Check Out These Pages, Too!

"Possibility and promise greet me each day as I walk out into my garden. My vigor is renewed when I breathe in the earthiness and feel the dirt between my fingers. My garden is a peaceful spot to refresh my soul." Meems






Welcome to my Central Florida Garden Blog where we garden combining Florida natives, Florida-Friendly plants, and tropicals.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

visual appeal


the area in these photos is at the very back side of my yard. large philodendron serve as the backdrop and what I call the anchors visually. they grow the tallest and fullest of all the varieties i've combined in this planting. next i have a layer of snow bush and in front of them plumbago. with each variety being a slight bit shorter than the one before it creates a pleasing affect from any angle. with a mixture of color, size and texture the monotony is relieved and it all comes together with a cohesiveness visual appeal. next is variegated dwarf schefflera with some red sister draceana mixed in and finally, english ivy as ground cover.

This planting is divided by a natural pathway as well as a pathway of stones and then fronted by a very extensive bed surrounding three large oaks which consists of draceana, crotons, ferns, ginger, xanadu, bromeliads, impatiens, pentas, caladiums and finally the perimeter bordered by well over 200 variegated liriope.

before

for the most part these plants are fairly maintenance free. aside from keeping weeds out and some occasional trimming, this area is relatively easy to keep up with. last week i spent a couple of mornings taking advantage of the cooler hours we've been having to do some tidying up of summer overgrowth. as you can see the snow bush and the plumbago had overstepped their bounds and the philodendron needed some major attention.

after photo

6 comments:

  1. i like your new digs around the blog. and i really like how you have a "monthly" approach to your opening pics...i can actually tell a change in "season" so to speak---or at least your different photos make me feel differently due to their species and colors and such. (does that make sense?)

    what's sad is that i can't tell any difference (or very little) between your before and after pics on this post. i'm thinking i'd be a terrible gardener and let things get WAY overgrown, since your "before" shots look quite "kept" to me!

    ReplyDelete
  2. mlm: your comment makes perfect sense to me... i do try to change things up a bit for the season and i appreciate you noticing.

    as far as the difference in the before and after... i wondered if folks would be able to see what i saw. if you look closely at the after photo the snow bush is not visible because it is now equal (it will get taller again quickly) with the plumbago. the philodendron got a severe trimming and the plumbago mostly trimmed at the bottom and sides. trust me...my back knew i did all that trimming and then hauling all the debris. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, my! You'd go nuts in my yard! LOL! As the years go by, I tend more and more to take a 'let nature take its course' approach to most of the property. But I am feeling inspired by your pics and the soon-coming cooler weather. I have a couple of small projects in mind for the front yard. The back, for the time being at least, will remain the domain of the wild things. 8-]

    ReplyDelete
  4. Visiting your blog from Indiana, and admiring all that you can grow in Florida. "Houseplants" outdoors!

    Carol at May Dreams Gardens

    ReplyDelete
  5. sophie: this kind of gardening isn't for everyone. from what i've seen of your flowers you know exactly what you are doing and what works for you- that's all that matters!

    Carol: welcome and thanks for stopping by. florida is a fascinating place for all year long gardening.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Visiting your blog from Poland (Europe) and it is amazing for me to see our usual home plants in your garden. My garden is located in zone 6, so in the winter we get frost up to 35 degrees celsius - sometimes. Usually it doesn't reach 20.
    Great garden!

    ReplyDelete

Have a blessed day,
Meems


September 2010

Back Garden: October 2010

Louise Philippe: Antique Rose

Tropical Pathway