Lovely garden. So much space! It must be like having your own public gardens in your backyard.

Anna, very beautiful garden! everything is like a symphony of colors. You did well decorating your garden, love that rangoon creeper and everything else.

Silvia

Really lovely Anna, thanks for the photographs.
I never knew Rangoon Creeper had a fragrance, guess I've never been near it in bloom although I thought I saw it at Crowleys once.

I see some bamboo peeking out too, my favorite.
And your pond is gorgeous as always.

Denise

WOW!!!!! Beautiful!

Thanks, ladies!

Amberroses, we have an acre, but this side yard is the largest piece of yard. The front and the back are kind of shallow in comparison, and the other side yard is much smaller than this one. It's weird.

Silvia, we are trying to cover the electric meter with the rangoon creeper, but we need a better support for it. Maybe later on in the year.

Denise, the rangoon is super, super fragrant. I absolutely love the scent. In the same area is a large michaelia alba which is wonderfully fragrant right now too, so it is really overpowering at night and early morning... but in a good way!

Thanks, Chloe.

Anna

Everything is so beautiful and natural... heaven.. thank you so much for sharing...

Though my question requires a very detailed answer but could you please just give few tips how to manage, water &/or fertilize such a large area optimally.. I can maintain a small garden but not as huge as yours..

Izhar

So that's where all the rain has been going!
What a magnificent tropical paradise you have made.
Very impressive!

Anna, your garden looks lovely as always. You didn't seem to have much damage from the cold winter. Mine got hit pretty badly and I am still cleaning it up. I have small trees that died to the ground and I have to cut them back and retrain them. I lost the stemondinia (sp) completely and have to take it out. Now this dry spell, hasn't helped.

Beautiful! You have put a lot of work and love into your garden and it shows.

If you invited me for tea, I'd never leave. Your yard is so beautiful and peaceful. I appreciate all the work you've done.
However...my ragoon creeper smells like...well.. feet. The plant looks great and the blooms are pretty but the smell is awful and I'll be pulling it out. (FREE PLANT anyone?)

WOW. That is stunning.

Gorgeous! I hope you have the time to just sit and enjoy all you have created!

Thank-you so much for the nice feedback! We do love our garden and work in it as much as time and life allows.

Izhar, in answer to your questions. If you notice the plants on my property, the vast majority are either native or Florida friendly. Almost no annuals (water and maintenance hogs). I have 9 live oaks, 3 red cedar, a number of cabbage palms on my property. I also have an assortment of Florida friendly drought tolerant palms, a poinciana, and many other drought tolerant trees. I therefore have a lot of shade in my yard (good and bad), less need for grass, and a lot of built-in leaves from the oaks. In the first photo, the area behind the floss silk tree (also drought tolerant), which is also pictured in the sixth photo from behind, has no irrigation except at the fringes near the grass. Besides the above-mentioned trees, this large area has wild coffee, selloum, 3 very large beautyberry, a huge native cactus, night blooming cereus, ponytail palm, a large clump of variegated pineapple, a large clump of aspidistra, a huge dioon spinulosum, cardboard palms and coonties, bromeliads, and a few weedy perennials (tall pentas, justicia brandegiana (?sp), milkweed), for color. All of these are drought tolerant. In the front is thurnbergia battiscombei(very drought tolerant),rondeletia, flapjacks, and stapelia as ground cover. The dwarf chenille gets a bit of water from the lawn irrigation.

Under the huge oak is a large clump of aspidistra, russelia equisitiformis (?sp), flax lily and fishtail fern which get little to no irrigation. Close to the house I have another huge dioon spinulosum, an encephalartos, variegated aspidistra, and many cardboard palm. A clump of dwarf rhaphis palm too, and more thurnbergia battescombei, a few bromeliads, and some crinum. All of these are drought tolerant. I have justicia golden flame (colorful and drought tolerant, requires no care) here, and in almost every part of my yard. Close to the lawn, where there is better irrigation, I have coleus, tall pentas, justicia brandegiana, lantana, and begonias. Also jatropha, yellow shrimp plant, epidendrums, milkweed, variegated arboricola, firespike, and several large furcrea (all of these are drought tolerant). I could go on, but you get the idea. I put mostly drought tolerant stuff, and in areas with more irrigation I put areas of perennial color bunched together. In several areas of my yard that have considerable shade and the most irrigation, I do have impatiens for a punch of color. Sometimes I have to give those supplemental water, but really not often.

This brings me to the second point. If you look at all my beds and paths you see a thick layer of mulch everywhere. The paths are wood chips from tree companies, and the beds have thick layers of oak leaves. Every year we collect hundreds of bags of oak leaves (200-500), and fill up our beds with these. Because of this, in the last 5 years (since we moved here), our soil has markedly improved, has much better water retention, and we have many, many happy earthworms. This has minimized the weeding too.

The only thing in our yard that we fertilize regularly is the lawn (we have 4000 sq. feet total of lawn divided in two patches), the veggie garden, and the waterlilies. I fertilize with soybean meal from the feed store. Completely organic, and greens things better than anything (look at the lawn). It feeds the soil, too. I do fertilize the waterlilies with chemical sticks. The veggie garden gets compost, leaves, hay, soybean meal, and fish emulsion.

I have very few pests because I do little fertilizing elsewhere. Seriously. On occassion things get a little coffee grounds if they look anemic, or if I have any left, a handful of soybean meal to things that look like they need it. Otherwise, the yearly leaf mulch and earthworms feed the plants. The only place I fail at organic maintenance is- you guessed it- the lawn. It is not a large area, but twice during the summer we are applying allectus for chinch bug and sod webworm. Years we haven't, it's been a mess and a struggle. We are still not willing to give up the two patches of lawn, although we have markedly reduced them. I hate doing it, but of all the bad chemicals, this seemed the least harmful and the least in volume, and it keeps it decent. I feel guilt about this, but apparently, not enough to stop yet.

Katkin, I did have damage from the cold. Most prominent was to my philodrendon groundcover that covers the edge of my pond and that covered large areas in one of my beds. It looks awful. Another alternanthera groundcover suffered as well. Things are just starting to recover, but as you can see, I didn't show the pond in detail because I'm self-conscious about some edges showing. I am going to find something better to grow at the edge. It is a work in progress.

Thank-you, everyone, and Kristi, you are invited to tea anytime!

Anna

Anna, it looks like a painting! I don't even see a fallen leaf on the lawn. Every single plant is perfect! Wow, wow, WOW! I am in heaven looking at these wonderful photos. So many folks - including me - will post photos of single plants. But very few are able to posts these wide, sweeping shots of an entire, breathtaking garden or yard. You can find blog after blog and post after post showing closeups of flowers or single plants. But very few blogs or posts with photos of an entire, impressive yard. What you have done is amazing!

Carol

Anna,
It all looks just incredible....and we all know the amount of work it takes to create such art. Thanks for posting the photos - it makes me happy!
To the rest of you all, I have been fortunate to be able to visit Anna's garden and it is even better than the photos. There are hidden treasures everywhere and it all flows together beautifully. A true masterpiece and I am grateful that she shared it with me and continues to share on GW.
Hester

Just gorgeous. It's probably safe to invite Kristi because she's nice, but if you were foolish enough to invite me, I'd bring a tent and never leave. Just absolutely gorgeous.

Julie the squatter in WPB

Thank-you, Carol, but it is definitely not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. I took the photos the day after mowing, so it does look neater than usual. I also like looking at landscape shots as well as the intricacies of single flowers. Honestly, I don't have any fantastic flowers to show up close. Pretty mundane, actually!

Hester, you are way too kind. You've seen all the bad spots, tell the truth! Anyway, thanks for your kind words. I am learning a lot from you and your garden. I can't believe what you've done in one measly year.

Thanks, Julie.

Anna

Looks great as always! Thanks for sharing. My garden is coming back and I hope to take some pictures this weekend.

Melissa

Anna, Your yard is stunning! Thank you for providing the names of the many native plants as I also plan on using them in my yard. However, how do I go about trying to plant under huge oaks where the grass is (st. augustine) already grown right up to the base of the oaks? Can that area be rototilled? I hoed an area under the canopy of one of the oaks and it took forever between pulling up the roots of the st. augustine grass and encountering the roots of the oak. It was impossible not to cut through the oak roots in order to plant the new plants. I am looking for any advice before I start a new section.
Robin

Anna- I showed my 5 YO son your photos and he said "Mom, can we move to that lady's house?"

LOL, he's appreciative of beautiful gardens too! I'm really wowed, honestly.

Thanks, Melissa. I can't wait to see your yard this year. Hurry!

Sandnat, the plants are either native or Florida friendly. About the oaks- they are the most precious thing in my yard. Nothing compares. They bring height and structure...and blessed shade! I am very protective of them. My recommendation is to just hand pull grass that is within the first 5-10 feet around the trunk. What I did was use cardboard past that (I find that it is porous enough not to damage the roots at a further distance) and put maybe two inches of mulch over it. It should kill the grass under it within 3-4 weeks. Don't overdo it with the mulch as it could compromise the tree. Also, don't dig close to the tree and definitely don't rototill! Also, don't use roundup or any such chemical near oak roots or suckers! That being said, I went out to look at my oaks after your post and found that I have planted small things close (5-10 feet from the trunks). I was surprised I did. They all had fairly small root balls at the time so only small areas of oak roots were disturbed. I also have to comment that a big part of the beauty of a live oak is the trunk. I like being able to see that because I think they look more majestic to be able to see their whole structure, so that is another reason not to plant near the trunk. Maybe try to go out after a good rain and pull the St. Augustine grass by hand. Further away, use the cardboard trick. Neighbors' oak leaves make great mulch for under oaks and will keep them happy and healthy. Ferns are a good thing to plant near oaks. They are shallow rooted and play well with oaks. They will spread and cover ground on their own. They look nice under oaks also. Aspidistra is another similar groundcover for close to oaks. Bromeliads are great too. Please show us when you are done! We want to see.

Chloe, you have a beautiful garden of your own. It is great that your son enjoys seeing gardens at such a young age. Maybe he'll share your love of gardening. I'm still waiting for my kids to come around!

Anna

Anna your garden is just lovely, absolutely lovely! I don't know how you can get anything done inside.

I have had a ragoon creeper in a pot for a number of years never being able to decide if I should put it in the ground or give it away. Of course it is not happy and hasn't bloomed in a long time. I don't care for red but love maroons and pinks. Is yours blood red? I remember liking the scent, can you share your experience with your creeper?

Keiki previously known as lady

Oh hi lady...er keiki...?Robin?! I still think of you when I work on my heliconia orange/yellow gyro. I think I got this as one rhizome from you and it is huge now and I've shared it with many.

I have never been fond of red in my garden, but now I have started mixing it in here and there and am enjoying it. I absolutely love the rangoon creeper. Now I have the double kind and I had the single kind at another property. If I had to do it over I would pick the single type because I prefer the flower shape, but both are just beautiful. You can see that the color is a little lighter than blood red, but not red-red. The buds are white, the first day the flowers are pink, and then they turn red. I think you should just close your eyes and plant the lovely thing. The fragrance is a personal thing, as you can see by coffeemom's comment, but I adore it. It will defoliate with a very cold winter, but its foliage is pretty and fresh even without flowers, and it blooms a lot. I say go for it!

Anna

LOL yes its me Robin. I had to change my name and I am always sad when an gw friend doesn't recognize me. I am glad you like the heliconia. I love the C skinneri you gave me it blooms reliably every spring.

One last question, do butterfly's or birds like your creeper?

Glad the orchid is behaving for you, Robin. About the creeper- I can't say I've noticed butterflies or birds enjoying it, but it is in a strange area for that- next to a hot wall by the garage. I think you'll be glad if you plant it out. Really.

Anna

What a lovely bit of paradise you have there. It is lush, colorful, and oh so peaceful.

FlowerLady

Thank you so much Anna for your detailed reply..

Wow, looking at these photos - it's like going on a Lido Beach or Sanibel Island vacation! Been to both places and just love the tropical beauty. Always wondered what those Rangoon Creepers were, they are all over the place on Sanibel. That's where I first saw the Royal Poinciana trees blooming. You are very blessed with your skills at creating paradise, as are many of the others who share at GW. I believe a lot of it is also very hard work and the ability to work with the conditions that you have, rather than to fight against them. That is one of my problems, trying to mold what I have into something it's not, but I'm learning the hard way, it's too cold here for the tropicals.

Flowerlady, so good to 'see' you! Have missed your posts with your lovely garden. Wish you would show us again. Thanks for your kind words.

You're welcome izhar.

Ritaweeda, it's not skills, lol, it's trial and error! I do work hard with what I've got. Always wishing I could go more tropical, but know it's not worth the extra trouble and heartbreak. I'm getting too old to babysit plants. If they can't do it mostly on their own, they're not for me.

Anna

Hi Anna
Had to throw in my two cents lol. I'll bet your "bad 'areas look ten times better thaan my good areas.
What with the cold winter, drought, my treatments and general laziness most everything looks like crap even some of the weeds are suffering lol
Bet those water lily are spectacular they are runaway my most spectaular flowering plants . I do have one advantage with a small above ground pool, I get to take in the aroma in the early morning. If calm it almost knocks you down lol To me one of the finest floral aromas right up there with orchids.Even the wife thinks its"good"
while she thinks Amazon lily smells like "antiseptic"
I moved the orchids you gave me out to the carambola tree though they survived the winter, sort of blah lol
I lost a whole bunch over the winter in the shadehouse but
my most interesting experiment" a Vanda hedge is doing great. Anyway, beautiful garden gary

Oh, Gary,

I can't tell you how much joy your waterlilies have given me- and how many I've shared them with! Every year they are spectacular. I have never gotten close enough to them to smell them though. My husband gets in the pond to clean it now and then, but I pretty much stay on the edge. His sense of smell is pretty lacking, I guess, lol.

I would be so interested in seeing your vanda hedge. It sounds beautiful! Won't you please try to post a photo?

By the way, do you always get up so early or did you have a case of insomnia?

Anna

Anna
Since my "pond is above ground just by standing at the edge you're less than 3 feet from the WL. Aroma is one aspect of water gardening most people miss because the flowers are too far away. I had my Madagascar lace plants flower and the aroma was much like dead flesh . Had it not been in an aquarium I would have missed that lol!!!
As to the "vanda hedge" an evil "friend" sent me some pix in the Singapore Bo gardens and they were growing them
much like you'd grow grapes in rows supported by wires. Since I had bits and pieces of a dozen varieties I decided to try it between two queen palms I have a portable GH along with black IR light with thermostat .for cold weather. This is the beginning of the 3rd year and I have got fantastic growth but not many flowers. An unbelieveable tangle of aerial roots though lol From a distance it looks like the queens have a terrible plant disease. Not very photogenic I'm afraid ;lol I've added some epicatts and dry dends in the folds of the spent fronds also going to add some nepenthes mainly because I can't figure a good way to grow it. Whatever is being neglected, delicate,struggling will go there lol
I visit 6 fish and plant related websites everyday spending at least 4 hours on the web . Have to get up very early as the wife will not allow this much time during daylight lol gary

Even without flowers they sound very interesting, Gary. Lol, we share our computer also, so we all have our niche of time on it too.

Anna

Hi
Well, I think it's a fun experiment lol. A neighbor commented that the palms would be so much prettier if I'd remove all the "weeds" on the trunks .lol While she might have some insight into aesthetics I don't think she understands "epiphytes" lol gary