The tropics thrive ... in Aragona?

Palm trees, cactus and other succulents adorn Bill Belvin's yard in the same way dogwoods, azaleas and camellias define the landscapes in other yards in South Hampton Roads.

Their exotic fronds blowing in the breeze, palmetto (tree and dwarf), windmill and sabal palms grow alongside agaves with erect spiky leaves and cacti full of tiny spines. Pampas grass and banana trees add to the unique scenery.

A weeping willow in the center of the yard is one of the few nontropical trees you see.

In fact, Belvin's place is so tropical-looking that you can drive down Kellam Road in the Aragona section of the city and figure out exactly where he lives: Just look for a Florida oasis in the mid-Atlantic.

"People stop here all the time and just gawk," Belvin said. "People stop with their cameras."

Belvin, who owns Aragona Signs and Lettering, calls his home "Small Paradise." On occasion, he will give a sightseer what he calls a "paradise starter kit," which might be a baby palm or succulent that he has propagated from this yard.

"They really don't know how easy it is to grow them," he said.

For the most part, Belvin grows northern species of palms, which can generally withstand southern Virginia winters. Many of his trees and plants have been thriving for 20 years now.

His hardy agaves include a bluish one that sometimes puts forth a humongous bloom spike as well as tons of babies that grow out on rhizomes from the mother plant. An agave, green with a pale green stripe and white serrated edges, stands out in the landscape, as does another large, variegated cream-and- green-colored one.

Belvin grows prickly pear cactus that is native to Virginia. He also has a huge hardy cow's tongue cactus, its long undulating branches reminiscent of a cow's tongue.

Some plants are less hardy. He wrapped his pindo palm in winter when it was young, but now it does very well on its own. He protects his queen palm every winter because it suffers in temperatures below 30 degrees. The queen and other tender palms first get wrapped in wire cages. Then he wraps Christmas lights around the wire and the whole thing gets encased in bubble wrap.

"Now I have a heat source that can't blow away," Belvin said. "It looks like a bubble-wrapped missile."

Belvin's love of palms grew out of vacations he takes to Myrtle Beach and Florida. Over the years, many of his palms have come back to Virginia in little pots.

When Belvin plants a palm or succulent, he digs a hole to which he adds chopped up pinecones and pine straw that will decay as the plant roots grow through it. The mulch gives them a "jump start," he said. He waters them heavily the first year and tops them with mulch in winter.

"It takes three years for a palm to take hold," Belvin said.

After about three years, he feeds his trees with a palm fertilizer in spring and again in late summer. He does not fertilizer his agaves and cacti.

Belvin has so many seedlings that he occasionally has a yard sale. His next one will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and next Sunday at 609 Kellam Road. This time he'll have dwarf palmettos and several species of agaves. Reach Belvin at smalparadise2@aol.com.

Mary Reid Barrow, barrow1@cox.net.