Showing all posts in Tropical Style

We’ve seen papyrus — in African landscapes, woven into newspaper and as backdrops to exotic resort destinations — but how and where does papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) flourish out of these cases? Is living along the Nile River necessary for developing it? While it’s true that papyrus naturally develops in tropical bogs and along stream borders, it is able and eager to be cultivated at a residential garden as well. If you’ve decided to include a water garden in your landscape or are plagued by poorly drained soil, papyrus might be the plant for you. What could be better at the oppressive heat of summer in relation to the whirring of your flourishing papyrus plants swaying in the wind?

Carolyn Chadwick

Botanical name: Cyperus papyrus
Common names: Papyrus, Egyptian papyrus
USDA zones: 9 to 11 (find your zone)
Water requirement:Water adoring
moderate requirement:Full sun to partial shade
Mature dimensions:6 to 10 feet tall; 2 to 4 feet wide
Advantages and tolerances: Prefers moist lands
Seasonal attention:Blooms July through September; dormant in winter
When to plant: Plant seedlings and split in spring

Studio H Landscape Architecture

Distinguishing attributes. Papyrus is distinguished by its long, gracefully arching stems that can reach up to ten feet in length. Topping the stems are 1-foot-long sprays of fibrous stems. These clusters will continue to fill out until they form a soft crown. Terminal flower clusters appear in summer, followed by little berries.

Bercy Chen Studio

King Tut papyrus, shown here, is a award-winning and appealing papyrus cultivar.

How to use it. Papyrus is commonly seen planted along ponds and aquatic gardens, owing to its natural habitat. Permit the plant to form a mass in order to create a gentle and natural focus along with companion aquatic plants such as water lilies (Nymphaea spp) or lotus (Nelumbo spp).

Papyrus develops rapidly, therefore it’s recommended that you plant it together big water features or plant it in a container and then put the container from the water. This will stop the plant from taking over the pond and make maintenance easier.

Stephanie Ann Davis Landscape Design

Papyrus tolerates standing water in addition to relatively dry soil, therefore it can also be utilized in rain gardens or as dry riverbeds.

Make Architecture

You can even plant papyrus in containers for a more structured and minimalist effect. Minimize drainage by plugging holes.

Grounded – Richard Risner RLA, ASLA

Planting notes. Papyrus is native to warm climates and therefore isn’t appropriate for growing outdoors anyplace. In some ponds, papyrus is treated as an annual or brought indoors over winter. While it typically goes dormant in all ponds over winter, rhizomes protected from frost underground may resprout in spring.

Papyrus grows best in rich, fertile soils that maintain continuous moisture — it will grow in shallow water. It is more of a marginal plant also doesn’t grow well in deep water such as water lilies will. Plant it in full to partial sun, while enabling it to thrive in partial shade. It is a plant that requires medium maintenance — keep the soil wet, eliminate old culms (stems) after flowering and protect it from wind for the best success.

See more guides to great design crops

See related

Though not true lilies, canna lilies make a superb addition to a huge variety of garden styles and styles. They’re easy to grow, easy to propagate and reasonably priced, and they produce a large impact even in small numbers. Large leaves in a variety of colour variants are topped with relatively small flowers in a variety of colours as well. Regardless of what colour scheme you are going for, there’s a canna to coincide.

Whilst typically utilized in tropical-style gardens, cannas also can be used in more traditional gardens in colder zones down to at least 5a. We all northern gardeners can plant them summer bulbs, whilst zone 8-10 anglers may use them year round! Let us take a peek at a number of cannas and their effect in the garden.

Pot Incorporated

At a Glance: Canna Lilies
Botanical name: Cannaceae
Common title: Canna lily
USDA zones: 8-10 (find your zone)
Water requirement: Well-drained, well-watered dirt
moderate requirement: Full sun, slight shade
Mature size: two to 9 feet tall, depending upon variety
Gains: Easy to grow, tall and statuesque, pest resistant, interesting foliage, wide range of colours

Best time to plant: two weeks after the last frost in your area for colder zones and anytime in zones 8-10
Seasonal curiosity: Foliage looks the best in late spring-mid summer, while the flowers put on a show in summer time.

Small Miracles Designs

Cannas were the first plant I mastered. These beginner-proof beauties will provide you confidence to move on into other, less forgiving, plants.

Adam Woodruff + Associates, Garden Artisans

How to Use Cannas in Your Garden

Cannas work flawlessly as a background foil for smaller plants. You generally have to wait for three to four years for an evergreen plant to grow large enough to work as a foil for other crops, but a canna can grow to four or five feet in a couple of months.

Glenna Partridge Garden Design

Cannas have verdant foliage, but can be top heavy. Try underplanting cannas with low-growing baskets to pay up those bare legs.

Glenna Partridge Garden Design

Cannas can be worked into a formal garden by keeping them neat. Notice how the total type of the canna planting is circular instead of”drifting” in a free-form design.

Even though cannas typically are tropical crops, they could partner with numerous styles of gardens. Here they are paired with grasses, the disparate leaf sizes making an interesting combination.

Glenna Partridge Garden Design

Cannas can look very formal when planted in baskets and interspersed with other mannerly plants. Employing deep maroon foliage provides this entryway thickness and distinction.

Glenna Partridge Garden Design

Consider using cannas as”bursting” plants supporting a low-clipped hedge of boxwood or yew. The plant is very well behaved, but provides a tailored look a little more excitement.

Glenna Partridge Garden Design

Are you fortunate enough to have a space to bask in sunlight, splash in a pool or even breathe in the ocean breezes? Cannas are really at home in this environment, waving in the wind and also bringing the feel of the tropics to your backyard for just a couple of bucks.

Beware, however: If you are growing cannas in tropical areas, they will just keep growing and might take over. In U.S.D.A. zones 7 and lower, cannas are grow just enough each summer to flaunt and propagate a few more rhizomes underground, then die.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Selecting a Canna Color

You’ll find a vast array of leaf and flower colors and variegation when picking a canna plant. The traditional canna has basic green leaves with bright red flowers, but there are many others to choose from. Try out different blossom colors, from flaming red and orange to milder yellows and apricots.

Red-leaf cannas are spectacular from the garden and easily can bridge crops which clash with one another.

Glenna Partridge Garden Design

Red cannas look particularly beautiful when tamed by whites and pinks. Notice the way the veins of this canna leaves are intensified from the lighter colours that surround them.

Another way to boost the routines in the canna leaves would be to put the plant so it’s backlit either in the morning or evening. A sunset filtering through the leaves of a canna is a stunning sight.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

Try bronze cannas with orange blooms to accent blues in a contemporary garden.

Nunley Custom Homes

The oranges also complement purple blooms or hardscaping.

Glenna Partridge Garden Design

How to Care to Cannas

Cannas are easy. They require a bit more effort than evergreen bushes, but not much. The only real work is pulling them up in the autumn and placing them in the spring. It takes a total of perhaps two hours per year for 20 to 25 cannas.

Once the first frost hits, simply lift the cannas from the floor by the stalks and let them dry out in sunlight for a day. Cut off the dried stalks, keep the rhizomes in a dry, cool area and they will be prepared to go next spring.

Mary-Liz Campbell Landscape Design

Cannas are not particularly vulnerable to diseases or bugs, but they aren’t immune either. Symptoms to watch out for include:
Holes in leaves. Pinch off the affected leaves and blast with a hose to keep critters . Yellowing foliage. Try adding compost into the soil round the cannas. They might be underfed. Shriveled or moldy rhizomes. When in storage, a couple bulbs will necessarily go bad. Only throw them in the garbage or woodpile.For the most part, I plant my cannas and forget about them. They’re tough, beautiful statement plants that you will either love or love to hate. I’m completely in the love camp — are you? Leave a comment and tell us!

More: Great Layout Plants

See related

I have spent the past week soaking up the local colour in Collioure, France. It is a town so full of charm and beauty that we basically threw our planned day trips outside the window and have been enjoying the design, colours, artwork, vistas and locals right there in town.

Collioure, along the Ruby Coast, is so amazing that it inspired vibrant colours to emerge onto the canvases of Matisse and Derain in 1905. This manner of artwork, which lent powerful, unexpected colours, was dubbed fauvism. One of the most charming ways residents adopt art and color here today is via simple potted plants which dot the streetscape; they lineup staircase, sit atop balconies, are perched on tables and chairs, and therefore are mounted directly onto the outside walls.

See ways to add colour to your potted plants with a glance at some of my favorites.

A pink geranium in a ceramic pot tops an orange café chair outside a shop door. The town shops are filled with wonderful local ceramic pieces.

Shattered ceramics make for unique mosaic pots. Red flowers are the pìece de résistance.

Here they line the staircase to an art gallery which has a camera painted a vibrant hue.

You can see how the former vignette fits to the greater streetscape, an inviting street filled with colorful shops and galleries.

Bold lines of colour enliven this stucco wall.

Pops of green rejuvenate old stone walls.

One of my friends wished the laundry point had been empty for her picture, but I think it adds interest for this lovely tiny balcony scene.

Who knew a purple plastic pot could look so great? Another wonderful embellishment seen throughout Collioure is the use of ceramic tile as an architectural detail.

Our one day excursion took us from the Mediterranean shore into the Pyrenees and the town of Céret. This is a town where cubism thrived and a group of famous artists established The Céret Museum of Modern Art; I highly recommend a visit.

Little baskets add dots of green to the building’s facade.

“Exactly why is this crazy American shooting an image of my geraniums?”

Collioure has tropical plants such as this palm and vineyard grapes up the hillsides, however from outside the water, snow-capped mountains are visible in the distance.

This facade has one of the greatest applications of faux bois I have ever seen.

Terra-cotta pots filled with crops create a foundation for wild vines that rise from the bottom up within the roof.

Who needs a vase filled with cut flowers when a simple terra-cotta plant and pot will thrive for much longer?

Try this at home using a begonia or Spanish geranium. If your chairs are a bit more ho-hum than these French bistro chairs, add a white and blue gingham tablecloth.

More:
Charming, Bright Country Home in France

Escape: Off to the South of France

Merchandise Categories: That French Je Ne Sais Quoi

See related

When it’s the purple blooms of the plant, the fact that it needs just monthly mowing or its different grape Kool-Aid smell, there is a lot to love about Texas mountain laurel (Sophora secundiflora). While you may not call Texas Hill Country home, adding a few Lone Star style to your landscape can be as simple as planting a tree.

Read landscape designs | More amazing design plants

Bryan – oz4caster

Botanical name: Sophora secundiflora
Common names: Texas mountain laurel, mescal bean, mountain laurel, mescal bean sophora, frijolillo, frijolito
USDA zones: 8 to 10
Water requirement: Infrequent
Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Mature size: 15 feet tall and wide
Tolerances: Drought, wind, deer and frost

Caution: Seeds are poisonous if ingested

Distinguishing attributes. A desert indigenous, Texas mountain laurel owns survival traits essential to thrive in an arid climate while exuding features of plants out of a great deal more temperate regions. Obviously dispersing and shrubby, it may also be trained as a multistemmed vertical tree.

Dark green compound leaves insure its branches year-round, but its early spring blooms make Texas mountain laurel shine. Reminiscent of wisteria flowers, drooping clusters of violet-blue buds abound in midwinter. The flowers are described as smelling like grape Kool-Aid or other artificial grape products. A relatively brief bloom time contributes to summertime seed pods. If possible, eliminate the seed pods until they open in order to prevent the poisonous seeds from falling.

Photo by Stan Shebs via Wikimedia Commons

Rod Anderson

How to use it. Texas mountain laurel is a great choice for a patio or little space because of its human scale and vertical form. If you would rather make it untrained, Texas mountain laurel will spread nicely to form a landscape screen year-round.

Pam Bycraft

Planting notes. Texas mountain laurel thrives in heat, owing to its native climate, however is hardy to temperatures reaching 10 degrees Fahrenheit or less. Plant in well-drained soil and give it profound monthly waterings during especially warm months. Texas mountain laurel is relatively slow growing, causing it to be a pricier specimen tree. If you train it like a tree, then narrow it throughout the growing period to reduce wind damage.

More amazing design trees:
Bald Cypress | Chinese Witch Hazel | Japanese Maple | Manzanita | Persian Ironwood
Smoke Tree | Tree Aloe

Great design flowers:
Catmint | Golden Creeping Jenny | Pacific Coast Iris | Plumbago
Red Kangaroo Paw | Sally Holmes Rose | Slipper Plant | Snake Flower

Great design grasses:
Black Mondo Grass | Cape Rush | Feather Reed Grass | New Zealand Wind Grass

Great design crops:
Blue Chalk Sticks | Hens-and-Chicks | Redtwig Dogwood | Toyon

See related

Have you ever walked with a house that looked a little flat, a little bare? Something was missing, but you could not really put your finger on it? Try imagining that home with one simple little addition — a window . Picture a tiny box filled with overflowing with pink blossoms or bright yellow pansies. Can you see it? It kind of completes the picture, does not it?

Like the best pearl necklace or strands of gold, window boxes set the finishing touches on the”necks” of plain-Jane windows. Take a second look in your house. Could it benefit from a couple of well-placed window boxes?

Let us catch some thoughts from well-boxed windows in an assortment of shapes, sizes, colors and materials.

If your window is low and long, you have got to balance it with a shallow but lengthy window box. Be certain the box expands a few inches out from the base of the window to create a pleasing line. There is nothing worse than a top-heavy window on a dinky window box.

An exception to the principle? These window boxes are the exact same length as the window sill, but they look well balanced, thanks to its walls. The combo of shutters, window and box create a fully dressed look which makes this”plain” white house difficult to overlook.

O’Sullivan Architects, Inc

You may think window boxes are much too difficult to look after when placed on a second story. Pick drought-resistant annuals which will bloom all summer long. The care needed will be minimal, however, the visual impact will be strong.

TEA2 Architects

This house has a gorgeous backyard, but if you are anything like me, your eyes bypassed that backyard and headed straight to this open window box around the second story. Literally dripping with foliage, the window box gives an air of wealth to this home.

Even the smallest windows may benefit from a tiny flower love. This little potting shed gets all charmed out together with the accession of a sweet little window box.

Working with a little apartment with one little window? You are not left out of the window box party. Try planting a box for the inside of the window, as Jen Jafarzadeh L’Italienhas performed here. A classic soda box full of annuals or blossoms is the perfect indoor pick-me-up for bland windows.

backporchco

Vintage whites and khakis receive a boost from vivid green and blue in this indoor window box.

Troy Rhone Garden Design

When planting a window box, look at planting vining or trailing plants. Softening the edges of the box and the right lines of your house, these plants work double duty. They are also able to work as a bridge between the house and backyard. Notice these plants seem to be reaching toward the garden beds, making a fully integrated look between the two.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

Informal and abundant, these draping plants are more than sufficient to completely alter the look of this window. The window box itself is all but undetectable, together with the plants taking centre stage.

If your house is a little more buttoned up, attempt miniature topiary to add to the formal style of your facade.

Care to go a little fancier? Try on this arrangement by Troy Rhone Garden Design for fashion.

Orfield Remodeling, Inc

Whether your window box is inside or out, trailing or straight, formal or flowing, it may modify the look of your space. For the price of a wonderful dinner out, a very simple window box can transform the look of your home all season.

See how to make a simple wood window box

See related

September is a season of abundance and a season of winding down into a new phase in the garden. Enjoy the fruits of your own labor and allow yourself to enjoy the days outside.

Whether you are harvesting leafy greens , allowing pumpkins ripen or just sitting on the rear deck with a glass of tea, September is the month to enjoy your bounty and soak in the very last days of summer and the very first days of autumn. This is the time when those days are not too hot and not too cold, but just right. Don’t let them pass you by!

Amy Renea

Cool-Season Crops Get Their Chance

With the children back to college and also the temperatures dipping just a little, it is time to initiate the autumn harvest and count on cool-season plants. Broccoli, kale and a second set of peas would be the newest kids on the block this month in the garden.

Amy Renea

King of the garden at this time is chard, which range in colors from brilliant yellows, reds and pinks into the classic giant white. I maintain snipping at those leaves of chard for smoothies that are green and the plants continue producing. If spinach gets eaten up by bugs in your garden or visit seed too fast, attempt chard all summer and fall for a great alternative.

Amy Renea

Vining Plants Have Their Time in the Sun

If you look closely below those large leaves of pumpkins and other types of squash, you will notice green fruit growing at an incredible speed. Some may be eaten green since you would summer squash (attempt acorn squash this manner ) while others are best left to ripen on the vine. Jarrahdale pumpkins, the blue-skinned heirlooms, are my favorite hearty pumpkin this season.

Amy Renea

If you’ve got more gourds than you understand what to do with, go ahead and let them grow to maturity. Set them aside to dry all winter and you’ll have the perfect house for birds next spring.

Amy Renea

Get Plants Ready for Winter

Hanging ferns, window box plantings and annuals might start to brown by the end of this month. Go ahead and let them stay outside until the day temps start hovering in the low 40s. If frost seems imminent, it’s best to receive them inside, but outside is best as long as possible if you are going to overwinter your favorites.

Amy Renea

Succulents also need a close attention this time of year. Some can overwinter outside, but tropical succulents will need to come inside at the first sign of frost. These plants can endure a very light frost, but chilly temperatures may kill off the very best growth. A wilted aloe vera isn’t a wonderful sight, so get them inside if temperatures fall.

Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design LLC

One Last Hurrah for your Garden

The final of the summertime are winding down, for instance, gorgeous areas of echinacea and most of those purple-spiked plants. Permit the seed heads to develop to feed the birds to sow for the next season’s garden. Alternatively, chop those heads off should you hate the appearance of drying seed heads. (Just try to hide from the lingering gazes of birds when you really do: They need those seeds)

Amy Renea

Old Plants Refresh the Garden

September is a great time to start bulking up the compost bin. You will have a large number of spent annuals to toss in the heap, husks and cobs of sweet corn and much more leaves than you can shake a stick at. Be certain that you use them. If you don’t have time to earn a correct mulch bin, then just pile everything in a rear corner of the yard and let nature take over. By spring, you’ll be astonished the way the heap has reduced and changed to a crumbly brown soil change.

Amy Renea

If you are lucky, you might be harvesting a second harvest of strawberries. Go ahead and enjoy a few, but leave the majority of them on so the plant begins its descent to dormancy.

Amy Renea

So enjoy the past few blossoms of summer and enjoy eating the bounty you’ve worked for many summer. Start placing the garden to break and recycle all those plants, for next year will come sooner than you think. Whatever you decide to spend your time , do it outside and make the most of these gorgeous early fall days.

See related