Even though I can’t grow many, if any, tropical or warmer climate plants outdoors in our area, I do love the fruit; bananas, pineapple, oranges, and on the list goes.  I wasn’t aware until I visited a site that has banana seeds for sale just how many varieties of the banana there are.  This fruit has become particularly important to me in keeping Potassium levels where they should be naturally.

Banana plants need warm weather, not lower than the upper 60′s at night, humidity and sunshine…unless you have a place to duplicate this type of climate, Banana plants may not be the best thing to grow in your home.

We look forward to hitting the road tomorrow morning and driving home…in snow…in October, so it’s been nice to take a mini-tropical mental trip to dream a bit about what it must be like to grow tropical plants like the healthy and varied banana.

When we were in Arizona, it was on business trips for extended periods of time. I was fascinated watching them plant the trees, I don’t know whether they were wholesale palm trees but figure they may be, because they were usually planted by professionals who purchased them in quantity. I guess if you want to purchase them for your home, and you want to get them at a good price in today’s economy, a wholesale nursery is the way to go.

The only way that a person can grow them here is if they have an atrium, or a large home with a nice indoor pool like the family of a friend of ours owned.  Where one can find palm trees for sale here, I don’t know, but am sure that now you can purchase them online.

So I’ll just have to be happy with the plants we have, and leave the palm trees to those who are blessed with living in places where they can grow…and enjoy my pictures and memories of the places where we have been able to see them…maybe I’ll be back to add one to this post later.

With Christmas coming the snow outside my window right now, with a backdrop of grey trees, is pretty…what we like to see at this time of the year.  But it is cold, and as time goes by, we tend to look farward to spring, and consider making escapes to warmer climates…where it is warm, and you see beautiful flowers like the one above that is native to Jamaica. Something you might see if you were to enjoy one of Jamaicas all inclusive resorts. 

Many, like my brother and his wife and daughter, like to travel to warmer places during the Christmas season, others wait until Spring if they have children and want to travel during their spring breaks. Then there are those who, like my husband and I, are no longer raising children, so can travel if money permits any time of year, and so inclusive Jamaica trips are appealing, as they provide you with everything at a reasonable price, tips included, so that you know exactly what you will be paying up front. This is important with the economy what it is today, and many resorts and travel destinations are doing what they can to help by providing reasonable pricing, and better ways like this to financially plan your vacation. This is what made taking this offer to share with you appealing…we are all trying to cut costs and plan carefully these days.

The website was beautiful when I visited, and there are places like Ocho Rios hotels to stay. Ocho Rios is the main cruise port to the Island, a wonderful place to shop, enjoy a wonderful variety of activities, including beautiful beaches, golfing, polo and famous Dunn’s River Falls for you climbing pleasure. Close by is another popular destination, the resort town of Runaway Bay, one of Jamaica’s most popular destinations, the home to Breezes Runaway Bay.

All the details you need and more are at the links provided. I hope you enjoy a little warmth just visiting the links during these cold months of winter.

Sponsored Post from LoudLaunch – Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis…all opinions are entirely my own.

• Gardening in Containers – this post contained some thoughts and ideas for those who don’t have space for a garden, or just like the idea of gardening in containers.
• Keeping Deer Out of the Garden – another post with some ideas and a helpful article, we have only had trouble with deer during droughts when they try to make their way down to our lake.
• Tropical Climate Gardens – for those of you fortunate enough to be able to grow tropical gardens, this is another helpful post.
• Vegetable and Organic Gardening eBooks that you might find helpful.

Do you have any favorite gardening articles or posts to share?  Please let us know in a comment!

I have an extra-special special to tell you about at the end of this post, but first…Florida!  This is the place that many escape to during the Spring, right on through the summer, and into the Fall months.  But Spring is when most of the people from our part of the US head down to Florida.

For many, the first thing that comes to mind is theme parks, we’ve done them and enjoyed them, but if/when I go down again, it will be for a quieter visit…no rides this time, I’d love to take in some of the natural beauty of the area.

Here is a list of things that you can consider if you, like I, would like to take in some natural beauty in Kissimmee:

• The Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens
• Florida Eco-Safari – in 4700 acres of Florida wilderness, on horseback, through land and water, exploring beautiful natural ecosystems of Florida.  There are MANY
• World of Orchids – those beautiful flowers, so many varieties to explore!
• The Heritage Trail – because I love to learn more about the history of the places I visit, this would be something I wouldn’t want to miss, with many museums and things to see along the way.
• The Bok Tower Gardens – I first saw this historic landmark an old linen postcard when sorting through some things obtained at an estate sale, and found it intriguing.  It would be a beautiful spot to visit.
• A Glass Bottom Boat ride at Silver Springs
• Bird Watching…this is something that doesn’t cost anything, and is so much fun, the unique birds in the area are so beautiful! You can do this at places like Lakefront Park, Peghorn Nature Park and Trail, Bull Creek Wildlife Management Area, Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area and more beautiful locations.

There are so many things to do, that the next time we go to Florida, we’ll plan much better, our last trip was with children, so mostly amusement parks and rides, but this type of trip will take more planning….and the www.visitkissimmee.com website seems to have all that’s needed to discover places to visit and plan.

Oh, the special I mentioned, it’s a Sweepstakes…..Kissimmee is giving away three (3) weekend getaways (3 days/2 nights) for two (2); and two (2) week-long vacations for four (4). 2 more drawings will be held on or around 5/1/09 and 6/1/09 (the first one has passed). Visit the site, and enter the Sweepstakes today, then look around at all the beautiful pictures and things to do.

We were married in April of 1979, so our 30th wedding anniversary is coming up. It brings back memories of that busy but wonderful day when I married him, and our travels the next day to one of the caribbean hotels on the island of St. Thomas. We chose this Island because a friend of my husbands was able to help us find a good all inclusive vacation package, although we were on a honeymoon, not a vacation. Many weddings were taking place at that time, and I would say that a majority of our friends went to the Bahamas. Wherever you go in the islands, whether the Bahamas, in Jamaica, Panama, or the Dominican Republic (a neighbor of mine is vacationing there right now!) it is beautiful this time of the year.

Since this is a gardening blog, may I say that you get an eyeful of unique tropical plants that you will not find here in the US, especially here in the Northeast where many dream of escaping the cold for warmer climates, unless of course you are “into” skiing! I have many mental pictures, and some fading photographs in an album to remind me of those beautiful days…you who are living in this age of digital cameras are so blessed with pictures that never fade!

Whether you are thinking caribbean vacations or honeymoons, breezes.com will inspire you, and the pictures are so beautiful if you’re in a cold climate.

May I wish you all a Happy Valentines Day!

Bahamas Botanic Garden in Nassau image from bahamas.com

Project Orange Thumb grant is a program that encourages and provides the resources for this type of activity by offering tools and funding to start new projects similar to the ones I have shared, or to improve and enhance community gardening projects that are already established.

Please visit the Project Orange Thumb grant link, read all the details, and apply. Pass this information along to gardening friends in your community. Think of your garden clubs, groups like the ones I mentioned above, school grounds (a great educational opportunity in horticulture), parks, land that is unused but has potential to be something beautiful, there are many ideas…look around you and the town or city where you live. The application deadline is February 17, 2009.

Grand recipients will receive $1000 in green goods and $1500 in Fiskars gardening tools.

For six years, Fiskars’ Project Orange ThumbSM has provided over 100 community groups with over $300,000 to create and develop their own special community gardens.

What is wonderful about this park is that it is a pleasure for both young and old. There are rides for the children and young-at-heart, and they all are surrounded by, or inter-twined with a garden theme. The main focus of Gilroy Gardens, one of the most interesting California amusement parks, is to teach and inspire children to appreciate trees, gardens and horticulture, and do so in a fun setting. It is actually an educational institution. If you visit any of the links (the grey letters) in this post, you will find many more pictures, and information on how to plan a visit to the park. Imagine a boat ride or enjoying water park fun (40+ rides) in a natural setting intended to foster learning. I have never heard about this before visiting this site, and know that should I find my self in California again, I’ll be visiting the site to plan a trip to this fun filled garden paradise, one of the paramount parks. If I lived close enough, I’d consider the season pass offered, but for me, a native of the east coast, I’ll have to plan differently, but it won’t be hard to do.

Well gardening friends, this is a real find. I’ve enjoyed browsing the site…please comment if you’ve been there, I’d love to hear your experiences.

Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, Florida

I am not sure if tropical gardens would do well in the northeast, they are something I always look forward to seeing if we travel to the southern states, or in years past, to Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, and other similar places. But maybe the author of the following article has some thoughts that will change my mind in his article “Tropical Gardening – Is It In Your Future?” Maybe you are living in a tropical climate and have your own tips to share, please do in a comment!

Even if you live in a cool, temperate place, you can work at maintaining a tropical garden. You have to do plenty of research and maintenance to provide the plants a modified climate that is close to their natural climate as possible. Tropical plants are very beautiful and unique, and growing them is very rewarding. The following rules will help your garden to succeed.Plan! You need to plan before anything else. Planning is always important in gardening, but it is extra important for tropical gardens.Location, location, location — A tropical garden needs to be in an area that receives plenty of sunlight. Also, the area should be highly visible, since you likely want your plants to be seen and to be a focal point in your yard.Soil – The whole area should be tilled to get rid of any debris. You should then add sand and compost for fertilization. The soil needs plenty of nutrients. After you finish planting, you should place dark mulch on top to help the soil retain moisture.

Irrigation – Tropical plants need a lot of moisture, so you should water them daily. You can do this with an underground soaker hose irrigation system, and by watering them by hand. You must have great drainage though, because over watering the tropical plants is very bad for them.

Layering – For viewing purposes, the tallest plants should be in the back, medium sized plants in the middle, and smallest plants should be up front. This will also help you to access the back more easily, since you can reach over the smaller plants.

Winterizing – You must bring plants in your tropical landscape design indoors for the winter. To make this as easy as possible, you should keep them in pots. You can dig up the pots in the late fall, clean them off, and take them indoors. The inside of your home will look great in the winter months! You can replant the pots in the spring. You should till the soil and add compost again each spring.

After everything is planned and set up, you can buy the plants. The following list includes plenty of colorful, unique options:

• Banana trees (get the dwarf variety unless you want huge trees)
• Elephant ears (a wide variety of colors and sizes available)
• Purple-heart (Secrecia)
  
• Croton (will need to take indoors during the winter)
  
• Kalanchoe (come in a variety of colors)
• Ornamental grasses (Cardinal Lobelia, New Zealand Flax, Miscanthus Cabaret)
• Agave
• Carpet Geraniums
  
• Bamboo (Golden Goddess)
• Ferns
• Cannas (many colors to choose from)
• Ginger plants

About the author:
It’s possible to make your own tropical landscape design no matter where you live. Check out http://www.plant-care.com/1546-tropical-landscaping.html for tips on making a tropical garden all your own.