Wow! I'm impressed, Chaz! What a beautiful place! I can just imagine all the back-breaking work to get it from nothing to that! Irrigation would be nice, but there's always soaker hoses and hose reels and dragging hoses around and... irrigation would really be nice! LOL!

It's a lovely sanctuary... you must be very proud of all the hard work, and I bet you enjoy your gardens every chance you get!

Hello Chaz and welcome! Nice pics and OMG, I'm in love with your garden. I particularly adore that pond and have been wishing for one here in US for a long time. Is that a canna in the center of the pond? And is it hardy in your zone?
I used to have a collection of "water plants" in the Philippines. They are so trouble-free there requiring only sun and of course water :-). I have but 1 water plant that I grow and treasure now. It reminds me of HOME and the good old days of growing tropical plants. I propagate it from cuttings and give to my dear friends. We called this plant Horsetail in the PI. (Sorry soultan, I know you do not like horses)

Thanks for sharing!

jodik, mariava7, et al...
I actually had a mason come in to work on the terrace walls, I'm petrified of wasps and wanted a mortared wall so they couldn't nest in the spaces between stones. So yes it was back-breaking getting all the plants in, but the real heavy work, I had help with. I've been using the soaker hoses, Once things are established it shouldn't take much additional water, I hope.
Most of the plants are from cuttings and seed, so last year it was kind of empty, this year it exploded to what you see in the photo.
Mariava, the plant you see in the middle of the pond is a cardinal flower, lobelia. I also have an elephant ear in there as well. It's a small pond, 170 gals only and I have a few goldfish in there that have to overwinter in the basement, the pond is too shallow for them to be safe. We get cold here! Installing the stream and small waterfall was fun. Lots of yelling LOL! Any photos of the horsetail? I have an oxygenator in the pond called mares tail, wonder if its the same? (soultan, I'm afraid of horses!)I grow my canna in pots and the ground here, they are not hardy in my zone. This year was very disappointing for canna here, they all got some kind of virus and looked horrible, I won't plant them again for a couple of years to try and let the virus die off if it's in the soil.
Cindeea, Thanks for the "you already have." not many other forums on here are as friendly.
Happy gardening to all, and getting back to hipps, my minerva is pushing up a stalk!
Chaz

Chaz,

My garden is not as spectacular as yours. I have a lot of trees covering the view. It is really hard to capture it on picture. Especially that it is also in different levels. Even the two extra flower and vegetable bed are in two different levels. It is a nice sight when you are here, and actually you feel like you are in a forest, but it does not look good on photos. It is a very modern house, so the raised amaryllis bed is square with inside irrigation system and a bench on the sides, so anyone can sit down and enjoy the weather, sun, Toto, flowers, amaryllis. There is another thread where I recently posted some pictures. You can look it up. It is still temporary, since the house is still under construction. Next year, everything will look quite different.
And we will also have some gold fish in the back with a 12+ feet waterwall falling into their container. That will be something spectacular!

Here you go Chaz...This is what I or we call in the PI Horsetail. It goes where the amaryllises go. Spring/Summer...outside. Fall/Winter...inside. It gets fed with what the Ammies get too. Very easy to propagate for it makes babies right in the stems. It makes such a wonderful houseplant too. Is it the same as your Mares' tail?

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Thank you all for the complements on the garden. I'm very proud of it and don't get the chance to show it off much. After I heard about some thefts in the miami area after garden tours, I've decided to keep mine off the tour route up here. I live in a city and am pretty leary of folks walking around the garden if I don't know them. From street level you actually can't view my gardens, they are below street and patio grade. Keeps it nice and quiet back there too. LOL, comes from growing up in Brooklyn NY!

mariava, that horsetail is not what I have, my stays submerged and sprouts leaves along the stem. Looks a bit like a bottle brush. I don't have a photo of it and it's gone dormant or dead already!
I have seen that particular horsetail yes in PI, but also in the ground in Miami it can get pretty invasive I'd keep it in the pot for sure! If I had room for it I'd have one here in a second!
Have a great day all.
Chaz

Hey Chaz! Yes, this one can be submerged too in water. In PI it would produce this tiny cone right on the tope of the stem. If grown under really bright light, all those stems go straight upward, no lanky growth like this one. This horsetail hasn't received the best care it needs. From poor lighting, to drying out, overpotted (as you can see)and exposed to light frost but still survived. They make very good cut foliage too. You been to PI?

One more water plant that I miss and love is the Papyrus.

Mariava
I was a flight attendant for almost 15 years, I've been all over the world. Lived in Jeddah, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Tel Aviv, and up and down the east coast, with a short stint in the CA desert. I did mostly odd types of flights, religious pilgrimages, evacuations, military movements for various governments, where ever there was a war or disaster of some kind we were there. In addition we wound up in places that were awe inspiring, the many islands of PI, the jungle of Equatorial New Guinea, Victoria falls in Africa. I miss my travels very much, and would love to do my food shopping in Paris again, but it's nice to finally put down roots.
I've never been successful with the true papyrus, but I have one of the smaller versions alive for about 7 years now.

Maria, I am falling in love with water plants. I made 2 water containers for my pool deck. I wish I could find that horsetail around here. It would add a nice tall element.
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cindeea
I've seen the horsetail in Miami and FLL, never at a nursery though. Be sure you keep it in a container it will spread quite a bit. I believe its also called horsetail rush, or horsetail reed.
Maria, i've seen the little black cones on them, very interesting.
I'm sure I'll eventually wind up with one. If I remember correctly the stems are hollow?
Chaz

Papyrus was growing in the lawn in our earlier house like weed. I had planted them all over the place so I could save them from the mower... But they kept coming back to the same place...

Chaz...Yes the stem is hollow and have these nodes which makes you wonder how it could produce babies from it.

Cindeea...Don't look for it. I have one prepared for your box. Shoot!!! It was supposed to be a surprise because I know your into water gardening. I just had to tell you so you won't buy one. It will just be a baby but I'm sure it will grow fast in your zone.

Would you like one too Chaz? Now I have to get a map and look up where MA is....Oh, now I know. Brrrrrrr...It's way up there in the North East. Is it safe to send live plants in your climate now? If not, I will hold one baby for you and ship it spring time.

Soultan...Don't you just adore that Papyrus? It is so graceful for me. They make wonderful cut foliage which we use in Ikebana arrangements. The hairlike top growth is cut to shape like a pom-poms and blends so well with heliconia flowers. Two of that and a "Sexy Pink" heliconia flower in a tall vase is just perfect. Didn't you get some rhizomes from it to plant in your new house? Just like the horstail, you will have to contain it's growing space.

Mariava
Thank you so much for the offer. It's not safe to ship plants to my area right now. It would sit in a cold foyer all day until I got home, and would freeze. I'll take you up on your offer in the spring time! I'd love to put some in the pond for the summer, then take it in with the rest of the plants and it will never be noticed as a newbie! LOL
After all the warm places I've lived in, sometimes I still can't believe I've fallen in love with this city.
Chaz

Maria, Papyrus is so graceful to me. Like strong tendrils reaching out to the sunlight. I cannot believe you are preparing this package for me. I can't wait!!
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Hi Everyone,
Welcome Chas. Your garden is amazing! And so you should be proud of it. Your hippies are beautiful too.
It was so nice to see the snow through your windows, because I'll never get to see it throught mine! (I'm in Australia and it doesn't snow in Melbourne)

What is a papyrus?

I did not bring anything from the old house. We are still under construction. But we will have a lot of papyrus under the waterfall in the back yard where the gold fish will live. I can't wait to be over with construction, and actually start beautifying the place permanently.

Ohhhh...that would be lovely Soultan. Cindeea and I will be swimming under that fall when we visit you...lol!

Hi Dizzy...Papyrus is ...ummmm a water plant too I guess. It can live on soil too but likes a lot of water. It's hard to describe this plant. It produces this long lender stalk/stem up to maybe 5-6 feet tall and at the very end are around 12" hairlike growth.
I am preparing your stuff for the Teddy Bear too. I have a Rozetta, Dancing Queen and Supreme Garden bulblets seperated for you already. More will be seperated as I repot the sleeping bulbs. Let's give the bulblets some time to root/establish so they will have a better chance to survive the trip. I have some seedlings of cybister crosses but am not sure if they would be ready for the teddy bear's tummy. I was going to seperate a La Paz bulblet for you but it decided to put up a scape. I cannot disturb it's roots now. Maybe on the next shipment if the first one will be successful.

Dablo...You always amaze me. Now you have palms too. Aren't you interested with pretty girls? or Playstation?

Soultan, you keep saying 'we' do you have family living with you? Is your home new construction? Would love to see pics.

Oh, just that the word papyrus sounds like an exoctic fruit or something.
Thank you so much Maria, just the thought of getting some of the named varieties is making me very exited, let alone some doubles and cybister crosses! Now I just have to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Papyrus mean paper, really. But it does rather sound like Papaya or some other exotic fruit; doesn't it?

Here is a nice picture of the papyrus plant from which the ancient Egyptians made the papyrus rolls, the paper on which they wrote. The Library of Alexandria was full of these papyrus rolls when it burned down. Most of the ancient plays and philosophers' works were written on papyrus, then some monks scraped them over and painted chronicles over them. With new technology, laser, and x-ray, these old writings can be still found in the fibers of the papyrus, so these writings are discovered lately left and right, to my delight. See, how interesting a little plant can be?

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Papyrus

Cindee, you asked for it, so you bear the consequences. You will get a lot of pictures of the new house. Completely new. There was only one wall standing and the original foundation that we kept so it would be considered remodelling instead of new construction. And at this point, the house is built so it could accomodate my flower mania.
Yes. I have my new family with me in this house. So that is the we. And Toto is part of the family.

Soultan that photo is beautiful!! I want to be leaning back in a row boat sipping on cool drink dangling my fingers in the water. YES please do show photos of your home.

Soultan!

That is indeed gorgeous. I adore water gardens!

My Papyrus doesn't live in a water garden, but it has gotten huge over the years. It requires a lot of work to prune in the winter, but comes back bigger every year.

It is a hand me down from my grandmother. I guess you can say that it has sort of gotten out of hand. It's much bigger than what you see here.

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Wow! That's awesome, Elizabeth! What a specimen! Man, all you guys with high zone numbers can grow such cool stuff... I really want to move south, just to gain gardening zones!!

I guess there are good points to having a cold, dormant period every year... I can grow really nice tulips and other bulbs... I don't know... it hardly seems like a good trade off! :-)

Yes, Jodi!

I adore my subtropicals. They are still in bloom and will be for a couple more weeks. Cindee is the lucky one, with no freezes or frosts!

Unfortunately, some of these beauties can be quite invasive. I have seen some of the invasives in the logees.com catalog, and I sometimes wonder if anyone ever buys them.

My Papyrus is starting to look straggly right now, but I wouldn't be without it!

There are others that grow too big, but I wouldn't be without them. They bring me too much joy!

BTW, I have visited gardens 'up north' in June, and I am quite envious at the glorious displays. So, yep! It is a trade-off.

Still, if I were to move anywhere, it would be further south...

What a wild tropical look you have there, Elizabeth! I think Papyrus is so stately, yet flirty. I have both reg size and mini papyrus. The mini is a bit more lacy. I will happily share my tropical photos with you in Jan and Feb when you are longing for the HOT look.

If I didn't have my indoor plants to care for during the winter months, I would have moved south ages ago! I don't think I could live through a season without some kind of greenery, even if it is only a few houseplants.

This winter will be rather busy for me... I now have all these bulbs that will be blooming in succession, and I'll be doing a lot of pollinating... and hopefully, I'll be collecting the resulting seeds from some of them... and I'll be busy with orchids and all my other newly acquired plants... plus, the research necessary to keep them all in top shape! A busy winter, indeed!

Then, there's next year's plant orders to put together... one of my favorite things to do when it's cold outside!

There may come a time when I'll need a fix of tropical pictures, Cindee! Keep some handy! :-)

elizabeth,

It was your kind of "papyrus" I had all over the lawn in the earlier house. I am not convinced it is papyrus, but I really don't know it's real name. In Hungarian, it is Water Palm, since it likes to sit in water all the time, and can even survive without soil, just in water. Does anyone know what kind of papyrus it is, or what its official name is?

I don't know the real or scientific name. We call elizabeth's plant "Umbrella Plant" in PI. It is different from the egyptian papyrus (soultan's pic). The papyrus has hairlike top growth and has hollow 10-12cm cir. stems.

My dwarf Papyrus is also called "Cyperus Isocladus", if that helps.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dwarf papyrus

Sorry these photos are so large, still learning here!
Dizzy,
I've included another picture of a cold winter site for you, these icicles form almost every year outside my plant room. It just makes me feel warmer sitting inside looking out on this! These photos were from last winter, we haven't had our first big snowfall for this year yet, just a couple of freezes.
Of course If global warming were to eliminate this here, my selfish side would not complain. Although I know there are a lot of people who would suffer and I'd feel bad for them. But I really am not a big fan of digging the car out to get around! LOL

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And here's a blurry one of a strictocardia vine blooming, it bloomed from Late November until june for me. But when the sun would warm the leaves a bit they smelled like skunk/cannabis! not nice in a small sun room!

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Great photo; just what I was talking about earlier. Imagine all those lovely and exotic plants growing inside!

hopflower,
It is one of the things that keep me sane through the winter. I love this area, and I really think having this sunroom is one of the reasons I've been able to deal with the long winter. Plus the fact that I actually get to sit out there during the day when the sun is out. Don't think I could deal without seeing the sunlight all winter like some of the folks here who work in offices without windows.
BTW, here's what the strictocardia flower looks like!
Not a hipp or amaryillis, but it makes me happy! It is a winter flowerer and a huge vine, if it's happy it'll grow 20 feet or more in a season, I've only kept a small cutting of it this year, It was just too large. I will miss it though!

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Chaz, you made me shiver! WOW I haven't seen winter like that in a long time. The strictocardia flower is beautiful! Rich vibrant colors with delicate petals. Very girly flower. Thanks for sharing.

Good lord, Chazparas, I should imagine you would NOT be able to survive in an office without windows. How horrible; even the thought makes me shiver.

Cindee, I have not seen winter like that sinde I moved to the US. And glad I am that I have not... I can completely live without all the nuisances of snow, subzero temperatures and murderous winter winds...

Thanks Chaz for the great pics. They cooled me down just looking at them! We had our first hot day here, it was somewhere in the 30's (celsius) So it was nice to see your icy cold photos.

I could not imagine what it would be like to have the everything covered in snow and ice for a few months of the year. I suppose skiing and ice skating would be a common activity for you?
Skiing here is a very expensive activity, you have to travel to the mountains, book hotels and hire ski gear.
Ice skating is only ever done at an indoor ice skating rink.
And our Christmas' are NEVER white! Always stinking hot!

Dizzy,

I come from Hungary. From middle of November till end of February: snow, cold, frost, freezing, storms, ice, etc... I have never skied in my life and never skated. :o)

Dizzy, I skied once, over 20 years ago. I fell and never got back on them again. Moving that quickly down hill with lots of trees on either side is not something I enjoy doing! LOL, it is also very expensive to ski here too. I have to travel at least 1 hour to the mountains and the lift tickets are just too costly. I also haven't been on skates in many years but at my weight now a fall would cause a small tremor in the earth!
I'm not fond of having the earth covered in snow or the months of freezing and sometimes sub-freezing weather we have. BUT, some of the plants we grow here need these cold temps to thrive and right now I'm not satisfied to look at them just in photos. When I'm much older I'll probably mover further south again.
But not a place to warm for Peonies and Lilacs, now if there is someplace where I can grow them and Hippeastrums outdoors year round that's were I want to be!

I grew up in Michigan and until I was 26 and transferred to SW Florida to run a business, I never knew any different than blasting white windy freezing winters and grey skies 9 months out of the year. I did enjoy all kinds of winter sports growing up. Now I enjoy fishing, swimming, coctails at the pool in January and gardening year round. I went back to Michigan the first Christmas after moving here. My blood had thinned already and I spent the whole time inside by the fireplace. I told my parents they would have to visit me for Holidays from then on. So my Dad retired and they moved to Florida to join me!

In my youth I enjoyed winter... sledding, snowmobiling, ice skating, making snowmen! As I got older, winter became more of a pain... scraping ice and snow off the car, shoveling driveways and sidewalks, driving in the snow and bad weather, and freezing all the time!

Now, I just plain hate the cold weather, and the only benefit I can find is the dormant period my gardens get so the bulbs and other flowers can re-charge for the next season. If I didn't have grandchildren up here, and the old man would move with me, I'd go south... Cindee south! All the way to Florida!

There's not a lot to enjoy about winter, although, fresh fallen snow at midnight when the air is still is lovely...

OK Take your heads out of the snowbank everyone...here's some more Papryus pics I took this afternoon.
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OK I ain't been drinking anything stronger than a Mocha Cappucino and Bud Light. This dwarf papyrus photo is psychedelic!

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You are correct!

In our local community, it is called 'Umbrella Palm', as well as many other names.

It is not easy to divide because the rhysomes are so thick and condensed.

It is actually (I have been told), Cyperus involucratus

It is a lot of work to maintain it, even though it is in soil, but I love it! Memories of my grandmother...

Here is a link that might be useful: Umbrella Papyrus

elizabeth jb: why memories of your grandmother? Was she fond of it or did she grow it?

Cindee,

The dwarf papyrus picture is interesting, because the machine was focusing on the water's surface instead of the plants'heads.

Elizabeth,

The Umbrella Papyrus is the one that was all over our lawn last year, and I could not even plant all of them away from harm's way (lawn mower), because there were so many. And they just kep on coming back, and every time the lawn mower went over them, they were the fastest growing back. I had no problem with them being transplanted. It really easily multiplies by seed and you can create little plants by placing a head on water upside down. Little plants will appear shortly.

Soultan, You are a HOOT!

Indeed! When I received the small piece of plant from my Mom, she told me it was an umbrella palm. I had no clue other than that as to the name of the plant.

Then, there was a disabled person in NC that wrote me and told me the actual name. I lost my hard drive and lost those emails, and I hated it that I did not record the name somewhere.

I believe it is actually 'Cyperus involucratus'. Every winter, it is a chore to cut the deciduous branches and haul them to the back of the acre to be burned.

The 'bed' has gotten too large. I have removed some and given them to friends, but it is quite a chore because the roots are like ginger roots, only bigger and thicker. You really need strong arms and an axe to cut off sections.

I must do that this year because they are taking over other plants in the area.

Oh! I learned at Master Gardener training about growing the seeds by placing them upside down in water, but I never tried that because they multiply so well on their own.

Cindee, I have the gigantic version of yours in a huge pot in my greenhouse. Next year, I plan to try to move it to my gardens. It is so much more delicate.

I had a miniature one, but I lost it. One day, I will get another...

They are all very fascinating!

Hopflower, the umbrella papyrus brings fond memories of Elizabeth's grandmother because........=)

"It is a hand me down from my grandmother. I guess you can say that it has sort of gotten out of hand. It's much bigger than what you see here. "

Thank YOU!

paxfleur: Thank you. I missed that somewhere!

If you knew how precious this plant is in Hungary... it is hard to keep it in there... And I am just running it over here witht he lawnmower... Where did my sense of value disappear?