Patsy Hubbard and I were looking around her “yard” the other day. She said, “It sure does look good this year.” I replied, “Yes, and just think, it only took thirty years.”
“I hope you are taking pictures.” She remarked and the more I thought about that remark, the more I thought that it would be nice to post some pictures.
Dragon wing begonia with mountainous background
As you can see from the picture above, the scope of the plantings mixed with the hilltop setting range from small details to large vistas. One of the best performing flowering accent plants has been the “Miss Huff” lantana. This reliable perennial has grown to the size of about five feet high and eight feet in diameter. It is totally deer-proof, also.
Miss Huff latana gets big but does its job well.
Here’s a detail of the lantana. If you plant it for yourself, be sure to leave plenty of room.
Flowers on Miss Huff lantana
Maintaining this landscape garden calls for a lot of pruning—some of it on a ladder. I would say that we do an extended pruning/shaping three or four times a year. I liked this silhouette:
Carefully shaping trees and shrubs from a ladder.
The walkways are on three major levels and are tied in so that they may be traveled without the need of stairs. It is an ideal ride for a motorized “scooter.” There is always something pretty, interesting, and constantly changing to look at.
A shady garden path
I like to grow a mandevilla vine up to the top of the pool cabana every year. This one was purchased at Lowe’s this spring and was about three feet tall. I have tried keeping these plants inside during the winter but I have found that it is easier and cheaper to just buy a new one each spring.
A flowering mandevilla grows rapidly up a chain
I built this rock fountain about thirty years ago and it’s still doing fine. I love the way it offers a microcosm of the distant mountainous vistas.
The view of a small fountain extends to the distant mountains
The walkway to the main entrance of the home is bordered with begonias, angelonias, Knock Out roses, and crape myrtle among other plants and is fronted by a magnificent weeping cherry.
An entrance walkway with a view
Even on the hottest days there is some relief to be found on the shady pathways.
A shady garden pathway
This has been fun. I’ll try to find some more points of interest for next week.
Thank you for visiting John the Plant Man
As usual, I would just love for you click here to go to Amazon and purchase the ebook edition of my wonderful book, Requiem for a Redneck to go on your Kindle. I have also noticed that Amazon now has a free Kindle app for iphones and tablets. Is that cool or what?
After four years I finally figured out how to add a comment box to this blog. Let’s see if it works
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