The Tropical Look [antikvár]

Introduction The lure of the beauty of tropical landscapes like those found in Hawaii, Key West, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Bali, and other exotic locales is undeniable. Such beauty has an almost irresistible appeal for people who do not live in such places, and for most of those who do. Indeed, this fascination with the tropical look has been used by Madison Avenue to sell all kinds of products, useful and otherwise. It is the stuff dreams are made of. It is also the subject of this book. The Tropical Look Defined The tropical look is a bit difficult to define with words alone, but its components include all palms, all plants with relatively large or boldly shaped foliage and flowers, and all plants with colored or variegated leaves and large and spectacular flowers or flower clusters. It is very hard to imagine a tropical looking landscape without the conspicuous and dramatic accent of palms. It is this one plant family that is most synonymous with the tropics and the look thereof; no other group of plants can quite match the effect of these noble plants in the landscape. The tropical look is also based generally upon evergreen plants, especially large-leaved evergreen herbaceous plants like bananas, bold-leaved trees, and ferns. In shon, the tropical look is one of flamboyant form and contrast. This look is mainly derived by means of subjects with exceptional foliage, punctuated by the luminosity of tropical blossoms. Author's Apologia The biggest impetus for writing this volume has been the conviction that the tropical look is not taken advantage of to the extent it could and should be, even in regions that have a tropical or subtropical climate, especially in the United States. Roses, pansies, phlox, lilies, daylilies and the many other common flowering perennials that fill most gardens, tropical or otherwise, are beautiful enough, but these lovelies pale compared to such things as banyan trees, bananas, palms, almost all ferns, and such spectacular flowering plants as aloes, royal poinciana trees, yellow flame trees, African tulip trees, the blue trumpet vine, or the overwhelmingly beautiful Easter-lily vine.