Cottage Garden

Xanthosoma mafaffa 'Lime Zinger'
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' The Big Mafaffa' , also known as Xanthosoma mafaffa 'Lime Zinger', is my favorite elephant ear. This bulbous aroid gets huge on a diet of compost or well rotted manure, with regular watering during the hot, steamy months. My plant, as shown here, was three years old and easily wintered over as a dormant bulb----dug, dirt shaken off, and allowed to dry before it was brought into my cool (50-55F) and dry basement.

Container magic……Brugmansia (Angel's Trumpet) 'Sunset' cascades in floral glory along the path to our lath house. Underfoot, in a pot, is Tulbaghia violacea 'Tricolor' (Variegated Society Garlic) with umbels of soft lavender flowers all summer. Our fish container is home to a collection of succulents that resemble deep sea creatures.

We welcomed the summer of '04 with a tropical bed color-themed in pink, bronze and chartreuse plants. The soft lime-green carpet is Callisia repens. To the right, Rosa 'Carefree Beauty'. Centered in the bed is Euphorbia cotinifolia (Tropical Smoke Tree), Acalypha hispida (Chenille Plant), coleus, and our favorite flowering tobacco, Nicotiana mutabilis. Brugmansia 'Pink Beauty' is the centerpiece in a collection of containers.

Acalypha wilkesiana 'Hoffmanii' trained here as a topiary standard by removing the lower stems. At the base of the pot is Fiber Optic Grass, Isolepsis. Design by Joan Sheppard of Godfrey, Illinois.

Xanthosoma violaceum, Blue Taro
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Xanthosoma violaceum, Blue Taro……this monster elephant ear produces huge ears like blue suede. Serious tropicalismo! Remove the lower leaves to reveal astonishing purple-violet stems, then underplant with colorful tropicals like lantana, coleus and sweet potato vine.

A container that oozes tropicalismo. The Tropical Smoke Tree, Euphorbia cotinifolia, towers over my favorite elephant ear Xanthosoma 'Lime Zinger'. This pot flourished in a semi-shaded spot near the rear of the nursery. Carex 'Toffee Twist' adds billowy texture along with Muhlenbeckia axillaris (Maidenhair Vine) and Solanum jasminoides (Potato Vine).

While it's still frosty outside, our greenhouse containers are thriving in late winter. Seen here: Homolocladium (Ribbon Plant) used as a vertical centerpiece, surrounded by Salvia 'Caribbean Coral', Oxalis 'Copper Glow', Coleus 'Purple Duck's Foot', and Coleus 'Sparkler'.

This blood-red pot is home to Agastache aurantiaca, (Hummingbird Mint), underplanted with the tiny, creeping tropical Peristrophe hyssopifolia. A mixed border of tropicals and perennials provides a colorful background.

If you build it they will come. Our new gazebo was painted gloxinia purple and surrounded with lush tropicals as seen here. Purple rules! Metallic leaves of Strobilanthes (Persian Shield), alternanthera, orthosiphon (Cat Whiskers), torenia, and breynia all hued in purple, bronze and lavender flowers and foliage.

My favorite container of tropicals in summer '04. Allamanda 'Cherries Jubilee' shares a pot with Coleus 'Gold Brocade', Iresine 'Purple Lady', and Muhlenbeckia axillaris (Wire Vine), cascading over the edge. This was in a very hot, full sun exposure at the entrance to the nursery.

This is a bright location, without direct sun, at the entrance to the check out area. On the main stage is Brunfelsia nitida, with sweetly fragrant, ivory tube-shaped blossoms. It blooms in flushes throughout summer and fall…..spectacular! A wall basket in the background houses trailing coleus, caladiums, and Cissus discolor, the rex begonia vine.

A golden-glazed container holds a one year old specimen of Tecoma stans (Yellow Bells). The hummers adore it. It thrives in heat and humidity, right at home with its companions…Pentas 'Ruby Glow Red', 'Iresine 'Purple Lady', Ipomoea 'Margarita', and Pennisetum setaceum 'Rubrum' (Purple Fountain Grass).

A group of containers showcasing my favorite new Angel's Trumpet, Brugmansia 'Super Nova', with extremely long trumpets of white, just dripping with perfume in the evening hours. Tropical companions include Cordyline 'Red Sensation', Salvia 'Paul', Agastache 'Red Fortune' and Coleus 'Garnet Robe'.

We are wild about succulents and use them in baskets on a wall that plays background to our retail area. The long chains, dripping in tiny silver leaves, is Dichondra 'Silver Falls'.

Our rustic garden bench, painted in Radiant Red, highlights this tropical bed by our lath house. Happily co-mingling are Xanthosoma violaceum (Blue Taro), Abelmoschus manihot (Sunset Hibiscus), Alternanthera 'Purple Knight', Coleus 'India Frills' (as a groundcover), and Pogonatherum (Bamboo Grass).