Hope this works
{{gwi:640658}}From House with Shingles & Backyard

For the house or the garden?

For the house, I would consider shutters.

Rainy will show up here sooner or later. She lives in FL also. And will be the best source for you.

Save that pile of broken brick. I promise the day will come when you will want them.
When you first move in to a new house it can be overwhelming.
Look up lasagne gardening. This will save you a lot of digging. I went from 90% grass to just grass paths in about 5 months. It takes a lot more water for grass than for shrubs and perennials.

Jan 13, 2008

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Feb. 2008

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July 2008

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Aug. 30, 2008

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Oct. 2008

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All the plants were new, with the exception of the dwarf yaupan hollies and a couple geraniums.

Flowerlady will give you some wonderful ideas, as Kathy said. Meanwhile, for a coastal cottage garden, you might use Gingers, elephant ears, Cast Iron plant, Tecoma stans, Strelitzia, and Cannas, all perennial for you. One or two big pieces of limestone would look swell inside your circle.

California poppies are not just for the West Coast, and easy to grow from seed planted in the fall. Very cottagey.

Here's a link to one of my web sites, featuring some annuals that grow well in sandy soil.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: Annuals for Sandy, Sunny Spots

An old tradition is to paint the porch ceiling light blue. This keeps wasts from building nests. I know it works as I did that at my former house.

Sorry if I hijacked your post. I just wanted you to be aware of how fast things can happen.

Kathy

I need all the help I can get. I don't know what the names of flowers with the exception of the VERY basics.
I should tell you the front of my house gets the blazing afternnon sun. It faces west.
I am getting shutters.

You could also consider a french provencal/mediterranean style garden, which you see along the Cote D'Azur and the coast down to Italy...

This is a famous Australian landscaper's interpretation of the look for a waterside garden here - that bed with the palm tree in your photos made me think of it....there's a similar one here with lavender around it..great for hot areas and low maintenance.

Here is a link that might be useful: Paul Bangay's garden style

very pretty .I love Lavender had it in my other house.

Try some plantation shutters or hurricane shutters, and accent your house in bold paint colors typical of coastal homes: coral pinks, pale blue, sage green, sun-washed yellow. Use aged fixtures in bronze or copper. Put ceiling fans on the porch. Use accessories made of blown glass or seashells in your garden and home exterior. Plant plenty of tropical hibiscus and cannas in your gardens!

Agaves (in the ground or in terracotta urns), Oleanders, Yuccas and Saw Palmettos would all grow really well near the ocean and look great too.

As others have pointed out, Flowerlady will be able to help you the most, as she also lives in Florida. But I just wanted to throw in my two cents as well. Much that I love lavender, I'm not absolutely sure whether you'll be able to grow it easily in your Florida climate. Again, Flowerlady should know and I leave it to her to comment further.

Looking at your porch columns I think they cry out for climbers - bougainvillias would be my choice. They are not what people think of immediately when they think cottage, but they are such a pretty vine that should do well for you and provide you with months of color. They come in many colors as well and take the sun with no problem.

If you'd like to grow roses, I suggest you do a little research on old teas, chinas and noisettes - I would start you off with Crepuscule, Madame Alfred Carriére, Mutabilis, Lady Hillingdon, Francis Dubreuil, and the Austin rose Jude The Obscure (this is just for starters :-)). There's an Antique Roses forum here at gardenweb where you can get detailed help on those. There's also a rose database at www.helpmefind.com/roses where you can get descriptions and photos of roses of all types. Again, Flowerlady grows many roses in her garden and she will be able to comment on those that do well for her.

Good luck with your new home and garden, seems like a big task.

Eduarda

I would ring that palm with 'KnockOut' roses and line the curved drive opposite with them as well. Lavender would be lovely, but may not like the humidity of Florida so much.

The palm and the KnockOut roses would go well with all/any plants suggested. I would put a couple of "Peggy Martin" roses on those posts by the door, (or Cl. Pinkie), for the blessings that they are both thornless, and beautiful climbing roses.

If you have a problem with KnockOut close to the ocean, you could grow rugosa roses. They are extremely tough, very tolerant of salt spray, and have a heavenly fragrance. They do have thorns, however.

You can also work with seeds to fill in with the roses and palms. For very little money, you can have a beautiful cottage garden, and replace the annuals with perennials as you go.

Good Luck!

~janie

Great ideas. I do have some hibiscus that I think are still alive and hydranga on the north side of the house.the shrubs in the middle of the circle are sick Indian hawthornes that will be ripped out.

My neighbor has bright hello shutters and across the street are blue. I have threatened by DH with coral pink shutters.

I love the idea of containers.

In the Paul Bangay link that tracyc provided, slides 1, 2 & 12 are bougainvillea climbing over the front of a house. Slide 5 shows geraniums (pelargoniums) in a container. Geraniums are great for containers in the sun. I've never seen lavender growing in Florida. That doesn't mean that it won't. A Master Gardener in my county grows it in gravel in a raised bed because of the humidity. I think salvias would be a suitable substitute while you experiment with one to see if it will grow in your garden.

I am posting a few pics to help you ID some of the suggestions made here, in the Gallery and here's a link.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: Subtropical Plant List, a start

I don't know if this is a coastal look but if I lived in FL I would love to have some easy-care fruit trees like fig and other semi-tropical edibles.
And since FL has warm nights, I'd put in some night-blooming flowers like angel's trumpet/Brugmansia.
You might see if your library has Landscaping with Fruits & Vegetables by Fred Hagy. Hagy is from FL; lots of ideas in it.

If you want a GREEN Sustainable landscape, check local nurseries for plants that can grow in your sandy soil and handle coastal climate.

Walk around your neighborhood with a small notebook and/or a digital camera and make notes of the plants and landscape ideas you like - the ones that grab you right off. Note how their plants and trees are planted (light direction and position in the yard next to the house) - the landscapes you like. Combine elements from different yards and then create your own!

~ Annie

FlowerLady here, and a bit freaked as several have said I would know what to do here. YIKES! I've been gardening on a shoe string for years. I grow natives, shrubs, annuals,perennials, roses, herbs. I live in the s.e. part of the state though. I have not been able to grow lavender here, except as an annual. It does not like the humidity. I love my roses, jasmine, cat's whiskers, moses in the bullrushes, basket plants, snake plants, ferns, plumeria, bougainvillea, crotons,plumbago, hibiscus, palms, succulents, Mexican heather, Mexican bush sage, Mexican petunias, chicory, elephant ears, aloe, flame vines, other flowering vines, orchids and many others. I grow from seeds and cuttings. I just mingle everything together for my own kind of tropical cottage garden. Visit the Florida Gardening forum here at GW. I'll leave a link at the bottom and you will get lots of great ideas for your part of the state.

Check out what people are growing in your area also and look in garden centers.

I love your house and think you will have lovely gardens once you are moved in and playing in the dirt. What are the little shrubs in your circular garden surrounding the palm tree?

Whatever you do, don't stress, just have fun as your garden comes together. It's an ongoing process, something to enjoy every day.

FlowerLady

Here is a link that might be useful: Florida Gardening