Growing plants in a tropical desert is extremely challenging, especially for those coming from temperate climates. The problems you will now face are very different from those you are used to.
As you travel around a hot desert area like the Arabian peninsula, everywhere you go, you will see the same few plant species in the gardens. You will naturally assume that these are the only plants that can be grown in such difficult conditions, where summer temperatures may be over 50oC and humidities can rapidly change from near saturated to below 10%. This, however, is completely untrue. A vast range of spectacular plants can be grown, if you are willing to try.
This website is thus designed to encourage people to be more adventurous in what they grow. It shows some of the plants I have grown over the last 45 years and gives some advice on how to achieve success (and some of the plants where you are unlikely to succeed)! These include many species that are common in temperate regions, but also includes many exotic tropical species that those used to gardening in colder regions will have little experience (and probably not even heard of).
This website is mainly on flowering plants, so foliage plants are only mentioned in certain contexts, and if you find many of the common flowers missing, this is because the website is designed to concentrate on gardening the more exotic ones.
As you travel around a hot desert area like the Arabian peninsula, everywhere you go, you will see the same few plant species in the gardens. You will naturally assume that these are the only plants that can be grown in such difficult conditions, where summer temperatures may be over 50oC and humidities can rapidly change from near saturated to below 10%. This, however, is completely untrue. A vast range of spectacular plants can be grown, if you are willing to try.
This website is thus designed to encourage people to be more adventurous in what they grow. It shows some of the plants I have grown over the last 45 years and gives some advice on how to achieve success (and some of the plants where you are unlikely to succeed)! These include many species that are common in temperate regions, but also includes many exotic tropical species that those used to gardening in colder regions will have little experience (and probably not even heard of).
This website is mainly on flowering plants, so foliage plants are only mentioned in certain contexts, and if you find many of the common flowers missing, this is because the website is designed to concentrate on gardening the more exotic ones.