Last of the Last Projects

Wellllll... every week something else comes up that needs doing. Can I help that? Lord knows I’m trying to wrap it up here at Hoe & Shovel and be done with it for the summer. It’s getting too hot and there is already plenty to keep up with around here. That new veggie garden alone keeps me hopping. It’s time to stop with the new projects and move into maintenance mode until fall.

My wonderfully smart and loving children gave me gift cards to the garden center for Mother's Day. (Thanks again, guys- you know just how to make me happy). So there. You see. It isn’t my fault. It was just necessary to make a few more trips to the garden center last week to pick up a few (more) additions.

An Australian Tree Fern Sphaeropteris cooperi was added where I dug up a couple of holly ferns to place in some new container plantings (more on that in a minute). I’ve kind of had my eye on this very exotic and tropical looking fern for a while now.

How does one 'kind of have any eye' on a plant? It goes like this for me. Every time I wander by them in the garden center I find myself standing still and staring at them for long moments of time. In this transfixed state (sounds serious) I am first of all picturing exactly where I could plant one or two or…

Then I realize I am debating with myself about whether I really need to add this now, have I spent too much money already or can I wait until another season and what kind of attention will it need in unfavorable winter weather. Okay, so I've passed up the opportunity to purchase after a few of these episodes. Oh, if only there were points given for this kind of restraint.

Then ... there were so many of them at Cypress Gardens in the botanical gardens area looking so magnificent at 5-6 feet tall (with just as wide a frond-span) and their ginormous fiddles poking up through the center … just the sight of them there gave me even more inspiration. They prefer protected, shady, moist conditions but can be grown in sunny areas. There are so many places they would fit right in here at Hoe & Shovel. I chose one about 2.5' tall (and it was on sale) for starters (I'm so tempted to go back and get a couple more). This one settled in quite nicely to its new surroundings already looking like it was always part of the scenery.

Chartreuse is a Good Color
It’s been mentioned many times on this blog how we purposely use as much colored and varied textured foliage as we can among the plantings. It works really well in the tropicalesque design we lean toward here as most every planting bed is under planted beneath large mature stands of oak trees. This creates an almost perfect environment affording dappled shade or you could say filtered sunlight. In the summertime especially, we are most grateful for the natural canopy covering and the mostly tropical plantings appreciate the reprieve from the intense heat as well.
Here I’ve added some of my (newly decided) favorite dracaena … it’s called Lemon Lime. Yummy. Why I haven't had any of these before now I'm not certain. Chartreuse color-blends work really well in the shady areas against some of the darker greens of the xanadu, holly fern and the split leafed philodendron I couldn’t live without. Speaking of lemon lime dracaena... why don't we pop some into some containers while we are at it? Yes, that is an excellent way to add interest and variety to these containers located at the back of the property. They will be mixed with those holly ferns we dug up earlier to make room for the tree fern. We'll also pop in a coleus with pinks and wine colors and an unknown/un-named pass along pale green trailing vine from an existing container. By adding foliage and not blooms the demand for watering will be lessened somewhat.

Two new containers were purchased to replace the three containers holding red new guinea impatiens that used to occupy this location. The impatiens were moved to the front walkway where they won't need as much water as often and when they do ... the water is source is much closer which solves a couple of problems.

I'll post later about more container gardens I've put together recently. As a matter of fact, I should do a whole posting on just containers we have so many never featured on the blog.

Well this should hold us for a while. Other than the caladium bulbs I'm expecting delivery of in a couple of weeks. We should be finished with new projects until the end of the hot and humid season which is fastly approaching. Don't hold your breath though... I've been saying "this is the last new project" for weeks now.

A Garden Tour for Mother's Day

Mom and I made a two day journey out of our recent visit to Cypress Gardens in Winter Haven, FL. Just the two of us staying overnight in a nearby hotel so we could take our time and just hang out together for a couple of days was the way we decided to celebrate Mother's Day together.

What is so amazing about Cypress Gardens is that it first opened in 1936 as botanical gardens. That's 72 years ago... Dick and Julie Pope carved out this lush garden tourist attraction on the shores of Lake Eloise out of nothing but acres of marsh land.

As Florida's original tourist attraction, it might be best known for its gravity-defying water ski shows. I will admit ---it was the stunts on the water that made the biggest impression on me when I visited these gardens as a child- --- you know, that was just a few years ago. LOL

It had been that many years since either mom or I had been to this tropical oasis in the middle of our great state. We've both talked of wanting to plan this trip for a while. We finally did and it turned out to be a relaxing and fun time just being together with no rushing around and no hurried schedules.

We strolled winding paths with hundreds of trees that provide a canopy over colorful landscape and blooms throughout the gardens. With each turn there is more color and vivid blooming than your eye can possibly take in at once.

The grounds are mapped out nicely with many areas designated to a specific theme. The archway above is entirely live, white, begonia blooms that leads into the Topiary Trail.

You can easily see why the name when there are so many enormous structures made from living flowers like the cardinal and the partridge shown in these photos.

Begonia and creeping fig made up the columns of topiaries.

The hooped-skirt Southern Belles happily pose for photos as they answer questions and welcome guests with ample smiles and friendliness.
Just beyond the topiaries, along the pathway were waterfalls with hillsides laden with masses of tropical shrubbery and blankets of impatiens of every color.

Here the classic ancient singles hollyhocks made a statement above the begonias of the same color. Just before the entrance to the botanical gardens a three-tiered architectural structure spills over with bright pink geraniums like a waterless fountain.
Entering over the bridge, my favorite area was probably the botanical gardens. Many of the plants growing here I have in my own garden at Hoe & Shovel. It was very interesting for me to see the way they have them grouped and to see even more varieties on such a large scale.
One of the fascinating sights was how the dragon flies swirled above us and around us in great numbers as we sauntered through this area. They weren't in other parts of the park. It made me think that if someone wasn't familiar with their friendly ways they could be a little timid because of how many there were. I managed to capture the little blue guy shown in the above photo but there were varieties that were almost the size (in wing span) of a very small bird. I haven't been able to find out a name for them but they were beautiful.

Thinned leafed crotons with varied colored polka dot leaves stand among variegated shell ginger.

Every imaginable variety of palm tree was underplanted as gigantic cypress and oaks towered above.

A plant always associated with the tropics the Bird of Paradise is unique in form and bloom.

Under the dappled shade the Australian Tree Fern thrives.

All the walkways were lined with container gardens overflowing with combinations of ferns, draceanas of all types, coleus, bromeliads, and flowering annuals in every imaginable color and shape.

Orchids and bromeliads blooming together in a tiered planter living outdoors-- loving the heat of Florida.

The monochromatic perfectly uniformed shape of the hanging baskets lined the circular entrance to the Wings of the World building. In here there were more displays of naturally growing tropical combinations and butterflies freely fluttered from plant to plant without a care even of the human gawking.

Thank you, Mom, for another time together I will treasure in my heart for years to come. Happy Mother's Day to you and a much deserved day of celebrating the beauty of you. I couldn't ask for a better way to celebrate than to share our love of gardening and to spend uninterrupted time having great fun with my friend and my mom.

All mothers are rich when they love their children.

There are no poor mothers, no ugly ones, no old ones.

Their love is always the most beautiful of the joys.

And when they seem most sad, it needs but a kiss which they receive

or give to turn all their tears into stars in the depth of their eyes.

Maurice Maeterlinck