So tell me..... how do all my fellow "Peapeople" relax?

[casportpony]

Very nice!

-Kathy

 

[MinxFox]

Thanks Minx, we like a "tropical" look as well. We have hardy bananas, trumpet vine trained over or fence, elephant ears, lilies, hibiscus, naked ladies, iris, pampas grass and that orange stuff is actually Crocosmia "Lucifer", it dies off early, but it is spectacular when in bloom.

I really love what you have done with the trumpet vine! Do you dig up your elephant ear bulbs before each winter and overwinter them inside? I love tropical plants I just don't like how a lot of them die back in the winter or get all ugly in the wintertime. My dad says I should move further down into Florida where it really is an endless summer. Here it gets kind of cold in the winter. I call it a wet cold. It is miserable and windy.

 

[DylansMom]

I really love what you have done with the trumpet vine! Do you dig up your elephant ear bulbs before each winter and overwinter them inside? I love tropical plants I just don't like how a lot of them die back in the winter or get all ugly in the wintertime. My dad says I should move further down into Florida where it really is an endless summer. Here it gets kind of cold in the winter. I call it a wet cold. It is miserable and windy.

Everybody loves the trumpet vine. I have been basically pruning and training that like a Bonsai for the past 15 years now. Yes, it is pretty bleak out there over the winter, we do dig up the Elephant ears and any cannas, but everything else survives with a bit of extra mulching to insulate it. Our Callas, and Glads come back, but we do replace the hibiscus each year, it's a pain, but nothing looks quite as tropical as those big old Hibiscus flowers.

 

[MinxFox]

You might be able to try rose of Sharon or the swamp hibiscus for hibiscus alternatives. Both plants have hibiscus looking flowers. I think there might also be some cold hardy cultivars... I used to always get a hibiscus but I too got tired of it dying every year and having to get a new one. I really want a rose of Sharon though. I have seen them in several places they make a big bush or tree depending on how you let it grow and the flowers really do look like a hibiscus.

I wish I could grow plumerias here. I know I am lucky just to be in zone 9 but there are still several tropical plants that I really like that I can't grow like lipstick palms, hanging helliconia, Australian tree ferns, etc.

 

[DylansMom]

You might be able to try rose of Sharon or the swamp hibiscus for hibiscus alternatives. Both plants have hibiscus looking flowers. I think there might also be some cold hardy cultivars... I used to always get a hibiscus but I too got tired of it dying every year and having to get a new one. I really want a rose of Sharon though. I have seen them in several places they make a big bush or tree depending on how you let it grow and the flowers really do look like a hibiscus.

I wish I could grow plumerias here. I know I am lucky just to be in zone 9 but there are still several tropical plants that I really like that I can't grow like lipstick palms, hanging helliconia, Australian tree ferns, etc.

It is funny how living in different areas makes you view things differently. We have Rose of Sharon popping up all over the place up here. They are like weeds and because we all see them everywhere all our lives they do not look at all tropical to us. But when you mentioned them I realized that the flowers do resemble hibiscus a lot. I don't have one here, but everyplace I lived before this we had at least one, and one house had a whole hedge row of them. What I really want, but never have success with, are some crepe myrtles that I can sculpt and "Bonsai" like my trumpet vine.

 

[memphis]

Rose of Sharon is a hibiscus. Landscape Architect here....and oddly my favorite thing to do to relax is to work in the garden!! With my chickens!! Just love being out there with the flock. Back to the Rose of Sharon...I have pruned mine into a tree form. They look great. And these days there are some nice varieties on the market that have flowers similar to some of the Tropical varieties. Many new cultivars available. Can't beat their hardiness!

 

[zazouse]

Pretty photos

 

[AnimalsRmyLife]

Quote:
Pretty flowers!!!

Here are some that I've taken over the past year or so:

 

[Birdrain92]

I draw most of the time what comes to mind. Or listen to music, watch a movie at home, play outside, or take photos of something around my house. Like these photos and drawings.

What was that?
































I got more drawings on my camera just haven't uploaded them yet.

 

[casportpony]

I draw most of the time what comes to mind. Or listen to music, watch a movie at home, play outside, or take photos of something around my house. Like these photos and drawings.

What was that?
































I got more drawings on my camera just haven't uploaded them yet.

Nice photos and drawings!

-Kathy