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Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Garden Blogger's bloom day August 2012

 White duranta repens  with their beautiful golden berries
 Radermachera or tree Jasmine I brought back with me from Florida
 Thunbergia erecta
 Yellow ground orchid
 Pinky looking ground orchid I got from tog of coral gables  a few years ago thank you Jordan!
 Pink pentas waiting to be transplanted
 The gorgeous white mussaenda
I am sooo Happy to see the end of the mango season, my back ached collecting these fellows.


Hello and welcome to Garden blogger's bloom day where gardeners around the globe post what is blooming in their gardens. The mango season has come to an end (phew!) and I am elated! There were mangoes all over the house. My freezer is bursting with bags of the fruit and my husband is complaining that he can't get counter space in the kitchen. I just have one more tub of mangoes to prepare for freezing (my poor hands).  We have been getting frequent short showers  and the garden is now  a verdant and weedy sanctuary. To see what is blooming in other gardens please go over to Carol at may dreams gardens where many gardeners can't wait to show you their gardens. Have a great week my friends.

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Roadside update

I planted hibiscus along the road at the front of the property some 12 years ago. They grew nicely for a few years and then began to look scraggly and deteriorate. Mealy bugs attacked them and several times I had to cut them back severely. They looked awful for several years and one day after getting tired of glaring at them every time I passed I decided to something about it.  So in 2009 with the assistance of my garden helper we dug them out!

I had several Christmas palms in pots and several frangipani pudica.



Voila! The results three years later with thirty nine palms and frangipani.
 A  prettier view for all who drive along this road.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Landscape challenge part 2

 As promised I am about to show the back and sides of the property of this landscaping challenge and what it looked like before and after.
This is the front side and since yellow is the favorite colour of the client, I fell in love with these yellow threads (alternathera). I used them as a border to the front of the bed and inserted some ground orchids yellow and purple I then added some blue salvia and thunbergia erecta in the back ground. I planted some fish tail ferns at the side of the front entry to the house.

 The planter at the front entrance contained the air conditioning  unit that I wanted to disguise some what and still make it accessible. Fish tail ferns border the side entry and rice ferns edge the planter front. A foxtail palm was centrally placed to add some height while oxblood heliconias  and walking irises frame both sides of the AC unit. Shrimp plants and some acalypha firestorm fill the area around the palm tree. The lower planter contains bignonia rosea.
 The front entry has some green and yellow alternathera as a border with star jasmine and spiny dracena in the background. The alternathera border extends downwards meeting the walkway border of yellow and white lantana.
 The back of the property was very challenging, it was very windy and very hot with absolutely no shade at all.  Two kidney shaped beds were planted with palm trees and giant roheos.
 Pittorsporums were planted on the perimeter as a privacy fence.

 Golden crinums were planted along the back patio walls with some yellow and green pseudoranthemums, pink tip cordylines tied in with the wooden finishes in the patio.

 Here yellow threads fill the front of the bed of the golden crinums, pink tip cordylines and oxblood heliconias make up the background. The planter at the contains alocasias while a garlic vine snakes up the side of the pergola.




The wind and the sun were brutal in the first few weeks when this garden was installed. Frequent daily watering was essential to get the plants acclimatized and when the rains came they shot up as if they were on steroids.

   The client's favorite colour was yellow and as you can see much of it is repeated around the garden.

 A paver patio area was installed for a Gazebo or pergola  that will be added at a later date.
 Kidney shaped islands planted with palm trees and giant roheos break up the large expanse of grass, while a lime and mango tree were installed nearby.

 Portulaca borders the golden palms while gingers border the pool wall.


Paving stones provide easy walking to the back patio and pool area.
 Yes it was challenging and rewarding creating this garden space, working around water and drain pipes poorly installed near the surface proved very difficult and dictated the types of plants I had to use that would pose little or no danger to them. I will be tweaking some areas from time to time and I will keep updating you as the garden matures. Have a great weekend my friends.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Landscape challenge

 Another recently completed project that was challenging because of its windy location.
 before
 after
Large rock were used to edge the planting bed and Thunbergia erecta added a a blast of purple to the greenery.
Coral Antigua heath  rusellia equisetiformis dominated the side of the slope and acts as a soil stabilizer.
Dark blue Plumbago was used as a filler around the Christmas palm trees


Large rocks were used to edge the side of the slope to prevent soil loss in the event of heavy rains. Bignonia rosea creeper was planted on both sides at the entrance of the driveway.


Yellow and white dwarf Lantana edge the driveway and pathway to the house. In my next post I will feature the back and sides of the house.