Thanks all for your suggestions! We're going for tropical in the front yard, so will probably settle on queens for the center bed since they're one of the only ones that held up to this past winter. Below is the bed from a side angle, I'll get a better photo this weekend. And below is a doodle for plants I'm thinking about. Ignore the orphaned yucca on the bottom, he should be up with the other 2. Any suggestions for this bed? The robellini is planted and doing fine, now we just need to add some plants around it before we get the edging and gravel (pea gravel the shade of sand). I LOVE the daisy bush (Gamolepis chrysanthemoides) and have wanted to plant one for a while, and they stay green throughout the year when they're not flowering. The yucca is ok, it's hardy and green (maybe look for soft leaf yucca). I'm open to suggestions! I think we need more color. I was looking for the name of the plant I know as Thai Plant, it's thin stalks aboud 3 ft high to start and has reddish pinkish broad leaves. Anyone? I think we'll add a small coquina or two to this bed too. So suggestions are appreciated, also, has anyone dealt with pea gravel instead of mulch? We're just tired of the fading and replacing the mulch several times a year, so we're really leaning toward gravel. I know it's more expensive up front, but less work in the long run? Remember, I'm a newbie to gardening! :)

osprey!? In the burbs!? gotta go count the beta's in the pond... Lori, you'll find ospreys through out inland Florida, wherever there are lakes there are ospreys...just look at all the power pole top boxes installed along I-4 to keep them from building nests in the transmission line towers.... You are probably using way too much fish emulsion fertilizer :-) I'll bet you're right Lou ;-) Tom

If the bird is just a little larger than a dove, its probably more likely a sharp-shinned hawk. Coopers are usually considerably larger than doves. Richard

Here are a couple of cycads in a greenhouse I haven't shown yet. The The first one is an Encephalartos gratus from Mozambique in a 45 gallon container that has about 30 inches of trunk. The last plant is an E. ferox, tubular form female in a 90 gallon container. If anyone ever does buy this plant, I'm not sure how I will move it. But I will figure that out if the time comes. I'd probably have to rent a bobcat with forks on it. The picture really doesn't show that is is 10 feet across.This second picture just shows all kinds of different cycads. Looks like a cycad jungle.