Welcome to my zone 9 garden. My roots are deeply planted in the sandy soil of sub-tropical central Florida, where the summers are long and hot, but the rest of the year is paradise!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

My Sister's Garden

My sister has a spacious garden in the center of 6 acres in rural Central Florida. She has lots of large oak trees so a good portion of her yard is mostly shade.

A little over a year ago a large oak in her sideyard split and fell to the ground which gave her the opportunity to create a sunny border and grow some vegetables, as well.

Here's a view of that sunny border from the opposite side.

She used the old trunk of the oak as a pedestal for a pot of bromeliads.

Her garden is mostly a foliage garden of lush green plants with flowering plants tucked in here and there.

This spring she created a succulent/agave garden in a hot and dry area.

Her white Angel Trumpet is a real beauty. Sometimes it's so heavy with blossoms that a branch will break from the weight of it.

Here's a new plant that she found at our local nursery. It's a Lomandra. A type of grass from Australia that gets these yellow flower spikes that bloom throughout the summer months.

Right outside of the garden is her horse named Tampa . . .

and a donkey named . . . Donkey! He's in charge of keeping the coyotes off the property, and he's been known to also go after a black bear that insists on visiting too often.

This shady spot is a real little oasis,

with some spiral ginger and pink flamingo plants.

There's lots of lush tropical foliage planted in the shade.


Here's a close up of the exotic bloom of the spiral ginger.

There's plenty of cats and even a dog or two in her garden. 

She rescues feral cats, 3-legged and one-eyed cats, cats with heart conditions and diabetes, neuters them and then releases and feeds them on her property. You might call her the patron saint of the unadoptable cats.

 So, when you visit her house you're apt to see cats everywhere . . . even on top of the arbor. 


She used to grow a lot of vintage roses but as the trees grew there became fewer and fewer, but you can still find a handful of beautiful large bushes of these old-timey beauties.

7 comments:

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

WOW ~ What a wonderful garden, filled with beauty from plants and life from a canine and a group of felines. A peaceful, happy existence for all.

Thank you for this lovely tour. Give your sister a hug for me.

Love and hugs to you ~ FlowerLady

Dawn said...

Wow, what a super garden, I really am very envious.

Leslie Kimel said...

Your sister's garden is delightful. And what a great thing she's doing for the cats! I thoroughly enjoyed my tour.

Anonymous said...

There's a special place in heaven for people like your sister. . . oh wait - from the looks of her garden, she's already got a slice of heaven! Just beautiful!

Susan said...

Thanks everyone. Yes, she does have a bit of heaven on earth and a lot of grateful animals, as well. :-)

Mystic Dreamer said...

A lovely garden. Your sister is awesome for rescuing all those cats.

Carmen said...

Wow! Your sister's garden is beautiful! I also rescue cats and I have some living in my property but unfortunately I am in a gated community in South Florida and I do not have much privacy. My dream is to move to a place like your sister's. Please tell her that I admire her for being so kind to animals.

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