Old Southern Style

The first garden on the tour sits on a very large piece of property on Sylvan Drive. The home, a guest house and a potting shed are connected by walkways. On both sides of the walkways are lush plantings of foliage to enjoy.

On the front porch of the guest house is a "garden party" themed table that looks quite inviting, along with two very colorful Adirondak chairs.

Another pathway that cuts through the foliage is made with mosaic tiles and looks like an inviting path to follow.

Along the path between the guest house and the home is a circular bricked area with more Adirondak chairs and a fire pit. It's a nice private area in which to relax and enjoy some conversation with family and friends.

The brick walkway then continues toward the house through a series of ligustrum trees. I particularly liked this area because the homeowner has hung orchids from the ligustrum trees. It's a wonderfully shady area in which to feature blooming orchids and be able to enjoy them. In addition, the seating area at the end of the pathway looks quite inviting.

Here's a close-up of the seating area and a glimpse of the other pathway that looks like a short-cut to the potting shed to me. This is another very private area in which to enjoy views of lush, tropical foliage. The garden is large but as you can probably tell, it is divided up into areas and landscaped so that you cannot overlook the entire backyard at one glance.

Back at the guest house here's another view of the "garden party" themed table. The begonia and trailing plant that's planted in a small bag and hung with burlap from the back of the chair is a charming touch, and would probably be a parting gift for their guests.

Behind the potting shed are some raised vegetable garden beds full of several varieties of peppers.

Some of the plants included in this established garden are many southern favorites - night blooming jasmine, azaleas, wisteria, citrus and philodendron.  

This garden was featured in the Lakes & Hills Garden Club 10th Annual Mount Dora Garden Tour - Nov. 2 & 3, 2013.