Under The Oak Tree

The southeast corner of the backyard garden is under the shady canopy of the large oak tree as well as the shadow of the wood fencing.  Pockets of sunlight appear in different areas at different times throughout the day.

Still on the east side but closer in toward the tree, new plants have been added to fill in the area where the wedelia ground cover once was growing.  The tallest plants are about two feet tall right now, but there are several which will be gaining height to add much needed layers.

Lots of low growing ground covering plants are planted on the north side of the tree.  This is the view we have from our back porch. 

There is a fairly good mix of cold hardy plants such as flax lily, holly fern and walking iris to keep the area from being too bare when the various clerodendrum, coleus, and caladiums disappear for the winter.  Where are all those caladiums I planted right after removing the wedelia?  Maybe I've been digging around too much and displaced them. 


Three oakleaf hydrangeas were planted on the southside of the tree to give some height and background.  These blooms are just beginning to open.  Hydrangea quercifolia is a native plant that fits in well with a natural woodland setting. 

Another native plant just added is this ground cover, Ruellia caroliniensis.  I'm hoping this native wild petunia will spread and help cover the areas between the other plantings. 

Up against the trunk of the old oak are clumps of different types of bromeliads.  The roots of the oak tree make it impossible to dig deep planting holes so these epiphytes fit perfectly. 

I just enjoy the sunlight shining through the leaves.  You never know when a stray sunbeam will show up.

On the west side of the tree I tried to mirror the planting of the east side.  There is another flowering maple, wormwood, firespike and a new reed-stem epidendrum planted on the outer edge of the circle where it can get some stronger sunlight.

With a mix of old and new, native and Florida friendly plants, I am eager to see how this woodland garden grows up. 

Oak Tree Circle Re-Do

While enjoying the wafting scent of the tea-olives, my youngest garden helper and I began pulling out Wedelia trilobata from the circular bed surrounding the big oak tree in the back garden. 

This ground cover is now considered a category II invasive for the central Florida area.  Even though I've always liked the cheery yellow flowers, I decided it was time for this pest plant to go. 

Since the Wedelia was brown and crispy after our winter freezes, it was pretty easy to pull up. This job needed to be done before warm temperatures and spring rains brought it back to life. Even so, I'm sure I'll be pulling sprigs out all through the spring and summer.

When the Wedelia was originally planted, it was not considered an invasive. In fact, it was recommended to me by a landscaper. Part of the problem with this plant is the ease with which any part of it will root. So, as I was keeping my patch trimmed up and disposing of the trimmings in the yard waste, I was contributing to the spread of a pest plant. All the ground cover we pulled up this time was disposed of in the trash not the recycled yard waste.

The now blank area was filled with a few newly purchased plants such as Holly Fern and Indian Hawthorn.  These particular plants were chosen for their cold hardiness.  Other plants were divided from existing clumps growing in other areas around My Garden Path.  The pink edging will be pulled out as it is no longer needed to contain the Wedelia.

Bromeliads, Flax Lily, and Flowering Maple were some of the plants added from existing sources in other parts of the garden.  Caladium bulbs will be planted later this month to fill out the area. 

(The plants which are designated as invasive in Florida can be found here.  This is an ever changing list so it is a good place to check periodically.)

A Cool (Almost) Crisp Fall Day

One recent morning the temperatures were in the mid-sixties with 49% humidity.  While enjoying the view from the back porch I didn't even need to turn on the ceiling fans.  I walked around to the sunny eastside veggie bed to complete my morning watering chores and I didn't break a sweat, not one drop.  What a difference from just last week's humidity. 

In fact, the morning air was so cool that I was inspired to enlarge the westside bamboo bed.  This is a project that became necessary once the bamboo grew large enough to weep over the top of the loropetalum I had planted in front. 

A sleepy bumblebee was just resting amid the bamboo leaves.  How those little wings lift that fat and furry body is amazing to me.  This bee didn't lift off until much later in the morning.  He was a welcome companion while I worked.

The flax lily border was brought out about 3 feet and the loropetalum bushes moved forward.  The Mexican Petunias (the sterile ones from Home Depot) were left in place which made the bumblebee happy.  
 ( To see the beginnings of this bed you can go here.)

Another creature slowed by the coolness in the air was this Sulphur butterfly.  Be sure you notice the huge caterpillar in the left foreground.  These guys have been eating the tips of this cassia bush all summer.  I have it for just that reason, but I do want it to bloom this year.  Last year I remember it being stunning the whole month of November.  This year it is about half the size it was so I'm concerned. 

While in the sunny area of My Garden Path with camera in hand, let me show you Belinda's Dream for the millioneth time. 

She is loving the cooler weather and so am I. 

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!