With the COVID situation totally out of control I am spending the holiday alone probably for the first time in my life. My wife is still up north and she is bored and sick of the weather there so I'm driving back to get her in a couple of weeks instead of waiting until Christmas. She figures if there can't be any family gatherings she might as well just come down here and be warm. I'm excited by that prospect because it also means I'll get my dog back.
I have done a little re-imagining of one of my gardens here so thought I'd share because it will give me something to do.
Gardening in the Keys is a very different proposition as the soil consists of whatever thin layer you can put down and keep in place on top of the rock hard limestone subsurface. The lots here are typically very small, typically 6000 square feet. Most folks opt for what I refer to as the "minimalist" approach to landscaping, which usually consists of a pearock yard with maybe a half dozen trees with a few potted plants sprinkled in. We always wanted a jungle so we have one of the few lots that is landscaped to the hilt. 11 types of palms (several in multiple tree clumps) 3 fruit tress and maybe a dozen or so other types of trees and shrubs.
I've had an area on the road (north) side of the house that because of all the trees doesn't get a lot of sun. We've tried several small groundcover plants but because of the lower light they never flowered much so we have been looking for something with more color that would work there.
I have a large bed of Fireball Neoregelia bromeliads that are in the same general area that have done great and spreading and filling in nicely completely choking out any weed growth. Neoregelia is a low growing, quickly spreading nice groundcover and is epiphytic in nature so the quality of the soil is irrelevant. A quick spin through Google took me to a grower in South Florida that specializes in multiple hybrid colorations of the Neoregelia family. BINGO!
The attached pictures show what I've done. 2 areas, 1 along the road and the other down the side of the driveway, with 3 types in each bed (5 varieties total). The clusters of large "green" ones are the centerpiece in each bed. They are a variety named 'Hawaii' and are green because they are not fully mature at this point. When they do mature, they are a glowing yellow-gold color which I think will look really nice.
This looks like it's going to really add a nice pop of color and I'm excited to see how they do.
Florida Keys Gardening
Threaded Mode
