The Palm Tree is Planted!

The palm tree is in! Finally. I added purple queen, sweet potato vine, and hot pink coleus. I was excited about it until I looked at the picture and it looked so plain. It needs some mid-size plants. I keep noticing the spiky butterfly ginger in the background and think I might try adding some of those. I also saw some Shell Ginger (Alpinia zerumbet) at the store, a plant I’ve always liked and would like to try. They reportedly grow to about 5 to 6 feet. It needs something. The original plan called for Canna ‘Tropicana’, but with the hot pink coleus and the orange begonia, I am beginning to think that red leaves would be too much. As for the coleus, it wasn’t what I was thinking of when I went to the store today. I was intending on some impatiens or possibly some pentas, but they really don’t hold up to full sun and this bed gets it, especially in the afternoon. Coleus isn’t a huge favorite, primarily because it dies off in the winter and it just isn’t didn’t excite me. But when I was in the corner of the nursery, scanning over all the plants, squinting for a patch of hot pink, this plant caught my eye. I mean honestly – who can resist a plant with hot pink leaves? Not I dear sir, not I.