And here is a picture of the flower and the young bananas off one of the plants that had been pushed over. From Bananas From Bananas From Bananas From Bananas From Bananas

My brugmansia came back after the summer heat. Here it is right now and it's getting quite big. It does very well in the shade and it's been giving me quite a lot of flowers lately. Yes, elephant ears work here. I'd suggest getting some from the alocasia family, not colocasias. I've tried colocasias, they grow well in the spring and fall but they just cannot take the heat at all in the summer, in my experience. Here's one of my Borneo Giants in full shade They will die back when it hit below freezing for more than a couple hours, but if that happens, don't water them again for the rest of the winter or else the bulb will rot. Just wait for them to pop back up in spring. Same thing with Cannas. If you're going for tropical, get some Cannas, since they LOVE being in full sun here. another one I'd recommend is the Chinese Parasol Tree. Big foliage and can take some sun. I have mine in morning sun/full shade in the afternoon. The plant loses its leave in the winter and goes dormant. Here's mine now after a week from coming back from dormancy. It's already grown about 6+ inches! Birds of paradise are great as well here in Phoenix. They're frost hardy down to 25-26f I believe. Split-leaf Philodendron are great as well. Just plant them in the shade. Plus you can find these easily at HD or Lowes. I wouldn't risk planting a castor bean though since you have pets. They drop a lot of those red spiny bean pods all over, and from what I've read are very poisonous. I'm not sure about the brug's toxicity though. Their flowers might be poisonous?

Hey, Carol. I'm impressed that you know such detail about the freezes. You gotta be one hard-core gardener. I think the lowest we got here was 27 degrees for most of one night and then the other night was maybe around 29? A few degrees and a few hours can make a significant difference. The Hamilia Patens or Firebush is quite sensitive to below-freezing temps. What happened with mine is that we hadn't experience such a hard freeze in something like seven years? So the plants just kept on growing, 24-7 every day of the year. They had completely taken over one large portion of my yard that sits in back of the swimming pool. The Firebush is a thug where I live. It has to be worse further south. I tolerate them only because they produce flowers that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Pretty much all of my plants came back, or tried to, (I have killed off a number of them.) I don't recognize the leaves that you photographed. They may be from your orchid tree. You might think of looking at other parts of your garden to see if there are more like them. I would be tempted to pull one leaf out to see if it is attached to a fairly developed root structure. Trees usually throw out a pretty extensive root system before they show much greenery on top.

Hello Everyone!! Thank you Chuy !! They are actually smaller then most blooms. Delicate and dainty!! Two inches I wails guess!! Love them!! Thank you Barb!! Always nice to see you!! Wendi!! Mahalo!! It is. Very healthy tree and very happy!! ð hi Jen!! Iove the contrast too. It's a real beauty the dark green and the white flowers. Lol. You would like this white tree!! ð Thanks Peg!! I do love this and I'm so glad you received this cutting from a very nice person! It a beauty and your cutting looks like it's ready to take off with leaves and inflos at the same time !! ð Hi James ! Don't worry about posting late. I'm the one who is late to post all of the time. We all know that we have busy lives!! ð± Thanks for the awesome compliments ! I also like the look of the pool behind this beauty. It is happy and very healthy ! You are so kind to see how they are really doing. I work at it and it pays off!!! ð Lol. Photo bombed by the pool. To funny !! Virginia beach is a great place to grow during the summer but we have to bring them in ð«. It's all worth it though !! I'll let peg respond. She roots in her home and they do get TLC!! ð Take care!! Laura