Sup people? Ok, heres the deal, Moms yard is fairly large, front and back. She wants all kinds of pretties but she want things that will basically take care of themselves..........aside from watering. And anyone who know me knows what my first buys are. ROSES!!!! I wasnt the Rose Queen for nuttin. Im getting her 5 or 6 of the Knockout roses to start with. Ive also picked out 2 butterfly bushes and some clumping zebra bamboo to use as a natural screen in the back yard between her yard and the ppl behind us. On the side of the house I would like to mix 2 medium climbing vines that smell good. I was thinking about rose and a clemtis but the clemtis is more for show than scent, right? The area is about 20 foot long and I dont want vines that are going to take over so Im not above plant 2 of each to create a nice screen on that side of the house. They need to smell good cuz they will be right outside moms window and she wants to be able to sleep with her window open and the neighbors not see her. Need ideas there plz 8) She has this flower bed out front that just makes you stop and wonder WTH? :-? Its shaped like a lopsided triangle. Its about 10 long on 2 sides and about 6 on top. She has this small tree growing right in the middle and a tiny lil garden around it...about 6 inch out from the tree..if that. LOL then the rest is covered in this bright red mulch. God knows I love her but her ideas on gardening are about as good as her color matching for the living room...LOL crazy. So, I need ideas for that area too if you dont mind. Im in North FL zone 9b I think and both areas are in direct full hot Fl sun. I was thinking alot of bulbs like lilies, tulips and such. The front yard we want to do alot of colors and flowers. Thanks in advance!!! Pinkie PS I planted 5 mini roses(Surprised?) at the very tip of the triangle from hell= TFH (my name for it) LOL They are Breeze roses, tiny and pink. I was thinking, would min roses work for this TFH as a border?
You can't get any more low maintainance than daylilies. After they finnish blooming they get some brown leaves. You can either hand pull the dead leaves or simply run over them with a lawn mower and fresh new leaves come back up. I'm in Indiana so I mow mine down after first frost for the winter, but there are many evergreen varieties that would never die down in Florida. Just remember to put the darker colors where they get some shade especially in the afternoon or the colors my get blotchy. Pastels do great anywhere and all they need is occasional watering and fertilize once in the spring. Plant them 2 feet apart and you could go 3-5 years before flowers start to decrease and that is solved by dividing them.
Your garden ideas sound wonderful. :-D Here is one site that had a variety of clematis some of which have scent. http://www.howellsonclematis.co.uk/Pages/Gnews15.html I couldn't find the great site I was on the other day with people sharing their favorite clematis'. That was the first time I'd heard of so many with fragrances. Check out the clematis at your local nursey's to find a nice scented clematis for your local and you will get to smell before you buy.
Some good ideas that I am using in my own garden are as follows: semi-mature Weeping Bottle brush tree- very adaptable when semi-mature and will tolerate down to about 15 degrees F. Lion's Tail/Wilde Dagga- has lots of nectar for birds and butterflys and 4 ft tall mature, also loves sunshine and little water. Cold hardy to about 20 degrees F. Ghost Gum tree- if you buy it around 5 years old it is very fast growing, will tolerate full sun and temps down to -10 degrees F. Needs very little water and no fertilizer. Tropical Orange Hummingbird Vine- full sun and good with high humidity. Mature vines tolerate cold pretty well. Avalanche Clematis-blooms at young age and hardy down to 10 degrees F. My favorite Clematis. You can also try some Brugmansias such as Kyle's Giant White and Creamsickle. these have a very strong frangrance and are heavey bloomers. If it is frozen, it will die back to the ground but it has been my experience that come spring it will be twice as strong. Mexican Flame Vine- the more sun, the more blooms. This is beautiful. Cape Honeysuckle- this one is very easy to keep in-bounds. I just let it grow and only snip the edges once a year. Red flowers. If you want magnificent blooms then try some of the full sun varieties of Passiflora. these produce the passion fruit later in the season which is edible and sweet. These are some of the plants that my grandmother planted for me years ago and require little to no maintenance and full sun. Truly they are beautiful to see and most are very fragrant. Also, I find that even though the fragrances are different, they compliment each other if spaced with several non-fragrance plants in between. Good luck!
I have a large empty front yard and I dug a 12 foot circle in the middle of it. There is one of those small windmills in the middle. I planted a lot of seeds in it and quite a few came up but what with being sick and the weather being so hot and dry it isn't doing the best right now. I think when fall comes I will rake it out and put in some flowers for cool weather. It does make a focal point though and if you were to plant perennials it wouldn't need much care except watering if it's dry. dooley
