden.
Ok, Koa'ae Godmother. Here is the scoop. Strangely enough, the plant has not fruited, yet, it has pupped. I do not see any sign of a bloom. Last summer it produced 2 very small pups, which were entirely to small to remove. I let the plant go dormant in the winter and did not see a sign of the pups this spring.
Last summer she was planted in a HUGE tub and every time the wind blew, it fell over. (Mind you, I kept it on the edge of the deck and it took a 5' fall each time) Knowing this summer would be it's last year in the garden and the only way I could overwinter it would be digging the plant and laying it on it's side in the garage, I planned to donate it to the Knoxville Zoo. That said, I planted it in the ground. I mulched it with the dead leaves from winter storage and treated it like all the other plants. I had no idea I had pups until I was weeding in that bed and pulled up the dead leaves. I do not think anything has given me such a thrill as finding those pups! Believe it or not, there appears to be 2-3 more pups emerging from the corm.
I will not be getting rich on the pups in terms of money as I have promised pups to friends. I am going to attempt to find the apical meristem to tissue culture after I whack the main stalk, however, there will be no telling where it will be. I have learned that as the plant prepares to fruit, the meristem moves toward the top. After the whacking and tears, I will dig the remaining corm and pot to bring inside. I will then have to keep the corm from rotting while the pups develop roots.
Attached are the 2 largest pups.
Really a wonderful success story!! We were told that if we put a Birth Control Pill in the axil (between the leaf and the main trunk) and let it dissolve in the normal watering, that the plant would pup abundantly. This may work to strengthen your pups...don't know. I managed to find someone who had some BCPs and got a bunch to experiment....
Again...congratulations!
I just do not know how you can whack that beautiful plant down. I will hurt from here. Do not tell me when you do it, Mel. I am sure the friends you promised the pups too love you bunches. Big bunches. Big variegated bunches. LOL.
If I had some BCPs, I would send them ASAP!!
LOL Kell.....and you know I love those friends adopting pups variegated bunches and bunches.
Thanks for the tip, Carol. I will hit up some of the young women in my office.
Oh, I can see the headlines now...."Knoxville Tops Nation in Unplanned Pregnancies, Local Plant-crazed Woman Held Responsible!!" LOL, Mel!! But it'll be worth it, because the AeAe is BEAUTIFUL!!! Karen
LOL Karen. A lot of kids will be named Koa'ae and be able to do the hula from birth!
I have heard BCPs are good for something else in horticulture but for the life of me can't remember what. Maybe rooting cuttings of difficult plants?
Carol...how much do they sell for in Hi. when people have them for sale?
WHEN - W H E N - they are available here...they are about 20-$40. And the shipping is expensive as they are very heavy. The best success (and only one) after 2 aborted attempts years back with Mels' was with a tissue cultured plant. The other dug up pups were huge, cost a fortune to mail and didn't make it. Besides...it is prohibited to send them with any soil on the roots...which doesn't give the poor pup much of a chance to live. AND they are very difficult to find...
I guess we all better kiss up to Mel big time. KISS KISS Mel!
Gosh, that doesn't seem like much for such a rare plant. Seems like when they did become available they would be much more just because of the scarsity of them.
Well, much as I like variegated plants, I don't think I will get one even if they become easily available, as I said. I am tired of banana trees.
One of my favorite varieged plants is my var. pony tail palm. I love pony tails in general because they do so well for me here in sunny S. Calif. and this one just tops them all. I planted it in a "face with feet" planter. Ha
Marcy
Yea Kell, I can see you nose getting brown from here. The picture was clear as I watched a pig fly by my window! I have heard that the birth control pills can be used in place of superthrive for tired plants or rooting.
Karen, please save up your money to bail me out of jail! You are a hoot, girl!
Marcy, yes the plant has been a great deal of work , but, worth the effort in the long run. As Carol said, the pups simply refused to live. That is why I am going to leave them attached to the Mother as long as I can. The main problem with this musa is that it gets so large. When I put it to rest last winter, the top of the stalk touched the ceiling. As a matter of fact, to "feed" it a birth control pill, I will have to use a ladder. Your plant is lovely and I LOVE the pot!
Marcy....I do love that pot too!!! And love your variegated 'Pony Tail'...I am bonkers for variegates....
I have never seen a variegated ponytail before.......very cool!
Hey Mel, look out your window again. Reinforcements have been sent. Luckily for me, I have been kissing up to you for years. LOL!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Now, THAT was funny!!!!!
You guys are just too funny!
I don't think anyone can top the funnies or the plant. It really is beautiful.
Bea
I was just day dreaming and remembered your great overhead shots, Mel. Oh for it to be summer again and to be sipping a long cold one by your pool.
Oh for crimany sakes Kell, ya know today is supposed to be the most depressing day out of the year, and you just had to bring these tropical photo's back up. I've officialy gone off the deep end, well thats if I could go off the deep end being that the pool if frozen over. I wonder if the cabanna boys ever showed up :)
Thanks for bringing this up, Kell. I fear this scene now looks more like death valley,but, you have given me hope for sunny, warm days and buff cabana boys carrying umbrella drinks and Kell and Tammy dropping their napkins so the cabana boys will pick them up.
You got it Tami. Not only is the pool frozen, but, it is the color of a toad!
LOL Mel! We can be forever hopeful.
Found it again! http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=2660989
LOL What a sight.
