A very impressive collection. You are close to me but in a 'frost-danger' area - what do you do in the winter?
Beginning a tropical area
What an amazing collection of tropicals. Us folks up north would die for that kind of back yard.
Too pretty:)
Bea
I would love an even larger yard. I would also love to know how to arrange my plants to best show them off. I have quite a few still in pots and those I bring in during the cold periods and sometimes when it's really windy out. Other times I lay the pots on their side in some of the heavier planted areas so that they don't blow away. I often have bags of mulch or black cow to place on top of a group of pots that I've laid on their sides so that they don't move a lot. Some of my tropicals go into hybernation over the winter and return in the spring. I remember the first year I purchased a couple of amorphophalus. I did not know that they died in the fall and went out and purchased a few more... now I have a crap load of them, as they multiply on their own! But that's part of the fun... collecting new babies and watching them live their lives in cycles. I go up to the Selby botanical garden (Sarasota) and do a lot of wishing. I visited the Leu Gardens in Orlando today. They have so many wonderful rare palms. I even saw a small alligator in the lake there. I must admit that seeing it was a bit unnerving! My ultimate dream is a trip to Madagascar as so many of my favorite plants seem to come from there.
Eclecticuno...Your tropical beauties are lovely and very healthy looking. I'm reading your comments and it's really refreshing to see somebody who is so enthuisiastic and excited about our beautiful flora in our own little state. In that first unidentified photo of the hanging plant...would it be Rhipsalis?
Good eye, KatG!! It's a Ripsalis Baccifera aka Mistletoe cactus. Yes, I love my plant babies. They help me maintain my sanity. Just walking through a nursery is very relaxing for me. Unfortunately, I can rarely walk through one that I don't end up buying something! Do you have a favorite nursery in Florida? I'll travel anywhere for a good one. My favorite is Powell's in PG. I never know what I'll find there. I tend to like the nurseries that are not so "organized" because you're sometimes surprised by a plant that comes up in the pot other than and in addition to what you purchased! I received a tiny GIANT PREHISTORIC FERN- ANGIOPTERIS EVECTA, which can grow as tall as a tree, but I doubt if I will be able to keep it alive long enough. I seem to do better with plants at least a year old. Happy gardening to all!
Eclectic: Now isn't that funny? I've never been to Powell's in PG and it's probably pretty close. I've been out to Top Tropicals in PG and that was a huge waste of time. My favorite though is Crowleys in Sarasota. If you haven't been, it's worth the drive.
Have fun
Kat
KatG, I shopped at Top Tropicals before they moved from the Ft Lauderdale area. I went there because my local nursery (which now has wonderful new owners) had told me they had the only potato tree in the area (solanum macranthum), and I'd not be able to find any. I went to TT and purchased five. I love a dare or anything resembling one!!!!
I was at their new location in PG once and swore not to drive that dirt road again.