My front yard (like every other piece of my property) was a sea of Plumeria trees until recently. A Royal Poinciana tree had gotten so big that it was shading the whole area and the Plumeria were not happy with all that shade... However, since the Poinciana is STUNNING when in bloom I decided it had earned the right to be here so I set about to redo that patch.


Some dwarf/compact type Plumeria will still reside on the edges of the patch, and I intend to place a lot of my variegated shrubs there since they are mostly happier with a touch of light shade anyway. In addition I have a few pieces of pottery etc. which I will use here.

My first question: I have this grouping of blue pots. Is the arrangements with three or five pieces more appealing?

3's are always the ticket in my mind, and moving the two others in blue away from the group of 5 to other areas would accent the grouping and create a spacial feel. The open face pot for instance would look fabulous set next to and in between the large terracotta pot in the second picture and the other terracotta next to it;...setting another 3 grouping.

Thank you. I was also leaning towards the 3.

your welcome.

I'd go with 3 also. To my eyes, three enhance the setting and make it cohesive but five tends to draw my eyes just to the color blue. By the way ... that Royal Poinciana is STUNNING!

Thank you, that is well explained, Lin.
Yes, the Poinciana gets to stay...

I'm sorry not to have mentioned your beautiful Poincianna Tree Hetti in my past message. I've complimented you so many times in past threads that I took it for granted this time. I figured you already knew from me;.......and for all others reading;....Hetti's Poincianna is fabulous. Of course my dwarfs are too.......

no apologies needed and I can't take credit for the Poinciana other than for having planted it. Mother Nature is doing all the rest.

I miss your older avatar hetti. I liked the one where you looked like an elegant grade school teacher likely with an accent and with the short Dutchboy bob haircut holding the glasses.............! It was good and I always felt like a kid again when I saw it. "Gosh! will Ms. Hetti approve and will I get an A or a C?"

I really liked that one though Hetti. It was so you!

you're funny, David.

Wait till you see my face! Heres some landscape looks around here that will need help soon...

There is some real progress being made. Now I am wrestling with the fact that I would like the plantings in the front of the blue arrangements to stay fairly low so it can be glimpsed from the house and driveway. I am not fond of the standard groundcovers that are seen in our area so I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions. I am toying with the idea of planting a few of my Adeniums there, and currently the Kalanchoe blossfeldiana that I have in other areas of my yard are putting on quite a display, so that might be an idea too.

Open to suggestions!

Possibly some sedum? In the 'lemon lime' or 'chartreuse' color?
Are those Crinum planted on either side? What color are the blooms?

Yes those are Crinum 'Ellen Bosanquet' (Purple). I also have some rainlilies (pink) between the pots and the Crinums.
I like the idea of a succulent but I would need a LOT of Sedum; I was more thinking about something that would get no more than 6-8 inches high.

My first thought of a fast growing and seemingly ever blooming groundcover was Dune Sunflower (Helianthus debilis) but that is fairly common and the yellow color won't work well with the pinks/purples. How tall do your Adenium and Kalanchoe get? I thought those were fairly tall, like 12", 14" or more?

Something with white blooms would look great with pink/purple and the blue pots.

I'm making huge progress! The whole front part has been mulched already. There are some empty spaces that bother me a bit but I have now lived in Florida long enough to know how fast those tiny shrubs will grow so it will all fill in.
Still trying to decide for a cover other than mulch for the left section behind the narrow brick path. The area around the blue pots has a covering of pink granite (not all that pink) but it's expensive and so I'm trying to decide on something else to use on the left side that will still keep the yin and yang effect divided by the little path. Ideas?

You are so well on your way and love the Sanseverias!

David. I did some 'shopping in my own yard' and the Sansevierias were the result of that shopping trip....

Hetty, it looks so pretty and I know it will be even more beautiful by late spring or early summer once those shrubs grow up a bit! The Sansevieria look really nice in that bed; will you have to watch them closely so they don't overtake the bed or is that not the S. trifasciata that's listed as an invasive here in Fla? Oh, I'd love to see a close up of the pink granite, my eyes can't see it real well in the photo but wow, the pink with those beautiful blue pots is a wonderful color combo!