Oscar de la Renta's garden is probably the most photographed  garden in the Dominican Republic.  It is located in Punta Cana, one of the driest and windiest parts of the country and his garden reflects that.  He even grows barrel cactus -- a plant all too familiar to desert gardeners. 

Much of the rest of the Dominican Republic, however, is a lush tropical jungle that is astonishingly green to eyes accustomed to looking at a sere, brown desert landscape.  The garden we visited is located in the Crown Villas Resort outside of Puerta Plata on the north coast of the island.  (Puerta Plata claims to be where Christopher Columbus first landed in the New World.  Santa Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, also makes this claim and maintains Columbus is buried there.)  To see more of this area click here.

 At the time of our visit we were told by a local gardener that it had rained for 10 straight weeks, making the natural landscape even greener. 

To a desert gardener, it is amazing to see healthy, leafy plants grow with no effort expended by local gardeners.  In fact, we saw several barbed wire fences where the fence "stakes" had begun to grow.

On this page we will share photos of some of the plants we saw during our visit.  The palms, in particular, were especially exotic -- and, unfortunately, we are unable to identify all of them.  There were also plants that we have seen has colorful houseplants that were growing vigorously in the garden.

These two photos, above, are of beautiful palms that are completely unknown to us as desert gardeners.

	This Travelers Palm, Ravenala madagascariensis, is closely related to the banana and bird-of-paradise.  It requires damp soil and self-seeds prolifically.  Plant one and you may end up with dozens!
	A plant we know!  The ginger plant of Hawaii and Southern California.
	Another plant we instantly recognized is the banana tree (not a palm, but a relative of grass)  growing in a neighbor's garden.
	The brilliant red fruit on one of the palms was dazzling in its contrast to the green environment.
	This plant, a croton, we have seen in our local garden shop as a houseplant -- which never seems to grow very much.  In the Dominican Republic it is grown as a hedge and reaches about six feet in height.

And we leave you with this photo of a swath of natural jungle.  And we wonder what Christopher Columbus, who arrived in this densely green island from the dry, hot climate of Spain, must have thought when he saw this verdant landscape.   Take a online preview tour of  tourist destinations in the northern Dominican Republic here.

Take these Hot Gardens online preview tours, too:    

Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanic Garden  - near Pasadena

Huntington Gardens Desert Garden - near Pasadena

Descanso Gardens - near Pasadena

Arlington Garden - in Pasadena

Getty Villa Gardens - Malibu

South Coast Botanic Garden - southwest Los Angeles

Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden - Claremont, California

Santa Barbara Gardens - Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara Botanic Garden  - Santa Barbara, California

Tucson Public Gardens  - Tucson, Arizona

Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden  - Phoenix, Arizona

Balboa Park Gardens, San Diego, California

Tropical Garden in the Dominican Republic

Shore Acres Gardens - Coos Bay Oregon

San Luis Obispo Creek Park - San Luis Obispo, California

Japanese Garden - Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California

Japanese Garden - Long Beach, California