OT: any Reefer-Gardeners around here?!?- post your GARDENING TIPS/QUESTS here

[K' Family Reef]

my wife and i are amateur gardeners
just taking up the hobby in the spring of this year - when we decided to redo our landscape into more of a 'tropical' scape... our house sat vacant for about 6 mos prior to moving in and long story short - the sprinklers somehow were shut off (while it was sitting vacant) and down went (some of) the landscape that came w/ the house... then we just decided last year to to do more the tropical-scape on this property - especially being 'reefers' we like the look/feeling of the more tropical landscapes which goes along so well w/ our reef and other aquariums...

and being (reefer) members of RC
thought we might start a thread here in this forum for anyone interested in sharing ideas/tips on gardening... admittedly we might have some experience to share but more then likely here to learn more from others on their experiences/tips/advice etc etc etc... being that we spend a lot of time on RC - thought what better place to knock out 2 birds w/ 1 stone - 2 things that we love doing - reefing AND gardening!


most are probably familiar w/ XERIscaping landscapes...
we are more or less wanting to combine elements of both - XERI and TROPIscapes into our landscape design and from what we planted in the spring - we had pretty good luck over the summer - of course in some ways (now) feeling invincible... if we could get our plants to SURVIVE the az summer then we could do anything!!!


but now w/ fall approaching
we are getting ready to really dig in and get our hands dirty researching and planting more (being that we didnt do too badly in the spring/over the summer).

if there is anyone else interested in gardening
then please feel free to join in share your tips/advice recoms/ask quests etc etc... the thing that my wife pointed out is that gardening seems to have a lot in common w/ reefing... one has to start taking into consideration ph of the soil, fertilizer, the good stuff - 'life' in the soil (like in our sandbeds), the care and maintanance etc etc etc - in many ways it parallels reefing!

so jump in and lets do some gardening -
while we take care of our reefing at the same time!



regards

[badfish]

I have wanted a garden for some time now. Since i do all the cooking at home, I am the one who is more interested in growing my own veggies. Coming this spring i will have a garden of some sort setup.

[K' Family Reef]

some of what we have done already.
(planted in the late spring)

x3 hibiscus
(san diego red)... absolutely stunning big red blooms!... after planting went thru a transplant shock (we probably did everything wrong!)... one of them looked like it wasnt going to make it... the other 2 took off really well... eventually the one that wasnt doing well made a turn around and is now blooming again but the one that was doing the best recently took a nose dive and it looks like all the leaves are going to fall off (possibly went dry/underwatered)... one of the best things we learned about the hibs was to use 1 cup of vinegar (to 1 gal water) when watering them - supposed to make the soil more acidic... which if ones leaves are turning yellow (on their hibs) then this might be a good solution as it worked really well for us!...

lemon tree planted off patio
planted for the fruit but also to shade the western (hottest) side of house/ patio as tree grows in... purchased the tree from citrus nursery in mesa - around 400$ delivered/planted think it was about 6ft tall... as summer temps went up the leaves started turning brown... we were thinking it wasnt going to make it so when we called the nursery they gave us another great tip - cover them up!!!... duhhh sometimes the simplest solutions are all it takes!!! the tree is doing great now w/ a lot of new growth... this was actually great advice that we used for the hibiscus also and kept the leaves from getting baked... anytime the temps were going to get over 105 then we would cover the lemon tree and the hibs... we are also planning on doing some container fruit trees around our patio area as we learn more about them.

giant bird of paradise
we planted these on an eastern wall along the front walkway (our house faces north) and although it looked like they were going to do well.. they ended up not making it... or there is some new growth but seems that either the sun was too hot for them them, or being next to the side of the wall it was too hot... or they perhaps got too much water from washing off the sidewalk etc.... we also planted some of these in the backyard which are doing so so...

large leaf philodendron
we really like these planted in our backyard and cant wait for them to take off... they are in full shade get some reflected sun and they are really doing well... these get pretty large and they are planted next to a wall so they will fill that area in nicely.

added 3 small ponds/fountains
this was a great addition to our backyard... 3 round 50 gal ponds we purch at lowes and added fountain pumpsd... adds a very soooooothing feeling to the backyard and provides some sound privacy also... they are just above ground (didnt sink them in the ground)... one has tall grass growing around it making it look more natural.. the other one tried planting geraniums around it but didnt work out too well.. then the 3d we have sitting on our patio w/ potted plants around it on the outside... these are terrific in that they make great PLANT FOOD!!!... we use the water from the ponds to water our house/outdoor plants.... dont need fertilizer!... the water gets green w/ algae (only use fountain pumps not filters which keep the water clear) and is probably rich in nitrates from the bird poop from the birds who frequent these to bathe in... my wife thinks this water has saved many of our houseplants... the pond on the patio we actually keep goldfish in (more shaded) and the others we put the mosquito fish in to keep mosquito population down... we would also like to get some water plants (they carry nice selection at pets inc) so if nothing else the fountains provide plenty of water for our plants to feed off of!


what we plan on doing yet/IDEAS and still researching
(again we are going for more tropical scape)


(anyone familiar w/ any of the following?)

planting pygmy palms in front/back yard

really interested in PLUMERIA
but we need to do a lot of research on these yet... as understand it the plumeria trees just look like sticks in the winter (no leaves/beauty)... so wherever we plant these will need to be in a strategic location to plan for the winter 'ugliness' of these BEAUTIFUL trees!... we plan to get some planted this fall.

canna / tropicanna
we really like these and wanted to plant some this summer but never got around to it... where we planted the bird of paradise (that didnt do so well) along the front walkway to house - is probably where we will plant some of the cannas - these add a real tropical feel to a property... there is an asian market/mall near airport (cant think of the name of the place perhaps it was around 48thst phx?) but they had some canna planted that really looked amazing!

possibly queen palms
even though they are reported not to do so well here... seems that like w/ everything - w/ proper maintanance/care they might make a nice addition... we already have one in the backyard that w/ very little care has managed to stay healthy/looks great!... they do have a very tropical effect as well that we like!

fig/banana/papaya trees ???
still checking into these...


we have a huge tree in our backyard
(+neighbors trees) that basically shades 1/2 of our entire backyard/patio... we intend to use this area for our 'tropical' planting... being that its shaded from the intense az sun - this might make a great area to tropicalize!... seems to allow us some freedom in planting a lot of these tropical plants that need filtered sun/shade!...

regards

[K' Family Reef]

Originally posted by badfish
I have wanted a garden for some time now. Since i do all the cooking at home, I am the one who is more interested in growing my own veggies. Coming this spring i will have a garden of some sort setup.

have you thought about doing container gardening?
my wife wants to (on the eastern side of our house) do some above ground (ORGANIC) container gardening... we thought about creating 4x8 (maybe 1 or 2 ft high) raised planters - perhaps out of wood... then like you mention growing our own veggies... there are a lot of good books on this type of gardening... and how cool would it be to walk out into your backyard and pull a few tomatoes and greenpeppers etc etc for your salad at dinner that nite


if one wants organic vegetables
(even though they are MORE THEN worth it!) its hard to justify the price... an organic salad pieced together at wholefoods might cost one 10-15$

regards

[badfish]

Originally posted by Neptune's Oasis
have you thought about doing container gardening?
my wife wants to (on the eastern side of our house) do some above ground (ORGANIC) container gardening... we thought about creating 4x8 (maybe 1 or 2 ft high) raised planters - perhaps out of wood... then like you mention growing our own veggies... there are a lot of good books on this type of gardening... and how cool would it be to walk out into your backyard and pull a few tomatoes and greenpeppers etc etc for your salad at dinner that nite


if one wants organic vegetables
(even though they are MORE THEN worth it!) its hard to justify the price... an organic salad pieced together at wholefoods might cost one 10-15$

regards

Thats EXACTLY what i was thinking of doing. I also think it would be awesome to walk out side and be able to grab our own veggies. It would be worth it just so i dont have to go back to the store for the basil that i forgot to pick up.

I would like to grow: Tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, Garlic, zucchini, Squash, Basil, Bell peppers, Anaheim peppers, Jalapeño, Scallion, Shallot, ok this will never end.

You get the point. I want food!

[NaClH20NMYVEIN]

I'm into tropical plants like I am reefs. I have a bunch of plumerias that flowered this year for the first time. They dont need to lose their leaves in the winter. I also have, figs, bananas, payapa, and lots of other tropicals. Most are small as we just moved into this house about 8 months ago. Check out this site http://davesgarden.com/community/for...region_sw/all/

This site is the FRAG group of local gardners. You do have to pay (like$20) to be able to post but it is well worth it. We even have a swap coming up in a month or two where their is always free plants The group is just as great as this group. Hope to see you on the forum. I also have a few kinds of seedlings if youd like.

[K' Family Reef]

badfish
Matt - if you like to eat that much then a vegetable garden might not be enough - you might consider raising cattle/chickens in your backyard... then when get urge to have a steak or chicken sandwich - go right out your back door and get one!


NaClH20NMYVEIN
Ryan - registered at that gardening website (under this same name used on RC)... are your plumerias in containers or in the ground?... good to hear one can get their plumeria to stay green - always thought they went bare in the winter... sounds like you are doing what we want to w/ our landscaping... do you have any pics of what you have planted so far?



anyone been to the tropical nursery on baseline?
heard they have a good selection of tropical (and water plants)... been there 2x honked as sign posted to do (to get someone to open the door) then called the number listed on the door and got no answer.... we waited around about 10-15 minutes but no one came to the door think the people must live around the back or something

regards

[NaClH20NMYVEIN]

I will post some pics in a bit. I have the plumies in pots which are burried in the ground for the summer, come winter I will dig up the pots and bring them inside. My UN is MKIVRYAN. That place on baseline has some cool stuff but its super expensive. I just got some bamboo, bananas, and a fig from this place http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/grd/792924526.html
You may have to copy and paste the link. The place is like a tropical jungle, prices are reasonable. I also really like Bakers, they can get about anything for you.

[badfish]

Originally posted by Neptune's Oasis
badfish
Matt - if you like to eat that much then a vegetable garden might not be enough - you might consider raising cattle/chickens in your backyard... then when get urge to have a steak or chicken sandwich - go right out your back door and get one!


regards

Thats exactly what I want. My fiance was raised on a farm. She hated that her dad would kill their pets and serve them for dinner. Her dad and I laugh at her about it. Say by to Norm.

[K' Family Reef]

Thats exactly what I want. My fiance was raised on a farm. She hated that her dad would kill their pets and serve them for dinner. Her dad and I laugh at her about it. Say by to Norm.

i know what you're saying!
a good friend of mine grew up on a farm and we dont think he gets the having a 'pet' thing (we have large 150#+ dog, 2 cats and 3 aquariums)... he thinks we're nuts and doesnt understand showing 'affection' for an animal... then again i lived in korea for 19mos and they have a delicacy called 'KAY-GOKEE'... which is otherwise known as the friendly neighborhood stray dog! (heard it tastes like chicken )... - they tried to ban it during the '88 seoul olympics but its still served there just not as easy to find

I will post some pics in a bit. I have the plumies in pots which are burried in the ground for the summer, come winter I will dig up the pots and bring them inside. My UN is MKIVRYAN. That place on baseline has some cool stuff but its super expensive. I just got some bamboo, bananas, and a fig from this place http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/grd/792924526.html

thanks for the CL link
this might be the same person i contacted on CL who has a website showing their phoenix backyard - which looks like a jungle!... there was also someone who had some plumeria for sale a month ago... we arent ready to start planting yet as we still need to figure out and overall plan for our landscape... here in the next month we will be trying to sort it all out and perhaps i can hit you for some of those 'seedlings' you mentioned earlier if you still have them then... interesting how quite a few houses add a few tropical elements (palms etc) but have only seen very few that do a complete 'tropical' landscape design in phoenix... we have only noticed 1 residence in chandler (in an older neighborhood) that had a complete tropical design to their front yard

interesting that you bury the plumerias in the ground
in pots then bring them inside in the winter - i assume that is just until they get mature enough to make it thru the few freezes we have here... odd to hear that nursery/shack on baseline is expensive - by appearances it would seem like the kind of place one would go to get a great deal!...

regards

[30reef]

I envy your desire to create the tropical look. I left behind about 60 species of exotic palms in Cali when we moved here a few years ago. Some of them were seedlings and some are by now towering giants.

The lack of humidity here is a real killer. I have been xeriscaping my home using primarily agaves, I find them just as fullfilling as the palms I used to keep. I think I have 18 or 20 different species at last count.

I visit a few of the specialty nurseries in the valley regularly to keep an eye on what's in town. Gardening is alot like reefing in that there is a small circle of folks "in the know" that can get you what you are looking for at the right price.

After the heavy freeze we experienced the winter before last and wiping out most of the stuff I thought was cold hardy, I made the decision to xeriscape with plants native to the Southwest and Mexico.

A couple of palms I can think of that do really well here (I am a palm geek, can you tell?) are:
Phoenix Canariensis (Canary Island date)
Bismarkia Nobilis
Chamaerops Humilis (Mediteranean Fan Palm)
Butia Capitata (Pindo palm)
Both the Phoenix and Bismarkia palms get massive so a big yard is a must, but the effect they give is spectacular.

I have had no luck growing giant birds here, it is just too arid. The leaves curl and burn in the summer. The same with Philodendrons. My next door neighbor has some Hibiscus growing out in the full sun and they always look good. You might be able to create a microclimate using misters like the zoo does, that would bring the humidity levels up enough for some of the more tender plants.

Here are a few pictures: the first is part of my palm garden in Cali when it was just planted, this was 4 or 5 years ago



The second is the giant bird that grew from a 5gallon size to this in 2 years, it found the water it wanted.



And this is what I am looking for right now, it is species of agave known as Agave Mapisaga. That is me sitting on it, the pic was taken in 2005 at the Huntington in Pasadena. It has since then flowered and died as part of it's life cycle.

[30reef]

Here is a pic of this particular agave with it's flower stalk in full bloom. I don't know the legality of posting pictures taken from the internet without proper credit or permission from the photographer so I hope it's ok. I found this on Davesgarden.com.

[azhunter]

my neighbor is a plant wholesaler. he doesnt have a nursery but he is a guy that "can get you plants!" from all over the country. he works with a lot of the midsized landscaping companies. they call and he delivers. i wouldnt want to post his number on here but if you PM me i'll give it to you. he might be able to get you whatever your looking for. i know if i ask him for a new tree or plant its in my yard or driveway the next day...sometimes he even has someone plant it for me.
mike

[30reef]

I just reread your post and I have some input on pygmy date palms (Phoenix Robellini). If you are going to use them in your landscape, buy ones that are grown locally. Most of the ones for sale at home centers are from the San Diego (Fallbrook) area and do not grow well here. I had to remove a few of them from my back yard because I couldn't get them to keep any green leaves. Locally grown palms can be grown in full sun with modest amounts of water. Beware of the spines at base of the leaves, they are nasty.

My folks have some Canna growing in full sun. They die back in the winter and have to be cut to the ground. The bulbs are easily dug up and divided or replanted too. If you are adventurous, try growing some Elephant Ears in a shady spot. Papyrus grass would be cool too and is available at local nurseries.

I could go on and on in a thread such as this, gardening is truely one of my passions. I sometimes find myself blurting out scientific names of plants and trees to my wife when driving around town, it drives her nuts. There is nothing like the smell of moist earth when digging a hole to plant something. Die hard gardeners know what I'm talking about.

[K' Family Reef]

azhunter
thanks for the info on your neighbor friend/wholesaler...
if he is willing to take small chump change orders from individuals (vs commercial landscaping accts) then i will shoot you a pm for that number.




30reef
glad you posted those photos...


thought it seemed in our experience thus far
that gardening attracted the same 'type' (of individual) as reefing does... some of the best people i have met over the years have been reefers! (even before i got a reef of my own)... and its no surprise that as we get into gardening - we are meeting the same type of people - who are PASSIONATE about what they DO!


that BofP is awesome!
wish ours would have turned out like that... a lot of them we have seen around here in full sun look like the leaves are burnt... the labels we get that comes w/ the bofp plants says full sun... but realizing they will probably do better in part sun or reflected sun areas... we planted 2 around one of our fountains in the backyard in a shaded area that gets some afternoon sun (as comes overhead)... not sure on these 2 bec it seems that the leaves that were closest to the water fountain got fried (perhaps the water/humidity then afternoon sun - turned brown?)... but there is new growth on both the plants and they look like they will be coming in really well.

glad to see you and Ryan jumping in here into this discussion - espec as you guys are into the tropicals too and have experience w/ growing them...

we are on our wayyyyy out right now
(as my wife keeps reminding me) will post some photos of our (amateur) planting efforts either when we come back later this a.m or when we return from catalina mountain (tucson) later this pm.

thanks again for posting the photos!


regards

[K' Family Reef]

photos taken coming back from summer haven/mt lemmon last nite... this drive up/down my lemmon is so worth the trip!... nothing like fresh mountain air after the intense heat of the arizona summer!

this first one we thought was the best photo but unfortunately it has some type of reflection in it on the right side... this was as we were coming home last nite









these flowers were found all over in the higher elevetions... anyone know what they are called




not the best photo of one of the hibs we planted - these are one day blooms and this one was already on its way out... but can already see others started to come in


here is an experimental flower garden we planted around this bush in front of the house... periwinkles... this bush gets beautiful purple blooms on it (name of bush?) and next year we will plant instead of red/white periwinkle - will do white/purple so it will blend in w/ the purple of the bush


the (remnants of) first flower garden we planted
(leaves were intentionally left in as mulch/prot from sun) it looked great when we first planted it... dwarf calla lillies, surrounding by periwinkle and then purple/red petunias filling in the center... originally we thought we were supposed to water minimally and soon after planting most of the petunias didnt make it... humbling learning curve experience... now all the flowers get watered everyday and they have not only survived the arizona summer but have continued to bloom all summer long... after replanting some of what died early on - we decided to leave the flower bed alone to see how it does (and not to waste any more flowers).. so this is whats left of it after the summer... the periwinkle originally formed a nice border around the flower garden... these have been the only thing that we have had problems with (the ones in the front have been fine no problems)...

can also see the remnants of the giant bird of paradise along the sidewalk... this area was originally filled in w/ thick red lantanas (which are still shoved in there)... we thought we would wait and see if the bofp made it before we dug out the lantanas... there are 3 bofp planted in this area... the other 2 although cant be seen have fresh growth coming up (under/behind lantanas) but we dont feel they are going to make it here and need to try something else.

[NaClH20NMYVEIN]

I believe those whit flowers are datura's

[K' Family Reef]

since there doesnt seem to be a whole lot going on around here lately
thought might bring up another topic that might be of interest to some...



are there any (other) backyard gardeners around here ???


since this thread was started
we have nearly completely redone the landscape around our house... being that we ride our bicycles quite a bit (almost everyday) we get to see a lot of various 'landscapes' then 'borrow' different ideas from here/there... and think we have come up w/ a pretty 'unique' semi-xeriscaped (low water use) TROPICAL landscape...

so far some of what we have used

lots of ruellia...
this stuff is the easiest to 'transplant'... just dig it up stick it somewhere else... mulch it then water it everyday and in less then a week it will probably be blooming again (if not sooner).. but it does 'spread' fast too... iow it might become like a weed... but its a beautiful purple flower to look at so not a bad 'weed' to have around (believe the seeds can travel by 'air' more or less and end up in all parts of the yard but not that bad and we have had it for several years now)... when it starts sprouting up in other places we just wait until it gets medium sized then transplant it to where we want it... even though these (like bougainvilleas) are overused in this area- dont think they get the respect they deserve for what they (can) provide... tropical bell shaped purple flower that needs little water to grow on!... ya its common and simple yet 'can' add a 'dramatic' effect depending on how its used... we planted 4 queen palms and around the base of each transplanted a bunch of ruellia - so the ruellia provides a (colorful) tropical looking (purple bloomed) 'sock' around the bottom of each palm - which also serves the purpose of 'shading' the bottom of the queen and its roots from the sun/heat!

pygmy date palms
planted a few of these... moon valley nursery had everything on sale 50% off ( all winter up until recently)... we were able to pick up some good sized palms for a decent price (these grow slowly)... know that they are not usually a palm of 'choice' to use in this area but like to think w/ proper 'care' that ours will survive!... unfortunately we may have planted them a little bit too late... as in just planted in the early spring (think it was march)... as i understand it these are better planted in the fall so they have time to get established before the HOT summers arrive.

couple varieties of canna/tropicanna (these are some of our favs)
we have some in 2 of our 3 backyard ponds... have already had some nice yellow/orange blooms come up from these in the ponds... then some nice yellow canna in front and in back of the house... still want to get more colors of these red etc and we still have many that havent bloomed (not knowing for sure what color they will be) but most of which are supposed to be of the yellow variety... havent had any tropicana (purple variegated leaves) bloom yet but several are about ready to...

bird of paradise of course
2 different types (not the desert mexican bird of paradise though which also has beautiful blooms too)...

roses
didnt really research this out well enough... might end up digging some that we planted and replant w/ some of the better varieties (helps to research something ahead of time vs impulsively purchasing something when perusing lowes etc)... actually think its a double bloom rose that my wife found and really .likes... so rather then having a hodgepodge of different roses all planted together - we intend to make a 'planting' or collection of various colors of a specific type rose... still the blooms are beautiful none the less...

there are lots more things too

but the overall intention was to make a view OUT EVERY WINDOW
for instance looking out our bedroom windows we have blooming roses that come up peeking thru each window... so basically there is something (beautiful) to be viewed no matter where one is looking out (thru each window) from inside the house (we hope atleast)... 'lush' is what we were trying to create... so it starts in the front w/ what we hope to be a 'tropical' resembling landscape... then when one comes inside the house they are struck by our (tropical) reef (which has seen better days - neglect all winter long while gardening) then looking out into the backyard basically our entire backyard area is 'scaped' (some of which was already there before we moved in... literally out each window there is something (beautiful we hope) to see...

and w/ the exception of the canna/calla lillies/roses -
everything else is low water use... we also have grass in the front/back yards... but we plan to by the end of summer get rid all the grass in the front and use groundcovers (we are building a walled courtyard in the front of the house which will take up most of where the grass is currently planted)... then we are doing concrete/flagstone in the backyard which will get rid of most of the bermuda back there too... then do st augustine? under the shade tree in the rest of backyard...

for anyone interested in getting rid of expensive grass
(expense of watering/fertilizing/replanting winter rye each year etc - which all adds up over a years time not to mention uses a lot of water in the process)... we have recently gotten into using GROUNDCOVERS... and if someone has a gravel 'yard' (and if they prefer something alive/green instead) then there are many low water use groundcovers that grow well here in the desert and LOOK VERY NICE/green...


myoporum
is one good example... adds a wonderful touch of green (life) to an otherwise dead gravel front yard... have seen peoples yards nearly completely covered w/ this and it looks better then having grass imo (although we really like grass)... myoporum also blooms once a year i believe.

wedelia
otherwise known as YELLOW DOT... this is one of our favs... anyone that lives in the east valley might go by ray/101 - right on the sw side of that intersection... and along the sidewalk there is a bunch of wedelia that was planted and is scaped in a 'wavey' pattern (in front of the office buildings).. .this is something to use that is more 'unique' then say lantanas... and we really like the foliage... has a nice tropical shape and it produces small yellow flowers... is low water use once 'established' (but can be invasive although not sure how much of a problem here in az)... we planted a couple of these around an orange tree (that was planted last fall)... it was in a gravel area along the nw front side of our property... which was during the summer a very 'hot' area as the sun heated up the gravel...

so iow
for those who like 'green' (as in grass/life etc vs gravel) then the groundcovers can be a good choice and MUCH EASIER to take care of then grass (no mowing either but may need manicuring)



could go on and on
this is a new hobby that my wife and i picked up and just truly enjoy as much (sometimes more) then reefing... although now that summers here reefing is back in our lives as we wont be spending as much time outside!







this is a shot of our backyard w/ some already established landscape features (pic taken last year before we got started scaping the yard)... notice the grapevine on the trellis on corner of patio - today its full of purple grapes, the trellis is gone and that corner is completely filled in w/ the vine - grapes are easy to grow and they attract a lot of birds too






this queen palm was badly neglected before we bought the house - but its been coming around nicely thanks to some TLC


since this is off topic anyway cant help but add a pic of my daughter as i am scanning through our photobucket acct




some star jasmine

[NaClH20NMYVEIN]

Have you tried any plumies yet?

[BonesCJ]

Very nice pictures, I have the orange/yellow flower canna's growing in my pond and they do wonderfully. I actually got into gardening before I even got into reefkeeping.

I always wanted our backyard to look lush but at the same time be productive so we planted lots of dwarf and semidwarf fruit tree's in our backyard. We've got apple, pomegranite, apricot, nectarine, plum, peach and a friend of my wifes got her a bananna this winter that has really taken off.

The use of ponds in the desert for cooling works so well, we have a 1100 gallon koi pond as well.

here are some pics during construction just for fun

[K' Family Reef]

we havent any plumeria yet
but we plan to in the near future... tropical mango nursery has some for sale right now... seems that by placing xmas lites on the branches during the winter it (might) keep them from getting frost damage as i understand it (the larger old style xmas tree lites that would produce more heat)... the royal palms hotel has some long established plumeria that we have been wanting to go check out for some time.

BonesCJ
nice pond!... those look like papyrus in there... very well done!... thanks for posting the pics... we planted a navel orange and lemon last year then have 3 container citrus also... there is an established grapefruit tree in our backyard too which produces so much fruit we cant give it away fast enough.

we purchased 3 small ponds
they might be 50gal from lowes... nothing fancy and since we have a 2 year old and one on the way wasnt sure if we would want to keep them or not... so for safety reasons we placed them above ground (surrounded by large river rocks)... then covered all 3 w/ heavy duty steel grating... to keep the kids out and anyone else from falling in... once the ponds filled in w/ plants then one hardly notices that they are covered (cant tell in the one pond pic bec it was cropped out)... if we do definitely keep them we might build a nice wood 'frame' the way you have done w/ yours.

few more pics from our photobucket acct.


these are pink/purple (bloomed) calla lilies and the 2d year they have come up... w/ (purple) tropicana sitting behind the cherub and a container lime tree in the background.



this is the wedelia/groundcover that mentioned earlier... not a good picture... but it grows fast and has a nice 'tropical' foliage... that is a torch bougainvillea also in the pic...


lemon tree w/ grapefruit behind it... ruellia along the side wall and newly planted bougainvillea mixed in... that is a tropicana sitting in the container waiting to be planted... barely visible in the background behind the LT is another bougainvillea and a fatsia sitting in a container waiting to be planted too (in full shade)...



couple canna and newly planted bougainvillea... can anyone guess what the plant is in the pot??? (grown from seed)




this is facing our patio
the grapevine is on the corner of the patio... we are trying to create a 'canopy' effect w/ this bougainvillea... beside the bougainvillea there is a pink rose in the corner then on the other side more canna and hibiscus (barely seen beside bougainvillea) then a few palms and a giant bird of paradise sitting on the patio... notice the full shade on this half of the back yard (gets morning sun though)... placed bamboo over the top of the patio pergola which further shaded it and significantly dropped the temp on the patio (espec when combined w/ the patio shades)... can see the shadow on the patio floor created by the bamboo that was laid down over the top (sunscreen was glued down on top of the bamboo also)... we like the outdoors and even though its warm we still try to get out as much as possible so 'shade', blinds, and patio misters are a must!



san diego red hibiscus.. pretty common and grows well here in az

[K' Family Reef]

Originally posted by Neptune's Oasis


some star jasmine

after looking at this picture again
realize its not star jasmine but is a bloom off the grapefruit tree instead...




regards

[K' Family Reef]

pygmy date palm, lantanas, and washington palm
intending to 'shade' the base of the pygmy date w/ the lantanas as they grow out...



majesty and sago palms in the foreground between curtains



newly planted yellow bells...
might plant 'periwinkle' around the (outter diameter) of this plant.



ruellia blooms



c'mon az Reefer-Gardeners... show'em (PICS) if you got'em


regards

[K' Family Reef]

being that this thread is pretty much going nowhere FAST
(since its 'inception)



(and theres not a whole lot happening right now anyway!)

anything goes!









(as scanning our photobucket acct)


heres a pic of our morning ride
for any of the cyclists out there... wifes stem (on the hybrid bike) is 'raised up' (as high as it is) bec she is 7 mos pregnant and needed it for comfort (she is a medical 'professional' - so yes we know what we are doing! )... started bike racing and doing bi/triathlons in 1990 (rode BMX before that since i can remember) and have ridden overseas as well... my wife is VERY competitive herself... and w/ me pulling the chariot (w/ our 20+ # daughter) in tow... you better believe ITS A WORKOUT!... then add to it the WEIGHT of this mountain bike (its all 'road' riding that we do no trails)... well any cyclists out there know what i am talking about!... i used to train on a steel tank of a mountain bike set up w/ road bars/170 cranks/carbon campy record components and modified cassette/gears (11 on the back then 56 chainring on the front - even though i would 'redline' these gears still = SPEED on a 26" wheeled bike!)... have saved every bike frame have owned over the years - for some strange reason - i feel an 'attachment' to the bike for the literal hours i spent on it riding thru the country side (used to commute 34miles to class one way)... even though havent 'raced' in years... (((GUARANTEE))) i could dust off my road bike come out then stay w/ the (local) leaders on a group ride - and thats at 39 years old!!! (not saying i am great or even in great shape - i just KNOW HOW TO RIDE!)





a photo when was 'actively' racing...




ok enough already!




heres a photo i took in korea (ROK)
one of my all time favs from my travels (am obviously NOT a photographer - usually use disposable cameras when traveling)... this photo says something amidst the poverty they find themselves in... reality (i am sure) set in probably not long after this photo was taken... women espec in 3d world countries live in a much 'harsher' reality and korea is espec bad in this regard...



regards

[K' Family Reef]

heres another pic of the palm corner in our backyard
can see how tall the yucca is... although we didnt want to do it we had to trim off one of the long 'stems' bec it was smothering the queen palm... we are trying to build out from this corner in our landscape design... this half of the yard is 'shaded' or has filtered sun as seen in the pic... so it makes a great place for 'tropical' plantings (many/most of which cant take the az heat/sun)...as everything that is already planted here grows out it will fill in nicely... plus we have a lot more to do.

in the lower right hand corner is a 'pineapple' guava
which we planted last fall... we were not expecting much out of it this year and it didnt really start growing at all until this spring - but then all of a sudden it busted out w/ all these very unique looking beautiful blooms... white/red... very kewl for anyone that is interested in trying that plant... and its commonly avail at lowes etc.

in the other picture w/ the canna/bougainvillea and the small container (posted previously)-
that was a ORCHID TREE that was started from seedling!... surprised at how fast its growing... its a 'white' orchid.

there are 2 bird of paradise plants around base of the queen palm
then some plumbago behind that... and purple heart sitting at the base of the yucca... purple heart is another neat plant to keep and its nearly indestructible (although the 'stems' are very soft and break off easily)... if one breaks off all need to do is stick it in the ground and it will keep growing as if nothing happened... actually has small pinkish blooms that come out too... can see some red oleander blooms poking thru on the left side of the photo as well as another bird of paradise (giant) planted in the ground in front of the yucca (dont know how well its going to do in this location though - our dog keeps wiping it out)... there are also 2 bougainvilleas planted behind the washington palm and one behind the yucca...

we planted bougainvilleas all the way around
(inside) our backyard perimeter... evenly spaced - going for more of the 'mediterranean' design... bougainvilleas (like ruellia lol) are perhaps overused here in az and under-appreciated at the same time... they are the 'ultimate' in desert beauty/color and are nearly indestructible... low water use etc etc... in other parts of the world (mediterranean) people take pride in owning these plants and there are many things that one can do w/ them (train them etc)... in fact has anyone every been to VANS PRO GOLF SHOP think its over off camelback (or somewhere thereabout)... they have a bougainvillea trained as a 'vine' growing up the side of the building and used the way it is - in many other parts of the world!...