Tropical Courtyard Garden

As any gardener knows, spending time outside with your favorite plants has a magical, curative effect on the mind and nerves.I paved this little courtyard area last year and have since watched my palms and bromeliads slowly fill in. I originally paved it as a place for my handicapped mom to enjoy the garden, so there are no tables to impede accessibility. Care to join me for a little tour?

For tropical looking palms in the Coastal South, you can do no better than grow lady palm, (Rhapis excelsa) hardy bamboo palm (Chamadorea microspadix) and radicalis palm (Chamadorea radicalis) to recreate the look of the tropics. Bromeliads cluster at the base of the palms.

To the left is something I've never seen before: the flowering stalk of a lady palm! Maybe they've gone unnoticed since the inflorescences are mostly hidden in the foliage, but such an elegant combo of pink and cream should be pretty hard to miss, wouldn't you think? (sorry the photo's a tad blurry; I was shooting on the run.)

After exposure to searing sun, a flooded container and freezes in the low twenties, my Japanese bird's nest fern isn't looking at it's best. However, can you think of a more tropical looking fern that can take all of that punishment? I've since removed it from the container and planted it in the ground after amending it with compost and bark. It seems to be doing better already!

The bottlebrush and pineapple guava are really starting to take off! Soon they'll provide the shade and frost protection that I planted them for, but I might prune the pineapple guava and azaleas for a tidier look after the pineapple guava has finished flowering and fruiting.

Thanks for visiting my little patch of paradise! Next time you see it, hopefully it will look a little better: I'd really like to do a better job with the paving next time around!
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