So many people are attracted to tropical plants, I happen to be one of those people. They are bold, showy and very dramatic in every landscape. There is only one teeny tiny problem... they can potentially die in the winter.

Before you purchase any topical plants, make sure you understand that in a moderate to cold winter, they will need to be covered every night when it goes into the 30's. Different species have different temperatures in which they are damaged. Sometimes just the tips of the plant can be damaged and other times, the entire plant can be killed.

This past winter, many Robellini palms that were not covered were killed from the severe cold temperatures.

So before you spend $200 on a plant make sure you understand the commitment of covering them on every single cold night.

Now if I haven't discouraged you from going the tropical plant route, or even if I have, here are some great landscapes I saw in South Beach which utilize tropicals.

The placement of any tree is a very important step for yours and the trees future. So many times as a landscape designer I am out and about and I will see beautiful trees that are planted years ago and I often say to myself, "Boy, I wish they would have planted this oak tree 10 feet to the left."

We have to really understand that when we plant a tree, it can easily be there for 60 to 100 years or more. Once we plant with that thought in mind, we can spend more time visualizing the tree as a large specimen and really come up with the perfect spot.

The other day I was driving through a neighborhood and I saw a home where it seems they were trying to create a wild native looking tree cluster. What they did, is take six nine foot oak trees, all the same size, and staggered them in this Island. Now these trees cost over two hundred dollars each plus labor and all of that money was used to create a grouping that doesn't work and junks up the yard.

The reason is all the trees are the same size so it is not artistic visually, they're going to grow all together very, very tight, the grass won't grow under them because it will be too dense and the foliage density could create fungal issues. In a few years the homeowner will have to remove five of the six trees and again have to spend money to improve their house.

Of all of the various plants in my yard, it is probably the fruit trees that bring me the most joy. You can say that I am in my fruit tree phase of gardening.

I have a huge variety of citrus as well as an array of exotic varieties. Now the exotic varieties are more challenging, because they have the potential to die in the winter. These varieties will need some sort of frost protection each and every winter. There are commercial fabrics, sometimes referred to as frost blankets which serve this purpose. One layer of frost blanket can raise the temperature five to seven degrees. On super cold nights, I have used as many as four layers with great results.

I have equipped each of my trees with an individual water emitter at the base. When it is not raining, they are watered twice a week and this way, there is a continual active growth.

I fertilize with fruit tree fertilizer, Epsom salt, Black Kow cow manure, and Key Plex. Occasionally, if they ever get any low sucker branches, I trim them off even with the trunk, which encourages a nice full head.