Glad to see you back, Grant!

Love the aloe blooms!

Lots of activity in the garden.

It's been 3 months now and the orchid trees are still flowering heavily.

Ficus Auriculata coming back from the dead. Got hit with frost in December.

This other one that I left in the pot was sitting underneath the Calamondin, so no frost/freeze damage here.

Got two new mango trees from Shamus. Lemon zest (left), and Coconut cream (right). Currently digging up two big holes for these guys.

Alpinia Zerumbet (Shell Gingers) all are starting to emerge from the ground.

Purple and green Sugarcanes sprouting out new shoots as well.

Rice paper plant I planted in ground months ago is doing very well vs the two that I had left in pots. Huge difference!

All the canna lilies are starting to come back also. I chopped almost all of them to the ground and used all the clippings as mulching on top of my garden beds.

Longan trees are covered in new big leaves. Ever since I started foliar feeding all my plants in the beginning of February, I've noticed a huge difference. I know a lot of plants push out new leaves around this time of year but the difference in size of the leaves is very significant.

Same thing on my Jaboticabas. The old leaf from summer is 2-3 times smaller than the new leaves.

Awesome pics and updates! I love seeing how the plants in pots compared to the ones in soil. Keep us posted! Love seeing the new growth on the base of that ficus too. Cool stuff. Who is Shamus, by the way?

Here's a quick pic this morning after yesterday's crazy rain day. Kleinia fulgens in bloom in my favorite color: ORANGE.

One of MANY nasturtiums in bloom around the garden. Great winter/spring annuals here.

Some Euphorbia rigida starting to bloom. Such easy, low maintenance plants. I just grow them in full or partial sun, give them water every other week, and then give them a once-a-year trimming of yellowing stems that have bloomed/set seed. Easy!

Happy gardening all!

Grant

This is Shamus

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shamus-OLearys-Tropical-Fruit-Trees/469661096392272

He sells tropical fruit plants/trees. He's over by 37th ave. & Bell rd.

Nice update Grant!

My garden/yard is looking great these days . . . ask me again in late May/early June lol

Me and one of my chickens, Susie the Dominique :-D We also have a Crested Cream Legbar and a Red Sex Link - hopefully will be laying by May/June!

Some of my flowers in the backyard

One of my favorites; wonderfully fragrant petunia smelling up the whole place! These plants in this container must be about 30" across now!

Second post!

A annual container I picked up with lobelia, miniature petunia & bacopa . . . this was on clearance @ Lowes back in October '14 for literally $1.50 ! Five months later and still blooming!

AMAZING stuff, Kevin! Thanks for all of the eye candy. You have a wonderful garden! Those chickens are adorable too. Your place just seems SO organized and bountiful. I'm green with envy! Fun to see, even though it makes me envious, hah. Thanks for posting them!

My variegated "chenille plant" (Opuntia aciculata) is making new growth (pink at bottom right). I started it from a single cutting and last year it didn't grow at all (after making a new pad the first year), so I'm excited. Wilson the tennis ball to show size.

My "Mexican flame vine" (Senecio confusus) is starting to flower which is fun. It's a VERY vigorous vine, although frost tender, so take cuttings for winter if you're in a cold pocket or not a gambler. These made it through for me outside just fine this winter.

Gasteraloe (Gasteria x Aloe) 'Green Ice' is budding up. Great plants that inherited the neat foliage of Aloe variegata but the heat tolerance of Gasteria. Easy to find and easy to grow in afternoon shade.

Aloe ciliaris the "climbing aloe" is making lots of blooms too. Here are some up close and personal. Mine is in full hot sun which is much more sun than it would like, but it's done well so I'm not moving it any time soon, hah!

Finally, a quick pic from my bed looking out the doorway to the patio/garden.

Keep the fun updates coming all, happy gardening!

Grant

Oh, and the species gladiolus, Gladiolus tristis, is blooming away. Amazing, fragrant floral plus clove scent at night and early in the morning. Fun little corms that make leaves in winter, blooms in late winter and then quickly fall into dormancy in summer (no summer water required, how nice is that?). I got the original corm from Annies Annuals several years ago. It has become a nice clump (especially since I relocated it and left some cormlets behind, and because I sprinkle the seed all over the place). Quick pic from yesterday attached. Happy gardening!

Thank you Grant - that gladiolus tristis is amazing :-D

Going to see if this is easier than the old forums for posting pictures...

Catnip - started from seed. The little plant next to it is a "persian lilac" (according to that packet of seeds).

Bought from home depot. Will bring it indoors in April to see if I can get it to live through the summer for once.

Cut off a cane last season and stuck it in dirt (it already had a few roots on it). New grape vine!

These come back every year for the last 4 years. I pretty much let them grow wheverever they pop up.

Asparagus (3 years old). Coming up faster than I can eat them.

I wonder how I got these to do the hover over thing while my next pictures don't do that.

Container guardian #234.

Borage blooms

One of the Catnip-Beasts.

Great new pics, thanks for posting them! I've tried Agastache (hyssop) a couple of times and it croaked mid-summer. Any secrets, iAndyaz? Love the catnip beast pic and caption, hah!

My datura plants (D. meteloides) are starting to bloom. That tells you we had a mild winter and warm spring (okay, almost-spring, hah). Great, fun plants with huge scented blooms. Toxic unless you're a hawkmoth caterpillar.

Purebred and hybrid "coral aloes" are blooming all over the garden. This one is a mutt (A. striata x A. vera) but obviously has a lot of coral aloe (A. striata) in its ancestry. I've planted dozens and dozens of these around the garden. They're just so easy and so colorful, why not, right?

Asarina scandens ("climbing snapdragon") self sows around my garden and I just let it do its thing. Here's a fun almost-red one climbing up a fancy metal obelisk/trellis on the east side of the house. Fun, aggressive growing but delicate-looking vines for sun or partial sun.

Keep the pics and updates coming all. I'm finding that posting pics is SO EASY now after years of hassle on the old GW format. Happy gardening!

Hi Grant, this is my first year trying (and succeeding) to grow anise hyssop so I'll be trying to figure that out myself :). I actually used seeds from 4 years ago to grow them and it looks like everything germinated. If it's anything like lemon balm in my back yard, I keep them in afternoon shade after April, or they start deteriorating. I may plant them in the ground this year as I have more shade from my bananas than I ever have.

I'm going to miss my Datura plant this year because I took it out to make room for another apple tree (and the datura was starting to get really big). I saved some seeds from it and it's really easy to get going again if I want to though. Here's a few more pics:

This is a bloom from one of my Michelia Figos, they smell really good (IMO like a baking cake). The smell travels far like orange blossoms.

This is my one year old Night Blooming Jasmine. I thought it might have died in the winter but it fully came back.

I have a bunch of new stuff I'm starting from seed that I haven't mentioned: Coleus, Foxglove, Laurus Nobilis (started last year but it's *really* slow), Peruvian Torch, Torch Lily, Winged Everlasting.

Coleus looks pretty neat even as a seedling:

One of the Coleus I planted about 15 days ago.

Fun pics/update iAndy! I've heard of Michelia but have not heard of anyone here growing it. How long have you had yours? Very nice looking bloom that sounds like it smells great! We'd love to hear more.

Coleus seedlings are SO cute aren't they? I love watching each new leaf be more colorful than the last. Great, fun stuff.

I'm glad (for you) that your night flowering jasmine made it. I grew it several years ago and just couldn't stand the scent (though nearly everyone loves it). Let us know what you think? I LOVE floral scents, but I ripped mine out soon after it was large enough to bloom, LOL. Let us know what you think of the scent. Most people do love it!

Here's a quick pic from this morning, a fun Passiflora sanguinolenta in bloom in my garden. Fun moderate growing vine with great foliage too. No damage at all this past winter. Full or partial sun and water when dry are all it asks (oh, and something to climb on). Happy gardening all! Keep the udpates coming!

I've had 1 of the Michelia Figos for over 4 years and another for 2 years. They're pretty easy to grow here and I'm surprised more people don't grow them. I thought about getting a 3rd one, but I think I'll learn air layering and just propagate them.

They stay healthy looking with shiny green leaves all year round (even at 19 F). They're fine with a little over watering and don't seem picky about soil/salt (I'm looking at you, blueberries). I used to frequently over water my plants when I first started gardening and they managed to live through it just fine (in fact, maybe that's their secret when young!). They seem to handle sun much better now than when I first got them.

I bought a Michelia Alba last year and it's much more tender than the Figo. I think if I left it outside all winter, it would be dead by now.

Now I'm curious about the NBJ scent. My dad said he had a plant at one of his rentals and the tenants took it out (I'm assuming because they didn't like the scent either).. Is there a smell you can relate it to? I think the only plant I've ever not cared for the smell from was a Callery Pear.

LOL about blueberries, that's funny! Good info on the Michelia figos, you're tempting me. Did you have a local source? I'm becoming more of a believer in going light on watering too, especially with established plants. So many things MELT in mid-summer with too much water (penstemons, chaparral sage, Aeoniums, pelargoniums, etc). Good to hear your approach.

I don't mind ornamental pear blooms at all. Not a favorite, but they don't bother me. Carob blooms I find a bit funky--enough so that I would never plant one because of the scent, but again, not awful. Now NBJ I just didn't like, LOL, but most people love it. I just found it to be a VERY sickeningly sweet baby powder kind of smell. Visualize a baby powder scented room spray from 1973, LOL. Not that there ever was such a thing.

You may love it though, obviously the plant is popular for a reason. I can't wait to hear!

And just to keep the pics flowing, here's one of the tiny blooms on a succulent "geranium", Pelargonium carnosum on my patio. It gets almost full sun all year and water when DRY when it has leaves and no water at all when it has no leaves. Neat caudex-forming summer-dormant plant.

And a big ol' gaggle of nasturtiums taking over my "veggie" bed, hah.

Happy gardening all,

Grant

I don't know where you can get a Michelia Figo in Arizona. I ordered mine from Wellspring Gardens both times, but they've been out of them for over a year now. I think one reason it's hard to find them is there's a few names for them: Magnolia Figo, Michela Fuscata, Banana Shrub, Port Wine Magnolia. So I might have been asking for the wrong name when looking.

I got home kind of late today so I didn't have a lot of light but I took a pic anyway of one of my Azaleas, which I can classify into my not-so-great category:

Azaleas. They are still recovering from being in too small of a pot for a while. Kind of hard to see it, but my new bottlebrush tree is in the bottom right of the picture.

how big are the michelia figo now? and what's the sun exposure? I was interested in trying these last year, I remember Shamus was selling them last spring.

They're both almost the same size because I kept them in really small containers until last year. When I potted them up to a 3 gal, they both grew about twice the size.

As far as sun exposure, the first couple years I kept them in almost all shade because, well, I pretty much didn't know what I was doing. Last year I kept them in full sun but I moved everything back into a spot that only gets morning/afternoon sun around May because some of my other plants were starting to fry. I think they'd be ok for full sun if they weren't in containers, the containers seem to overheat and cook roots.

I just went out to get a picture and it's kinda dark here but here they are side by side (older one on the left, tennis ball for scale):

That plant on the far right is a Crepe Myrtle, bought as a small 2 inch plug last year.

When I got these Figos (or any plants from Wellspring Gardens) they were around 2-3 inches tall.

Great info, iAndy, thanks for posting it. I'll definitely think about them. I think your azalea can be classified in the "what looks great" category to me! Here's a quick pic of my Japanese hybrid "amaryllis" , Hippeastrum 'Pink Lady' in bloom this morning.

Plus some promising buds on one of many, MANY (hah) hollyhock plants in the garden, all from self-sown seeds now.

And some lusty new growth on my "Tombstone rose" (really a Lady Banks rose). This one is a cutting from the world's largest rose plant, in Tombstone, Arizona (they sell rooted cuttings of course). It was very small last year but is really taking off. I know, I know, they're house-eaters, hah! Happy gardening all!

Nice pics, everybody. The main thing doing well in my yard is my tiff lawn, my potted camellias, my Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Plant (brunfelsia), and my potted gardenia.
Sorry no pics- I misplaced the camera cord.

Just got some Asian Black Sugarcane from a fellow gardener from Florida. I have green and a red variety growing right now that I planted last year but the red isn't that sweet. This Black one is much sweeter and better flavor. I planted a row of these in my side yard. Very ornamental looking too.

Here's what they look like fully grown.

• Blackberries blooming, artichokes choking, and blueberries about to start ripening.

  
  
  

Grant - does that ice plant Drosanthemum micans do okay over summer here? I have had mixed results with a lot of ice plant varieties but I do LOVE them :-D

Nice blueberries captaininsano, are you up in higher elevation? Have you grown them through our summers before? I've been trying to grow them a few years now and have been trying different things each year (they always die in May-June for me). I'm just going to bring one indoors in April sometime and leave the other outside in more shade.

No I am in North Peoria 9b, I had success with all of my blueberries this past year, made it through the Summer with shade from south and west, I have them in 15 gallon nursery pots mulched about 4in deep and wrap them in aluminum foil to reflect the heat, doesn't look the greatest but it works.

GREAT new updates and pics, thanks for sharing your gardens! Ken, that black sugar cane is really pretty! Does sugar cane do okay here long-term, in general? I started a small pot from a friend's plant (in LA) in my previous local garden and it melted during a winter freeze when it was young and in a pot. Any pics of your more established ones? Love seeing your pics, thanks.

Captain, your pics are wonderful too--everything looks so bountiful. How neat! Keep us posted. I'm especially envious of those chokes! Yummy!

Kevin, NO that Drosanthemum does not do well here in summer, hah, I almost lose it each year, so I can't really recommend it and I'm sure one August day I'll head out to the garden and it will all be dead. The only long-term ice plant family plants that I've had success with are Carpobrotus (the huge leaf ones--they do great) and Pink Ice plant (Delosperma cooperi) which struggles a bit but does well enough.

Here's a yellow columbine, from seed, in bloom this morning. Despite their wire-thin stems, hah, and super thin leaves, they're suprisingly durable here. Plus our low humidity means very few foliar diseases that plague them in more humid climates.

AND the very common, but very great "coral aloe", Aloe striata in bloom. I have a lot of the pure species (think pink edges on the leaf edges and NO teeth on the leaf edges, and rarely offsets) and lots of mostly-coral-aloe hybrids (the giveaway that they're not purebreds is that they offset and have small rubbery teeth along the leaf edges). Whether purebred or hybrids they are such great plants in sun or afternoon shade.

Happy gardening everyone!

Grant

Passion Fruit vine started blooming, cool flowers.

Thanks for the info. Grant - I tried the Carpobrotus variety before (picked up at the Desert Botanical Garden plant sale a few years ago) but I didn't manage to keep it going - it was in a pot on my patio so maybe just dried out too easily.

Other than that, I have not had luck keeping any going through summer despite their heat and drought tolerance in other, milder climates lol

Wonderful passionflower captain, thanks for posting it. So nice!

I know what you mean about ice plants/mesembs Kevin, annoying, hah! It's one of the ironies of gardening around Phoenix that so many "heat tolerant" "succulents" melt here, LOL. Carpobrotus I can keep going but it often gets dead spots in the middle (I just cut or rip off a stem and replant), definitely not a slam dunk around here.

Here's my Echium candicans just starting to bloom this morning. AKA "pride of Madeira" you see this plant all over coastal California. I've grown it in two Phoenix area gardens for over ten years now. Fun perennials that last 2-5 years before croaking, although they self sow nicely so there are always replacements. Happy gardening!

For all that love Desert Blue Bells as much as I do

Wonderful, nick, wonderful! I'm a huge fan of desert bluebells too, although I never have a patch THAT thick and full! Love it! Thanks for posting it!

Totally unrelated, my Hippeastrum striatum, an oldey timey species type, is starting to bloom on my patio. Here's q uick pic from this morning. Happy gardening all!

Grant, are those Hollyhocks annuals or perrenials? Will they take full phoenix sun?

Nick, how did you get that thick patch of bluebells. I sowed thousands of seeds but mine are sparse and have come up in the strangest places.

Newtoucan, the secret of my thick patch of Bluebells is grey water! We don't use any bleach either. These are my fav anuals. They look look like fuzzy reddish African violets as juveniles then they just started starting to grow in volume! Best to transplant these when they're small and early in the season. Try it next year.

My bluebells reseed each year in the same place. Do you collect the seeds?

Colin, those hollyhocks are short-lived perennials, lasting 2-5 years before dying out, although they always have seedlings nearby to be replacements. Full sun or afternoon shade is totally fine for them. My best ones are actually in crazy hot full sun and NOT on automatic irrigation. I water them every week or so when it's hot, and every couple of weeks when it's not. If I'm out of town for work for fun, which happens a lot, they're on their own. Great plants here.

Just to keep the pics going, here's a random pic of part of my little garden from yesterday. Keep the fun updates coming! Happy gardening!

Grant

Grant where did you get that Passiflora sanguinolenta? I love it

It is SUCH a great vine, Colin! Great foliage and not quite as huge as a lot of the house eater passionflowers (that I also love). I got the original from a nursery in California (and brought it back in the car awhile ago), but I just saw in the Annie's Annuals catalog that she carries it as well, link posted below. Definitely a winning plant.

Annies Annuals website (great paper catalog too)

Newtoucan, I didn't collect any seeds from previous years. I will this year bc I have two other grey water areas. Grant, your Hercules is huge! Did u see where I finally plant my Hercules , on the bank behind the Bluebells.

Hah, yup, nick, he's huge--over 11 feet tall now with two huge heads. He (Hercules) bloomed again this spring, something he seems to only want to do if he gets frosted a bit. He really has done great. I was wondering if that was your Hercules in the background, hah! How much sun does he get?

I planted a baby Hercules in my front garden. Man, he really struggled last summer but pulled through and looks really great now. As he gets more and more biomass I'm sure he'll be even more resilient. Love yours!

Happy gardening,

Grant adding a pic of a Blue Gilia just to keep the pics coming.

Giant bird of Paradise unfearled a new leaf and Jasmine starting to bloom

Lots of plants flowering in the yard right now.

Canna 'Ripples'

Canna 'Angele Martin'

Canna 'Gigundo'

Canna 'Bengal Tiger'

Longan tree

Tecoma 'Sparky'

Tahitian pummelo - Finally showing signs of new growth all over the tree. I've been worried about this big guy for over a month now. All my citrus trees have already flushed new leaves and are done flowering except this guy until now! All its been doing is dropping leaves. I'm guessing it's still stressed from being uprooted and replanted to my yard.

Mango 'Lemon zest' flower spikes all over.

My new Dwarf Namwah Banana corm finally pushed a new leaf out. The 90f temps probably helped out a lot on waking this guy up.

Green and red sugarcanes - lots of new canes coming out.

more pics:

Jaboticaba 'Sabara' doing really well with lots of new leaves.

Ficus auriculata - growing pretty fast! this is the same one that was just a stick at the end of Feb. I have a pic on the first reply above of it just a little sprout coming out of the ground, and now it's a foot tall with 5 big leaves!

Banana 'manzano' getting pretty fat.

Giant timber bamboo - this particular pole was only a couple inches about 3 weeks ago, and now it's well over 7ft tall!

Rice paper plant - this one might be a winner here in Phoenix. Very fast growing so far. I know it's a bit early to tell, but the high 90 temps we have this past week haven't damaged this guys' big leaves yet. I hope it can withstand 110f temps in the summer.

Awesome updates, Raimeiken! You have such great plants and they all look so happy. So cool about the bamboo growing so quickly. Neat! That rice paper plant does still look pefectly happy, I hope it proves to be happy all summer long! Keep us updated on it and all of your other fun plants. You've got some really rare-in-the-valley experiments going on. So fun!

Happy gardening all!