Were not in Kansas anymore!!!! Toto!

Mex.Bird of Paradise,is a ferny leaf type shrub,mine got to 7ft last year,but only 4 ft came back,but has grown already to around 6ft again,has pretty yellow flowers with red stamens.
Castor bean trunk will be almost 5 to 6 inch in diameter trunk by November ,these are trees.
I compost where ever the plant grows,to enrich the soil for next years growing,when I cut back the foliage on anything it rots right where it grows,best organic fertilizer you can get!!!
The hardest thing growing a palm inside is spidermites,but once a month I give it a shower,and let it sit inside the shower for a couple hours to dry,and consume as much humidity it can get.
My angel trumpet,pink beauty has some huge blooms on it,very fragrant at night.

Will use your tip about composting. Are your brugs planted in the ground? I got my first two brugs this spring. They are not anywhere near that big. Mine are in pots so I can bring them in this fall. Do you leave yours out?

No.I plant them in the ground,they will grow much faster and bloom more often,and dig them up in the fall,after the first light freeze that burns the leaves,sometimes I will remove all the leaves before the first frost and dig them back up,keep as much dirt on them and place in black plastic bag,and overwinter them in a cool garage,only water them when I see the trunks starting to shrivel a little.
They are really bad with spider mites in the winter,and I don't want the hassle of trying to control them all the time.
They will put on a few leaves just to keep them a live,which is ok with me,lot less to deal with than trying to maintain a huge growing plant all winter.

Here is a recent pic of Xanth. Sagg.,in comparison,that is about a 4inch pocket knife in the middle of the leaf,this one is going to get huge this year.
Also I have a store bought root of malanga that came back this year,but the leaves are only
about half that size,but has many babies,probably a different variety because the leaves look somewhat rounder on it.

I love that! Is that in the elephant ear family? What does malanga look like? Can you tell I am fairly new at tropicals. I do have 2 rice paper plants, but they are only about a foot tall so far. I just planted my petasite, so it's not very tall either.

Well aroid family I believe,there are a root,you can buy at the grocery store,or Asian market,the malanga looks just like the picture only smaller version,my rice paper plant is about 4 to 5 ft tall now,your petasite will probably die back when the heat comes on,end of this month or august,mine always done,they like shade and kept moist all the time.
You can try some recurving yuccas,this one is variegated,green,white and pink,I have the solid green which are huge with trunks,these are very hardy,and tropical looking as well.

I planted my petasite in full shade and I water it every morning. Please don't tell me it's gonna die. I planted a gunerra this spring. It lasted the first week because we were having a rainy weather pattern. Soon as it was gone, so was the gunerra. I did not know when I bought it that it wouldn't live here. I have some gunerra seeds I had also purchased, but I haven't bothered trying to germinate them. What is the full name of that (the aroid) so I know what to look for? We don't have an asian market here, but maybe Wal-Mart will have it. They have all sorts of things.

Xanthosoma,Sagitifolium,but will probably be under malanga,would be next to ginger or taro roots,if they would have them.
Your Japanese butter bar,(petasites) will just go dormant until next spring,and then it will flower,sort of like a clover flower,but 10 times larger.
Don't feel to bad,I tried gunnera twice with no luck!

Sure would like to sit with you and Pattie and have a lemonade this evening. Very inviting yard, Don. All of your hard work is worth it.

Christi

Thanks Christi,
This is the view you would see siting from the chair,you'd be sitting in!

View from the front porch.

What the neighbors across the street see,and the people who drive by!

another
Just took these pics,as sun is on it's way down now.

one more

Another tropical purple variety of hibiscus

Candy lilles blooming a lot earlier than last year.

close up,about as close to a orchid I can grow outside here!!!LOL

I still grow a datura,they have a wonderful fragrance!

one of my gigantic peace lilies in bloom

Indian Jassmine in bloom and fragrant.

I encountered a man on the brug forum who likens the datura smell to something he has smelled in gas station bathrooms. Personally, I am still waiting for mine to germinate so I have no point of reference. Do you bring ALL those plants in for the winter? I beg that's a job.

The datura comes back by seed mostly.
Hmm I never smelled that fragrance in a gas station bathroom,but it does remind me of the days,of weak perfume called toilet water!!LOL

Small red dinner hibiscus I have growing at both ends of the frontyard.

I have several varieties of hardy hibiscus. Right now Lady Baltimore is in bloom. I have had this plant for 3 years now, it's the first time it got big enough to bloom. It was well worth the wait. I am now trying to germinate one called Mary Poppins. I have never heard of a dinner hibiscus, only the hardy and the tropical. I am considering planting some of the disco variety because I read they only get up to 3 ft. tall and I think it would be good to tuck in between other plants.

Dinner hibiscus is just a common term used for the hardy hibiscus,because there flowers are at least 8 to 9inches across.

Beautiful, Don. Sure wish you were my neighbor.

Christi

Nothing more I like than a "secret garden", my favorite book as a child! Awesome, Don!

Don- I can't stand it anymore. Can I press upon you for some seed from your black death castor bean? I would offer a trade, but I can't imagine having anything you don't already have. But name it, it's yours.

Don i'm with Christi oh how I wish we were neighbors!!! Awesome garden : ) Can I be on the list for Black Death??? And what do you mean by compost in place??

Don in post http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=5253887 what is growing over your arch?

I too wish we all could be neighbors!!!!
You bet,your on the list!

Robyn,there are 2 vines growing,maypop passion vine,and the climbing spinach,if you haven't tried it,you will definitely want to,and the leaves of the spinach are edible.

Don, I have just found this thread and I am aghast at all the tropicals you can grow in KS. You truly have 10 green fingers and 10 green toes to match. Kudos, my friend.

Florida is home to quite a few ricin plants that grow wild in fields. They are usually the green variety that grow unchecked in vacant lots, by the roadside or on dilapidated properties. I am quite the ricin enthusiast. My heart skipped a beat when I saw your black death castor bean specimen. I would love to have some of those seeds. I would gladly exchange some sacred lotus seeds (nelumbo nucifera) that you could plant in your pond. Would that be OK with you?

Thanks.
Sylvain.

Thanks Don, I have Maypop but don't belive I've ever seen the spinach (yum). I need to do some checking on where to get it.

You are a miracle worker.

Kim,when you prune a plant,I tear up it the best I can and drop the prunings right next to where the plant is growing,it will decay right back in the soil to enrich the plant,same as leaves decaying in your garden every fall.
Sylvain, I don't about all that green,but I have a crack around the base of my little toe,dried skin cracking thats driving me crazy!!!LOL
Thanks Robyn you'll be glad you did!

Hey Don. Finally convinced DH that pedicures are not for sissies but a good thing for your health. With diabetes you should take really good care of your feet. (There I go, being momma hen) Most of the technicians are trained to care for people with diabetes and will be extra careful. If you went today, you would be a new man in an hours time.

Ditto what Christie says. I'm on my feet 12 to 15 hours a day and when mine crack and hurt a pedicure is the most wonderful thing in the world. Better than sex! hahaha

Hated to say that right out loud, Robyn. But that's the truth.

Christi

On vacation next 2 weeks,putting the utters cream or bee palm on it,it's starting to feel better,wife put some neosporin on it last nite,she said it look real good this moring.

The trip to the nail saloon has become a couple outing for us. We go once a month and sit in the massage chairs in the back room. Try it, you'll both like it. lol

Ok try not to laugh real hard,I can't stand anyone to touch my toes,even patti!
But for a second or too,I hold my breath!!!!
I've been skiddish about my toes all my life,must have been someone tickling my feet when I was a baby trying to make me smile!!!!LOL

Don...your pictures are just great!! You are the MASTER!!
Touchy toes huh? Dave can't stand anyone near his eyes! He gets all blinky!

Thanks Marcia
Yep Pattis that way also,well on the way to The DR,Patti's alhymzer check up!