Sunny Days + Palm Trees =
Good Feeling
Palm trees evoke a variety of images for people. Pictures of an island of palm trees in the
vast sand dunes of the Sahara can make us thirsty and cause us to think of the mercy of water in the
desert, or remind us of a chapter of a particularly good science fiction novel.
To a farmer those same images bring up hopes of a bountiful date harvest; to a traveler the
remembered taste of a local dish; to a photographer an avenue of trees framing a sea of worshippers.
Cartoonists have made no end of palm tree references, using the tree as a catapult to shoot the
good guy (or the villain) to somewhere waaaay over there or the coconuts as ammunition.
One animator used palm fronds instead of ostrich feather fans to parody a famous cabaret dance.
Another enduring image of palm trees is in the tropical landscape, swaying over pristine beaches
or rising above a jungle of riotous color and texture. Decorating magazines advise bringing that "exotic"
touch to your patio or sun room by adding a couple potted palm trees from the local garden center and
shoving them into the corners where they get too little light and too much water, causing their early
demise.
Why not go about creating a tropical paradise the easy way by doing it right? Banana trees, castor bean
plants, ginger lilies, palm trees, crotons and other tropical plants of magnificent proportion and mystery
can flaunt their exotic beauty on a grand scale indoors as well as in the exterior landscape.
Gardeners can blend huge bell draped brugmansias (Datura spp) and Tasmanian tree ferns
(Dicksonia antarctica) with other potted plants to create lush tropical rain forest gardens.
While these tender beauties must spend half the northern year inside, they can all move out onto the
patio or deck come the last frost of the year.
Imagine the stately palm trees framing the lovely tree ferns with their crown of feathery fronds arching
over a rainbow of crotons (Codiaeum variegatum) and orchids.
Northern gardeners must abandon hope that tropical plants will ever look natural in their climate.
It takes sheer brass and a firm design hand to pull it off. Consult piles and piles of photographs
of tropical habitat for color schemes and companion plants, as well as accessories like chairs and
tables, pillows, rugs, and lamps. If you cannot resist the urge to have "just one" plastic pink flamingo,
go "camp" all the way and have an entire flock of plastic flamingos, being certain that one has a
"Santa Claus" hat.
Cover the furniture cushions with hot colored fabric, and put a fake parrot on a stand over there by
the doorway to greet your guests. Take a look at drawings and photographs from the Victorian era.
European explorers started bringing home exotic plants in the 16th century, but the absolute height of
plant collecting and indoor plant display was in the 19th century.
Homes of people from moderate means to fantastic wealth sported conservatories, or just a sunny window for displaying their horticultural treasures.
Indoors or out, palm trees and other tropical exotics make a welcome relief from the predictable garden
choices. Consider that your next tropical get away might be right outside the kitchen door.
>> hardy hibiscus
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