Neighbours talking over the garden gate has long been a tradition. They share gardening tips, complain about the weather and pests yet are ever eager to discuss their gardens. That is what I had in mind when creating this blog. So stop by my garden gate to find out the latest happenings in my garden.
Happy Gardening!
Garden Gnome
"All my life through, the new sights of Nature made me rejoice like a child." ~ Madame Marie Curie"
Theme parks are full of ideas that can be scaled down for use in the home garden. A waterfall is always a welcomed addition to any home garden water feature. Pictured is a larger waterfall at Busch Gardens that could easily be scaled down for the home garden. It's it lovely?
When we first visited the resort where we ended up buying a vacation home I thought the cutesy warning signs about not feeding or antagonizing the alligators were meant to add a bit of humour. By the end of that first trip in 2009 I realized the alligators were very much real. We bought in March of 2010 but didn't see our new vacation home until May that year. During that time period we had a lot of opportunities to see alligators in and around our resort. Gators for the most part will ignore humans providing they haven't been feed and aren't provoked. My husband has been rather close to a few gators on the golf course and since our resort is filled with numerous good sized ponds, gators are a very common sight. I've managed to get a lot of great photos and videos of gators from the safety of the golf cart and car. Those in our community with houses backing onto these ponds have been told they should not feed the gators. This of course brings in a whole new element to gardening especially for those homes on the ponds. As you can see from this photo taken at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida alligators are rather large beasts. The largest in our resort is about 8 feet long so that's a good sized gator. They can out run a human running a straight line but I'm not about to test that theory out.
As we were wandering through Busch Gardens I couldn't help but notice the Powder Puff Plant (Calliandra haematocephala). The leaves reminded me of Mimosa (sensitive fern) so I just had to touch them. They don't fold up like Mimosa does but they were still quite pretty. The Powder Puff Plant was planted to form a barrier between the walking paths and inner workings of the park so used as camouflage or privacy screening. The plant is grown for its flower heads that are long red stamens blooming in winter. The plant is drought and somewhat cold tolerant making it another plant to consider for our new gardens if we move.
Happy Gardening!
During our visit to Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida I noticed the effective use of bamboo as a living screen and bamboo sticks as camouflage screening. Bamboo grows quickly and rather tall making it ideal for use as a living privacy screening not only from side views but also views from taller adjacent buildings. It can help as a sound barrier as well. There are even cold hardy bamboo varieties that will withstand harsher winter conditions. Bamboo grows from rhizomes so has a spreading tendency that can become invasive so it is best to use some type of containment to keep the plant from spreading too much.
Bamboo sticks can be used to camouflage an ugly chain-link fence or even the side of a building to give a more natural look in the garden. Pictured is a camouflaged tall chain-link fence surrounding a construction site at Busch Gardens. I thought it was a nice solution that gave a nice feel while hiding the mess of the construction from visitors. If you look closely between the bamboo sticks and the chain-link fence you can see a thin mesh material that was used to reduce visibility through any gaps left by the bamboo sticks. I really liked the overall effect! In the home garden this type of screening would be easy to duplicate. It could be softened further by using the screen to support flowering vines.
I was totally amazed at the intricate topiaries at Busch Gardens. They were massive! This giraffe topiary was true to life size. It must take a lot of work to keep these topiaries looking as nice as they do. Aren't they impressive?
The one thing I've noticed is cacti seem to be a plant of choice in home gardens where our vacation home is located. We have an agave catus with several babies in our front garden there. I've been looking for other cacti that will do well there. This impressive cactus caught my attention at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. I will have to find out the name of it.
I was amazed at the details that the arborists were able to create on the many large topiaries at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. All of the detail comes from the effective use of the placement of the plants used followed by the meticulous maintenance to keep the topiaries at their prime. The topiaries are just so impressive, don't your think?
Arbors are a traditional way of providing support for climbing plants while providing a shady spot to sit or walk. In urban settings they are often used as part of the entrance to the garden complete with a small gate. Home gardeners use them grow grapes or other vining plants while landscapers and homeowners often use arbors to create natural shading on patios and decks.
We walked under an impressive arbor covering a good stretch of pathway at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. The arbor was a simple series of arched supports with wood slats attached. Unfortunately it was not as shady as it would be during the summer months as it was winter when we visited. This arbor would be extremely easy to duplicate on a smaller scale in the home garden using a series of pvc supports similar to building a garden hoop house.
During the first trip we made to Busch Gardens in December, I took a picture of this gorgeous yellow flower. Hurrying to catch up to the others I neglected to take a picture of the tag but I was sure I knew what the flower was so wasn't too worried. Going through the pictures to edit some of them for my blogs I was sure I knew the flower but the name continued to be tucked safely in the recesses of my mind. Thanks to the the Florida Botanical Gardens website I was able to identify the flower as Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae). The funny thing is I knew it was something to do with birds and all that kept popping into my mind was 'parrot'. The boat shaped bracts hold orange or white sepals and a blue tongue resembling birds. Isn't it unique?
Happy Gardening!
Bush Gardens has many fine examples of large topiaries. All of them are quite impressive to say the least. It is amazing how the arborist uses a combination of various plants to create the desired effect in the finished topiary. This huge butterfly topiary was near the pond with all of the California flamingoes and tucked back far enough to prevent getting closer to. Isn't is simply gorgeous?
Continuing on with sharing a few pictures of our visiting Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida here is a picture of a gorgeous Gardenia with the information tag. I mentioned that many of the plant species within the park had information tags. Each tag gives the common and scientific name as well as a few details about the plant. The Gardenia (Gardenia augusta) is an evergreen shrub that presents masses of fragrant white flowers in April and May. It is a member of the coffee family. Gardenia is somewhat drought and cold trolerant. It prefers full sun to part shade. This shrub would be an ideal addition to our vacation home garden! Hiding behind the trunk of the Gardenia is one of the many birds that frequent the gardens hoping to be fed by visitors.
Visiting these types of parks can be very informative for the home gardener. It is difficult to picture what a mature plant, shrub or tree will look like from a picture in a book or online. More importantly is is difficult to gauge the mature size. Quite often a home gardener will plant a tree or shrub only to find out it is too big for the intended location when it reaches maturity.
During our recent vacation to the sun and warmth of Florida our friends who vacation there for the entire winter (lucky them) took us sightseeing. One of our stops was Hollis Garden. This beautiful 1.2 acre garden that was donated to Lakeland is located on the south side of Lake Mirror Park in Lakeland. It is home to thousands of flowers, trees, shrubs, vegetables and other vegetation. There are beautiful fountains, waterfalls and grottoes. As we wandered through the garden I could not help but marvel at the not only the vast array of vegetation but how neat and tidy everything looked. This park must take a considerable amount of maintenance. The sun felt wonderful. I could have spent the entire day it that garden! Happy Gardening!
I am a wife, mother and grandma who enjoys the many aspects of homemaking. A variety of interests and hobbies combined with travel keep me active. They reflect the importance of family, friends, home and good food.
in Tampa, Florida I noticed the effective use of bamboo as a living screen and bamboo sticks as camouflage screening. Bamboo grows quickly and rather tall making it ideal for use as a living privacy screening not only from side views but also views from taller adjacent buildings. It can help as a sound barrier as well. There are even cold hardy bamboo varieties that will withstand harsher winter conditions. Bamboo grows from rhizomes so has a spreading tendency that can become invasive so it is best to use some type of containment to keep the plant from spreading too much. 
