Monday, March 11, 2013

Bamboo accents and incredible lighting


This yard reminds me that you can decorate the outdoors as you do the indoors.  Love the uplights to highlight the awesome bamboo accents.  Love this yard!

Click here to see more photos.


Photo: Courtesy of Susan Wawrzynowicz via Fine Gardening
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Thursday, March 7, 2013




We are gearing up for the tomato growing season and waiting for our seeds to arrive in the mail.  Although we should have started growing the seedlings mid-January, it is better late than never!

As the Captain and I have done research on growing tomato plants, I have been updating my tomato page for my website, DonitaWorld.com.

Check out my updated tomato page if you are growing your own tomatoes this season.  I love visiting websites to get inspiration and great tips on how to grow the best tomatoes possible.  

Click on the graphic to go there . . .






For Florida gardeners and those who live in similar
climates, check out my Florida page too.

I'm so excited about getting my hands in the dirt again!!




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Monday, March 4, 2013

Container gardening in the landscape



Love the simplicity of the container plants in this gorgeous Tennessee garden.

Fine Gardening has featured Jeff Calton's beautiful garden, which is a mix of landscaped areas with lush lawns, trees, lots of blooms and container gardens.

Click here to go to the article . . .


Photo: Courtesy of Jeff Calton via Fine Gardening





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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

February Bromeliads


The massive plantings of bromeliads with their red blooms provide a burst of color in this gorgeous tropical scene.  The water garden runs along a pond that is complete with fish, turtles and different types of birds who love to hang out in this area.  Do you blame them?  

This is one of the most serene and beautiful scenes at Busch Gardens!

We will get more photos from this area next time we visit!



The landscapers at Busch Gardens have cleverly used a mass planting of similar bromeliad plants in yellow and red to really provide that pop of color, bordering them with another mass planting of a variegated variety.  They bring excitement to an otherwise green raised bed.





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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Tropical Plants in Containers and Raised Beds


Love the mix of bromeliads with other tropicals in these container plantings at Busch Gardens Tampa, where the grounds are in colorful full bloom.  Spring!!!


The topiaries are gorgeous mixed in the tropical plant beds!


Love the statues mixed in the landscaping!


We took lots of photos!

Theme parks and parks are awesome places to get inspiration for your garden!

I'll be adding a new page to my website soon for photo albums.





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Thursday, February 7, 2013

Claude Monet's garden in Giverny

Photo from
Claude Monet's garden in Giverny
Courtesy of Maria Fleming via Fine Living Magazine



Fruit trees don't have to stand alone!  
I love the mass planting at the base of these fruit trees  . . . looks like impatiens to me, a plant that I have used extensively in my garden to liven up boring spots in the shade.

Find a flowering plant that works in your climate and fill in those boring spots in your garden!

Check out more photos of Claude Monet's spectacular garden . . . click here.



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Thursday, January 10, 2013

Pebble Stepping Stones



These colorful stepping stones would make
 an awesome addition to our garden!!  

Love this look!

The photo comes from a fan of the Facebook page, Recycled Backyard, brought to you by the publishers  of the awesome magazine Birds and Blooms.

Check their page out for fresh ideas and where to find supplies for your backyard projects.




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Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Concrete Sofa


This awesome concrete sofa has totally captured my attention!!

I've always enjoyed being creative with concrete blocks, but this project goes down as the most imaginative and awesome ever!

The Captain and I have decided to definitely make the sofa for our concrete jungle carport.  What I really like about it . . . you can water the plants and not ruin the sofa by getting it wet!  My plan is to paint it, but the design is still running around in my head.

Click on the picture to go to the original article for this project, which includes other projects to coordinate with it.  Very cool!!

This is one of the many projects I have pinned to my Pinterest garden board.  So many awesome projects for inspiration lurking around the internet!
  





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Monday, August 27, 2012

Container garden inspiration


The pop of color from the red and white chairs, paired with the white flowers and columns caught my eye.  Gorgeous patio!

There are simple things you can do to spruce up your deck or patio.

Click here for lots of inspiration from Home and Garden Television.



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Monday, July 9, 2012

Leaf Stepping Stones


One of my favorite garden projects is creating with concrete!

I've been seeing these leaf creations lately and would 
love to make some  for my garden.

Here is my favorite . . . the leaf creations used in a water feature!




Click here for a tutorial on how to make them!



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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Margaret's Container Gardening Tips





Planting in containers is my preferred method of gardening.  Containers can add a new dimension of color and texture to your garden.


One of my newest discoveries on the internet is "A Way To Garden" by Margaret Roach.  


Click here for an awesome article and podcast with Margaret's Container Gardening Tips.  The awesome photo comes from that article!




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Monday, May 14, 2012

Beautiful Flowering Variegated Gingers



Spring is one of my favorite times of the year in subtropical Florida.  The Captain and I visited Busch Gardens this month and will be featuring plants and landscaping from the beautiful gardens.


The first in the series is 
Variegated Gingers




Flowering variegated gingers were featured in this raised bed at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida.



A close up shows the beautiful flowers that remind me of clusters of pearls.




The variegated ginger is a green tropical perennial which grows up to ten feet tall outdoors and 3–4 feet tall indoors. 

They do very well in the shade as well as the morning sun, however, they don't do well in the hot afternoon sun.  They are reasonably drought tolerant with little insect or disease problems. 

For more information on these showy, easy to grow plant, visit my webpage dedicated to growing gingers.










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Saturday, January 7, 2012

Yard Art ~ Spoon Plant Markers


Yard art is like jewelry for the garden!

What a fun idea for those yard sale, thrift store and flea market finds that you can pick up for almost nothing, but can make such an awesome impact in your garden.  I've seen some really cute yard art projects using old spoons . . . guess I won't be passing these up at future thrift sales anymore!

Want to make these for your garden?
Click here for the tutorial!



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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Growing tomatoes in winter


Although we experienced our first night of freezing temps last night, my thoughts are on starting tomato and pepper seeds early this winter.  It has been a mild winter for us in Zone 9 Florida and I've done it before, but it has been a long time since I experimented with this theory.  

Once the seedlings are big enough to transplant, they need to be grown in containers so they can be moved inside in case of a prolonged freeze.  We may just leave the containers in our carport area where they are protected.  It is worth a try to get a jump start on the growing season.  The containers are currently sitting out there empty . . . and seeds are relatively inexpensive.  

Time to order seeds!





Check out the Customer Favorites Tomatoes,
 now available at Burpee.com!



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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

The Path to Serenity


There is something about paths in the garden that can transform a garden into a serene sanctuary that creates the mystery of where the path leads, especially when connected with secluded garden rooms.

I love the randomness of the pattern and diversity of materials used in the featured path.  Very clever idea for stretching out the more expensive pavers by mixing them with less expensive items.  Very cool!

Click here to go to the story behind this path!



What an awesome path that can be duplicated with relatively inexpensive items.  

For those who love to create with concrete like me, the pavers would be so easy to make!  

I'm ready to mix some concrete :)






Gardener's Supply Company - Deal of the Week



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Monday, October 24, 2011

Fall gardening checklist


The autumn leaves are changing colors, 
the temperatures are coming down, 
in Florida it is less humid.

At a loss on what to do in the garden?

Fine Gardening's website has an awesome series of
videos and articles on seasonal gardening.

Click here to go there!



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Saturday, October 8, 2011

Fall gardening for subtropical and tropical climates



This is one of my favorite times of the year for gardening in our Zone 9, Central Florida garden.

Soon the black eyed susan vines that have seeded themselves all over the Paradise that is now a jungle will provide a much needed splash of color.  Another season has gone by, leaving the Paradise neglected and way overgrown.  The coleus and impatiens that used to grow wild are few . . . the past winters have killed the reseeding process that was going on.  Hopefully we can at least get those going again to bring more color to the garden.

Now is the time that I prune and propagate.

For guidelines and reference, please refer to my Florida gardening page for lots of links to the websites I go to for everything I need to know about gardening in Florida and similar zones.

Click on the Florida Gardening graphic to go to the page.

As the seasons are changing, we have been utilizing our outdoor dining area again . . . much to our delight!  

It is time to get the container plants in the carport jungle going again.  We are looking forward to planting more tomato and pepper plants.  Our pepper plant is still putting out delicious hot peppers!  It will be nice to have a greater variety.  The lime tree is still putting out some awesome juicy limes :)


We'll be visiting Busch Gardens soon and will post photos of their Fall gardens.

Happy Fall!


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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Nasty Grasshoppers Caught In The Act!


Not only have they chewed up most of our
 plants, but now we caught them in the
 act of having sex in our front yard.

Shameless grasshoppers . . . I hate them!



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