A bit of the jungle

[Koi Boi]

Hope you enjoy

[CT]

Love the jungle  Does it all overwinter outside? I was wondering about the banana and some of the others..I like the arbor with the hyacinth vine. Very nice!

[Teresa]

Wow!  It really does look like a tropical jungle . . . . like something you'd see near the equator.  Very nice! 

[Jerry]

It looks great. I have manihot too. It and my EE are in pretty bad shape with the recent record frosts here. UPS would love me. B R O W N !
How did you make out this winter?

[Koi Boi]

Hi Kay and Jerry

Sorry to answer so late.  The bananas go in the garage every winter, dug up, cleaned and dried, then stored.  I’ve stored as many as 150 banana plants  in a single season ranging in size from small shoots to 10-12 inch diameter bases that reached at times to the eaves of the second story of our home.  The hyacinth beans are planted each year when the soil warms and they tend to cover well by fall.  We select our plantings for a lush fall display rather than selections that peak by June and then are toast the rest of the long hot summer.  If you’re familiar with central Oklahoma climate, you know most tropicals do not fare well in winter here.  The ones that do survive the occasional consecutive mild seasons still have to wait till the soil warms and make a disappointing delayed appearance.    Many of our plants are not offered consistently  each year so those tropical plants we dig and repot, then hold in the greenhouse, while the rest are purchased every year.  A Caribbean cruise or any other vacation doesn’t last very long , so my sweetie and I put  our cruise money into the yard and vacation each time we step out the back door.  We do like to gamble to  some degree but we decided that we have better odds putting our money on the plants rather than watching is evaporate in Vegas.  He he.

Paul

[Jerry]

Well answered and a lot of work, but we love it don't we?

Vegas?  I once went there in a 3000.00 car and came home in 500,000 dollar

bus!

[CT]

Thanks Paul. I live in the area and I was wondering how you managed to have such a beautiful tropical garden in central Oklahoma. Maybe I'll try a dwarf banana tree this year.
Kay

[emm]

Wow, what a beautiful and impressive garden!  Great looking plants, you've created the perfect vacation spot.  emm

[slackjeep]

wow... is an understatement.

is that a lotus in pic #3?? 

[LilithFair]

Exceptionally well planned and just gorgeous! You are a very talented landscape designer!

[Mikey]

Three thumbs up!

I would never have expected a tropical paradise growing in Oklahoma.....

[Koi Boi]

a lot of work, but we love it don't we?

Sure do Jerry.   
I tell my wife if the good lord doesn't take me in bed asleep then maybe I can hope for the next best thing....in the garden at the end of a shovel or hoe.

[Koi Boi]

is that a lotus in pic #3?? 

Hi..er..uh...is it Dorys?

Yes it is a lotus...angel wing I think...nice plush white.

[Koi Boi]

I would never have expected a tropical paradise growing in Oklahoma.....

You’re not the only one Mikey,   From 1996 thru 2003 we participated in the public water garden tour.  Anywhere from fifteen to twenty-five  hundred locals passed through the yard any given year on that week-end and most everyone said the same thing,   Most folks around here go for the plant materials used  in European cottage gardens and they are usually past peak by the end of June and toast by July.  So we thought it would be fun to have the fall frost dictate  both the peak and  end of our season.   The main thing that allows our plants respite from the heat is the incorporation of wholesale amounts of compost (no manure needed with half shredded leaves and halve cottonseed hulls).  Copious amounts buffer the heat on the roots when we shoot above 100 degrees for days on end, and allows us to grow things we’re told don’t grow in Oklahoma.  My deep shade thermometer read 112 degrees  four times last summer.

Thanks Paul.

[SheilaJ]

Very nice tropical garden! I am expanding my tropical garden each year. I too find that it looks great from July until frost, which seems to be coming a little later each year. I do have some non-tropical beds to enjoy, but they are not much fun to look at once summer rolls in.

[LeeAnne151]

Absolutely fabulous!           I thought you were in Florida until I started seeing people mention Oklahoma.

LOVE the variegated Bougainvillea hanging baskets. I bought one but I think DH overwatered it while I was gone on business, I see no sign of life. They are hard to find here too.

[SheilaJ]

Kay, definitely try a banana tree - they are fun! If you get a musa basjoo, you can leave it in the ground all winter, much easier that way.