Thursday

My not so Cottage Garden.....



My friend Tracie,  over at Fishtail Cottage 
is having her garden party and I thought I'd join in.  
 Being from South Florida I really don't have a Cottage garden.  It's more tropical, hot and dry.  The soil in my sloping yard is clay and sand.  In the 6 years I've owned this property I've had to replace much of the soil in the garden beds but most of it runs down into the creek and it's become quite a chore each year to add soil.  I have managed to stop the run off from under my deck  that was always a mud puddle  at the last step.  
I added as many stepping stones and pebbles as I could and this past few weeks added 25 little Corsican Mint plants between the stones.  



 Lets hope the little plants take? That would be such a nice scent to step down on. The up coming rainy season will wash it away I'm afraid, but I just don't stop trying. Each year I add a new feature so maybe one day my yard will cooperate.


Being the beginning of Spring, most of my perennials are just coming up and not yet in bloom.  The tropical plants stay green all year and most were pruned last fall so are still small. 
I guess I need to start from the beginning.  This is what the yard looked like when I first moved in.  It was a jungle!


 I hired a man with a machete and he spent two days just cutting down and pulling roots.
 Then one day while driving through a neighborhood I noticed a large pile of brick pavers in the trash.  The homeowners were replacing their driveway and I stopped and asked if I could have the old bricks, and made 5 trips with my trunk loaded, then created garden beds in the yard.  My goal was to plant grass seed only in select areas to help eliminate the water run off.


Below, the trumpet tree is blooming and the bananas are all coming back.


You can see the Lemon Grass right behind the bench.  It's wonderful in cooking!


 The first blooms of  spring.












My garden needs some color so I added some annuals this past week.




Now to wait for mother nature to take over.

I'll be linking up to Tootsie Time at Fertilizer Friday
and
 Fishtail Cottage

Thrifti'n on Thursday 

Stop by these fun blogs and see  how their gardens are coming into bloom  now that spring is in the air.


* * * * *




Me, I just need to sit back and watch my garden grow. I keep telling myself to not buy any more plants, bulbs, or tubers.  "Let it grow and see what is needed!"
(Like that is going to happen)
  Of course I'll need to keep up with the weeds but that's the fun of having a garden!









15 comments:

Pondside said...

Your garden is exotically beautiful to me, and I love how you've used the pavers. I wonder if lemon grass would grow here....must investigate!
You asked if anyone lives in the wee house with the rickety stairs - most definitely. I'd like to know who!....so I'll be walking past again.

chateau chic said...

Your gardens are absolutely beautiful! Your hard work has paid off ~ I guess the work is never done.
Thanks for stopping by. I'm happy to be a new follower,
Mary Alice

Fishtail Cottage said...

oh Sandy your garden is gorgeous - the bones of what you have is what i long to have! I can't wait to see what you share again next week. Thanks so much for linking up to the Cottage Garden Party over here at Fishtail Cottage! xoox, tracie

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

I think your garden is lovely!

What a great score on those pavers!!!

Julie Marie said...

Hi Sandy... and thanks for visiting me!... your gardens look so lush and beautiful!... I have never been to Florida, but is looks gorgeous!... xoxo Julie Marie

Susan said...

It was nice to see a wide angle view of your garden, and I would definitely call is 'tropical cottage' style. It looks great!

Beth said...

Sandy, Your yard and garden are just fabulous! So lush and green. I love it!

Liz @ Quirky Vistas said...

Hi Sandy, I found you at Savvy City Farmer's Thriftin' on a Thursday party. Your garden is beautiful and lush. I just love it. Looks like you have worked hard at it and it's great to see a fellow south Floridian here! What part of South Florida are you in? Glad I found you. I hope you'll stop by and visit me at my blog, "Quirky Vistas" sometime.

BernieH said...

You certainly have done some hard work to create such a lovely garden. We get very heavy wet seasons here too, and as I live on the side of a hill I can empathise about the serious run-off during heavy downpours. Your garden beds look terrific.

Becca's Dirt said...

Weeding is not fun and neither is planting. Both kill my back but a gardener has to do what they have to do - right. Shovel on the other hand I do well - well, only if it's to build a new garden bed. What a transformation in your yard. You have done a remarkable amount of work there and it is so pretty. Love the layout. Lucky you to snag those stones.

Anonymous said...

Oh WOW! what a fantastic job you have done. Your Datura is stunning I would love one of those in my garden.
Have a great weekend.

A Few Pennies said...

Lovely gardens--you have my heart when you stopped to get those bricks--my total weakness for stepping stones and old bricks bordering flower beds. Glad I found your lovely blog!

Noel Morata said...

aloha,

beautiful garden, you use machetes, but here in hawaii we use chain saws and heavy duty weed whackers - it rains and ever seed grows - mostly the junky plants....loved seeing your tropical garden :)

Gypsy Heart said...

I absolutely LOVE your garden! I can only imagine how peaceful it is to sit out there and relax. You've done an amazing job from the original condition ~ simply amazing! Love all the plants and color too. Can you come here and do some pots for me? That's all I have room for. :-)

xo
Pat

Gypsy Heart said...

I absolutely LOVE your garden! I can only imagine how peaceful it is to sit out there and relax. You've done an amazing job from the original condition ~ simply amazing! Love all the plants and color too. Can you come here and do some pots for me? That's all I have room for. :-)

xo
Pat