A Storybook Garden

Welcome to Bella Dora Bungalow - the 4th home on the Lakes and Hills Garden Club 2015 Tour.

Lovingly restored, this adorable "storybook" bungalow has a garden made for this house.

Window boxes go perfectly with this quaint bungalow. I, especially, like the touches of red brick used in the stucco, and the custom-made shutters.

This small bungalow comes with a very large yard. Here's a private area for sitting and relaxing. It looks like the owner used the old wrought iron - that may have been on the house - as posts for the sun cover.

Lots of storybook elements are woven throughout this garden, such as this woman who is draped over a couple of books as she seems to be lost in her thoughts.

Is it the Roman Neptune or the Greek Poseidon ruling over this large and beautiful water garden with flowing waterfall. I guess we'll have to say it's Neptune since the water garden consists of fresh water and not salt.

An inviting table for outdoor meals can be found under a covered patio. 

A bold bromeliad makes a beautiful accent piece as it separates the side yard from the back. 

A mixed border of plants with varying heights separate the front and back portion of the large side yard at this home. A great way to carve small intimate gardens out of one large one space.

Tucked beneath the rocks is another water feature, however this pond is in an old claw-footed bathtub that used to be in the house prior to its renovation. What a great way to repurpose it!

At the back end of this long side yard is what I call "birdhouse row." A number of colorful and different types of birdhouses on display.

A colorful piggy container full of lantana is tucked in among the fern.

And, here we have the old woman who lived in a shoe along with her many children. Another whimsical and storybook feature.

This house has a very large side yard which runs alongside a road. She has  made good use of vines to cover fences and mixed borders of plants with varying height to create private nooks. 

A Repurposed Wildlife Garden

Some gardeners are good at taking everyday items and repurposing them as garden art in their yards. The 3rd home on The Lakes and Hills Garden Club tour entitled 'Secrets of the Garden" has many secrets stashed away among the butterfly plants.

It is a large yard with a very private backyard which has obviously become a sanctuary for the homeowners.

Here we come across the first of many 'repurposed' items throughout this garden.

Here's a very clever idea for those of you who love wine. If you look close, you will see that the mulch surrounding this tree consists of wine bottle corks. Great idea and it looks nice! You can see the orange tabby cat in the background wasn't bothered a bit by all the visitors to his garden.

So after seeing the corks above, you might ask - what about the wine bottles? Well, they were not simply recycled. Instead, they became a border for this bed of Lion Tail 'Leonotis leonurus' perennials.

A beautiful variety of yellow-stemmed bamboo accents a seating area in the middle of the garden.

An old porch railing finds a new life in the garden, along with other miscellaneous items.

A variety of the Dutchman's Pipe 'Aristolochia' vine with a super large blossom clambers among other vines. It is a host plant for the beautiful Pipevine Swallowtails, and it makes quite a statement in the garden.

Another butterfly favorite, Cape Honeysuckle 'Tecomaria capensis' is allowed to grow wild up the side of a back porch. This plant which was once very popular in Florida is now coming back into vogue as a cold-hardy shrub that pollinators love.

An adorable mini-pond tucked cleverly among the foliage - perhaps for frogs - is included in this wildlife garden. It goes to show that you don't need a lot of space to include a pond in any garden.

As we exit this wildlife habitat, we come across another old-timey Florida plant - Turk's Cap 'Malvaviscus drummondii' - that is seeing a resurgence in popularity because it is a favorite of hummingbirds.

From Butterflies to Vegetables

Butterflies seemed to be the theme for this years Lakes and Hills Garden Club Tour in Mount Dora, 

The 2nd garden on the tour was abuzz with happy pollinators everywhere. These homeowners are creating a nice habitat for butterflies and pollinators of all kinds along their side yard and in their backyard.

This fluffy green plant is asparagus - a purple variety. I have never heard of anyone growing asparagus in Florida, but here is proof that it is possible.

The homeowners have a beautiful kitchen garden established in their backyard.

The tomatoes look super healthy and they have cleverly trained thornless blackberries along the low fence that protects their garden from hungry critters.

One last cute touch on our visit to the 2nd garden on the tour.

Wildlife Haven

This inviting southern style home was part of the Mount Dora Garden Tour and it was definitely full of wonderful surprises. The front yard was abuzz with large numbers of pollinators visiting a mecca of blooming plants.

The white Cat's Whiskers (Orthosiphon aristatus) shown in the photo below was a favorite of the bees who drifted from petal to petal.

As we walked around the side yard this inviting bench tucked into the foliage grabbed my eye . . .

while off to the left the bright yellow Christmas Senna (Cassia bicapsularis, C. coluteoides) refused to be ignored. Right below this gorgeous butterfly and bee attractor was the entrance into a secret whimsical wildlife (and people) paradise. Come along and be sure to lower your head as we duck beneath its pendulous branches loaded with blooms.

Lucky for these homeowners, there backyard is securely nestled into a wooded greenbelt of towering trees.  We loved these topiary monkeys dangling from one of the high tree branches.  

 

They have used this greenbelt to their advantage by creating a very private habitat for themselves and the birds. Their backyard is actually quite small but when you look outward from their patio the greenbelt behind them gives the appearance of a much more extensive area. 

This beautiful Sky Vine (Thunbergia grandiflora) has scrambled up several oaks and many of its gorgeous blue blossoms dangle beneath the canopy. 

What wildlife garden would be complete without a statue of St. Francis of Assissi!

 Now here's a clever way to deal with the remnants of an oak that met its demise in a storm. A concrete owl statue has been placed at the top of the rugged edged trunk and looks right at home there. 

Love this wonderful and wild tangle of tropical plants providing cover for feeding bird visitors.

 These gardeners love whimsy in their garden . . .

and have done a great job adding touches of it throughout their garden. You can't have a bird garden without a bird-watcher! 

And they have more tricks up their sleeve. If you will notice there is a wire strung across the backyard - no it's not a clothesline. The homeowners are training the Bleeding Heart Vine (clerondendrum thomsoniae) to crawl across it. I love that idea!

This garden was a great example on how to maximize a small garden space and a forested greenbelt to their advantage. 

Picture Perfect

This small front yard off of 11th Avenue proves that you can create a masterpiece with a little space. There are 5 different levels of plant height in this yard beginning with a dark green hedge, down to a slightly lower  medium green shrub, down another notch to a different medium green color plant, bordered by a lower variegated white and green liriope, with the final layer being the turf grass and Asiatic jasmine groundcover. 

And, lets not forget the chartreuse colored pocket of fern that also grabs the eye, and the sun-bronzed bromeliads that pop right out at you. 

Back up to eye level and there are 3 potted plants One of dark bronzed bromeliads and two tri-color plants. Did you notice that all of the colors blends beautifully with the color of the home? 

 In this small yard they've used  9 different leaf textures, from neatly trimmed plants to 3 spiky plant varieties: African iris, Aztec liriope grass and bromeliads. It's extremely neat and orderly. And, I hope you will agree that it is a very creative landscape. Obviously, carefully thought out and neatly maintained.

It's a fabulous landscape . . . full of interesting ideas . . . whose layout and color combination gives one much to think about when landscaping their own yard.  

African Iris Love Springtime

Beautiful large groupings of African Iris Dietes iridioides can be seen blooming all around town this time of year. Hope you'll enjoy looking at the different ways people have utilized this hearty iris in their gardens.

The African iris hails from Kenya and is considered a "Florida-Friendly" plant because it is very drought tolerant once it is established. They look great when featured in one large bed,

or as a border plant as shown below in front of the roses.

This gardener has made it a featured plant among various greenery.

However you choose to use it, you won't be disappointed by this beautiful but tough plant that flowers sporadically throughout spring, summer and fall. 

More information on this plant that gives so much, but requires so little care can be found at Floridata.