Tropical splendor explodes in Marysville!

Published 11:20 am Monday, September 13, 2010

Steve Smith, everyone’s favorite Whistling Gardener, recently helped us come up with a list of must-have late bloomers for Northwest gardeners in search of fall excitment.

Smith, who co-owners Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville, team gardens with his wife, Pauline, on an average-sized lot.

We used his Marysville garden as the site for the photoshoot. While we were there, he showed us an entire garden alive with flower color and fancy foliage, a feat in late August.

Check out what we saw on Flickr.

You’ll find all sorts of interesting hardy tropical selections and some of the best of the nursery’s stock, plus a few plants Smith is trialing in his garden to see if they will work for his customers.

Be sure to check out the hardy banana plants, breaking through the asphalt of the Smiths’ driveway with their stems.

Now, that’s a tough tropical!