The first photo looks like Costus Stenophyllus (Bamboo Ginger), native to your Costa Rica, but reportedly becoming somewhat scarce in the wild. If the picture is that of Stenophyllus, it will get several feet tall and the stems have alternating bands of either green/brown with red or dark brown. This particular Costus blooms from the base. I don't recognize the second plant in the second and third photo. Steve

I've had good luck with Costus Barbatus planted on the south side of my house. It's been a very reliable bloomer for me since 2002. Was completely frozen to the ground last winter and recently bloomed on two stalks. I like the Curcuma gingers as well. The above poster, Tim Chapman, is a world class expert on all gingers. I going to put in a plug for him and his web site, gingerwood nursery. He's a Louisiana guy and sells lots of different curcumas. Musa Coccinea is a very nice ornamental banana that I've grown for years; nice bloom. If you have significant shade areas, the Globba gingers are very nice. You should be able to grow both the white bird of paradise and the orange bird of paradise and get both to bloom over time. I see a very invasive banana on your list of purchases. The Thai Gold banana is a serious runner rather than a clumper. Once established, it will grow laterally 3 or 4 feet in a year. If you plant it in the ground, give it a lot of space because it will end up a half a mile away from its original planting area. You can also grow Heliconia Scheideana but the likelyhood of seeing blooms will be remote. Still the foliage is nice and the leaves have a red edge to them. They come back every year. If you have a place to protect container grown plants, I like Heliconia Rostrata. This heliconia is a medium sized heliconia and can be bloomed in a container and it is a knock out bloom. Steve

Barb...both happy and sad....Happy he is moving forward with his life. Knowing he will go far as long as he stays focused on his studies, and learns to quit being so wasteful. Sad because he is moving on and we will be seeing very little of him in the next 4 years or so. We havent made any new life adventures yet. House needs some TLC. I suppose first we will get used to having a home with just us and the critters and go from there. Chell I used to be a dog and cat groomer. I loved it too. But my employer was a deedeedee. Never had the money to pay me each week and always "owed" me. And she never gave me my tips either.Then at the end of the year she reported more earnings for me than what I had really made.Fortunitly I kept records and proved my case and won, so make sure you don't let the same happen to you. I have kept my clippers, blades and accessories and still will do a neighbors dog or two once in awhile to keep my skills up.....but don't miss the hair stuck in places I did'nt know existed....lol. Love all the pictures the everyone post. Always enjoy seeing ya'lls babies. Regina

Horganics are the best! We revisited them just before christmas and got a couple of rostrata, jacquinii, hot rio nights, and kawochi (spelling?), and they've already grown a heap! They've all grown at least 30cm up, their stems have thickened beautifully and they all have a few new huge beautiful glossy leaves. We were also there a couple of months before that and got some gingers, some budhas belly bamboo and a sacred lotus. They're all such healthy plants and are doing so well. The lotus has completely taken over one end of the pond with the cannas at the other and the gingers and bamboo has thickened beautifully. We now have our own little tropical ecosystem humming along nicely and have attracted some beautiful birds, frogs, dragonflies, and butterflies. And our fish have bred from the original 4 to 36! Thanks Horganics, and we can't wait for the heliconias to develop themselves more :)