Garden Vignettes

Every garden possesses its own unique beauty, characteristics, and charm. As gardeners no matter how much we appreciate the overall culture we've created it seems we develop preferences. There is definitely favorite scenery, nooks, and niches that draw our attention more than others within the garden. These particular spots often change with the seasons. They aren't necessarily perfect in every way yet these choice vignettes prove to be fulfilling and pleasing to our senses as our eyes rest on them again and again.

On the periphery of the circle garden impatiens seed themselves in abundance each spring. None have been planted in years. They are like weeds and even though they try to demand extra irrigation they are on their own to survive with the supply the rest of the garden receives. They do make a colorful addition to the mostly foliage entrance to the tropical pathway.

Rounding that corner a fork in the pathway leads to either the butterfly garden or the tropical pathway that further leads to the way-back garden. This is one of the most peaceful settings in the entire garden.

There are many niches along the stroll down the tropical pathway that urge me to pause. Stopping to reflect on the simplest delights that my garden provides refreshes my soul time and again. The nook with the red banana and roundleaf begonias (rotundifolia) surrounded by lush layers of plants is just one of them.

A garden is the perfect place to work out the burdens of the day leaving them behind as we touch the earth and stress melts away with our toils. Layers and layers of textures, forms, varying heights and diverse hues all contribute to the quiet sanctuary within these borders.

Tropical plants suited for protection from the intense sunshine under the mature oaks blend together in shades of red, magenta, yellow, and green.

At the curve, behind the retaining wall, Miss Muffet caladiums snuggle up next to a bird's nest fern that rests between two large stones as if it squeezed itself naturally into that small bit of soil.

Exiting the tropical pathway gives an equally soothing view.

On the other side of the back gardens Florida-Friendly plants of bromeliads, White Queen caladiums, pentas, shell gingers, aztec grasses, cordylines all converge with the native gardens happily thriving in like-environments.

The northside berm was planted with much the same method in mind. A mixture of natives and a wide variety of fitting tropicals blending together offering a calming effect for the viewer. A garden discreetly and eternally touches the heart of anyone willing to pause and breathe it in.
The majestic Australian Fern is a favorite from any angle. It is tucked to the side of the central pathway where it can be seen from just about any point in the back gardens.

Seating arrangements serve as focal points adding structure whever they are placed. Prevalent morning shade in the circle garden allows for a cool meditation spot.
Brightly colored wildflowers continue to catch my eye at every turn.

An unusual sight at Hoe and Shovel but much loved this spring.

The dangling shell ginger blooms vie for the attention of any passersby. We will savor their loveliness while they last. When they fade it will be another spring before they return.

Since replacing the front lawn turf with low-lying ground covers mowing chores have been reduced dramatically. Chairs placed at the end of the curvy path remind us to take some extra moments to relax.

From the front street-side butterfly attractors take up the sunniest corner available at Hoe and Shovel. The seating in the previous photo is tucked into the upper right corner of this photo (if you could see it from this vantage point).

It's likely you'll be seeing more of these favorite vignettes throughout the summer. As my eye gravitates to them so does my camera. Thank you for coming along with me to some of my favorite places in the garden.

I wish you peace and restfulness as you breathe in your own garden today. Meems

Wintry Garden Blooms

Last spring a concentrated effort was made to increase the middle story volume in the garden. The level between low-lying shrubs and the very tall canopy of oak trees. By adding several specimen trees with a mature growth habit of 10- 20 feet in height the middle story will eventually fill out and complete a much needed design element.

Two young 7' Raphiolepis indica Indian Hawthorn 'Majestic Beauty' standard trees are putting on their pretty pink blooms for winter. Majestic Beauty is cold hardy through frost and drought resistant in summer and attractive to all sorts of wildlife. Slow growing but worth the wait.

One of my most loved salvias is the Mystic Spires. The elongated spikes of blue-purple are also a bumble favorite. This one does better for me in cooler months. I usually re-purchase a few each year. This one is planted in the center pot of the circle garden.

Tropic Snow Peach Tree

Another addition to the middle story last year was the Tropic Snow Peach tree. This variety provides a sweet white flesh and only needs 200 chill hours which makes it good for zone 9. Last year I was amazed at the sight of real peaches.

Several doses of organic compost, aged horse manure, and seabird guano have been its food of choice over the course of the past year. Fingers and toes are crossed for a peach harvest in May.

Often I look up from the family room couch to see this view in the distance. It is even more visible from the back patio looking directly southward beyond the length of two neighbor's yards. It is an inspiring view with the morning sunshine illuminating the background of cypress trees edging the conservation area while the foreground remains shadowed by dense shade. (Photo from December 2010)

This weekend it was a dreary view. Rain fell lightly for most of Saturday. Sunday remained cloudy although no precipitation as predicted which made for a nice afternoon to get lots of gardening accomplished.

Small but Powerful

Do you know that feeling when you walk through the garden and a wonderful fragrance wafts through the air to surprise your senses? That's the way it happens with the Osmanthus fragransTea Olive blooms. They always catch me off-guard.

They aren't especially attractive shrubs. I'd even go so far to say they are rather non-descript. For that reason three of them were sited on the back side of the berm last spring. Evergreen and cold hardy (as well as fragrant)they withstand frost and freezing temps which carries all kinds of weight in my garden. They've grown about a foot in one year.

The bloom clusters are very tiny. But the light, lemony fragrance is fresh and extremely potent. So much so that when it wafts past me from several feet away I have to try to remember what it is that smells so divine. What a treasure they are for the winter-weary garden!

Cold Hardy Files

A single white-flowering yarrow was given to me a couple of years ago when I attended a library talk on day lilies. At first sight I loved the foliage on this plant.

Two springs and summers have passed and it has not once bloomed for me. I suspect lack of enough sun is the reason. With that in mind I rooted several small pots of it last summer and moved it to the sunniest place possible.

It has spread nicely in the front lawn renovation next to the street. I'm happy with the airy, feathery, limey-green foliage that stays bright in summer and winter. But I have to admit white blooms would be a thrill, too. Hopefully we'll get some this summer with the increased sunshine-dosages provided.

More on the Louise Philippe roses to come. But wow! What a show off he is being right here in the middle of winter.

Here's to the winter garden adding joy to your day. Thank you for dropping by, Meems

Cold Hardy Files: Leptospermum scoparium

As we continue to feature the sturdy and foundational plants of winter's garden let's have a look at Leptospermum scoparium New Zealand Tea Tree (or Rose). She's beginning to add some splashes of rosy hues among the evergreens. In order to qualify for the cold hardy files around Hoe and Shovel a specimen must also have the vital classification of being 'drought resistant'. Possessing those two qualities all at once is a huge accomplishment. A plant that does well both in our absurdly humid summers as well as maintaining form, function, and vigor in our frosty and/or below freezing winters deserves some accolades. I first introduced these shrubs (here) as I built the northside berm last Jan/Feb. We were in the middle of a brutal winter when I began digging out that area that was newly planted as the seasons began to transition. At the time I felt it was a bit of a risk to plant them. I'd never seen New Zealand tree rose before and I didn't know anyone who had any experience with them. But it's always fun to give something new a chance to show us what its got. Three of them are positioned next to the (also cold hardy) (1) Chamaerops humilis european fan palm and in front of (also cold hardy) (7) Ligustrum sinensis 'Variegata'. NZ tea rose happily fill in a layer behind the Dianella tasmanica 'Variegata' Flax Lily that serves as a border to the berm. Once established, the ultimate test was to see if they endured through our summer and give us another season of blooms. They've only just begun to pop out with with buds and a few blooms in the last few weeks. Right in the midst of our freezing temperatures. Unshaken. One year later New Zealand tree rose continues to perform as wished. I wouldn't describe her as overly showy but rather more subdued in her humble, quiet beauty. Likely she will appear in another blog post or two now that she has proven her stability and worth. I'm looking forward to seeing her when she completely flushes out in bloom but for starters she is adding some much needed color to the GREEN of winter.

Passion, Patience, and Practicality

Passion and patience at the outset can seem to be unlikely partners.

Passion being the intense driving force behind our obsession deep interest for plants and flowers and beauty and all things earthy.

Circle Garden

Patience gives us the ability to be steadfast and forbearing even in the face of difficulties or adversity.

Arriving at a happy balance enlisting these two characteristics has to be what gardeners everywhere uniquely possess.

Practicality is putting both passion and patience into action and working diligently to achieve the results we long for. Whether in a small garden or a larger garden it makes no difference.

No garden is created in an instant. Not a real, living garden designed and planted from the sweat of our brow with nurturing hands by a novice home-gardener.

Building a garden step by step requires large doses of unwavering passion and devotion and along the way will reflect much time, attention, dedication, and inspiration given to it.

Somewhere in a gardener's enthusiasm for achieving success in the projects we undertake is also a willingness to admit we fail at times. Patience is enlisted to learn, to grow personally, to share, to encourage, and to try again with hope we will master some of our mistakes along the way.

Looking back, at this juncture of my life, it is kind of difficult to pinpoint just when my 'love of gardening' became a deeply rooted passion that coupled with the practice of patience and practicality now brings me a great deal of personal satisfaction and fulfillment.

What I can determine without question is that I am most assuredly passionate about gardening. I have indeed had to learn patience and it hasn't been an easy lesson. Practicality comes naturally for me as I never mind being one to get things done no matter how much work is involved.

Creating Hoe and Shovel gardens has been a most rewarding endeavor. That said, it hasn't been without its failures. It has been a get-your-hands-dirty, one project at a time, build-it-from-the-ground-up-effort.

In this post wouldn't it be kind of fun to have a look back at some points of that progression? If one single person is encouraged to KEEP growing or to START growing their own space it would be worth every minute of putting this post together. My intent is to encourage you at whatever level you find your gardening skills.
Many of the choices I made early-on were without knowledge of Florida-Friendly principles or the environmentally sustainable practices I adhere to now.

Before Photos

An example being that common sense prevailed when deciding to add fallen oak leaves and (cold) composted grass clippings to all the planting beds in lieu of purchased mulches that tended to be expensive. Little did I realize how much good nutrition those broken down leaves and unscientific composting were adding to my plantings. It made practical sense then as it does even now.

Inspired by my daughter's discovery of the above photo (actually I've put two together for a more panoramic view) from her own box of memories ~~ this idea to travel back to the beginnings of this garden was conceived. She recently handed the pictures to me expressing how remarkable it is that the back gardens have turned into a little haven of plant-life compared to the expanse of grassy lawn she and her 2 brothers grew up with.

Endless games of every sport were played across three adjoining yards and the boys even turned the woods behind us into dirt bike trails. The four oak trees and one drake elm (since removed) you see above were planted in 1991 at a cost of $10.00 each. The width of the each trunk only an inch or so in diameter.

All I really knew back then was that I wanted to create some shade in a barren back yard.

My daughter took the photos a few years later because a pricey housing development was being built behind us. Even though at that point all my children were out of the 'playing in the woods' stage it was a sentimental thing for her realizing a 12 foot wall was about to separate what had been a very large playground for them growing up. I'm grateful she thought to snap the BEFORE pictures.
Digging through the archives of digital photos it wasn't until around 2003 that I started chronicling progress just for the purpose of cataloging (even so, apparently I wasn't very good at it as there were not many available).

Other than the classic circular ring of seasonal annuals popped in around the bottom of each tree it was 12 years (2003) after the trees were planted that the first official beginnings of an understory was carved out ~ which can be seen above. It joined the four oaks together with one continuous planting bed surrounding them. It was every bit trial and error based on instinct. (The 12' wall is very prominent at this point.)
The front gardens had a head start with mature stands of oak trees present when we moved in. It was fun to find this photo of Persian shield (and of course caladiums)from 2003 where I now have variegated shell ginger planted as the middle layer instead.

Okay let's go back around to the back and concentrate on the progression of those small live oaks and how this gardener grew with them.

Lots of lawn remained in August 2005. But with shade growing denser from maturing trees (far back) the temptation to remove even more grass is deepening.

Observing the changes these wonderful shade trees have brought to my garden over time ~~
I have a saying, "time is passing anyway ~~ you might as well be growing a tree while it does." Now that I think about it, it may be stolen from someone... I can't remember~~ but I like it and I say it all the time.
The view from my kitchen window was improving all the time at this point. This ~~ seeing pretty things from the kitchen window ~~ is my inspiration for many projects. Typically if I'm not in the garden I'm in the kitchen. I like my views to be peaceful and relaxing.

The drake elm in the SE corner was removed in April 2006 to make way for what was intended to be a sunnier side of the garden. The wall was built to add architectural interest and height. ***An interesting observation is that presently not only is the wall hardly visible due to obstruction by plants but those boulder stones can hardly be seen anymore as well. Note to self: I should do something about seeing those boulder stones again. I do love them. (I wrote about this project's step by step progress a long time ago here.)

Meanwhile, by October 2006, the original (back) planting beds created in 1998, connected by an arbor laden with confederate jasmine, continue on their journey to maturity. The Natchez crape myrtle and standard ligustrum tree growing larger and providing more shade than I ever predicted in their infancy. Soon it will be discovered these two trees will be encroaching on my supposed sunnier SE corner. Write it off to trial and error.

A few months of summer growth and the SE corner is begging to be tweaked. The ensuing enlargements are detailed here.

The area around the four live oaks is expanded even further out into the lawn (but not for the last time) and the fruits of those earlier (2003) plantings are beginning to show signs of continuity. Blending the contiguous SE corner wall planting with an ever-enlarging center garden is proving to be a pleasing element as well by 2008.

A view (in 2008 ~above) from the back side of the SE corner property line looking horizontally across the garden through the four oaks offers an even different perspective of the changes.

2010
So much lawn has been removed and numerous pathways and plants have been added in the last two years, one at a time, that the view from 2008 is hardly recognizable.
Many visions and designs have been realized over the years. All can be attributed, in part, to a passion for beauty and patience to wait for small plants to mature and the practicality of each specimen lovingly planted one at a time.

Additions of more Florida natives and learning how to group plants with like-needs and chasing appropriate pockets of sunlight for the more sun-needy plants has all been part of the learning adventure. And isn't it true there is always more to learn!

Seeing lush foliage packed in around those four oaks today it's kind of hard to remember where we started. But important to remember nevertheless!

A gardener's garden is never built quickly.

When I look today at how the tropical pathway has grown in just one year I'm reminded of all those wonderful micro-nutrients and the water holding power the organic layering has provided over the years. Which translates to no step is too small. No energy is wasted. Every little bit helps. And it all pays off in the end.

The latest project created and designed, along with the circle garden, in the spring of 2010, was the northside berm (above). The idea was to stretch out a wide, raised border along the north property line almost the entire length of the back garden to provide some separation and privacy between neighbors.

It has far exceeded my expectations in achieving a natural, visual barrier while attracting and feeding even more wildlife as the majority of plants are Florida natives and the remainder are Florida-Friendly.
Hopefully this wordy post offers motivation to gardeners who struggle with trying to complete a garden in fast motion. What if we put our passions to work FOR us! Adding some patience to our drive and lots of practicality ~~ admitting time is really our friend in a garden.

A garden is never finished. What fun would it be if we ever put our hoes and shovels to rest?

Mine will likely never retire.


Happy gardening and thanks for hanging in!

Meems