Hi Jenn, I think that's a good back yard for a woman in her 80s- except for the Queen Palms. I'm with you- get them out of there. They will begin to drop litter soon and the pool will be a mess. Your idea of raising the narrow bed with bricks- it would look much better. I also like the idea of a few large pots to give some height, especially over in the corner by the pool equiptment, but also on the patio. The short step along the garage looks too narrow to me to put planter boxes in. Would the water drain into the pool from the planters? If you could put a wider raised planter box in front of the step between the two windows that might look nice. Or another huge pot- since that space needs some height too. Plant choices- I'd avoid anything that requires trimming back every season. I also think the space needs as much green as possible. I would plant tall nandinas in the bed at the back, and pygmy date palms in the huge pots, with some sort of trailing iceplant or sedum that flowers. Maybe even ivy geraniums, since they flower almost all year and require so little care. Depending on how much sun those wall pots get, I don't know how well most trailing succulents would do. Mine get sunburned in those conditions. I would plant either Sprenger Asparagus ferns or a deep green ivy, so there's some green on that wall. Finally, I'd have something tall and skinny in that little patio bed- Mother-in-law tongue, if it's not too hot. Canna lilies would look good for most of the year, but they might not bloom in that much shade. The bed is so small I would probably just have one kind of plant in it. I realize that these are all ho-hum plants, but there are very good reasons that some plants are ubiquitous. Your mom seems to like a tropical look, and these are low-care and except for the cannas, relatively water-wise choices. They will live in the reflected glare of concrete and water. Have fun with your project! Renee

It looks like your in Alabama, so I'm making suggestions that I think will overwinter for you and are fast-growing. You could use tall canna and other tropicals like colocasia (elephant ears) and hedychium (ginger) since all like moist conditions and grow to 6 feet. If you get a lot of frost in winter, you can move those in a garage or shed to overwinter or cut them back after the first frost and mulch heavily. These work well using a "stock tank" for a big pot. If your ground is moist (and not from salt water pool), you can just grow these in the ground. Clumping bamboo (fargesia) is another good container plant that grows quickly, but it's a bit more expensive. Buddleia will probably do fine with a half-day of sun, but they can take the heat of full sun. 'Royal Red' grows very quickly up and wide. 'Pink Delight' is another fast-growing, full buddleia. Those are drought-tolerant. Ornamental grasses such as panicum and miscanthus varieties will also work, but will have to be cut back in late winter and then regrow. I don't know when you open your pool (we open ours in mid-May). If you want evergreens (and have no deer problem), arborvitae may work. For deer-resistant evergreens, try cryptomeria 'Black Dragon' -- some of the cryptomeria can get quite tall (40-60 feet), so look for a variety that fits your height requirement. Those are slow growers, so you can add ornamental grasses to the mix. I'm sure I can think of many more ideas. These are just a few that come to mind. Cameron (North Carolina)

Yes. It has overgrown the pot and if it's not draining it's drowning. Get it out of the pot and perhaps you'll be able to save it in the ground. Make sure the pot drains before you put a new plant in it.

without a photo of the bloom it is impossible to say what it really is. Many different Curcuma spp. have very similar foliage, so you can't ID them with a picture of a leaf. Tim Chapman