Amy, it's full sun or almost full sun. Irrigation is not a problem, I can regulate according to whatever the needs are...
Tropical Trees
Diehard beat me to it : go with Ylang Ylang --it's beautiful, amazingly fragrant and really fun to say. The only thing I know that's more difficult to say after six or seven drinks is "no one wants to hear me sing"...
ylang ylang has frgrant flowers but looks more like a tall shrub to me.
Roberta, are you looking for a tree look or is shrub look ok?
lovestropics--there's a dwarf ylang-ylang too, maybe that's the one you have?
THere's the tree and the shrub, very different. Get the tree.
Either way...a shrub would be fine too, or a small tree...
I went to the nursery on Friday and they have many of the trees we have been discussing! how exciting!
the only poblem you have now is deciding which of these to get.... if i was in that situation, i'd have to get all of them even if i had no space
Yes, it's true, hahaha! This weekend I kept looking at my garden thinking how I could fit two instead of one tropical tree...
Our Stemmadenia litoralis is beautiful. It blooms ~ 10 months of the year. We get 60" of rainfall annually. The white flowers are incredibly fragrant.
thanks ecrane3. I do have the dwarf one only. Now I must get the tree one as well!LOL!!
So...I was finally able to take a decent picture of my garden. See the bare spot between the Cycads and the brick wall? That's where I want a beautiful specimen tree/shrub!
After looking at all the amazing recommendations, I've been really thinking about a Bauhinia Galpinii. What do you guys think?
We've grown Bauhinia galpinii at Fairchild for many years. In our alkaline soil it has major problems with chlorosis. It would not be my first choice. The flowers are not fragrant, either.
Amherstia nobilis?
Amherstia is very tropical, very tender to cold. A beautiful plant, but probably not a good choice for San Diego
I love that site you listed, rob in San Diego. We have very alkaline soil and Bauhinias and Jacarandas, etc.....grow great from Houston all the way down to south Texas.
Oh my, Alohahoya. Do you have Amherstia nobilis? Small plants sell for like $500 dollars retail, so wouldn't we all love to have such an amazing plant. Also would love Rollinia mucosa and any Brownea spp. Don't think I will get any of those from a DG trade.........
Amygirl- you actually work at Fairchild? Nice.
Roberta--I've got a Bauhinia galpinii in my garden. No chlorosis problems, but it's growing REALLY slowly (although if it's had its roots nibbled on by gophers as many plants in that section of the garden have, that could explain why it's so pokey.)
OH - MY - GOD - GOTTA - HAVE - AMHERSTIA - NO-BI-LIS!!!
Well, yes, I do have an A. nobilis and I know where they can be bought for about $250 on island. Have Brownea and Browneaopsis too...they grow well here. The grower with the Amherstia has been successful with airlayering.... It IS a gorgeous tree and while we get blooms, it is not as prolific as those growing down closer to sealevel where it is much warmer.....
I've seen Amherstia available from Top Tropicals from time to time if anyone's interested in trying one (I don't think they have it now, but you can put it on a wish list and have them notify you if they get it in).
We cannot grow Amherstia nobilis outdoors in South Florida, due to cool nighttime temperatures from Dec - March. How cool does it get in San Diego. I tell ya, Amherstia nobilis is VERY tropical.
Oh gosh...forget it! If it's too tropical for FLORIDA, it's totally out of my league....sniff! : (
I would grow Bougainvillea all over that hillside. Just an idea. The steep hill gives you a great place to show off some color. More things you have growing on it and the less likely it is to wash away or side.
CoreHHI, you got it right on, lol! That's just what I planted on the hill side after I took that pic....the bougie is growing nice and strong, I'll take a pic when I can.
If you go with bouganvillea, just don't expect ever to go into the area again after the boug thrives there for a while --it's one of the toughest, nastiest thorned plants going. I have to plants in a corner of my yard, lovely to look at, but like something out of a horror show. I may have to call in a cruise missile if I ever want to clear the area out and get it back under my jurisdiction --two plants take up about 200 sq ft at this point.
Oh, I do hope my bougie gets to that point! I have the exact picture in my mind, of gorgeous, red blooms covering that entire slope AND that brick fireplace!
Go for it, send us pix.
I think that will look sweet and exactly what I was thing. Good root system to hold the bank and good for security, walking down a slope of that would not be fun.
That's true, I hadn't even thought of that!
So, Roberta, any pics of the bougainvillea?
The bougie looks depressed, lol! I got a 5 gal at the nursery and it looks so small in front of that slope...I'll take a picture later today but you can't laugh!! lol
No laughing from here! I've planted several that didn't make it. I was hoping you had better luck. I've been told they have very delicate root systems, though once established the plants are so vigorous.
I know, that's what's tricky. They all look so vigorous, but they are soooo finicky with being transplanted. I started watering a bit more. They are drought tolerant but perhaps not when they're small.....
From what I've been told they do need some water to get going but after that they need little water. Also I've been told they spend most of their energy on developing roots when they are first planted so don't be looking for a lot of grow right off the bat.
I have one growing outside but I'm a little to cold so it dies back every year. Can't give you real life experience other than mine is growing in the driest spot on my yard on the side of a small sandy hill.
Then it makes sense. It looks like it's healthy, but no a lot of grow, so it must be "concentrating" on root growth!
OK...here is a pic of my bougie. Poor baby! I think I'll fertilize her a bit.
Hey, she's green and she's got color, that's good!
Looks fine to me. Probably need a year or two to really get going.
Personally I wouldn't fertilize it, I never ever fertilized my bougies that I had at my old house and they did great. They're one of those plants that thrives on neglect, too much water or fertilizer and they often won't bloom as well. Since it's the first year in the ground it will need some help on water, but they're pretty tolerant of neglect once they're established. Some people have had luck with fertilizing them and they still bloomed so it won't necessarily hurt it to fertilize, but if it's fairly newly planted I would hold off, it's never good to fertilize something that was just planted.