“Lawn out front, flowers in the back. It's the landscaping equivalent of a mullet haircut: Business in the front, party out back.
And it's headed the same way.
More homeowners are giving up on staid front-yard lawns and putting gardens front and center instead. Many choose native and Florida-friendly plants that, placed in the right spot, save time and money, water and fertilizer.
But not everyone's doing it just for the savings.”
Read the full article in this link
Penny Carnathan’s article in The Tampa Tribune Getaway on Sunday
Using Florida Friendly Plants as the article suggests has been a theme of ours for 28 years. Check out this post for a great plant that will add beauty and the savings discussed in the article.
Shrink the Size of Your Lawn Today!
Another low growing drought tolerant Florida Friendly Plant that is a perennial is the Ornamental Sweet Potato. It is a spreader that covers a lot of mulched area and requires minimal care.
One-potato-two-potato-three-potato-four!
Something to entertain you as you ponder the subject… Taking out the Grass is a Gas
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Disney has beautiful gardens that amaze visitors for days but for a combination of beauty and diversity of plants, The Harry P. Leu Gardens is the crown jewel of Orlando and Central Florida.
Just as you wouldn’t miss the Chicago Botanical Gardens in the windy city, you shouldn’t miss this Botanical Mecca if you visit our state. Allow plenty of time, wear comfortable shoes and bring extra batteries for your camera.
Robert Bowden is the director and fellow committee member who showed the FNGLA marketing team the highlights and stunning views and garden rooms.
Click this link to our Facebook Album for more Leu Garden Images.
Leu Gardens features many potted specimens and combination planters. They use the Thriller-Filler-Spiller concept to demonstrate how to make a beautiful container garden you would be happy to have on your porch or patio.
Profusion Zinnias are a disease resistant type on display throughout many sunny spots in the garden. The butterflies were plentiful and highly attracted to these zinnias.
Weddings are a big thing at Leu Gardens. They are booked over a year out. They have excellent facilities for multiple weddings and are located near downtown and near I-4 for easy access.
The largest formal rose garden in the south is a central feature of Leu Gardens.
Photographers flock to this garden to take images of plants and flowers that are used in magazines and books published all over the world. Fashion photographers find many beautiful settings at this garden.
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Saint Bernard's Lily - Anthericum saundersiae. This grass-like plant has long, narrow leaves that are dark green forming a clump with upright arching leaves.
Showy white flowers with yellow stamens persist throughout the year. Give it well drained soil and it grows to 3 feet or less. We have found that if you cut it to the ground every other year it sprouts back rejuvenated and to a similar size quickly. Use it as a 'THRILLER' in the center of a large combination planter for a long lived and trouble free focal plant. Mass plantings are very attractive especially when they are flowering heavily.
Clumps are well behaved and dependable. St Bernard’s Lily can thrive on rainfall alone once it is established. It will grow rapidly and flower more with some irrigation and fertilizer if you feel the need.
Anthericum tolerates a fair amount of shade and will grow as a companion to shade lovers like Impatiens and Persian Shield. Here is a link to the Top 10 Florida Friendly Shade Tolerant Plants.
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In the words from the city’s website …Discover the Beauty
Sunken Gardens is a botanical paradise in the midst of a bustling city. As St. Petersburg's oldest living museum, this 100 year old garden is home to some of the oldest tropical plants in the region.
Unwind as you stroll through meandering paths, lush with exotic plants from around the world. Explore cascading waterfalls, beautiful demonstration gardens, more than 50,000 tropical plants and flowers.
Sunken Gardens provides garden tours, horticultural programs, special events, field trips, weddings, private and corporate rentals. Call 727.551.3102.
Just a stroll through these images gives you ideas of how to add Florida Friendly tropical color to your home garden. Extensive use of butterfly attractive plants make this a haven for the flying flowers. I highly recommend a visit and you ca refuel at one of our favorite restaurants just up the street, Red Mesa.
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Persian Shield – Strobilanthes dyerianus, is native to Myanmar and survives as a long lived easy to care for perennial in the right place in your garden. It is one of the Top 20 Florida Perennials and very suited to our subtropical climate and usually pest and problem free. It is nearly always available at Florida Home Depot Garden centers in the south and after freezing weather chances pass in north Florida. Not more than 3 hours of direct sun and less if you can fit it in a shady place. It likes Florida’s heat and humidity. Too much moisture and shade and it will stretch tall and tend to fall over in the heavy summer winds we get with afternoon storms. Pinch and the plant will stay full and bushy. To Pinch or Not to Pinch…
In South Florida, this Persian Shield barely noticed the few frosty nights. In central Florida, 80-90% of the tops were frozen and in North Florida I have not heard that so many survived this unusually cold winter.
Persian Shield is a dependable THRILLER component to containers designed to accent a shady part of your garden or patio.
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In this link on the History of Mona Lavender from Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in South Africa you will see all the effort that went into developing this spectacular hybrid. Technically speaking, it is the result of a difficult crossing and selecting from thousands of plants. It was a long and arduous process of hand pollinating, germinating, growing and then selecting the best performers with the best looking plant and flowers. The tricky part was they were using a species that bloomed in the short days of the year – a winter bloomer - and crossing it with a species that bloomed in the long days of the year – a summer bloomer. Well it wasn’t that simple because Roger Jaques made crosses and back crosses many times and others have not been able to duplicate this combining of incompatible species. Florida gardeners are the main beneficiary of all this effort. Turns out Mona Lavender blooms year round here when protected from frost. It acts as a tropical perennial when the top is frosted as it quickly resprouts from the roots when the weather warms.
For this reason it is an ideal candidate the Pot-in-Pot garden. 
It was a joy to have them blooming in my garden all winter. Pot-in-Pot Updated link. On the many nights when we had freezing temperatures I was able to lift the pots and put them in my garage. Mona Lavender is the perfect plant to use in rotations in your Pot-in-Pot in a container gardening since it flushes with flowers so many times throughout the year. Rotate it with another bloomer that fits your scheme when it has too many spent flowers. Pull the pot and pinch it back and in 2-4 weeks you can put it back in your container garden. Look for Mona Lavender in the VIGORO perennial pots at these Florida Home Depot garden centers.
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If you are planning your garden and imagining wonderful gardens you have seen you will enjoy some of the knot garden images in the slideshow below. Perhaps you just want to get a little formal and add and edge to your garden. SausEdgeTM is the perfect choice for a cost effective border that is easy and quick to install and maintain. They are available at these Florida Home Depots.
See this Knot Garden Pruning Video.
and the SausEdgeTM video…
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This Florida native plant is in the Iris family and is so drought tolerant that it thrives along our sunny roadsides, embankments and ditches throughout the state. It survives when submerged in ditches that stay filled with water for months at a time during our rainy season. It will grow in partial shade and spreads by reseeding and can easily be divided. You can also mow it as it survives the DOT mowing it gets just fine.
The heaviest bloom is in the early spring however it does bloom again less spectacularly in the fall.
Blooming is about 4-6 weeks late this year and it is putting on a grand show right now that should last 3-4 more weeks then the wild phlox and native tickseed will put on the next roadside show.
Blue-eyed Grass is available today in these Florida Home Depot garden centers. Try some and I am sure you will enjoy this long lived native wildflower for many years to come.
Use Blue-eyed Grass in place of thirsty turf as it never needs more than rain water to survive. It is well adapted to survive without fertilizer. You can also use it as the primary plant in a wildflower garden and sow phlox, tickseed, blanket flower and milkweed among them. These wildflowers do not require water or fertilizer either but need lots of sun to flower their best. Butterflies will dance happily in your garden when you plant these wildflower combinations.
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There is always something special happening at Fairchild. Last spring I took these images. I always get ideas of how to use Florida Friendly Plants when I visit the gardens. New species and hybrids on display in unique combinations get my design mind in gear. They display plants in colorful arrangements that are interesting to the viewer at all levels. Groundcovers and foreground plants draw your eyes forward and down the path. There is a picture of a new vignette with every few steps you take so don’t go without your camera. I wonder what new plants I will find on my visit at the end of March? Look for them here or plan your own trip.
Go through these Power Points to see some flowering trees at Fairchild Gardens and some new and interesting plants that will be coming to a Florida nursery near you soon.
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This years program moves to The Hillsborough Community College Plant City Campus to accommodate more participants and to see the University of Florida Teaching Gardens. Excellent speakers will answer all your gardening questions. Learn the latest on safe insect control from the Dr. Jim Price and ask him about the Jerry Baker and snake oil formulas that make extravagant claims.
Florida Friendly Landscaping TM 101 Program
8:30 – 9:00 am Registration and refreshments
9:00 – 9:30 am Recent Landscape Regulations - State Bill 2080 (Lynn Barber)
9:30 – 10:15 am Alternative Vegetable Gardening (Dr. Sydney Park Brown)
10:15 – 10:30 am Break
10:30 – 11:15 am Bats and Snakes (Dr. Steve Johnson)
11:15 – 12:00 pm Safe Solutions for Insect management (Dr. Jim Price)
12:00 – 12:15 pm Green Learning – Local Educational Opportunities
(Lynn Barber, Erin Givens & Matt Freedman, Dr. Sydney Park Brown)
12:15 pm Questions & Answers
Last years pictures of the Teaching Garden.
Growing Green- April 24, 2010 Click to see who is going and sign up.
Time:8:30AM Saturday, April 24th
Location:Hillsborough Community College Plant City Campus
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