Tropicals in Indiana
Rick Bauer
August 14^th 2008

The crew assembled at the home of Rick and Deb Bauer for the August meeting and of course it began to drizzle!  Approximately 15 members gathered for a presentation on putting together a tropical landscape in Indiana.  Rick began with a little geography review by explaining the significance of the Topic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn and Artic Circle in regards to the solstices and equinoxes.  Next, he pointed out the characteristics of an Exotic garden which included 1) Palms, 2) Big, bold foliage, 3) Long-blooming flowers, 4) Sword-like foliage, 5) Trailing vines, and 6) Crape Myrtles.  Better than PowerPoint, Rick was able to show examples of the real plants he talked about.  Our presenter felt that to achieve a tropical landscape in Indiana the gardener must use some annuals, over-winter some tropicals, "push" some sub-tropicals beyond their conventional zones, and make use of some exotic-looking perennials that are zone 5 hardy.  The program ended "ad-libbed" with the club members touring the yard examining examples of tropical-looking hardy perennials and asking questions. [minutes]

Deb provided the munchies and Martha chipped in with some cookies.

I wonder where I put that margarita machine?