I love it when it rains :) Here's some pics from my back yard this morning:

My 2 year old Phalsa (aka sherbet berry, aka Grewia asiatica) blooming this morning for the first time ever. Does anyone have one of these? It seems pretty easy to grow here so far.

I found this aloe vera hidden and forgotten on a shelf on my patio a few weeks ago and it looked pretty bad. I put it under a water drip and it came back from over a year of complete neglect.

This is what one of my firebushes looks like now. I'll probably be planting it in the ground this month sometime.

Now for some new plants and trees that I got last month:

This is my new Hass Avocado planted last month. It survived a few 107 degree days with minimal shade and only a few leaves burnt (thermometer said air temperature was over 130 where the tree is). I'll be giving it some good shade next summer. So far it seems tougher than a Michelia Alba at least :) It has new leaves growing on it and if I can update it again this time next year I'll be happy.

This is the new Sapote (Is it pronounced sa-poht?). I tend to leave all new trees on the stake they come with until I'm sure monsoons/windy season are over and I hope it allows them to grow roots unhindered for a little while.

This is the new okinawa spinach.

The front plant is cattley guava (aka strawberry guava) and the back plant is a coffee plant.

Pineapple guava. This plant was 2 leaves and a small stick when I first got it.

The Ylang Ylang is getting bigger.. it's probably too big for that pot that it's in now.

Fun pics, iAndy! Thanks for posting them. You grow some really unusual plants for this climate! So fun to see. I'm THIS close to ripping out my sapote (I say "suh-POTE-ay" but I'm just guessing), but I'm always threatening it with removal, hah. All of your things look cool--that spinach sure looks different from typical spinach. Nice foliage!

Here are a couple of quick pics from the garden, a self-sown pink Ruellia. Definitely not fancy or difficult, but so pretty, and happily blooming in a large cactus pot in full sun.

Cooler weather means it's time to start planting geraniums (they'd prefer to wait a few more weeks but sometimes I can't help myself, hah). Here's the variegated 'Mrs. Pollock' in a talavera hen in full sun. I really do love geraniums (Pelargonium botanically speaking).

Another sign of autumn, "hummingbird bush", Zauschneria californica (now officially moved to Epilobium californica) starting its long flower show. Great red-orange (orange-red??) flowers all spring and autumn, with random flowers in summer too. VERY xeric (low water) and VERY brittle, hah, so plant it where you (or a hose) won't be snapping the stems! Happy gardening all!

Hah yeah, one day I may tire of plants trying to off themselves because they don't like the weather, but that day hasn't happened. I don't expect much from plants like the cattley guava and coffee but it's fun to grow them and see what can happen (and the latter was on clearance at walmart so I couldn't pass it up).

I forgot to include the picture of my tropical guava, which is about the same age as the pineapple guava. You can see how much more this plant likes our climate:

That's a 2 gallon pot it's in, and it's about 3-4 months old.

I'm finally starting to get chile peppers! I've picked a few padrons already but the poblanos, Thais, lemon drop and Christmas bell chiles are finally starting to set pods like they mean it. My lone surviving tomato plant woke up, grew a bunch and is starting to bloom! Yay!

Hey Grant! I stumbled onto your instagram a moment ago and added you! lol

I haven't posted in a while on here, I've been mostly active on the Phoenix Fruit Growers page on Facebook instead. Lots more activity there with my fellow local fruit growers :)

My row of Asian Black Sugarcanes

My newly planted Red Beaumont Guava next to the sugarcanes. I plan on planting more varieties of Guavas in between the sugarcanes.

Loads of AZ Sweet Oranges on the tree.

My mature Pink Guava. Gave me loads and loads of fruit this summer :D

My row of Shell Gingers. First time growing them here and they did so well this summer. No leaf burns at all, even the ones planted in full sun. A bit slow growing though.

My two larger Jaboticaba 'Sabara'

My Mango 'Lemon Zest'. got some leaf burn on the tips from this summer but now flushing lots of new healthier leaves.

Mango 'Coconut Cream'

Ficus Auriculata (Elephant ear fig tree). One planted in ground last year and one stayed in the pot. I needed a back up because I was afraid of the one in ground getting killed in our summer heat, but it actually did much better than the potted one. They're the same age, but the one in ground has a much thicker trunk and quite a bit taller too.

My newly planted Chico Sapodilla 'Alano variety'

Bauhinia Galpinii (Red Orchid bush). This one's quite slow growing for me, and it's just been trailing along the ground. I thought it was going to become more bush like.

Valentine Pummelo tree planted last year fall. Doing very well but I had to cover it in shade cloth this summer.

Ice Cream bean tree over 13ft tall now.

One of two Kohala Longan trees. Pretty easy tree to grow here, although it's a bit sensitive to our salty water.

Hi All,

You guys give me awesome inspiration to keep trying new and unusual things. Raimeiken, what do you do with all your Guava, I used to have a pineapple guava at my old house and I had 300 guavas at once, which I made jelly out of. 300 guava= an inch of jelly and 6 hours of time to make. Last time I made jelly.

My hyacinth bean vine is looking good.

A new addition to the garden, a "destination pole" of places that mean something to our family. I am growing giant sunflowers in the base and I am going to put in some hyssop as well. I few more markers to go on the pole but they aren't done yet,

E'toi onions are coming along. They sprouted within days of putting them in. I have been working on them for three years. I got 5 to start, two didn't make it, but the 3 made 20 and then the next year the 20 made enough to give me onions to use and 45 more to put in. I have them put in all over the place.

My jalapenos from last year are doing really well. Starting to make more peppers. These are the only thing that survived when the javalinas broke into this garden. They are about 3 feet tall.

At first I thought this was a cantaloupe, but now I am pretty sure it is a watermelon. I must have gotten confused when I marked where I planted, but it seems pretty happy. I am not sure when to pick it as this is my first go with watermelon. If anyone has an idea please let me know.

Thanks for all the inspiration everyone. I now have to have a notebook by the computer to list all the great plants you all grow to see if I can find them too.

Shannon

Awesome new updates, they're so fun to see and to hear about. What are you going to do with that much sugarcane, LOL? I love it! All of the pics everyone posted are so fun, and so tasty looking. Raimeiken, you grow a lot of really fun, cool stuff. I grow B. galpinii too and it's definitely a scrambler unless trained or very mature. Fun plants though and I like the look of yours.

Glad you found me on instagram too, hah, I just pop on and post a few garden pics every day or so. Love the stuff you post too.

I love those hyacinth beans, Shannon, especially with that awesome blue shingle nearby--fun combo. I wish they did better here. They do okay, but not great if you ask me. Love yours. I really don't think your big beautiful fruit on a vine is a watermelon though--they usually have foliage with deep lobes. Maybe google for a pic of watermelon vines or watermelon leaves and see what you think? Either way I think it's an awesome looking plant. I'm guessing it's some kind of super awesome winter squash--the kind you grow in summer and harvest in autumn or first frost and then can store all winter. I think I'm envious, hah! I hope you post pics of it when you harvest and cut it and hopefully eat it!

Nice guava, iAndy, keep us posted! I tried one in my LAST local garden and it did great for two years then died overnight in mid-summer. Sigh, LOL. You all seem to have much better luck!

I don't have shell ginger, but I did buy a tuber/rhizome of butterfly ginger in Hawaii in September and it's really taken off. I hope it's as durable as your shell gingers--you're right, they look great!

Congrats on the peppers, Marianne! How fun! I love pepper season!

Here are a few quick pics from the garden right now. I do love the weather at this time of year!

Passiflora foetida 'Belem' that I grew from seed from a seed swap. It really loves it here and isn't a house-eater, hah.

Spider lilies (Lycoris) are popping up all over the garden. So easy here in full bore sun. Flowers in autumn, foliage in winter, then dormancy in summer. How easy is THAT?? I've planted a lot of them over the years--why not since they're so low-maintenance!

Finally, Ceropegia sandersonii is blooming so I thought I'd share a quick pic of the thumb-sized flowers. Neat trailing (not climbing AT ALL, lol) vines that really do great here. Mine mostly flower in autumn and I really like the fun parachute-like blooms. They make me appreciate the tiny flowers on their close relative the rosary vine/chain of hearts vine (Ceropegia woodii) that is a popular houseplant. The flowers are similar but woodii's are tiny, hah.

Happy gardening all, keep the pics and updates coming,

Grant (yup, also on Instagram with only garden/plant pics)

Yay, nice weather!

Planted my garlic. Anyone else growing any? Planted Rose Lautrec and Lebera Purple.

Hey Raimeiken, how do the sugar canes fare through winter? Do you know if any of the different varieties handle our weather better than others? I'm thinking of trying some out. Have you tried to grow any in full sun?

Awesome garlic harvest, jon, thanks for posting it! It looks GREAT!

Here are the red spider lilies fully open with Wilson the tennis ball to show size.

I love the fruit (sometimes called "chiles" since they DO sort of look like mini hot peppers) on our native Mammilaria grahamii. This one was a rescue from a construction site where it was being discarded a few years ago. He and his friends are doing great.

Quick pic of a pink self-sown Ruellia brittonia ("Mexican petunia") with some pink vincas in a flower bed in the background. Both are great, fun plants. It's just dumb luck they're all the same shade of pink, as they both come in various colors. Happy gardening!

iandyaz, I grow mine in full sun. They can get frost damage in winter. These new black ones I'm growing now haven't gone through winter here yet, but the red and green ones have and they breezed through it. I had them planted close to a canary date palm, so there's a bit of over head protection there but the temps did get to around 27f a few nights and they were fine.

All seem to do very well though. They need lots of moisture and organic matter, kind of like bananas.

The yellow "spider lilies", Lycoris, in the garden are looking wonderful this week. Here's a quick pic. Full hot sun, water every week or two when they have leaves/blooms, and no water at all when they're asleep keep them happy. So easy! Now is a great time to find/plant the bulbs.

Aloe rooikappie 'Little Gem' is flowering again on the east side of the house. Such an amazing performer--it flowers off and on almost all year. Nice and compact too. Wilson the tennis ball to show size.

'Big Dude' a type of hybrid "rain lily", Zephyranthes, has been flowering this week too after last week's heavy rain. Nice crisp white flowers with an upbeat (not weak) pink edge. Full sun and almost no water. Another easy type of bulbs for our climate.

Happy gardening!

Grant

Tomatoes are finally underway! Really excited to get some fruit off my volunteer plant that survived all summer with no special treatment. If it is good, im saving seeds.

I'm hoping that because my garden is so sheltered that it won't get down to 46 tomorrow night and I can get a few more good days to set chiles & tomatoes. If it get too cold, oh well. Growing season will start again in a few weeks anyway.