Reworking the Sunny Corner

This corner in the backyard adjoins the bed along the chainlink fence.  It is an area that receives mid-day to afternoon sun.  There was a golden dewdrop, duranta repens planted in the back corner with a multi-color lantana, lantana camara, across the front.  The golden dewdrop was killed to the ground in January just as it was last winter.  It was decided that another butterfly and hummingbird attractor that could make it through cold weather was needed instead of the golden dewdrop which was relocated to a less prominent spot. 

 

A three feet tall red bottlebrush tree callistemon citrinus was planted where the dewdrop had been.  This specimen will be full of bristly red blooms very soon.  Butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds all love them.  Since this small tree will be green during winter as well as summer, it will provide some privacy screen to the chainlink fence area.  When it achieves its full height it will be around 12 feet tall.

 

Beautiful blooms are imminent.

Blue-eyed grass is a native plant that grows in damp open fields.  This corner should be a perfect spot for it.  Placed as a border grass in front of the bottlebrush its sweet little blue flowers add interest to its lush greenness.

The lantana was also killed to the ground but it was left to come back between the border of blue-eyed grass and the bottlebrush.  Should it not make it back to the land of living plants it will be replaced most likely with a mixture of red and white pentas. 

The sunny corner package.

A Picture of Pink Perfection

One of my first projects for 2010 was to dig out a twenty year old hibiscus bush that was dead to the roots and had gotten too gnarly over the years of freeze and regrowth.  That huge bush was replaced with a new rose bush which is more cold hardy and still provides beautiful blossoms.  My new Belinda's Dream rose bush is still quite tiny, but this picture shows the first of 4 new buds to open.  I've been told great things about Belinda and I am looking forward to fragrant, pink roses filling this spot.

I'm Dreaming of Cold Hardy Shrubs That Can Take the Heat

This past weekend I attended a seminar at a local nursery on cold hardy plants. Pretty savvy nursery to offer just the information Florida gardeners are craving. Of course, they had all the cold hardy plants right on the premises so we could drool over them and hopefully purchase them.

These are my favorites, but by no means are they the complete offering. For a complete listing of cold hardy shrubs offered at this nursery click here.

Firepower Heavenly Bamboo, Nandina domestica 'Firepower"
Height: 2'-3'
Zone: 6-11
Light: Sun - Part Shade
This Nandina is non-invasive according to the University of Florida. The leaf color is lime green on new spring growth changing to bright red in the fall. This shrub definitely has a "wow" factor.

Tea Olive, Osmanthus fragrans
Height: 6'-15'
Zone: 7-9
Light: Sun - Part Shade
This is a very fragrant shrub with small white blooms autumn through spring. It does bloom sporadically during summer.

Dwarf Burford Holly, Ilex cornuta 'Nana'
Height: 4'-6'
Zone: 7-9
Light: Sun - Part Shade
The name alone makes it a must-have for My Garden Path. Shiny green leaves all year, white fragrant flowers in the spring and bright red berries in the fall and winter make this a very desirable shrub. These hollies are self-fertile so they will fruit without having to worry about having male and female specimens.

(In the foreground)

Frances Mason Abelia, Abelia x grandiflora 'Frances Mason'

Height: 2'-4'

Zone: 6-9

Light: Sun - Part Shade

This plant has bright yellow and green leaves year-round and pink, trumpet shaped flowers in summer.

(In the middle)

Rose Creek Abelia, Abelia x grandiflora 'Rose Creek'

Height: 2'-3'

Zone: 6-9

Light: Sun - Part Shade

This is a very compact grower. The rounded form you see in the picture is its natural shape. Glossy, dark green leaves all year changing to burgundy hues in cold weather and fragrant white flowers in spring and summer make this shrub as beautiful as it is well behaved.

Since the Money and Muscle behind My Garden Path has decreed a gardening budget is necessary, I am refining and reflecting upon just what I must have. This turn of events has also had the positive effect of causing me to actually make a gardening plan. Only good can come from a less impulsive approach but it is hard to live out.

Can't you just picture the Firepower Nandina in front of the Burford Holly 'Nana'? The red berries of the Holly and the red leaves of the Firepower against those dark green glossy Holly leaves would be beautiful. I think this will be my first phase of The Plan.

New Plants!

I'm still working on my shady corner area that extends into a boggy area that is in the middle of my back fenceline.  I found the coonties I've been looking for at a price I could afford.  Zamia pumila are Florida natives which I'm trying to utilize more.  These lovely cycads are cold hardy as well.  Some I've seen in other landscapes did get a little tip damage from the extended cold we had this winter, but overall they stayed green and happy.  I'm going to have to rework where I have planted things so a landscape view will be coming later.  But aren't these wonderfully primordial Florida looking?

I couldn't resist getting a few of these acalypha reptans, dwarf chenille.  They are not  as cold hardy as the coontie but in the dappled sunlight under the big oak I'm hoping they get some protection in winter.  Ones I have seen in use go semi-dormant in winter but spring back well.  I have used them as ground cover between the iris/caladium border and the path.  They are so cute and I know the 'grands' are going to love them. 

On Saturday I attended a workshop at a local garden center on cold hardy plants.  Of course, they sell all the ones recommended :)  I now have a list of some beautiful shrubs to add to my wishlist.  More on that later.

Beautiful Weather for Plant Shopping & Planting

The Riverview Garden Club held a plant sale where I found plants donated by the Riverview Flower Farm.  What a wonderful surprise that was!  I'm not a member of this group just a happy, happy customer. The Sedum Florida Gold on the right is one of my greatly desired plants for this year's garden.  This is a cold hardy and heat tolerant ground cover for sunny areas.  I've been at my Home Depot garden center just about every other day waiting for their shipment to come.  I couldn't believe my good fortune to find it at this sale.  The Tampa Vervain on the left is a Florida native plant named after my hometown.  How could I resist?

It was a very good weekend at My Garden Path.

More Cold Hardy Planting

Bamboo Multiplex 'fernleaf' was planted against the neighbor's chainlink fence last fall.  This was with the view of giving privacy to the backyard.  The bamboo is cold hardy and made it through the January freeze just fine.  It is a clumping variety that is also referred to as hedge bamboo.  This spring it should thicken up some and by its third year in the ground it should reach its full potential.  This weekend I added to this bed:  1 pineapple guava (feijoa selowiana), 4 loropetalum, and 11 flax lilies that were divided into 35 for a border.

Can you see the little loropetalum with it's pink blooms to the forefront and just behind the flax lily border?  It tends to blend right into the mulch but the hope is that as it gets larger it will contrast nicely against the bright green bamboo.  There are four of them in the bed, two on each side of the pineapple guava.  The pineapple guava is the small bush to the back of the photo almost to the shadowed area. 

Here, you can see the loropetalum better.  It is the little bit of pink you see in the lower right corner.  I hope they grow fast!

A closer view of the pineapple guava.  This should add some interest to the front of this bed.  All of these plants are cold hardy and so should keep the privacy desired all year long.  I like my neighbors very much but there is a road just the other side of their property that anyone travelling on  can see straight through to my yard.  That is too much exposure for me.  I have no further plans for this area.  I'm just going to water, fertilize, weed and watch it grow.

I Pretty Much Stuck to the List (Sort of)

I am in full bore reconstruction mode.  I really am trying to focus on one area at a time, but I'm not being very successful at that.  I have taken out two huge 20 years+ old hibiscus bushes and am planning to replace with some Old Garden Roses.  I usually plant zinnias, cosmos, blanket flowers from seed in the area in front of the hibiscus.  I still plan to do that this year as well.  But the roses will be my backbone for this area.  Since they are cold hardy I will have something beautiful to look at even when the full effect of all the other flowers is gone.  I haven't purchased the roses yet.....

Still digging up the stump for the largest of the hibiscus bushes.

I have a very shady corner which is  planted with gingers, caladiums, alocasias, a red shrimp plant, forsythia sage and persian shield.  All but the red shrimp has gone dormant from the cold weather.  These plants always have come back but until about April that corner looks very bare.  It is under my twin grandfather oak  so oakleaf mulch is all you see from January until Aprilish.

Purchases for this area include: 2 Chamaedorea Cataractarum and  2 Shefflera Arboricola.  Also purchased were some Flax Lily I found on the half-price rack at Lowe's and a beautiful Camellia Sasanqua that I plan to put under my bedroom window which is dappled shade.  The Cat Palms will take the place of the Microspadix in my wishlist. They are not as cold hardy but are good to 20 degrees. And they were only $10 each. If I ever find a Microspadix I can still buy one. One.  Here's some info on my beautiful camellia.  Camellia Sasanqua Shishi Gashira


See how my one at a time plan is disintegrating?


A third area I have been working on is against my neighbors chainlink fence.  I planted some Bamboo last spring that is filling in nicely  and held up during the cold snap.  My banana trees however are toast.  I think they will come back from the corms but until then there is a gaping hole.  So, I bought a (Feijoa sellowiana) to put in that space.  Also purchased 2 Bulbine and 2 more Lorapetalum to plant in front of the sunny fence area.

I really got some good plant deals at my local nursery.  Really.  I did.

As I plant each area I will post updates.  My goal is to provide some more cold hardy "bones" for my garden while still keeping all the tropical and more cold sensitive perennials for spring and summer color.  That's the plan!