![]() ![]() Jerry is the South Sound’s tropical expert. If you want to see what is tropically possible, this is the place to visit. Walk outside the entrance, halfway around the block and there will be no doubt that you have entered a different world. Walking toward the front gate, you know you are about to enter a different world. Jungle Fever is like no other nursery in Washington. He decided that if he couldn’t grow all of the heat loving tropicals he found in the islands, he could at least come really close by growing plants that had a tropical look and feel. Then he took a vacation in Hawaii and a lifelong obsession was born. Jerry is a native Washingtonian who was smitten by the beauty of tropicals by collecting his own personal jungle of house plants. Owners, Jerry Cearley and Darlene Allard opened the nursery ten years ago. This is definitely the place to start for inspiration and education. To get the idea of a tropical South Sound garden, take a trip to Jungle Fever Exotics, a one-of-a-kind plant nursery near the entrance to Point Defiance in Tacoma. The tropical “look” can be accomplished with a little imagination and a lot of plant savvy. ![]() Picture canopies of trees and lush, large leaved foliage underplanted with dense ground covers or ground-hugging vines and you have a scene worthy of Mahi Mahi and Mojitos. ![]() They go together very well.Ĭonsider “Tarzan” without the chimps and “Lost” without the beach. In fact, the marriage of a typical Pacific Northwest landscape to a tropical paradise is a nearly perfect union. Do we have what it takes? Can a South Sound garden filled with the requisite rhododendrons, azaleas and Japanese maples find happiness with a plant palette worthy of Jurassic Park? Yes, we “do” have what it takes and it “can” work. We are in the midst of a tropical horticultural revolution. They’re for keeping, not for coffee tables. Seasoned gardeners who know their plants but need some help in filling in color gaps will find these books invaluable. New gardeners who want good, solid information and don’t want to be confused with too many choices will find these easy to use and follow. All the plants listed will grow in any South Sound and you shouldn’t have any trouble finding them. Those essentials are accompanied with insider tips, design uses and suggestions for plant combinations. Each plant is pictured (one plant per page) and accompanied with just the essentials: zone, bloom length, light requirement, size and care. These are the workhorse plants that give back with longer bloom periods and lower maintenance. Starting with late winter, Duthie lists perennials, shrubs and trees that are easy to find and easy to grow. Since a lot of us would rather spend our precious summer hours outside in plant mode rather than Googling for garden answers… wouldn’t it be nice to have a clear and concise guidebook that explains year round garden color one with a lot of pictures and not much talk? Pam Duthie to the “give it to me straight” rescue! Two of her books on garden color, “Continuous Bloom”(A month-by-month guide to nonstop color in the Perennial Garden) and “Continuous Color”(A month-by-month guide to shrubs and small trees for the continuous bloom garden) demystify the “color problem”. Trying to achieve that Sacred Gardener’s Goal, year round color, can tip the most patient gardener’s sanity scale. ![]()
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