I'd love to trade for one of your clivia's. This is what I have in houseplants, Tropicals.(below) Let me know if I have anything you'd be interested in. Thanks. Joy (pnwjoy) Houseplants/Tropicals Acalypha reptans  Dwarf Chenille Plant, Dwarf Cat Tail, Red Cat's Tail Aloe variegata - Tiger Aloe, Partridge Breast Aloe Begonia (eyelash begonia)Pink flowers Begonia Angel wing begonia Cestrum nocturnum - Night Blooming Jasmine Crassula ovata - Jade Plant Cuphea ignea - Cigar Plant Epiphyllum 'Ackermannii Hybridus' Red Orchid Cactus Fuchsia 'Dark Eyes' Fuchsia 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt' Fuchsia 'Lena' Gasteria bicolor Gibasis geniculata - Tahitian Bridal Veil Gynura aurantiaca - Purple Passion Vine Hoya carnosa - Wax Plant NematanthusÂTropicana  Goldfish plant Neomarica gracilis - Walking iris Passiflora caerulea - Blue Passion Flower, Hardy Passionflower Pelargonium graveolens - Scented Geranium (not sure which one this is) Perilla 'Magilla' - Beefsteak Plant Plectranthus amboinicus - Cuban Oregano Salvia elegans - Pineapple Sage Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Kiwi Fern'  Coleus (unrooted cuttings, easy to root) Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Stained Glass' Coleus Strobilanthes dyerianus - Persian Shield Talinum paniculatum 'Kingswood Gold' - Jewels of Opar Vigna caracalla - Corkscrew Vine (well rooted, healthy seedling)

I would appear your house is on a corner lot, yes? Yet the orientation of the bed is entirely full frontal. I would add more plants around the side, some simple, low maintenance flowering shrubs would do it. I agree with the comment on proportion. Is the tree in photo #1 still there? If so, it might suffice as it grows. Don't put giant Phoenix canariensis quite so close to the house as pictured. My next comment is not directed at this homeowner in particular, so please don't take it personally, it's just a general observation of photos I've seen posted on this board. I don't understand the penchant for tacking these kidney-esque beds to the front of a house and leaving the rest of the garden untouched. This example is better executed than most, but I see these as not much visual impact for probably a significant investment, which is unfortunate. I suggest to anyone looking through these threads for ideas to spend just a little more for a professional designer with a lot more imagination. In this case the homeowner wants low maintenance, and maybe that is the overriding design concern, and well met here, but the space has so much more potential.

My Pygmy Dates and Queen palm have made it outdoors here planted in the ground without damage for 8 years...until this winter. We had a record 13 nights, straight, below freezing. They are very badly burned. Its too early to tell yet if one of the Pygmy Dates is dead, it still has one green frond. The Queen may be okay too, have to wait and see. When spring really comes, I'll go out and test the last emergent frond. If it doesn't pull out, I'll know they are still viable and I need to wait. Same with most of the Pygmy dates, except the one lucky guy. In contrast, my Pindos, Mediteranean Fans, Sabals and my Needle Palms are all intact, not even leaf burn. I would recommend those to you for container palms for your deck. The Needle is the hardiest, it will survive temps below zero. The only problem is, large specimens can be hard to locate and expensive. All of mine are over 20 years old. I have a few Saribus palms planted out, they are very hardy, but the leaves always burn in a hard freeze so they look unsightly for a bit.

Hi I chose to buy my canary island palm just from looking at the leaves! They are so beautiful! I need to know how to care for it. When I bought it, the leaves were lovely and green but now the points have browned and two leaves are dying and one leaf is not looking too well. I only have experience of growing geraniums, roses and a castor oil plant which began to die when I brought it home. It was years ago and I took it to a gardener who began by taking the whole plant out of the pot and sifting through the roots. He found a maggot and shouted 'there's your cause' and the castor oil plant grew well after that. It got so big, I decided to sell it. It got flowers on top, it was taller than me (about 7ft 6) and it was producing seeds which were gernimating all around it in the pot. I didn't want that many castor oil plants so I sold it. So when I bought the canary island palm (phoenix canariensis)I began to sift through the roots to make sure there was nothing chomping at the roots. I discovered it had a ball root and I couldn't get it back into the pot, so I chopped some off. Now, I'm worried. Will it die from the root trauma I gave it? Also, I wanted to take cuttings from it so that I would have loads of them planted outside and if any got stolen, I could just think 'ha!!! I still got the main one!! You can't take that!!' because people keep steeling my roses. I plant them and days later, the whole plant goes missing. I have the main ones secure so they can't be stolen! So I took a leaf from the canariensis and planted it. It too seems to be dying. Please help!!!!! I want to know how to look after the main canariensis and I want to take cuttings and plant them outside to fill up my front yard and stop the neighbour's six cats dolloping there. There is really nothing more unsightly then taking two hours to get ready to go out only to step out and first experience the horrific whiff of fresh dollops!!! AND if there are no fresh ones when I leave, those cats certainly get some ready and waiting for when I get back!! It's a nightmare!! I've tried repellents but the cats don't seem bothered. My roses do the trick but I wanted more green. So please help Shazia