My wife did 30 yrs. of hard labor with AT&T and I'm a retired estate gardener, so we do know a little about productive achievement. I still work; it pays for my expensive gardening habits. We have a patio area at work where I keep my extended garden. Mainly succulents, my passion after woodland natives. ( S.E. mixed pine/hardwood habitat). Most of these plants are destined for Tabula Rasa, which you will find out about soon, and some I'll keep for my permanent container collection. I like to keep a rotating landscape of containers at the front door. This rose is actually the rootstock of a grafted rose that died. Wanted to see what it would do. (update: yanked out and in the dumpster) Delonix regia seedling (my boss brought back 4 seeds from the Bahamas-1 sprouted) Behind the warehouse is this 30 ft. planting of asiatic jasmine. Take a whiff. There's about an acre sized empty lot, too, and this is where the resident crawfish live and play. If I wanted to, and I don't, I could start a landscape side business. I deliver lighting packages to new construction throughout the Lake Charles area. I usually have contact with the owners. Light fixtures are delivered toward the end of construction-just when the homeowner is beginning to start thinking about their landscaping. I usually just suggest to use live oak or some other long lived hardwood: and ALWAYS tell them, NO BRADFORD PEARS as a front yard specimen tree. Put it in the backyard so that when it blooms after the leaves have emerged and become invisible, or after a windstorm nobody will see that it is now half a tree, nobody will consider you an idiot. (sorry bradford pear lovers). ...all work is an act of creating and comes from the same source: from an inviolate capacity to see through one's own eyes-which means: the capacity to perform a rational identification... From John Galt's speech/Atlas Shrugged(1957)
I love the patio area. And all the succulents. What a great variety! I got a nice chuckle at your Cereus on that statue... looks like Medusa. I need something like that for mine!
Wow what a collection,..what an extended garden to have,..and in work,..you and Theodoros,..probably have the largest collection of plants in GardenStew,..fantastic display.
Oh my you have sooo many gorgeous plants. I could spend a whole day just wandering around looking at them all. :-D
Another WOW! I can't imagine having that many plants and all that look so good. Succulents probably don't require as much maintenance as bloomers, but that is still a lot of work. Thanks for sharing them with us.
HARD WORK YES,BUT WORTH IT The first few years when establishing a garden (I prefer to use the term arboretum) are extremely difficult. Not only do you have the watering, but the planting and replanting, and for trees and shrubs, the meticulous pruning to develop the form desired. And all the soil and site prep. And for me, collecting bags of leaves in winter. I use it as a mulch and also for the fact that it creates excellent soil. After 5 years, it's pretty much all enjoyment. A problem I have now is scale on my southern magnolias. And then you have the occasional death or decline of a plant(s). I've about given up on oak leaf hydrangea-too many problems with a fungus affecting the roots.
To heck with WOW! I'm green with plant envy. I want to go shopping at your place. That has to be the most beautiful collection of plants I've ever seen, You've got the nack with plants
plant theft I've had only 1 theft, and that was about 3 yrs. ago at my house plantings. Someone yanked out a 3 gallon Ardesia crenata. After I planted all the agave in my front yard, I sort of expected one to get yanked, but surprisingly, no one yanked. At the patio, even the smallest pots are too big to fit between the bars.
Hmmm... you are a calculated one! That is good. I've had a magnolia tree (not that big, though) snapped with roots and all... it was in full bloom...this was last spring I think. And I just saw last night someone stole 3 of the 5 "red" hyacinths... it was the Easter holiday for most if the neighbors - majority are of Hungarian ethnicity therefore Catholics and someone really needed some flowers in the vase!
The only thing in my front yard is grass. I learned the hard way and refuse to let them have anymore.
