Southern Coastal Home Landscape

May 17, 2011 by Rickb

We recently visited Stephen and Kristin Patagas, Landscape Architect and Designers home.

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Together they call their design company Hortus Oasis. Visit their website for a look at their extensive body of work.

Southern Coastal Home Landscaping Patagus Florida Friendly Plants

They have a new book, Southern Coastal Home Landscaping, you should check out if you have a home in Florida and enjoy your outdoor spaces and rooms. It is filled with great ideas and technique. The Table of Contents hints at what you will find but only hints as the images and illustrations and the clarity and depth of the ideas are a culmination of their life's work together making great outdoor spaces.

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The Patagus landscape features primarily drought tolerant plants in unirrigated areas and no lawn.

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Long time friend, Randy Knight joined us for the tour. Randy is the Director of Horticulture at The beautiful Polasek Sculpture Gardens and Museum in Winter Park that we will feature in an upcoming post.

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Low maintenance, drought tolerant containers were used to feature their collection of containers and artifacts from Bali, the place where they have drawn much of their inspiration for their design.

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The back yard is filled with raised beds of vegetables, a grape arbor featuring the Southern Home variety and butterfly garden plants.

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That’s the neighbors lawn you see in the backdrop of this turf free property.

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A look inside shows a designers talent and taste for collectables from around the world.

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They are very fond of using Succulents and Bulbine for low maintenance, long lived and drought tolerance.


Lupines? in Florida? Yes Indeed

March 5, 2011 by Rick

Sky-Blue Lupine c floridafriendlyplants.comSky-Blue Lupine c floridafriendlyplants.comSky-Blue Lupine c floridafriendlyplants.comSky-Blue Lupine c floridafriendlyplants.comSky-Blue Lupine c floridafriendlyplants.comSky-Blue Lupine c floridafriendlyplants.com

I captured this Sky-Blue Lupine, Lupinus diffuses across the street from the gate of Sun City Tree Farm where I was meeting J.C. Tort and picking out some olive trees for our office landscape project.

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Rows of beautiful Olives grown on drip irrigation that pulses according to need determined by probes that sense moisture. Olives are drought tolerant and will thrive here as an ornamental. We plant them to remind us of Italy. Such a beautiful place. Olive trees stay relatively small and will provide shade while staying in balance with the structure. Right Plant Right Place. This variety will not produce fruit but they have others that will even in Florida.

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Sun City Tree Farm has won many awards for their environmental practices and stewardship of the land. They have the largest selection and best quality trees that I know of. If you bought a magnolia recently in Florida there is a good chance it was grown at Sun City Tree Farm.

A Few Links on Florida Lupines:

http://www.wildflorida.com/wildlife/plants/Sky-blue_Lupine.php

http://hawthornhillwildflowers.blogspot.com/2010/01/scrub-lupine-lupinus-aridorum.html

http://www.easywildflowers.com/quality/lup.per.htm

http://myfwc.com/getinvolved/Volunteer_Ridge_Rangers_Lupine.asp

http://goo.gl/YtZub

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Florida Friendly Demonstration Gardens - The Discovery Garden

February 19, 2011 by Rick

This week I visited The Discovery Garden at the Hillsborough County Extension Office

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as the Master Gardeners did a spring cleanup and planting.

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It should be ready for prime time Monday but call before you go or check the status on their web site.

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They decided to employ the Pot-in-Pot method for their most colorful plantings of seasonal flowers.

In the Pot-in-Pot containers they have selected Voltage Yellow Osteospermum which is the first truly Florida Friendly Osteospermum. Voltage Yellow is available most of the year at your local Florida Home Depot Garden Centers. As a permanent border they planted Sedum Florida Friendly Gold which is becoming one of the most popular chartreuse groundcovers and combination container plants.

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At the Discovery Garden you can see the 9 principles of Florida Friendly Landscaping in action and learn how they can help you design and maintain a home garden and landscape that is easy to maintain, beautiful and has a positive effect on the Florida environment.

There are many of these similar U of F Demonstration Gardens around the state and much of the funding comes from Florida Yards and Neighborhoods programs and the plants are usually all donated from growers like Riverview Flower Farm.

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Rocky was captured that morning at the Discovery Garden and is ready for transplanting elsewhere.

 

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Design Your Florida Garden for Success

January 7, 2011 by Rick

 

Head over to Florida-Friendly Landscaping before you start your planning process. Use the web to gather images and data and to decide what appeals to you and what is easy to maintain. Determine what will thrive and grow into a planned mature landscape that is in scale with your home.

 

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The University of Florida’s Extension Service and their science based research are the source of the 9 Principles of Florida-Friendly Landscaping. It is helpful to us them and their trusted information and resources.

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The Water Management Districts of Florida provide most of the information you need to plan and implement a successful design. Micro Irrigation is something to consider and it will ensure success when properly installed, operated and maintained. Fortunately that is simple and straightforward.

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Search the web for more videos, blogs, Facebook pages for ideas and design help like this.

Learn the principles garden design and combine them with the 9 Principles of Florida-Friendly Landscaping

Try to get a big picture and then select plants and systems that are Florida Friendly.

Garden Coaches can also be a huge help and inspiration. They can save you many more dollars than you will spend on the trial and error method. You can also go to your Garden Center and get inspiration and prices so you have an idea of what is in season and popular for gardens now.

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Florida Yards and Neighborhoods Plant Selection Guide

December 11, 2010 by Rick

Hot off the press, the new Florida Yards and Neighborhoods Plant Selection Guide.

You will be very impressed with this downloadable publication that shows you in great detail how to design and implement a Florida Friendly Landscape. The experts at the University of Florida Extension Service have combined their talents and years of experience. The links are missing to the numbered EDIS publications for the critical proper planting of trees, turf and landscape plants so you will have to do some further searching on the Home Lawn and Landscape Section of the extensive EDIS Site to complete the implementation of your plan.

I consider this knowledge essential to professionals you may hire and a valuable resource for you to check the credibility of a contractor’s knowledge. Too often folks tend to trust a ‘yardman’ to select and properly install the Right Plant in the Right Place only to later find that the selection was inappropriate.

Bookmark these references and turn your garden into a functional Florida Friendly Landscape. Here are the 9 Principles of Florida Friendly Landscaping.

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Spreading Lantana, Durable Butterfly Garden Groundcover

November 24, 2010 by Rick

Spreading Lantana is available in Purple or Pure White at your Florida Home Depot Garden Centers year round. Find out about it and more at Floridafriendlyplants.com

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Spreading Lantana - Lantana montevidensis blooms best Fall through Spring and is a more prostrate grower than the New Gold and mounding types. This South African species also comes in white and both are hardier to frost and freeze than other Lantanas. Few pests bother it once it is established in a well-drained site. It tolerates salt air and poor sandy soils but, for continuous blooming, fertilize and water it more frequently or just wait for fall when it puts on a spectacular display.

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Categories: Butterfly Garden | 9 Principles of Florida Friendly Landscaping | Cold Hardy Perennial | Butterfly Garden | Cool Season Gardening | Cold Hardy Perennial | Cool Season Gardening
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9 Principles of Florida Friendly Landscapes

September 18, 2010 by Rick

Austin Outdoors has a classy video to help you learn and remember the University of Florida’s 9 principles. Once you have studied them a few times these principles begin to sink into your way of gardening design and the way you decorate and maintain your outdoor rooms and gardens.

 

We have more articles here to help your gardening success with the principles.

 

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American Beautyberry

September 9, 2010 by Rick

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If you live near any wooded or open area, chances are you have volunteer Beautyberry seedlings that have sprouted in your garden periphery. It is one of the natives we recommend for your perennial and butterfly gardens on our Florida Friendly Plants website. Birds drop the seed everywhere so the chances of having them are high. If not, you can poke around in the woods or fence rows and find seedlings just about anywhere to transplant to your perennial border. Here is a link to all the images on the web to help you ID this wonderful native wildflower.

Eat the Weeds writer, Green Dean, has a website filled with information on what you can eat right from the wild. Check him out and bookmark him in case your fridge is looking a little bare or your feel like an eating adventure on your next trip to the forest.

Consider a large bed of Beautyberry to replace thirsty turf. The beautyberry will become a permanent garden plant that only requires an annual layer of oak leaves or other mulch to keep the bed more weed free and self maintaining. Cut the plants back hard in late winter and your garden chores will be reduced and the butterflies and birds will be stopping by for regular visits.

 

You can see Beautyberry on display at the University of Florida’s Teaching Garden in Plant City along with many other native, landscape plants and vegetable garden techniques. Here is the Florida publication on Beautyberry from Dr. Ed Gilman.

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Purple Showers Mexican Petunia, The Sterile One

August 29, 2010 by Rick

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Purple Showers is becoming the most popular perennial in Florida for good reason. It is very Florida Friendly as it grows in wet or dry sites without irrigation, requires no fertilizer, has no pest problems and it attracts butterflies. Sulfur butterflies are a regular visitor to these plants. Purple Showers has double the number of chromosomes as the wild Mexican Petunia. Currently, sterile Purple Showers only comes in one color but Rosanna Freyre, Ph.D. of the University of Florida has figured out a way to breed other sterile forms and colors. In the coming years we will have more choices. Read the last paragraph of this article Breeding Brilliance.

Mexican Petunia with 1 day per week watering in full sun 3 yr old plant after 2010 Jan freeze in August

This is a three year old Purple Showers that receives one day a week watering under the Tampa rules and no fertilizer. It is growing in full sun in a median setting with bark and rock mulches covering plastic. The plant was damaged by the January freezes but recovered quickly. You can see that it is clump forming and many folks point this out as aggressive behavior but that can be a good thing if you are trying to replace turf with larger beds of carefree flowering plants. Want to remove them from and area? Three successive sprayings of roundup at four week intervals will kill the plants. This is the same recommendation for other plants that store a lot of energy in their roots like cattails. More information on Purple Showers. Floridagirl’s blog My Florida Backyard has her take on Mexican Petunias you will enjoy.

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Purple Showers are always available at your Florida Home Depot garden centers where you will find a great selection of dependable Florida Friendly plants at a great price that are guaranteed to grow or you get your money back.

 

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Right Plant, Right Place Makes Gardening Easy

August 15, 2010 by Rick

Austin Outdoor Florida introduces some principles that will save you time by getting it right the first time.

 

Meems has a great presentation on her blog showing Native and Florida-friendly plants working in harmony in her garden. Her use and discussion of Right Plant – Right Place will inspire you in your gardening efforts. For further reading on these topics and reducing the turf areas and their impacts start with reading these posts. 

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