Category Archives: Design

Miniata Bromeliad-Aechmea miniata

Miniata Bromeliad flowers

Flowers

These are currently blooming in my garden and have been for a week or so. The flowers look a bit like a panicle of red hots with a few touches of periwinkle blue. In the realm of Bromeliads, these are terrestrial, which means they root in the soil, and they have tanks, botanically speaking, the leaves form a rosette creating a reservoir in the center of the plant that holds water and traps various insects and debris feeding the bromeliad. The image below is looking down into the tank. The foliage has a nice grey green variation and is attractive year round.

 Foliage and Tank

The tanks are a bit of a maintenance chore sometimes because they trap more junk than you would think. I have some tongs to fish debris out and then I usually put some BT granules in to discourage any mosquitoes from hatching out.

The plant itself ends up about 18 x 18″ , so it is a nice size for addition to a shady perennial bed. These have reliably reproduced one or two pups per year, so not really invasive, but they are living among friends now.

American Rustic

Extreme Low Maintenance Container Soap Aloe and Sedum

Extreme Low Maintenance Container
Soap Aloe and Sedum

Is there a new style of gardening emerging in America?

I think so.

Based on what we have learned over the past forty years, our style and outlook on gardening are changing.

During the 1970’s, Oehme van Sweden, Landscape Architects in Washington, D.C. pioneered ‘The New American Garden’. Their gardens featured perennial grasses in large sweeps and largely ignored lawns. These guys were the original purveyors of the Miscanthus craze that continues to this day. I had Miscanthus strictus in my yard for about three years, as a striking accent plant it worked until it got big and flopped over; this grass once flopped was 10 feet around and not very striking. Unlike my southern mother, I am not a plant staker. Plants have to stand on their own in my garden or they asked to leave. Unceremoniously.

The term Xeriscaping was coined in the early 1980’s by a guy in Colorado. Since then the idea has caught on and is utilized in the United States and around the world. Permaculture is an Australian idea that expands and encourages permanent culture of the earth in the most sustainable ways. Basically the idea of Xeriscape is grouping plants by their watering and maintenance needs and only watering when necessary instead of just dousing everything. In permaculture the further away from the house you get, the less intensive the maintenance of the landscape. Intensively planted vegetable gardens near the house that fade away into the forest zone by zone. Of course, this is an oversimplification of both concepts.

While I appreciate the validity of both schools of thought, the difficulty begins with the fact that all this has to be figured out, zoned, designed and then implemented. I have yet to meet anyone who paid me to do a Master Landscape Plan for their house that did not change their mind about something.  Usually a significant something. Rare is the person who can make a plan, zone everything for water and maintenance and stick with the program. I certainly can’t. The older I get , the more I enjoy hardscape.

People seem to enjoy taking small bites of sustainability. A Rain Garden in a low spot in the yard. Using pervious gravel or mulch for pathways. Planting native plant material. Cutting out toxic pesticides and herbicides.

I have read of eco lawns becoming popular in the Western United States. This intrigued me until I saw what it was. More of the Wildflower Meadow romanticism that has been floating around for 30 years. I think Old fields look great weeds and all. However, I don’t want one in front of my house. I suspect the majority of gardeners like to have some lawn. I have a lawn, purposely sited over the septic tank. It does so well, we are afraid to fertilize it. It might overrun the house late at night.

Now there is talk of what is the Modern Garden. I am not sure Modern is the right word. Modern coming after New. It is all the same. Soon it will be the updated Modern Garden. All I (we?) really want is something we can plant and enjoy that is not too much work or a waste of resources! It seems like such a simple idea ? Here are some ideas to reach this goal:

Plant reliable, drought tolerant, non invasive perennials. In small doses.

Focus on natives with a soft lens. Some are great. Some are weeds. Do some research; plant the good ones.

Quit using Glyphosphate and anything with Atrazine in it. It is already in our groundwater and nobody knows how long it takes for the earth to metabolize it. Stop adding it. Non toxic weed killers and pesticides work. If you have a few bugs or weeds – get over it.

Support your local gardening community by planting seasonal containers, they are different everywhere. A pop of color near your favorite walkway is a pick me up every time you pass by. I like succulents for the summer.  My size limit is a 15″ wide container, if it is smaller, it takes too much maintenance, (watering). Buy a big pot, go to the local nursery, buy some flowers and hope for good advice. Embrace local..add some tropicals in the summer. Floridian growers need support too.

Use the most drought tolerant turfgrass possible. If it turns brown in winter, so be it. If there are a few weeds in it, so be it. The Golden Bear does not live at my house, I think he is retired..

I think people get overexcited about irrigation. I have never had separate zones because I am really frugal with water. The lawn has to need it badly before the water comes on, if I have a new  tree it gets a gator bag (this is a bag that can be filled with water, the water slowly leaks out onto the tree providing a few days worth of water). Irrigation does not abdicate anyone of the responsibility of paying attention. It will not establish anything but turf unless everything is wastefully watered.

I think the New Modern American Gardening Style is Rustic. The Rustic Style includes: Being mindful of water and its use, ceasing the use of toxic chemicals, a little brown and a few weeds are OK. Always have a nice container planting where it will be enjoyed. Add hardscape where you would like to hang out and relax, it is really less maintenance.

I think it was the Landscape Architect Dan Franklin, who said: “You should be able to take care of your garden in the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of wine in the evening” I am striving for that.

 

Male Dog Syndrome

The first person who coined the term, male dog syndrome, was, in fact a landscape architect, a guy! I worked with who  had a similar sense of humor; he had worked for big and famous firms in the 80’s and had, unfortunately, been laid off multiple times. During the course of all these so called design projects  as a junior staffer he experienced the marking behavior. Oddly enough, this guy has been really successful in his own right and is probably peeing on bushes in the Western United States as we speak.

As a dedicated Greyhound fan, I usually have a couple of dogs around. Dogs do some weird things that would not have occurred to me prior to having dogs. Many of these peculiarities are urinary based.

My first Greyhound, Butler, was a male dog and having worked with men primarily for years in design and construction I was aware of “male dog syndrome” In life and business the last male to pee on the bush is King. And all the princes must pee on it as well. After twenty or thirty years, this gets tiresome in all respects; perhaps not to the men. I feel that, for men this is probably a lifetime dilemma. Even  Gen X and Millenial men must do this. I will have to say this slays me as it is totally counterproductive.  And then there is the ‘measuring’..

At least dogs don’t do that. On the other hand, it could be related.

One cold winter night around 2 am, Butler came into the bedroom, whining a bit and woke me up. I thought “Oh, he will be OK for a while he just went out” He came back in a bit later and proceeded to pee all over the foot of the bed and carpet. Oops, of course, I should have gotten up and let him out, but it was Thanksgiving, my parent’s fiftieth wedding anniversary and we were having 15 or 20 people over for dinner shortly.  I had been trying to live up to my southern cooking heritage all day and was exhausted. Thank God for the enzymatic carpet cleaner.

In the garden Butler had issues with anything Juniper scented. I suppose it it fortunate I detest Gin. My favorite Landscape Contractor had been singing the praises of Hinoki Cypress shrubs for years, so I decided to buck up and buy a big one as they are sort of slow growing. I am usually frugal in the purchase of plant material because, well, sometimes I forget about water and stuff. And I must always cope with my cheap Scotch heritage. This time I paid $150.00 for a really nice shrub not considering Butler’s Juniper issues. It was, in fact, a Cypress.

I suppose I should mention Butler was inevitably so intent on marking everything he often ran out of pee. Which was very frustrating for him, but really comical to watch. He would stand there back leg raised looking down to see nothing coming out and then try again. My husband always found this particularly amusing. Sort of a man thing, I guess.

So, I put the Hinoki Cypress in a place of honor. By the gate into the back garden. Probably a locational error on my part. However, it looked great shimmering dark green in the sun and already 3 feet tall with ferny chartreuse new growth. First time the dog went by, pssst. Second time and most anytime he wasn’t emptied by having been on a long walk. Sigh. Eventually the Cypress began to turn rust instead of green.

The Hinoki was only rust colored on one side, I had hopes for its survival. Then the voles came. I am not really sure I ever saw one. But, boy Butler could smell them and they were under the $150.00 Cypress. Crap. Maybe on some level voles are offensive to dogs; perhaps the male voles are marking?? At this point digging under the Cypress became necessary and the top of the plant began to turn rust…

Bridal Bouquet Plumeria – Plumeria pudica

 

Bridal Bouquet ready for a lei

Bridal Bouquet ready for a lei

A near requirement for living in South Florida, especially as a year round resident, is a Plumeria or a Frangipani in the yard. This is not a good ‘Snowbird’ plant as most Plumeria is naked in the winter and reasonably unattractive.  Summer is a different story, the Plumeria have just burst forth with flowers here on the Treasure Coast and the fragrance and color make it worth having a deciduous tree in the garden.

This is the tree that provides flowers for leis in Hawaii. I was always under the impression the Plumerias were native to the South Pacific. Research tells me the variety Plumeria alba, which is the more common, fragrant, and deciduous Plumeria come from Central and South America.  Sources seem to agree that Plumeria pudica is from Central America. To add to the confusion there is a type of Plumeria called ‘Singapore’ that is native to Columbia. I will leave it to someone else to explain the Hawaiian lei concept.

Enter the Bridal Bouquet Plumeria, I discovered this plant in Stuart, Florida never having seen one before and was told it was evergreen. This particular variety of Plumeria has a columnar habit and I was looking for a plant to place between two windows in an unirrigated planter in front of my house. It is a perfect selection thus far it is about six feet tall and maybe 2 feet wide. There is some disagreement amongst the experts as to the evergreeness of this plant; apparently if it gets cold enough it will drop its foliage.  I can believe it even if Wikipedia doesn’t.

So far the Bridal Bouquet has performed admirably remaining evergreen and blooming profusely. The extension service states it blooms six months out of the year, mine is not quite there. The only complaint I have is the plant is a bit crunchy and high winds tend to blow parts off. It must be noted that the trade off for evergreen foliage is no fragrance. My husband is not a plant guy and he was in the front planter sniffing the plant to no avail. I decided the solution to the crunchies is to root the bits and plant them in front of my neighbors ugly decaying wood fence. Perfect recycle.

There are many, many varieties of Plumeria, and even a society devoted to the plant, inauspiciously called the PSA. I am hopeful this acronym was coined prior to the medical test.

Spare Parts

I think all gardeners have this. A group of potted plants they bought for one reason or another and then set aside, for later. The later thing is the rub. My husband refers to this group of potted plants as my spare parts.

Spare Begonias

Spare Begonias

Currently I am hoarding Begonias. I found some Begonia odorata for a great price so I bought a couple. I have a few leftover Bronzeleaf Begonias so they are still around in a tray. I should also confess that there are three starts of Blue Agave in the side yard that have been sitting over there since this summer. Although, I have a good reason for thinking about those for a long time..they are very sharp and once in place they need to stay there. Also, in the realm of aesthetics Blue Agave is a bold statement. Not to be taken lightly.

Blue Agave

Blue Agave

I bought some more expensive plants at Gardenfest in Vero but I have endeavored to actually install those. One being a Mango tree, OK, I want some Mangoes as soon as reasonably possible. That I planted, fertilized and have been watering. Not to mention it is an Evergreen tree that will screen my husbands ugly Tupperware Lawnmower shed. More fertilizer, please..

More Fertilizer, please

More Fertilizer, please

The second plant from Gardenfest was a leafless Bird of Paradise, really cool and I can’t wait to see it bloom. It is also in the ground – next to a Tibouchina. I am breathlessly waiting for all to grow up and bloom. That Bird of Paradise had roots that looked like Parsnips and there is one down the street – it took about two years for me to figure out what is was..for a while there I thought the lady who lived there was sticking silk Bird of Paradise into a Juncus, this plant is really cool.

The Begonias I am having a hard time getting around to planting. Begonia odorata is new to me, I am not sure why these are not more common as a Summer Annual up north. The ones that have been sitting on my back porch for a month (at least) are beautiful.

I am finding there is not enough variety in Annuals in South Florida, people are really hung up on Impatiens and Pentas, pretty boring stuff. I find the New Guinea Impatiens particularly distasteful and Impatiens is a fiesta of fungus. I love to have some containers with color around my doorways, I am slowly going over to Bromeliads and the Zebrina Wandering Jew. (both things I found growing in the yard and repurposed into pots with a few Bronzeleaf Begonias.)

Begonias and Bromeliads

Begonias and Bromeliads

A Seashell Driveway

The driveway is in and it is a beauty. I am so excited after all those months of living with the weed pit as my front yard. The existing driveway was pea gravel overrun with weeds. The entire thing had to be scraped away and hauled to the dump.Image After the scraping and removal of the foul pea gravel a gigantic pile of shell and base material appeared. The driveway is constructed by scraping off enough material to have 4-6″ depth to backfill. The base area is graded for water to drain off properly then a base material is placed. The base is crushed shell about 2″ thick followed by 2-3″ layer of the shell for the driving surface. The crushed shell base looks like coarse sand and the shell topping looks like thousands of tiny shells. Because that is what it is. Theoretically,the crushed shell base course tamps down over time and forms a permeable stable layer for the driving surface.

Pile of Shell

Pile of Shell

Shell used for driveways is quarried for the most part on the West Coast of Florida. I believe the shell in my front yard comes from the South side of Lake Okeechobee. This is to a certain extent a word of mouth bit of info. The shell is from a broker who bought it from somebody who bought it from somebody else. Interestingly enough the shell is cheaper than pea gravel because it doesn’t have to be shipped as far from its source. Shell is not supposed to sink into the ground as gravel does, I am going to be interested to see how it holds up… TA DA, the driveway:

The Shell Driveway

The Shell Driveway

Now, onto the green part, Landscaping. Note the repulsive grass/weed groundcover..Ugly. Soon to be gone.

Christmas Palm – Veitchia merrillii

The Christmas Palm on Christmas Day.  This particular Palm I learned as the Adonidia. I think Christmas is a much better name; especially with the red mass of berries resembling ornaments during the holiday season.  These are also called Manila Palms as they are from the Philippines. Not an exceptionally cold tolerant plant they will grow in South Florida in coastal areas south of the magical State Highway 60 line. Many of these palms were lost during the unusually cold winter of 2010.

Christmas Palms can be used as single or multi trunk trees and grow to about 20 feet tall, this makes them excellent for residential use near buildings in the one to two story range. These are not a self cleaning Palm so fronds past their prime must be trimmed. They also add a tropical flair to pools and near spas, I have planted a multi trunk near my lanai to provide shade in the summer. And I am just waiting for some Christmas berries.href=”https://theshrubqueen.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/cam00183.jpg”>Image

The Plan

The Plan for Driveway and Landscape

The Plan for Driveway and Landscape

At last, the plan has been nailed down and the contractor hired. Soon we will see a passable driveway. As in a surface dedicated to the movement and parking of motor vehicles. Life is good.

I am very happy with the contractor we finally hired. I actually went through 7 interviews/pricing exercises. It got pretty boring and repetitive. No, no, no and more no. I shouldn’t be surprised at what I found in the way of contractors but I am. A good one is a rare find. It is a difficult call for me if I am really picky and uncooperative or if other people are just clueless. Probably a little of both. A great deal of stuff these guys were asking me to tolerate I just wouldn’t. People are too nice sometimes.

So, here is the Final Plan. The area of stepping stones ended up so big I used half seashell stones and half salt finish plain stones. The reality is that is how many we had on hand and I think I will like it. The idea behind this area is that we have a place to park all the trash cans and recycling bins and the mailbox will be moved over to the edge of the stones for a path to the mail as well.

Please comment on the design before it is too late!!

Materials for Plan B

I arrived home the other day to find a baggie filled with shell on my front porch,  along with the shell was a business card from a contractor who would actually build a driveway for me and install landscaping. Glory Hallelujah!

I have found I live in a word of mouth sort of a place, forget Angie’s List. I doubt I could have found this guy by any conventional means. This contractor does not even have an email address – I am not entirely sure I could even text him although he does have a cell phone.

Here are the materials I have selected for the driveway:

Rustic Hacienda Concept – Third Contractor Encounter

I’ve decided the design concept for the landscape is Rustic Hacienda. Our house is psuedo Southwestern in appearance, I think the former owners went to Santa Fe at some point and picked up some architectural details and incorporated them into a 1960s vintage ranch house. It is a pretty off the wall residence for two design professionals who met at a big Architecture firm. In keeping with the Rustic Hacienda concept I have had a cattle fence installed in the back for the cattle/Greyhounds. Generally I refer to my dogs as horses, they are 70 and 90 pounds. Small horses. We even have a ranch gate.  My sister clearly thought the fence was weird, but she really did not get the concept.

These fences are common in this area and will last at least 30 years. My husband, the fence builder and I were standing in the yard laughing that the fence would outlive all of us. Either that or I am going to be a really old lady PO’d because the fence needs replacing. The guy who built the fence was an actual cowboy who wore spurs. I got the vapors when I saw them; pure masculine footwear.

Which brings me to my third contractor encounter. I asked the fence builder if he could refer someone to do the concrete work. He did and this guy said ” I can come over next week.” I had high hopes for this, then he sent me his price. $40 a linear foot! for the curb. I almost choked. Of course, no driveway included. I decided to call a friend of mine who builds things like this in Atlanta to get his opinion on the price. His opinion, no more than $10 a linear foot. At this point, I have decided to get out of the concrete business altogether and go to PLAN B.