Saturday, April 10, 2010

Some TLC for the front garden.

I dedicated the last couple of days to the garden in the front of the house. This is the most challenging area of my garden, the western exposure gives the garden full sun from 12 noon on, heat resistant plants are a must.

Is good to see that my ground orchids are coming back, after the winter freezes.
I cleaned out these flowerbeds and added plenty of mulch, I also added more Lantanas. These flowers are perfect for this part of the garden.

The bromeliads came through the winter in perfect shape and not much work was needed.

The bougainvillea on the fence is flowering for the first time after it was cut back before the new fence was added last year. Bougainvilleas are high maintenance plants that grow too fast, and cutting them back is quite a job, some time I question my sanity for having them, but a tropical garden is not tropical without bougainvilleas around.

This is my new succulent corner.

Succulents were my last plant frontier, I have to admit they were not my favorite type of plants but I am coming around.

I picked these cute little guys at a local plant sale, they are a little small now but I’m hoping that they will grow fast in this area.

The cacti in the back I grew from a small leaf I found on the street. I know very little about these plants. I know that they don’t need much water and they can take the sun, I also know that all cacti are succulents but not all succulents are cacti (from Google). My next step is to find a good book to get more information and their names. Any suggestions???

6 comments:

My Little Family: said...

Our bouganvilla is a problem plant now. Wish I had never planted it. I'm sticking with passion flower vines, jasmine, and allamanda in the future.

I've seen them planted on large estates where they have lots of room and they are beautiful. Just not in my suburban garden.

Tira said...

In the last photo the green one is opuntia (looks like ficus indica)-the young leaves are called nopales and(with the spines and glochids scraped off) are sliced and eaten in salads, or grilled. The small rosette is an echevieria. Look at Designing with succulents by Deborah Madison to get lots of great ideas for the drought tolerant garden. Make sure your cacti and succulents are planted in well draining soil or else they will turn to mush when there is heavy rain.

Cheryl said...

Hi Rusty....I wish I could help but sadly i would not even dare to consider a cacti in the garden.It would be dead in our winter temperatures. I grew some indoors years ago but the prickles were a nightmare so they had to go.

I love bouganvilla. I wish I could have it here. I would be prepared to put up with it's rampant habit.

Your garden is looking lovely.....

Darla said...

Your gardens are looking good, I love the succulent/cacti area....good luck figuring all of that out.

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

I had a bougainvillea in my conservatory once but it had to go as it took over the whole room.

Your front garden is looking great!

Susan said...

It looks like you're plants are making a great comeback. I love your new succulent bed...the rocks are the perfect finishing touch.