We are Roger and Linda. We live in Pompano Beach, Florida. We have built this little paradise, which is our pride and joy. We cherish every moment that we sit and relax daily in our garden.

Now this is a garden that takes full advantage of the Florida climate, with the dramatic columns of palm rising out of a lush jungle of tropical foliage. Strings of lights make the garden enjoyable into the evenings.

This dramatic flower is called a walking iris (Neomarica regina, Zones 8–11). The striking blooms show this plant’s relationship to irises, and the “walking” part of the name refers to the way that some species produce new plantlets at the tops of the flower stalks and then bend down to the ground, rooting as they go and “walking” through the garden.

So many plants usually familiar to northern gardeners as houseplants thrive outside, here surrounding a statue of the Buddha.

A huge golden elephant’s ear (Alocasia macrorrhiza ‘Lutea’, Zones 10–11) dominates this part of the garden with enormous leaves that have golden-yellow petioles.

Bromeliads bring a huge amount of color and interest to a warm-climate garden. As they get close to blooming, the leaves flush bright colors to help attract pollinators. That strategy works to attract gardeners as well!

Roger and Linda are posing with a silk handkerchief tree (Cynometra lenticellata, Zones 10–12), which has showy bracts around the ripening seeds.

 

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to gpod@taunton.com along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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