Meta Chalker and her son David are a talented duo when it comes to gardening at their home in North Central Florida. Enjoy!
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Comments
Hi Meta - Great that you and your son, David, work together in your lovely garden. I especially like the Brunsfelsia and Crepe Myrtles. Thanks for sharing. Cheers from Australia
Thank you Frank.
Goodness, Meta, you and your son are certainly growing and nourishing some real beauties down in your Florida garden. It's so interesting to see what many of us consider "house" plants used as dependable edgers...such as the cast iron plant. What is the care for an Angel Trumpet in a climate where it can be in the ground and grow happily? Do you cut it back yearly? What is its bloom cycle? It has to be very special to be sharing this interest with your son.
Thank you meander. The Angel Trumpet is a prolific bloomer here in my area. It blooms off and on from Spring to Frost. I have to cut it back several times during the year to keep the growth in check. After the first frost hits it I cut it back to about two feet and it usually bounces back in the Spring. I fertilize it about once or twice a year.
My son and I enjoy working together and bouncing off ideas back and forth.
Splendid, indeed! How wonderful to share your gardening creativity with your son! Your specimens are gorgeous. I am especially drawn to those gloriosa lilies! The crept myrtles sure are an attention grabber! Lovely!
Glad you enjoyed my garden photos, Margaret.
Very nice Meta and David. Today's post is a tease of all the plants I either can't grow, or can grow smaller versions/annuals. Love the gloriosa lily. The shape and color is so cool. Interestingly, this plant is a source of colchicine, used medicinally to treat gout and other ailments.
The pentas are so large. Always a smaller annual for me. The bromeliad in bloom is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for your comment, Kevin.
I think a lot of plants have some medicinal qualities. I did not know about the gout.
Meta, I was amazed at the Brunsfelsia! I'm imagining how lovely they must smell. Zone envy!
They do indeed have a lovely smell, Sharon.
Meta and David, what beauty to behold in your creation! I had a brugmansia that I brought in for the winter. All the leaves fell off, and it was so spindly. As Kevin said, so many plants that we wish we could grow!!! Is it fragrant in the evening? I especially like the pruned hedge- it gives your garden those great bones we look for! Now, if you only had a rainbow lorikeet...?
Will this do, Rhonda?
Frank, just fabulous bird and shot!!! I can't grow him here either in WNC!
Frank, tell me that wasn't in your yard! You got that photo off the internet, right?
A friend Peggy.
Such a beautiful bird! One day I'll get down to see them.
Please do Peggy - you won't be disappointed.
Very nicely, Frank!
Gorgeous colors on that bird.
Thank you Rhonda. Yes, it is fragrant, just lovely.
So wonderful to see such a beautiful garden in Central North Florida. I live in Lake County and always love to see other gardens in this area. Yours is especially lovely, so healthy and well groomed...hard to keep looking so well here when it gets so hot. Such beautiful specimens, all my favorites.
Yes, Babs. You are right. The hot summers are certainly a challenge.
I live in Marion County.
Definitely fun to see all the plants I can't grow outdoors in their full splendor. The Brugmansias are so beatiful and I love the bromeliads. I think the flaming fireworks of the gloriosa lilies definitely win the day!
Glad you enjoyed seeing them, Tim.
Meta and David, your plants are obviously planted in the perfect climate for optimum growth! Photos of your Angel Trumpets deserve to be on plant tags in every nursery so folks wandering the aisles will know the potential of their little seedling!
Good idea, Sheila.
Beautiful tropical garden. Your Angel Trumpets are so huge reminds me of the ones I saw in Hawaii. Not something I can grow in the Northwest.
Granny, I imagine they would be even bigger in Hawaii.
How refreshing and beautiful are your gardens Meta! It sure makes me long for warmer weather and dig in the dirt! Very lovely plants you and your son David have planted! I just purchased a cast iron plant and it was good to see it in a border. Thanks for brightening up my day!
I enjoyed your reply Jeanne. David was very pleased with all the comments as well.
Good morning Meta and greetings from New Hampshire! I am so in awe of your garden and your plantings. The brugmansia blew me away, and I'd never even heard of or seen Brunsfelsia. Tell us more! Specifically what do you feed your angel trumpet? I have two that I bring out of the basement every spring, and put on my back deck. But I haven't had a good show for a couple of years and need to figure out what I need to do better.
Thank you for sharing your lovely yard and garden with us all.
Lily, most of the time I use organic fertilizer, Milorganite. But you can also just use regular 6-6-6. I feed it in the fall and spring. The sprinkler system comes on twice a week, except in winter when we only run it once a week.
I think since you have it in a pot, they would need to be watered more regularly.
Glad to hear from New Hampshire.
Good morning, Meta and David. What fun to see your colorful garden on a cold day. We're overwintering a brugmansia in our greenhouse but if it gets as big as yours, well, then we have a problem. Your brunsfelsia is beautiful, and I'm so envious of your zone on that one.Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Linda. I think it should respond well to regular trimming to keep it in bounds since you have it growing in a pot. I don't think it would be a problem.
Happy to see plants in my zone (8b/9a). How old is your son? Can I have him? I've always meant to try gloriosa lily. Your rain lilies are perfect since they're not in the lawn where the mower would get them. I'm going to copy that idea. Beautiful, beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Peggy. David had to smile about your remark. You made his day.
He is 55, I am 75. David made the planter box that they are growing in. He made three of them for the rain lilies.
I'll have to withdraw my request; he's too close to my age (57) and would make my husband jealous. What a delightful partnership you two have.
LOL, Peggy.
I have a cyber friend who lives in Denmark, who always want to borrow him. Her last request was, if I would mail him, she would pay the postage to get him to Denmark.
It is nice to have some humor between gardening friends. :-)
lovely!
Meta & David...It's clear you are super artistic, hardworking and enjoy plants, as I guess all of us who frequent FIne Gardening do. I envy you the USDA zone where the lovely tropical will not only shine one summer but still be there season after season. Peggy Jo McCracken Sheets - I grew glorious lily in a back deck plant pot on Vancouver Island (6b), so you might want to try that. Meta & David one of the loveliest gardens lately. Hope you'll send more pix as your garden matures.
Thank you Darlene. I have also enjoyed the many beautiful gardens posted on this site from all the various areas here in the U.S and other countries as well.
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