I think you did quite some work and it looks nice! I also think you have an awesome plant selection and pretty soon this area is going to look even more beautiful!
Plumerias from honeymoon, how sweet!

Olya

Hey Brian! Welcome! Are you new to the Florida Forum?

You did a fantastic job on the planting area. Nice combos. It should look great when it all fills in. The plumeria from you honeymoon is a really special addition! Where did you move from and where did you move to? I hope you keep us updated on your planter as it grows!

Thanks!

I am in Land O Lakes, north of Tampa. We moved here in Jan of 07, from Southern California. I have been a long time user of the Garden web, but I spend most of my time reading, gardening is fun, but I am not good at it, so I keep my mouth shut, and read and learn.

I thought this little project was worth showing off. I can not wait to see it fill in. I am also looking forward to going on raccoon watch later tonight. will the pipe work?

i am planning on an arbor and swing to go in next. Fun stuff!

Really nice, Brian! You'll be amazed at how 'stuffed' and beautiful that all will be in just a very short time! I really can't answer about the hummers...I get precious few, tho I'd love more..I usually see them here just before 'spring' and then they seem to be gone again. Butterflies? Lots! and monarchs are probably the biggest population, but then, I save every volunteer milkweed that I can dig up and even plant handfuls of seed! We've got some of the most beautiful swallowtails here in Florida, too...gulf frits....and my favorite, the zebra longwing. What part of this beautiful state are you taking up gardening?

Very nice! That is going to look awesome when it fills in and it won't take very long. The plumbago can get really big but you can whack it back hard and it will be fine. I like your feeders too. And yes we get monarchs. I had a few flitting around here last weekend. Hummers are here now. Where are you located? Welcome to Florida. You found the best group of people here!

~Betsy

Welcome to the fl gardening forum and welcome to lol. I lived in lol for 23 years. It makes me sad to see how much the area has grown. I moved back to Tampa where I was born and raised.

Anyway it won't take long and your plants will fill in. You might want to get some mulch down before the weeds take over :-)

Brian, I am so glad you clarified lol as Land O'Lakes!! I was thinking of Monk-"That makes me LOL Out Loud"!! I thought it was a well, you know!

We all came to the Florida Forum feeling like we weren't good gardeners. I know I DID 5-6 years ago when we built a new home and I had a blank slate. But this forum will turn you into a FABULOUS gardener. Trust me, there is so much encouragement, know-how and friendly helpful advice here. Nothing is a failure, it's all experiments. You are off to a wonderful Florida gardening start. So speak up! We'd love to hear what you are doing.

Mulch... yes, we are getting Cypress mulch tomorrow, I am planning on visiting a Cypress Saw Mill on 52 just a few miles from the house. They have a sign out front, Mulch, I figure it has to be a little cheaper getting it from the source than getting it from HD.

We are only 15 months into Florida, but so far we love it here. People are great, weather is wonderful.

Lookin' good Bryan. Nice plant choices.
Keep up the good work!
Hope the raccoon barrier works.

I have to put my Welcome in too. You'll be amazed at how fast plants grow here. I love gardening and have learn lots on this forum. You are off to a good start with your last project, it looks great. Can't wait to see the swing and arbor. We just bought a glider at Sams and are planning to build an arbor over it. :o)

They figured a way up the darn thing... time to research another approach.

Cindee, I thought of Monk too! I love that show.

Bryan, you'll make yourself crazy playing "Stump the Critters"! I find it easier to just put out more feed. As long as they don't destroy my feeders I'm okay with it. I did learn to buy metal feeders though. The squirrels chew up the plastic ones.

~Betsy

I think that I am going to try Porcupine Wire (Pigeon wire) along the post. Basically it is a bunch of short sharp wire, almost like raccoon barb wire. The idea here is that they can not climb with out getting poked, they don't like getting poked, so they don't climb... right?

How high up the pole should I attach the stuff?

My only concern about this stuff is that I have 2 boys, 4 and 7, spikes in they yard are not the best Idea, but once the plants grow in they will not be in the plants with the bees.

The planting area looks great! You've done a super job. Be sure to take photos every couple weeks because the progress will be FAST! Good luck with the raccoons. (And the squirrels. And the citrus rats.)

You asked about hummingbirds. They are pretty hard to predict in Central Florida but maybe someone in your area can give you a better idea of hummers on the Gulf coast. For most of us, we only see them when they migrate through on their way up north. Far Southern Florida has them year round and I've been lucky a couple summers to keep a pair, but mostly we just have them in March/April and then again in the fall. I'm guessing that it may be warm enough where you are to have year-round nesting pairs, but I don't know.

Glad you posted and introduced yourself! Keep the pictures coming.

Kate

Cross Roads Sawmill is a good place to get mulch. One of the owners was my neighbor in LOL and would give me a load of mulch if I asked...some times I did ask and sometimes I just bought it. I hope you have a truck! Two yards is the smallest amount you can get & that is almost too much for my S-10. Happy hauling!

I went to crossroads and ordered 2 yards, delivered. I do not have a truck. The driver brought out my mulch, and explained he was not happy with the quality, a lot of saw dust in it at the bottom of the pile. So he gave me a little extra. His little extral allowed us to mulch the beds all around the house, the front yard, the back yard and the bed I just made. I was hauling mulch for 6 hours in a little tykes wagon... oy!

the yard looks GREAT!

we are sitting here watching a pair of sandhills digging through the mulch getting the seed the raccoons dropped. We alos have a Cardinal pair that have adopted our yard. they are feeding and building a nest somewhere near by. The female keeps grabbing twigs and flying over our heads to go place there somewhere near by.

Wood storks are in the pond...

We are loving Florida!

Welcome to Florida Gardening. Hope you enjoy it here as much as I have. Your new bed looks great, and I hope you can keep those pesky critters out of your feeders. As for hummers in central Florida...they arrive here in February and stay until late August or early September when they head farther south for winter. So you can see them all spring and summer, IF you have some in your neighborhood.

Planting the right kinds of things to attract them is the first move, and then putting out a feeder is the next step. The feeder needs to have clean sugar water in it at all times. It will ferment in a 24 to 48 hours in our heat, so should be changed out regularly. Don't buy commercial prepared mixes. Expensive, and they usually contain red dye which many experts feel is harmful to the hummers. You can make your own solution much more economically. Just stir 1 cup of sugar into 3 cups of water and boil 5 minutes, making sure all sugar is dissolved. Let it cool, and voila! Hummer food, cheap. You can keep the prepared mixture in your refrigerator for about a week before you need to make more. I usually do up a big batch, fill my feeder, refrigerate the rest, then change the feeder solution every other day with stuff fresh from the fridge.

Good luck with attracting both hummingbirds and butterflies. BOTH make Florida gardens extra special!

Marcia

Bryan-last spring I left out string, onion skins, small twigs and lint from the dryer for the mockingbirds. They seemed to appreciate it as they were using it all to build their nests.