Covering Ground

The ground covers around My Garden Path have really filled in this year.  I love having less area to weed and water.  My favorite ground covers are very drought tolerant and have done well with no supplemental watering.

Portulaca is an annual that reseeds and shows up each spring in the sunny area of the garden.  It spreads all summer and blooms non-stop.  My daughter had some reseed in her garden that came up a different color than she had originally planted.  I can't tell if that has happened here because I have every color of the rainbow planted.

The perennial peanut at the top of the picture is not showing off its cute yellow flowers.  They are there but the camera didn't pick them up for some reason.  This ground cover is very drought tolerant and grows very thick like a lawn.  So far, the grandkids run on it and play and it holds up just fine.  It does go brown in winter after a frost but it greens right back up as soon as the weather begins to warm.

Speaking of cute flowers, these fuzzy cattails belong to the dwarf chenille I have planted where the shady area begins.  It does not hold up to foot traffic but it stayed green through the winter and it is quite drought tolerant now that it is established.  

Sunshine mimosa is another pink fuzzy flower that the grandkids love to "pet."  The leaves curl closed when touched giving this ground cover the nickname "sensitive plant."  It disappears in winter and comes back when the rain and warm weather return.  

Well, maybe I can have it all in a ground cover.  This dwarf mondo grass is cold hardy, drought tolerant and holds up to foot traffic.  It doesn't like the full-on afternoon sun though.  It much prefers partial to full shade.  

Ground covers are really appreciated around the Path especially in those areas where oak tree roots make it hard to plant anything with deep roots.  They provide erosion control for the sloping backyard and they give some delineation to the jungle of plants they surround.  

Do you like to use low growing ground covers in your garden?  If so, what are some of your favorites?

A New Trend

I'm not known as a trend-setter, a trend-spotter or even a trend-follower. There is a definite trend, however, in my choice of color within my garden this year.

Ever since I chose 'Chinese Red' for my front door color, the color red has been my choice in foliage and flowers as well.  Red Flash caladiums were added to the White Christmas caladiums in the front entry-way bed. 

My view when I open my front door is full of  beautiful color as the sun shines through the heart-shaped leaves. 

It seems like I'm spotting the color red everywhere I look.  This angel-wing begonia's profuse red blooms really brighten up a shady corner at the top of  the drive-way.

Another group of red caladiums, Freida Hemple this time, are located to the right of the drive-way.  Some of the bromeliads sport red fingernails while others will have bright red cone-shaped blooms later in the summer.

Even the geraniums I'm babysitting for vacationing friends fit in with the new trend.  This red color is all over the place.

The back gardens are filling up with the new red color trend.  My new love, blood leaf irisine, lights up the dark shady corner in four or five spots now.

You don't think it's possible to have too many red caladiums do you?  I may be pushing it this year.  Honestly, I didn't realize that all the new bulbs I planted were red.  These Freida Hemples snuggle up nicely with the dwarf chenille.

In the new bed under the big oak tree, a native rouge plant is sporting cute little white blooms that turn into red berries.  Depending on how large this plant gets and how it does in winter, I'm thinking of adding some more of these.  Anyone growing this please share your experiences with it.  So far, I really like it a lot.

The new trend for my garden is the color red.  Do you have a trend going in your garden?

In The Pink

Pink is my favorite color.....

.....from a barely there baby pink like on Sunshine Mimosa, Mimosa strigillosa,

used as a groundcover in the butterfly garden.....

......to  a little deeper pink on these stems of Alocasia 'Aurora'.

Of course, I think Rosa, Belinda's Dream has the perfect shade of pink!

The fuzzy and soft blooms of the Dwarf Chenille plant, Acalypha reptans, are a dark pink. 

The grandkids love to "pet" these flowers. 

This Angel Wing Begonia, Begonia coccinea, is a very subtle shade of pink.

Labeled as cranberry, this Pentas lanceolata sure looks pink to me.

My favorite Caladium 'Carolyn Wharton' is covered in pink.

"In the pink," is an idiom meaning "at the peak of health." 

I sincerely hope that this day finds both you and your garden IN THE PINK!

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.