From the Sperry Garden – April, 2008

Photo by Neil Sperry

If you listen to me on the weekends on KRLD or TSN, you hear me talking about using tropical plants for color and textural interest in shady spots in our landscape.  Well, here is about half of my team. This represents two trailer loads from the greenhouse.  There are two more waiting to be brought across the creek.  The largest of those pots is probably 30 inches in diameter!  (It’s the croton on the far right.  Note the two-wheeler dolly for size comparison.)

Each of these plants is an old member of our family.  The biggest crotons and philodendrons date back 15 to 20 years.  I have a crown of thorns that has spent every summer for almost 25 years in the same pot and in the same spot in my landscape.

You can see from this photo how diverse these plants are in their looks.  They bring a depth and richness to their surroundings.  I’ll be spending several half-days over the next week to get these distributed. This year, I’ve decided that almost none of them will go back to the same place where it’s been before.  I even pulled all of my garden art and am forcing myself to stir it around for a new look to our landscape.  I’ll be placing that now, too.

This is the fun that gardening is all about.