Here's another picture of my Monstera deliciosa, whose leaves are now nearly three feet long. That's a yard stick in the picture. When Patsy McPherson told me to plant houseplants outside, it was the best gardening advice anyone ever gave me. They love this gulf coast climate!

Papayas are not my favorite fruit, but the papaya tree is lovely. Here's a picture of one of my young papaya trees in the rain. The pair of trees has just gotten taller than me and are almost up to six feet. Before they're done, they will certainly be taller than the house.

The seeds for these papayas were a very kind gift from a friend in Hawaii, who says that this type of papaya, 'Sunrise,' is much tastier than others. We planted the entire packet; some grew, many dyed young. Only this pair survives. They are very sturdy so we have high hopes that they will live to grow up.

My Philodendron selloum plants, which like the Monstera deliciosa are commonly known as split-leaf philodendrons, are nine or ten feet tall, with leaves about two feet long. We planted them out in a shady area as small inexpensive houseplants from Target in 1994. They're never really frozen back, though we live in zone 9a, perhaps because of the protective wooden fence at the north and west sides, and our house to the east. When they were small, we tossed blankets over them when a hard freeze was predicted, but that has obviously been impossible for many years now. If we ever get a freeze again, the plants will be damaged, but should grow back from their roots....

This Monstera deliciosa (also known as the Windowleaf, the Swiss Cheese plant or, ambiguously, as one of the Split Leaf Philodendrons) started out as a houseplant, tiny and inexpensive, but took only a couple of years to start producing leaves that are over two feet long....