Alan and Mark's Death Camp for Plants

I have never been known for my green thumb. My yard is lush and green because I live in Florida where if you stick something in the ground, and if it's predisposed to growing here, it'll just take off like a weed. One of my biggest gripes is with stores around here that will sell you plants that have no business being planted in Florida. Go to Home Depot and you'll find seeds for all kinds of things that will only grow north of the Mason-Dixon. Mark and I tried some tulips one year, and the sickliest, most deformed little flowers stuck their heads up out of the ground. It was pathetic.

Two years ago Mark and I went to one of our favorite nurseries, and found something called golden mound on sale. They were beautiful little shrubs of a golden tinged, green color. We purchased a dozen of them, and planted them in a corner of the yard where I had problems keeping things alive. Turns out golden mound couldn't make it either. At first they thrived, and grew nicely, although in the heat of the afternoon I did observe some wilting. Now two years later all I have are the skeletons of what were golden mound. Basically they are nothing but sticks poking out of the ground now. I guess I'll have to go back to the nursery again and try something else. I don't really like cactus, but at this point that might be all that will grow there. Or there is another option. One of my neighbors has some blue agave growing in his front yard. It's beautiful, can take the heat and drought, and you can make tequila out of it.