Greetings Growers & Lovers of Green Things

The Tropical Grower welcomes you to the online version of Our Garden. Check out our What’s Bloomn’ slideshow featuring last week’s flowers, cruz the latest topics at the Blog Page for information, enjoy the Photos, or just check out what’s happening this week in Garden Dirt. While we are Growing Tropical, growing is for everyone, and we’re here to share the green.

Garden Dirt

August 3, 2026

Final Tropical Plantings

As August sets in, our tropical planting frenzy comes to an end.  Or, slows significantly.  The best time to drop tropical plants in their forever homes is the beginning of the Rainy Season.  The ground is still dry, but we’re all getting a daily drenching of water that drains away quickly.  Roots dig down into the ground, following the water, seeking the cooler temperatures.  Then, as August sets in, the ground starts to stay wet all night.  The ground roots spread out, and it’s grow, grow, grow.  Woo-Hoo!

Tropical plants going into the ground in August spread out their surface roots and drink readily.  Not a problem until October when the rains stop.  Dang.  Then, you have lots of surface roots, but the water is all down deep.  So, your planties are trying to grow deeper roots at a time when most are going dormant, or at the very least, when water may not be available.  We try to give our planties the best, most promising starts.  So . . . we’re looking at the final plantings this week.  Can’t say I’m unhappy about it.  It’s been an actual planting frenzy, with the new landscaping buffers, and I’m tired.  LOL!

Around Our Garden

Last week we finally got the 5 Hong Kong Orchid trees, young ones, dug out of the Traditional Vegetable and Herb Garden.  Woo-Hoo!  They started as wayward seeds falling from the tree a couple of years ago.  We left them to grow and to eventually transplant.  Since their tap roots are aggressive, we usually don’t allow it.  But we did, mostly because the roots are aggressive and I did not want to dig them out.  LOL!  Turns out, it wasn’t all that bad.  They came out pretty easy and are now planted in the undeveloped area as part of the landscape buffer.  Woo-Hoo!

We also dropped an entire line of Giant Elephant Ear Philodendron.  They’ll grow big fast providing both screening and noise reduction.  They like partial shade and will work well now, while we’re cutting back, and eventually along the tree line.  And, finally along the front, where we see it from the house, Bulbs and Rhizomes.  Basically, flowers.  We thinned out some areas of Spider Lilies, Yellow Walking Irises, and White African Irises to plant along the borders of the yard.  Lots of them.  We had lots of overgrowth.  There was also a section of the Florida Blue Flag Irises that grew into the Amaryllis Bulbs.  We pulled that too and dropped it out there.  Flowers next year?  Perhaps.

The plantings weren’t all, of course.  Maintenance never ends.  The box hedge finally got a trim.  It was looking quite puffy.  It is Scheffelera.  We left a little section, not square,  by the door, on the other side of the Butterfly House.  We wanted to keep the shade and shelter it provides while the cocoons are hibernating.  We also started cleaning up the Raised Crop Beds for the Fall plant.  It has weeds and needs a big fresh layer of compost.  And, we treated the weeds in the weed grass.  LOL!

Harvest

While we only brought in Herbs last week, a little Oregano from our big bush, and a few Key Limes (Woo-Hoo!), our tropicals are coming back to life.  The hard freeze was not their friend.  We lost all the Coconuts, both the almost mature and little babies.  Dang.  While the tree has not sent out a new flower spike, it does have a number of new big green fronds.  Lookin’ good.  Flower spikes to come.  The Plantains, there are 2 trees, both look big enough to flower.  So, Plantains possible.  The Banana trees, we separated last week, are both about the size they were when it froze.  Bananas, uncertain.  We’ll have to wait on the Dragon Fruit.  The flowers are a good sign, but we have to wait until the Rains stop.  It has to be a little dry for fruit.

We got lots of baby sprouts in the nursery last week.  Cabbage, Broccoli, Spinach, and Orange Bell Peppers all starting their little green lives.  Woo-Hoo!  Sprouts usually feel like hope of food to come, and I do like watching them sprout and grow.  We’re still waiting on the Celery.  It takes a bit longer.  Come on, Celery.

Flowers

We wait all year to see schools of jellyfish float through Our Garden.  And, the Streamside Spider Lilies don’t disappoint.  I’ve been in the water with jellyfish, both beautiful and terrifying.  I can tell you, they actually look very similar, maybe a bit longer in the tendrils.  And, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just fear that made them appear bigger.  LOL!  The delicate petals of the flowers are so bright white and iridescent they glow in the sunlight, it’s almost meditative.  We definitely lose some time watching them.  They’re short lived, so worth taking a moment.

A couple of early Flaming Torch Bromeliads popped open.  So pretty.  We have lots of little red nubs.  So, we’re looking forward to seeing them this week.  Don’t worry, we’ll take pics.  LOL!  The Buttercups are blazing golden in the sun, and the Barbados Cherry shrub is covered in weird little flowers.  Enjoy!

Check out What’s Bloomn’ slideshow for more flowers or visit Garden Dirt Diary to catch up on what’s been going on around Our Garden.