The Arizona Palm and Cycad Association is dedicated to increasing the availability, knowledge and enjoyment of palms and cycads suitable to the lower Sonoran Desert environs of the Phoenix and Tucson area.
The Tropical Paradise
By Brad Hall
This page is written specifically to encourage beginners. If you have been seeing the many different palms and cycads and think that they are beautiful, as I do, you may be wondering if you can grow them. My backyard in Glendale, Arizona (a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona), is proof that you can. Here in The Tropical Paradise (named long ago when it was just dirt and rocks!), I am growing many species of miniature palms and cycads. Please take a look!
The most current posts for The Tropical Paradise are now at bradstropicalparadise.blogspot.com
Malibu lights at The Tropical Paradise. Lighting a tropical paradise is a special joy. It looks like a million dollars and really doesn't cost that much. I've installed low-voltage Malibu Lights from Home Depot. The spot lights are 20 watts and the path lights are 11 watts. The trick to using these lights is to aim them up towards the plants and away from people. If they catch you in the eye, they can dazzle, and that is pretty unpleasant. I put in a few path lights but most of it is uplighting with spotlights. If you want to see where they do it the very best, go to the Phoenician resort in Scottsdale. I made a special trip there years ago just to see how they did their lighting. Remember that you are not lighting a football field here, you are trying to set a mood. On the other hand, be sure that there is enough light to allow people to walk safely and see where they're going. Experiment by using a flashlight, sticking it in the ground and standing back.
Ornamental sweet potato vine. A very inexpensive way to get that "Tropical Paradise" feeling is with vining plants. I've planted ornamental sweet potato vine and it is doing well in the shade of my palms and cycads. It doesn't look so good in sun, and it does require a lot of water, so I am putting it in shady, low-lying areas. This vine started out as a tiny inexpensive plant from Target and has spread. In addition to looking great, vining plants discourage people from stepping into the garden. I plant them in rich potting soil with plenty of Osmocote fertilizer and moisture crystals, which you can get at Home Depot.
Creating a garden path. A garden is meant to be experienced, but you don't want people to be walking into the planting area. In the Tropical Paradise I have watched where people want to walk and am refining where the garden paths are. The goal is to allow people to walk up to see the plants closely without their having to step into the dirt. I was fortunate to have friends who donated some nice pieces of flagstone to me, which I am laying out along the southern edge of the yard. The goal when using flagstone is to get the pieces to fit as if they are a jig-saw, so it takes some trial and error. Here in Phoenix, there's no need to do a foundation as we have no frost, so the stones are just laid in sand. I am checking to be sure that they are level, and don't wobble. When the weather cools off a bit more, I will pour in the grout dry and then water it in.
Phoenix rupicola (Indian date palm). If you're thinking that a beautiful palm tree like this can't be planted in full sun in the Phoenix area, think again. My Phoenix rupicola has been here for over five years now. It is planted in full sun, facing west, and in gravel, which reflects the heat. The rupicola is a medium-sized palm tree, not as large as it's big brother the Phoenix dactylifera (date palm), and not as small as its little sister the Phoenix roebellini (dwarf date palm). It has long, green, beautiful, arching fronds and grows to a medium height, so it won't become a "telephone pole" in your yard. I saw one of these in a neighbor's yard when I first moved here in the '90s, did some research to find out what it was and finally got one in 2005. I have no idea why these are not more commonly planted in the Phoenix area. They are not expensive and are readily available by nurseries that sell palm trees. You won't find them at Home Depot or Walmart, though. They are slow growers, which is good, because you don't need to do a lot of trimming. Buy the biggest one that you can, and be sure it gets plenty of water. Other than that, it doesn't need any special care.
Phoenix roebellini (dwarf date palms). The best place to start your tropical paradise is with some inexpensive plants. The very best is the Phoenix roebellini, which is readily available at Home Depot, Walmart, etc. Unless you are going to be viewing your palm trees from miles away, avoid their big brother, the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) - those look great along the edge of a golf course, but in an ordinary back yard, they are just telephone poles. To get the most "tropical island" feeling from your Phoenix roebellini, buy one with multiple trunks. They will lean out away from each other and give you the impression that you are in Tahiti! Purchase 5-gallon plants. Remember that these are miniatures. By the way, many plants look the same when small - check the label, be sure it says, "Phoenix roebellini". If you want to be sure of the plant you are getting, get ready to start reading Latin!
These plants will require some special care during the first season or so. They can be killed by frost when they are small, so be prepared to keep an eye on those January temperatures. If it's going to get down below 20 degrees F that night, gently place some old bed sheets on the fronds. Be sure to take them off the next day.
Unlike cycads, palm trees grow continuously. To find a healthy one, look at the center for new strong growth (the "spear"). There should be some white waxy residue on the new growth, which is a sign of health. Plant them where they will get plenty of water, in good potting soil, such as Miracle Grow® Moisture Control. The old adage "dig a $100 hole for a $50 tree" really applies here. Be generous with potting soil, it's the lifeline for your tropical plant. And after they are planted, fertilize them often. Then stand back, they will be beautiful!
Dioon edule cycad coning. Although cycads look like palm trees, they are more closely related to pine trees, and both types of plants produce cones for reproduction. Cycads are dioecious, in other words, either male or female. This is common in animals, but rare in plants. You can tell if a cycad is male or female by the cone it produces, but sometimes it takes many decades for the first cone to develop, so you have to be patient! This particular specimen is male, as evidenced by the shape of the cone. The female cone would be much rounder. In order to produce viable seeds, a female cycad must be coning at the same time as a male cycad, so the pollen of this particular cone has no place to go. It will last a few weeks, then break apart and crumble away.
Turf area. Temperatures here in the desert can get in to the 100's so creating a "mini-oasis" can be quite soothing. Palms and cycads look especially nice near grass. But growing grass in the desert is very difficult, especially in a small area. In the summertime the shade needs of cycads can make growing Bermuda grass (which requires lots of sunshine) impossible. In the winter, Bermuda grass goes dormant and turns brown so it's necessary to "overseed" with rye grass, a ritual that starts in October and uses an enormous amount of water, not to mention seed and fertilizer. So about five years ago I invested in artificial turf. If you remember the old "Astroturf", you will be surprised to see how natural this stuff looks these days. I've had people walk on it and not realize that is was artificial until they reached down to touch it! It's perforated to allow water to flow through and the only maintenance it needs is to be blown or raked ocassionally and rinsed off (if you have a dog).
bradstropicalparadise.blogspot.com
Brad Hall is the webmaster for The Arizona Palm and Cycad Association. He lives in Glendale, Arizona with his cycads and his wiener dog, Macintosh. You can contact him directly through his web site, BradHallArt.com.
If you like this page, please support it by ordering some cool Antique Palm Tree Reproduction Art Prints from the 1800s or Antique Cycad Reproduction Art Prints suitable for framing, directly from Brad. If you are visiting The Tropical Paradise, potting soil and small doggy-treats are greatly appreciated!
Web site design by BradHallArt.com