Patio Fun

This week I've been working on making a path into the backyard of my house. I haven't finished because I ran out of pea gravel! I'll have to get some more tomorrow. It's been a slow process. I started on Monday and had to stop for two days because I found a cable wire running where I was digging out the dirt. The cable guy had to come and re-dig it for me. But so far I think it looks pretty good. All I did was remove 4" of the existing dirt, place some weed fabric down, spread a mixture of pea gravel and some of the dirt I removed, and on top of that an extra layer of the dirt. After that I placed the pavers and brushed in sand into the crevaces. You're really supposed to use pure sand for the second layer of aggregate but, since Florida soil has a high content of sand I used it instead. I can't wait until it's finished :)

I also stained the patio. It's dirty now with all the digging for the pathway. The stain was so easy to apply. I just rolled it on and it dryed in less than an hour! The kind I used is a semi-transparent, so it leaves the impression of natural stone.

Ready, set, grow!

I bought all the materials needed for the pavers and I'll be starting tomorrow. (Yippeee!!) I picked out these Key West coral pavers that I fell in love with. I'm going to use pea gravel for the bottom aggregate. It will work fine since I'm just working with a small space.

I also found the most fragrant flowering shrub in my life. It's a small evergreen shrub called Tea Olive. It produces small, white deliciously smelling blooms. They smell like apricots or peaches. Mmmm, so good! My local super Walmart garden center were selling them for $10 for a 3 gallon plant. Great price in my book. I just had to get two of them. I think they eventually grow into an 8-10' tree. But I'm definitely keeping them small (3-4'). I can't have them competing with my other tall plants.

And I decided finally not to pave my patio with tiles. The reason being is that it's going to take up time that I rather spend getting the rest of the garden ready. So, instead, I bought some cement stain in a terra cotta color and I'll just paint that on. I still have time and I can decide at a later date to do that project. I just want to get the garden ready and I'm trying to beat the summer heat.

Projects and plantings

I haven't been able to do much in a couple of weeks. It's either been raining or cold. I want to start renovating my backyard so much. I plan on tiling my patio with ceramic tiles. I found some great decorative ones at Lowe's. The color I've picked is a deep terra cotta color. And the decorative tiles have a flower embossing on them. One tile looks like a medieval castle. They're really cool! This is a pretty easy project to do. And I figure I can handle it myself without hiring someone. I gotta save money somehow :)

The other project involves installing stone pavers to make a nice path in my backyard. I already have some 16" white pavers. I'm thinking about either staining them with a concrete stain in terra cotta or applying a thin layer of mortar and stamping a design. Then, I want to make a bordered planter edge with these 12" hexagonal blocks. These will go bordered around the back of the house and I can add more soil in and plant more plants.

After I do all that, I'll put some new sod in. I think I'll go back to my fav nursery for the sod. It's so cheap there! I get it for $1 a 2' piece. Then, new plants will come in. Lots of tropicals and flowering plants.

I think in the end this will all turn out great. I just wish I could started!

Spring is near

Well, spring is fast approaching. And with the new season come little critters ready to make their appearence. I saw this pretty gecko on my queen palm. I thought he was cute so I took a picture of him. I have so many of these little lizards around my house. And I'm actually glad for that because they eat a large majority of the bugs. I rarely have to apply pesticides. I know some people who are scared of these little guys but, they don't do a thing except bask in the sun and climb around eating those pesky bugs.

Springtime seeding

Last night I started planting seeds for my garden. I haven't planted from seeds in a long time. I hope they turn out ok. I got some lavender and cilantro herbs. And I've been wanting some more privacy for the backyard. I decided that climbing vine plants like morning glory and moonflower would do the trick. The only thing I didn't like about the seed packets is that they don't say how many seeds to put in the Jiffy pots. I just put about 5 or 6 of the little seeds in each and 1 or 2 of the bigger ones. The moonflower blew me away with their corn kernel size seeds! I can't wait to see them sprout.

The soil that I love to use is called Jungle Growth and it's sold at Lowe's. I just love it because it's totally organic and already has fertilizer for your plants. Not to mention the price is good, too! This is what I used to transplant this palm last night. The poor thing was suffering in it's old pot. It had grown so much out of it that all the botton roots were sticking outside. I had to cut some of these roots to get it out. But I think she'll be ok.

Here are some of my favorite garden books. I just picked up the patio and walkways book the other night. It's really great. You can dress up your driveway, add a paved patio, and all kinds of outside additions. The book shows you step-by-step how to do the projects and exactly what you need to buy for it. I'm planning on making a little pathway from the entry of the backyard where the gate starts. It's going to be so much fun!

Garden of dreams

Today my mom and I visited the Harry P. Leu gardens here in Orlando (finally!). It's so beautiful! I could not believe that all this beauty was hidden in here. From the outside of the gardens you can't see anything. But once you get inside, it's breaktaking! The admission is $5 but they were having a free weekend. What a great surprise! We walked up to the museum entrance, which is this big two-story colonial style house, and were given brochures.

Today the Camellia Society was there demonstrating all the different varieties of camellias. There had to have been over 500 different flowers on 10 different tables! They were even selling camellia bushes. I didn't get one. I'm still trying to get mine to bloom this year.

We walked out of the museum and headed for the gardens. This place is humungous! The first trail is the tropical one. I saw a bunch of varieties of tropical plants. We came up to this cute cottage and butterfly garden next. It reminded me of something you'd see in the country. Then, we headed for the rose garden.

The roses are amazing! I have never seen this many in one place. Their colors are so vibrant and the blooms smell so good. I didn't want to leave! There is a fountain that greets you as you enter the rose garden. And on each ends of the garden there are these beautiful gazebos. Towards the end of the rose garden a bubbling semi-cirular fountain awaits. From here you can see the Harry P. Leu house. We left the rose garden and walked along another path towards, my favorite, the palm garden.


I love palm trees, especially Queen palms but, there're all great! There were bird of paradise and one was in bloom. A Japonese orchid tree was welcoming us with its pretty lavender flowers. And I saw a very tall Aussie tree fern! I even saw some plants that I've never seen before. I wanted to ask someone if they were rare exotics. But there wasn't a guide around. (And yes, they do have guided tours here).

Another trail up we found the House of Garden Demonstrating. It was already closed by the time we arrived but, we got to see alot of plants that are Florida friendly. I saw alot of ones I have in my home garden. I loved the way they were arranged. I got lots of ideas for up and coming projects.

The day ended lovely. We didn't get to see everything but, I know we'll be back soon. As we were getting ready to leave we took a last sit-down break on one of the porch rockers of the house museum. One of the chairs was broken and a head employee told me that it was going to be thrown away. I jumped on it. It's a great rocker. The guy told us that they buy the rockers from Cracker Barrell. The rocker only had a slight broken leg. Not a problem to fix. So, today I didn't have to buy a souvenier. I got one for free! We had a great day. And I can't wait to come back.

My Fern from 'down under'

G'day mates!

I first noticed Australian tree ferns in people's yards a few years ago and always wondered what kind of fern it was. After all, it grows like a tree. Not something I've always associated with ferns. A little over a year ago, I went to my favorite nursery and spotted it. The nursery had about seven small plants left so, I got one. I took it home and replanted it from it's little 4" pot into a 1 gallon pot. But, after a few months I noticed it started to wither and eventually died. I couldn't figure out what went wrong. I watered it like you're supposed to, as well as the feeding but, it still croaked! I still wanted the native aussie. But I was scared the same thing would happen again. I started thinking maybe it wasn't meant to be.

While shopping at my local Walmart I found a bunch of Aussie ferns! I was so excited. These plants were gigantic! The fronds were at least the length of my arm. I had to get one regardless of my past experience. So, this time I planted my fern in the backyard.

It's been a year since I've had my aussie favorite. Aussie tree ferns are more accustomed to partial shade but, she's done very well in her sunny spot. I've learned that as long as the root ball is covered with mulch and kept moist, the plant does fine. She's a fast grower (super fast!) and does great in the 30+ degree weather we have in Florida. I water her once a day during the summer months and every 1-2 days during the winter. I guess my first little plant needed more "growing" room.

Here is a pic of a budding frond. I love the way the fronds are "born". They remind me of an embryo in a mother's womb. Simply beautiful!