I have the large loropetalum and it blooms in winter, spring, summer and fall. I love that plant. Good shape, not invasive, nice foliage and beautiful flowers. J. C.Raulston brought it from China and recommended it for the southeast. Mock orange is done in a week and a lot of varieties aren't even fragrant. Plumbago (Cape Wort) maybe or may not be hardy in zone 7. I had one for many years coming back and this year it didn't though it was planted on the south side of the house protected but large rose bushes. Who knows? Worth trying though. Hardy Plumbago has darker blue flowers, foliage turns reddish in fall - it is either a ground cover or a small shrub. I love it. False Indigo (Baptisia australis) is an excellent shrub - the white flowering variety blooms way before the roses start blooming; stems come up like black asparagus. There is a blue and yellow blooming variety. I love to use the leaves in flower arrangements. Caryopteris - in various shades of blue; usually blooms late summer and fall. Foliage is gray but there is a new one that has chartreuse two-tone foliage; it is beautiful. This is the only pre-digital photo I found of our Pineapple Guava

Hi Heather, I just wanted to make a couple of comments. It seems most of your questions and concerns were addressed quite well already from other members, inlcuding tips about compost and mulch which I also really reccomend. About the mango. I can't tell you for sure because I live in the American Midwest, a completely different climate from yours! However, I love tropical plants,and especially mangoes as they are my favorite fruit, hence me being on this forum, so I've read as much as I can on them and have tried to grow tropicals in anyway possible, and I've visited Hawaii and South Florida often. Mangoes are grown all over India, and many parts of India are very hot and dry, with temperatures getting into the hundreds(farenheit). Supposedly they fruit better that way. I think the leaves should get used to the sun as it gets older. And as long as you are irrigating it and mulching it,and all of the other plants you plan to plant, I really think it should be ok. I would really try frangipanis again. Three of the four that I grow seem to be VERY drought tolerant and tough. It can get very droughty here in the summer and they are in pots, plus it's very windy too, so they dry out very quickly. I have a book on them and it mentions that frangipani trees grow wild in the Central American deserts, in rock crevices, among cacti. And I've noticed that they grow very well by the ocean. And they cast lots of shade. I would definitly try date palms. They are beautiful, love hot, dry weather, are salt tolerant, and produce delicious fruit. Antother palm that you could try is the pindo palm or jelly palm. They are supposedly very heat, cold, drought, and salt tolerant. And the fruit can be made into jelly. The sea grape is another option that might work. I believe that they are almost as salt-tolerant as coconut palms, and you can eat the fruit too. Autograph trees are also mildy salt tolerant. The sea almond mentioned above is a really good idea. Try a dragon tree, I think that would proabably thrive there. There are tree-like yuccas that you might want to consider. In fact I think a lot of succulents and cacti as well would be the way to go. Apparently Crinums are salt-tolerant too. There is also the sea lettuce. Bromeliads- I believe the species would be hoyas and puyas(I'm not a bromeliad expert). There are cycads that you could grow, and there is one in particular that thrives in hot, dry areas, unfortuneately I cant think of its name right now. Good luck with your gardens. I hope you can create a little paradise!

I've started my first proper garden after years of living in smaller places. I'm currently growing: Cape Gooseberry (basically a weed in my garden) Pomegranate Blackberries (don't know the type) White, weeping mulberry (found on the property) Litchi / Lychee (nursery didn't label the type) Avocado (Fuerte & have been advised to get a Haas too) Apricot (Cape Early, a South African cultivar) Apple (Early Red one & looking for a tart, green pollinator/pie apple) Eureka lemon Unidentified dwarf lemon (found on property) Shaddock pomelo, red flesh Peach (Oom Sarel, a large South African cultivar) Two fruits that I'm growing, but I've never tasted before: - Miracle Fruit (3 seedlings about 20cm, under glass & one recently planted outside). I've served the pills for a party. - Pepino Got a whole of herbs, peppers and veggies too. I'm looking to replace granadilla / passion fruit and mangoes that I've grown before. I don't care for the taste of granadilla but I love the Passion flowers. I live north of Johannesburg in South Africa & it's spring time here. I want to grow some of the traditional fruit trees I grew up with, like delicious sweet Marula (sclerocarya birrea). Marula makes a small, sweet fruit that you can eat fresh when it turns yellow, can ferment into a traditional beer and leaves a hard seed with a sweet nut. Other traditional trees are Milk plum (Englerophytum magalismontanum) & Moepel (Mimusops zeyheri)...I don't know it's English name but I see it's part of the Sapoteceae genus.

A sole pink TC bloom I've been waiting and waiting for this echeveria to bloom for a few weeks, apparently it's making a larger bloom stalk... Ohh alright... I'll be patient. ;-) Steve, wow! Nice work on those sweet potatoes! One of my favorite vegetables. I love its foliage too. Mike also, check this video out, ha I could do something like this but with a non toxic plant (because of the cats) lol (can skip along to 2:30 to see the foliage) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUp2-DqEfOE Mike, what a mesmerizing sunrise and the landscape, wow!!! Great pic love it. ❤ Mother jade so pretty too wearing her flowers. Shavedmonkey, those orchids are really beautiful! What is the scent? (if there is one) Dave, I adore your Orchid! Gorgeous! Nancy, I LOVE your plumeria, I am envious! KC, Ohh my, ohh my, that Jade!!!!!! ❤ -Nancy