Spectre, no doubt in my mind that your garden is "super tropical" even without the coconut palms. They are not THE plant material that makes one think of tropics. You did it by massing many kinds of palms, musaceae, bromeliads and flowering tropical shrubs. When I saw it it said TROPICAL. That it is a combination of plants from all over the tropical world does not make it more Singapore or Thai or Balanese or Brazilian but just tropical. It looks like what we northerners imagine the tropics to be. This brings me to my remark that your garden is more tropical than what I see daily here in Venezuela. I do not live in the wet tropics like Indonesia an area which is lush and green because it gets two rainy seasons in the year and two short drier periods. We live in an area that has one long rainy season and one long dry season where trees loose their leaves for 4 months and all looks dry. The African plains have the same type of climate. So although we can grow heliconias and Zingeberaceae and Araceae they are not what you see in the natural landscape for the most part. Sure you can go up into the rain forest and see that lush tropics and you could even recreate it if you have the water to maintain it in the dry season. However most people just have small spaces and no garden skills so you just have a few of the most neglect tolerant shrubs to look at. Also the nursery trade isn't developed like it is in the first world so there is not the variety of plants to work with. Natives for the most part do not interest people here because they want the colorful neglect tolerant plants that are from other parts of the world like crotons and ixoras. We landscape designers are limited as to what we can do because we cannot pick up the phone and order what we want, in the size we want , in the quantity we want, and with the quality we want. I recently read a book called The Balanese Gardens or something like that. The fotos were almost all of gardens that were made in the 1970's. These are what we are refering to when we plant tropicals but these are hardly historical. If you look at the gardens around the historical temlples in Bangkok and see the shrubs pruned into balls with rings of lower growing border plants around them like birthday cakes you would not probably want to copy them in your garden either at least not if it is tropical. Roberto Burle Marx's gardens are abstract paintings in three dimensions. They are color and excitement but in general they maintain their abstract nature, they are architectural. These are all someones expression of their interpretation of the tropics, I think all are valid, each adapted to its site. Spectre, you just created your own tropical dream come true and it is valid whatever you put in it in the future to improve that dream. I feel safe saying this because I KNOW you would never put in pink plastic flamingos!!! chris

Hello you all..An interesting little discussion happening here..'wigandia' is my wee creation..All I can say IS..Garden yer latitude with attitude..ignore the 'style council' (including my 'look') I am not long back from an extensive lecture tour of the west coast of North America (the so called mediterranean parts) Many of the younger garden types are looking at this more sustainable equation.. a wee excerpt from my talk notes "We, of Australia (and perhaps the west coast of North America) in this 21st century, in cultural and social terms, have embraced this Âalien land. Our identity is stamped on almost all facets of the ÂArts with the possible exception of Âornamental gardeningÂ. Few inroads have been made into the climatic/cultural sensibilities of our garden making Âunder the sunÂ. The lust for the unsustainable Âlook seems ingrained. How odd for seemingly modern and proud nations, of high Âindependent aspirations and competitiveness. In recent times the realization that we must consider the impact of overuse of natural resources for not only local existence but global existence has spurred a move towards a more sustainable approach, My garden ÂWIGANDIA and others are playing prominent roles in the Âpseudo ecological garden stakes. I have long believed that the somewhat Âslavish adherence toÂhosepipe culture has rendered us rather impervious to the true opportunities our climate presents. Some of us have Âtuned to the notion Ânative plants are best, a simplistic but positive step forward!" and "Many of us live in a climate far removed from the source of the majority of our most frequently used plants. Whilst many of these plants grow reasonably well in our rather diverse climatic range, many do not. Traditional irrigation habits have allowed a broad range of Northern Hemisphere woodland plants to be cultivated. These plants often require copious amounts of water during our long hot and dry summers that can extend into autumn and sometimes beyond! The disturbingly complex issue of water shortages and conservation will in the coming years alter our lifestyles. Garden culture as we know it could well be relegated to the archives filed under nice folly but hemi spherically bizarre! The opportunity to strive towards a garden culture that is of our climate offers endless possibilities. Let us look to our own social and cultural values in the creation of a garden that reflects who we are and more importantly where we live!" Nothing more and nothing less!! Best Billy William Martin. Gongoozler. +61 3 5592 5349 Email: williammartin@wigandia.com Web: http://www.wigandia.com "The plant never lapses into mere arid functionalism; it fashions and shapes according to logic and suitability, and with its primeval force compels everything to attain the highest artistic form." Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932)

It seems to be a bit of a vicious circle regarding what books are in stock. Same goes too for what plants garden centres stock. A brief look at the history of gardening in Qld shows that initialy people struggled with trying to grow plants in climates not suitable for them. It seems that this circle has not really been broken yet although the range of sub-tropical /tropical plants available is certainly becoming more readily available. I guess though that many of us will always want to grow something from outside our climate. As for books, another good William Warren co-authored book I would recommend is 'Thai Garden Style'. It give a really good overview of the different regions for garening in Thailand from the coastal areas in the South to the highlands of the North.

Gosh the mind boggles Artie. $120 a hour just for walking around and yapping. While you do all the writing guess I have saved myself a pretty penny sorry I mean $$ also. Having lost no plant to frost either, and we do get them too I will send hubby a account. Just to see what he says......Cheers..MM.