Fifteen-foot-tall banana trees whose leaves offer copious amounts of shade.
The Blade/Katie Rausch
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Bill Albert in his exotic oasis.
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Banana trees.
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After a lifetime of health problems related to a liver condition, her received a life-saving transplant three years ago. He built a torri, or Japanese gateway, and dedicated it to the person who donated his or her liver.
The Blade/Katie Rausch
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Dedicated to the person who donated their liver to master gardener Bill Alpert.
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Bill Albert built a torri, or Japanese gate, shown here, and dedicated it to the person who donated his or her liver.
The Blade/Katie Rausch
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In addition to the restored firepit on his back patio, Albert cultivates a tall grass, erianthus ravennae, which, when harvested and dried, he applies to everything from the wainscoting inside his backyard room to birdhouses he builds.
The Blade/Katie Rausch
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He includes Mexican tiles and containers, called Talavera pottery.
The Blade/Katie Rausch
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On his back porch is a Madagascar palm.
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This tropical plant is a croton.
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The patio is devoted to plants from the southwest such as these chili peppers.
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In the front yard, flanked by cannas, is a rose chestnut tree he purchased from the Toledo Botanical Garden.
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The front yard features red canna flowers.
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An area beneath a neighbor's tree is ripe for expansion as a shade garden.
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Interior walls of a room he built is lined with wainscoting made from a dried grass called erianthus revennae, grown near Albert's patio.
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In the midst of it, he has built a room which includes wainscoting made from a dried grass called erianthus revennae.
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Left, hibiscus; center, canna. Right: That's Bill!
The Blade/Katie Rausch
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He began by building a patio and filling it with cacti and other plants from the southewst. These beautiful tiles and containers are Talavera pottery. A restored firepit, right.
The Blade/Katie Rausch
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Bills's patio includes Mexican tiles and growing containers, called Talavera Pots, stacked on tiers
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The master gardener grows plants both from the American southwest and the tropics. Albert built the small tropical-style room as well.
The Blade/Katie Rausch
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