gardenmonkey

Landscape Painting by Laurence E Fosgate

2011-12-26T04:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a landscape painting I did a few years ago that hangs inside the Tremml family home in Vero Beach, Florida. It depicts part of the back gardens we did for themat their former home in Maitland that was featured in The Orlando Sentinel under the heading "The Best Medicine." We have done extensive work at both these homes over the years.

Orlando Pergolas by Laurence E Fosgate

2011-12-25T06:19:00.000-08:00

We have been building pergolas for twenty years in Central Florida. Recently we revisited the property in Vero Beach where we did four pergolas, including two in the courtyard of this impressive home on the Indian River. In addition to the pergolas graced by colorful bouganvilla, the beautiful bromeliads, crotons, decorative pots and other landscaping were just a few of the elements added by us. Our work even extended to interior furnishings!

Laurence E Fosgate Begins Designs for New Vero Beach Garden

2011-12-20T04:44:00.000-08:00

Today we will go to Vero Beach to make a series of drawings and photographs for a garden across the street from the waterfront home of Willy, Emily and Glenn Tremml. They recently purchased the half acre lot for the purpose of turning it into an elaborately landscaped garden. We're just beginning the design process, but one of my ideas is to construct a ruin- perhaps Maya inspired with shades of Machu Pichu and Angor Wat. We'll see what comes of that over time. This will give our readers a chance to experience how a really grand project evolves through the interaction of clients and how the progression of projects themselves begin to define the process. There is so much that goes into the something like this. I feel confident it will be spectacular. Our first project in Maitland was featured in Great Gardens by the Orlando Sentinel.

Vero Beach Landscape by the Laurence E Fosgate Company

2011-12-18T13:53:00.000-08:00

This is a home we first worked on in 2005. Notice how the Bismarckia, which were put in five years ago have stayed in scale. This house has it all. The owner's previous house in Orlando was all done by us and was featured on two full pages of the Orlando Sentinel titled "The Best Medicine" ( a reference to the husband's role as an ER physician). We first worked on that house when the wife was pregnant with their son. He is now sixteen and has grown up living a life in which gardens and outdoor living have played a central role. More pictures to follow- this is one incredible property sitting on an acre along one of the deepest sections of the Indian River Lagoon. I remember years ago when we first started working on the house having the sound of breaching dolphins keeping me awake as I attempted to sleep in the sun room. This place literally teams with life. Emily tells me that in addition to all kinds of birds and sea-life they have wild turkeys and bobcats. Still it's only a few blocks to the art museum, theaters and chic shops and glamorous restaurants. The best of all worlds- living the Garden Monkey Florida lifestyle.

Travertine Pavers in Celebration by Laurence E Fosgate- Again

2011-12-13T03:40:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of doing another travertine paver project in Celebration. The color chosen is known as "Glacier" and it is a very clean white hue. Once we created this great space, it became painfully apparent that the view of the neighbors house was less than inviting, so we applied for (and just last night received) permission for some eight foot trellises flanked by podocarpus and trimmed out with some boxwood, flax lily and minima jasmine. A chinese fan palm and 2 queen palms will provide additional screening and greenery. The landscape will have both a lush and manicured, neat appearance and should provide a perfect backdrop for outdoor living.

Rock Gardens in Orlando by Laurence E Fosgate Make Great Orlando Sod Substitute

2011-12-12T03:11:00.001-08:00

Over the years, we have learnd how to use rock gardens as a low maintenance and beautiful alternative to sod. The artful arrangement of rocks-from boulders to various types of river rock can add interest and color while reducing watering needs. The use of rock gardens has its place in landscape design going back to terraced areas common in Italian gardens of the 16th century and oriental gardens that run the gamut from zen to lush stream beds and water features. Since most plants need less water than sod, irrigation can be reduced saving a precious resource while conserving money. Our latest project in Rio Pinar combines mid-century modern design with lots of color in the form of bromeliads, Black Ti plants, Black Bamboo, Silver Bismarckia, purple oyster plants and two sizes of light colden brown river rock. The plants are arranged in multiple islands where the boulders simulate mountains, the islands are defined by 3/4 in river rock and the "ocean" is depicted with 1/2 river rock. The result is subtle and entertaining to the eye.

Laurence E Fosgate's Favorite Plants for Orlando

2011-12-11T11:20:00.001-08:00

We have learned to love certain plants for Orlando. Some because they give a tropical look yet have proven they can withstand our occaisional frosts. Portea Bromeliads fill that bill. They have a beautiful bloom, can take sun or shade and freezing temperatures, are easy to care for and look spectacular. Neoregelias (also bromeliads) fill much the same bill. And the Bismarckia palm, shown here with the state palm of Florida, the sabal palmetto,

is another winner. Landscapes Orlando Florida haven't been learning about Florida plants for the last few decades for nothing!

Sod and Cattle Country for Laurence E Fosgate

2011-12-11T08:49:00.001-08:00

Trips to pick up zoysia and other sod takes us down to cattle country where we are inevitably fascinated by the endless miles of ranches. Stretching south from Orlando over a hundred miles to below Lake Okeechobee, Florida's cattle country contains some of the top breeder stock in the country. Particularly famous are the Brahma and Brangus breeds. The people who sell us sod are as likely to ride up on horses as tractors. They are not pretending to be cowboys- they are the real thing.There is something arch-typical about the relationship between Man and cow- from images of the minotaur, toreadors, gauchos or sacred cows wandering the streets of India, something primal is awakened in me each time I see these magnificent animals on the prairies of central Florida.

And check out that longhorn. We couldn't believe it was real!

Laurence E Fosgate Home near Mead Gardens

2011-12-11T08:23:00.001-08:00

Mead Gardens is a real treasure in Winter Park Florida, less than a block from our house. Consisting of almost forty acres of natural gardens it borders the west side of the creek that connects the north Orlando chain of lakes (Lakes Sue, Rowena, Formosa, Estelle and Winyah ) with the Winter Park chain of lakes. Recently Mike and Stephen of the landscapesorlandoflorida.com team took a canoe from the dock of the "Bamboo House" (see previous blog entry) through the creek and ended up at Lake Minnehaha. Had they wanted to keep going they could have followed the waterways north to the St John's River all the way to Jacksonville and the Atlantic Ocean.These pictures show some of the varied terrain of Mead Gardens including Stephen capturing me making my way through an abandoned nature walk. I loved seeing the "Be Careful of Alligators" sign. I think it was designed more for its shock value for out of state visitors than any real desire to prevent people from being eaten. Can't remember the last time anyone around here got bitten. It is true, however, that a few folks have been taken by gators in Florida- but not while walking through the woods.Hard to believe all this wildness exists right in the heart of an urban area of almost three million people.

Chicago Brick Paver Driveway in East Orlando

2011-12-11T08:04:00.001-08:00

Recently we completed the installation of this Chicago brick driveway in east Orlando. The home itself is 10,000 sq ft mediterranean style poured with solid concrete walls! It sits on acreage along the Econ River less than a mile west of the University of Central Florida. Most of the homes around it have horse stables. We at Laurence E Fosgate and the LandscapesOrlandoFlorida.com team really enjoyed working with this beautiful product. Old Chicago brick is salvaged from demolished buildings and has characteristic gold and yellow tones mixed with traditional terra cotta and light brown hues. While not inexpensive, it is one of those improvements where the high quality material is worth it because the results are so obviously visually spectacular. We use the analogy when describing the difference between using travertine and real brick vs concrete pavers as the same as the contrast between using formica vs granite countertops. The extra cost is amply rewarded with increased value. Frankly, the same analogy would apply to concrete pavers vs plain concrete except in that case, the obvious upgrade comes with virtually no extra cost. Regardless of the material, new driveways patios and walkways are some of the best improvement values available.

Orlando Zoysia Sod Succeeds

2011-12-11T07:03:00.001-08:00

Our team at Laurence E Fosgate installed several homes with zoysia grass in the last couple of years. Locations ranged from Rose Isle and Lake Highland neighborhoods north of downtown Orlando,Eastside, and Alexandria Place in north Apopka. The results have been spectacular. Not only is the sod beautiful and carpet-like, it is highly resilient. Once established, it can survive periods of drought and is strong enough to resist most weeds. It's reputed drawback of losing most of its green color in cold weather is overplayed. This last winter, in spite of a few days of freezing, none of the lawns lost their color entirely. They became a mix of tan and green that was not unattractive, and this only lasted for a few weeks. By the middle of February, they were looking lush again. This is our number one recommendation for sod in Orlando. Other good news is that under a new statute here in Florida, Homeowners Associations are no longer allowed to prevent the planting of Zoysia or any other drought tolerant ground cover substitute for the notoriously water hungry St Augustine varieties. In addition to zoysia, perennial peanut (arachis glabrata) and asiatic jasmine (trachelospermum asiaticum "minima") make terrific sod substitutes.

Rio Pinar Pavers and Landscape

2011-11-26T04:10:00.001-08:00

Rio Pinar is a neighborhood about five miles east of downtown Orlando that was developed around a top-rate golf course and country club in the late 1950's. My father, Laurence E Fosgate Sr, was an architect with Stevens and Sipple who designed the clubhouse and other amenities for the developer, Welborn Phillips, whose previous subdivision, Azalea Park had been built a few years before. It was upon its inauguration, one of the most fashionable addresses in town and held the Florida Citrus Open

- a golf tournament that moved and became the Bay Hill Classic.The Landscapes Orlando Florida team just finished a major transformation of a classic "retro" ranch style home with pavers and a rock garden.

Sunday Morning in Winter Park Garden

2011-10-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

Even though there's not much in bloom in the garden right now, I still found a few flowers and a couple neoregelias to photograph. And the gardeners at the end of the street in Mead Gardens are taking advantage of the fall planting season to work in their plots. A part of our mission at Laurence E Fosgate is to capture the ever changing world of landscapes and garde

ns as they move through our central Florida seasons. What a pleasure to share them with people all over the world. And the mere act of capturing these images for others does so much to help me see them better for myself. When I have taught art I always felt guilty that I thought I learned at least as much from showing others as rhey did from me.

Paver Installations We Have Done Last A Long Time

2011-10-16T07:09:00.000-07:00

Landscapes Orlando Florida and our company, Laurence E Fosgate, have done paver installation over the last twenty plus years that have stood the test of time. Going back to our first installation at theWinter Park firm of Fannie Hillman and Associates where we installed a brick patio that still stands, we have honed our skills as hardscape installers. Last week we went out to photograph some of those projects to put in our ads and were really heartened to see how well they had endured. A formed and poured concrete driveway with black lava rocks we did for Pete and Sandy Goldish, still looks great at their Bryan Avenue home. Not only did we do the driveway, but every single plant on their property was installed by us as well. In addition we did a water feature and walled terrace, as well as a tiered raised planter bed we affectionately called "The Wedding Cake," which is the focal point in the island created by their semi-circular driveway. Other projects were around the corner where we did everything for Eric Larsen. Not only did we order a cupola for the top of his house, to reinforce its eighteenth century architectural inspiration, but we did cut outs for brick in his driveway and stained the concrete. We also did all the landscaping, ornamental stucco clad gate posts, significant travertine wall fountain and a variety of other exterior elements. We ultimately did major interior design work as well, which we will showcase in a future entry.Around the corner from these homes we did work on Rita Bornsteni's former house (

she is a past president of Rollins College) on Lake Bryan. In addition to a wall fountain in the courtyard, we constructed two large pedestals for wrought iron planters at the entry. We did significant landscaping for this home as well.

The terrace in front of Goldish Residence

The Goldish Concrete and Black Lava Rock Driveway

Xeriscape and Freeze proof Landscape in Casselberry

2011-01-12T14:48:00.001-08:00

We came on the scene in Casselberry where our client had a vision of a front lawn with cast concrete pavers as a walkway through her front lawn. Our task was to help her realize her idea and enhance it with the look of a dry stream bed and pond that would give her the beauty and maintenance free landscape she dreamed of. The result is truly terrific. The plants used will give a cavalcade of color as the seasons progress. Camellias, shrub and ground cover roses, perennial peanut, asiatic jasmine, purple queen, cold hardy bromeliads, day lilies, african and Louisiana irises are some of the shrub and ground cover plants used. Accent plants include Bismarckia Palm, Japanese Maple, Arizona Blue Cypress. Nothing could be more up to date or desirable than a landscape that, once established will require virtually no extra watering, trimming or other maintenance. A blower, a little organic fertilizer and a trim once or twice a year and this place is good to go. Lovely flowers will constantly add color and interest and all this being able to take practically able to care of itself seems counter-intuitive- nothing this terrific should be so easy. Twenty five years and a lifetime in design have given Ed Fosgate and LandscapesOrlandoFlorida.com the expertise to bring everything together in this truly cutting edge landscape. A particular attention was paid to plants that can handle freezing temperature with minimal impact, yet still flourish in the sub-tropical central Florida summer!

Camellia-Freeze Proof Plants for Orlando

2011-01-02T07:50:00.000-08:00

The recent cold weather here has given new interest to one of the oldest landscape plants used in Orlando- the camellia. This venerable plant has graced the grounds of many southern mansions from Norfolk to New Orleans. Here in Orlando, the Leu Gardens collection is the third largest in the US. Cold weather doesn't hurt these plants, at least the amount we've had in the central Florida region. Here at Laurence E Fosgate, we've used them in landscapes for years and have always appreciated the fact that they bloom in the winter when lots of people in Florida entertain and other plants are frequently flowerless. There are two main families of camellias- japonicas which tend to grow larger, and sassanquas which can be a low to medium shrub. Both are beautiful.

Home of Sharon Smith in Winter Park

2010-10-26T05:11:00.000-07:00

The home of Sharon Smith has been featured in Orlando Magazine and is truly a unique place.
This is one of the two paintings of mine she has displayed in her home.

Winter Pines Home's Landscape Rennovation a Success

2010-10-01T01:19:00.000-07:00

This is a cool corner lot set at Donraven and Summerfield in Winter Pines.

Because of the size of their front yard we opted to use a roto-tiller on the existing sod and having the new material delievered and placed for easier installations.

After the couple and their infant baby moved into their new home they quickly completed the interior rennovations to their expectations but the landscaping still hadn't been touched.

Originally planned were 3-4 foxtail palms for height elements to break up the plain linear line of their home. In the installation however we went with 2 magnolias, a ligustrum, and eugenias to complete that goal to correspond with our clients plant taste.

This bed was added on the side of the driveway and continued the layout of the other beds, using golmounds. lorepetelums, and jasmine.

Please visit us at our website to learn more about our company and its services

http://www.LandscapesOrlandoFlorida.com

Backyard Landscape Renovation Near University

2010-06-26T12:21:00.000-07:00

Construction at Conway Home Completed

2010-05-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

After the consturction the Conway's home backyard has become a paradise for adults and kids to enjoy.

Just one of many seating areas covered by the pergola which will have a shade clothe and vine on it later.

The way from the top patio over the train exhibit to the lower patio includes this wooden bridge up off the ground over a foot to allow the train to pass.

View of the train exhibit area in the proccess of being built. In the picture are some of the model size accesories like the tunnel for the train.

Another view of the train area and the wooden bridge which connects the upper level to the lower which will have the train go under it.

Walkway and and stone steps to the wooden bridge. This is on the backside of the plant bed and the stone seating area.

The stone seat on the lower level which will have a shade tree grow behind and provide a great spot to view the train. This slab of rock weighed about 350 lbs. and was not easy to put in place.

The staggered flagstone walkway along the side of the house is bordered by jasmine which once filled in will set off the walkway even more.

Outdoor Patio with Model Train Exhibit in Conway Gets Underway

2010-04-07T05:10:00.000-07:00

As part of the two-level patio there will be this area in the middle for the model train exhibit.

The backyard after the initial clearing and excavation.

Discussing some points about the top section of travertine patio.

Beginning to install the lower travertine patio set a level below where the model train exhibit will be.

Pavers in Baldwin Park, Ocoee, Avalon Park and Windermere

2010-03-10T03:53:00.001-08:00

Pavers are the most popular thing right now. With the cold weather, much landscaping has been delayed in January and February but we have been doing paver projects like mad. We did gold travertine in Ocoee and noche travertine in Baldwin Park. A little Euro-Kobble cement paver job in Avalon Park and a very big one in Windermere, both in red/buff/charcoal color have rounded out the projects in the last couple of weeks. Another one in Baldwin Park with 16 by 24 inch travertine noche pavers is on the drawing board and that project will include a columned pergola with cedar top. The landscaping projects are just around the corner.

Celebration Pavers and Landscape are Completed

2009-12-20T09:30:00.000-08:00

Our project to remodel the back yard and pool area of this beautiful home in Celebration Florida, Disney's much acclaimed master planned community, has reached a successful completion. We replaced an unsightly agglomeration of concrete pavers with beautiful gold-toned travertine. The transformation couldn't be more dramatic. The small space has been transformed into a lush tropical paradise and when the landscape reaches its full effect in a couple of years, the oldhamii bamboo and assorted palms will create the perfect retreat for entertaining and just lounging by the pool. In the "L" of the backyard we built a raised terrace that will be the perfect spot for a market umbrella nested in a table with four chairs for enjoying al fresco dining. Closer to the house the large covered lanai features a wet bar and extensive counter top for more entertaining possibilities. This area too was covered in the golden tone travertine pavers. With the pool and hot tub, this backyard retreat features all the amenities with virtually no maintenance! Left to do are potted plants, refurbishing the funky wall fountain, painting the house in this area, outdoor lighting and furniture. A mural on the two story wall that makes the garage apartment would be a final piece de resistance.

Travertine Tile Installation At Home in Celebration Gets Underway

2009-12-07T03:28:00.000-08:00

After the travertine in the kitchen is installed.

The original old Chicago brick floor in the kitchen.

Celebration Paver Installation Nears Completion

2009-11-30T13:03:00.000-08:00

Our transformation of the pool area in this Golfpark Drive home in Celebration is almost complete. Unfortunately our camera with the pictures of the "before" were left in the lanai over the weekend and someone took advantage of a great deal on an "abandoned" camera. Suffice it to say that we have rarely seen more of a hodge-podge of material with at least five different kinds of pavers, many of them poorly laid. We have replaced them with absolutely beautiful gold range travertine pavers and the results are outstanding. When combined with the new landscaping over the next few days, the results will be truly amazing. Florida Pool Area-Extreme Makeover Edition, are you ready for you close-up?

If you're not familiar with it, Celebration is the town created in 1994 to help fulfill Walt Disney's vision of EPCOT, Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. The imagineers brought in some of the world's top architects, designers and urban planners to help them build a self contained idealistically conceived community. The result is quite satisfying. For more information in depth about Celebration read the complete article in our Florida Life and Times Blog!

Winter Park Landscaping of Mid-Century Modern Continues

2009-11-07T03:43:00.000-08:00

Liza and Mike Jennings home before work begins.

Their home after the driveway and some of the landscaping is installed.

The installation included these 6x6 ft. squares of pavers offset to lead up to the front door.

Natural Pond near Wekiva River

2009-10-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here is the pond at the beginning of the cleaning project. Obviously algae averrun the first step will be to clear the shore line of debris and remove the dead grass from the pond.

Recently we got a call to come out to a property that has a natural pond on it that had become algae overrun. When the young couple who purchased the property first saw it, the water was clear. Then the surface became completely covered with thick algae. They hired someone who uses chemicals for retention pond maintenance and although certified to be safe, his treatment promptly killed the littoral water plants, while leaving the algae relatively unscathed.
My proposed solution is to gradually restore the natural balance of the pond by introducing native water plants like pickerel weed along the shore and water lilies in the pond itself. Water lilies help reduce the production of algae by depriving the plants of sunlight under their spreading pad/leaves. The littoral plantings act as a filter to rainwater washing from the steep banks and bringing dirt and other pollutants into the water. Both types of plantings increase oxygen and help burn up nutrients that make the water healthier for fish while decreasing the available nutrients for algae. This will be a slow process but in the end the transformation should be pretty spectacular.
Returning this little pond to its natural beauty and health will be all the more appropriate as this property sits in the Wekiva River Valley and is daily home to herds of deer and, though they have only seen him once, a large Florida Black Bear. He is shy about being seen but at least once a week makes his presence known by rifling through the trash.

At the shore of the pond a lot of dead grass and oak branches. Pulling them out is a good start to improving the look of the pond and will make room for the future plants to be put in.

To remove the dead grass and fallen branches from the pond we'll be enlisting this john boat for the day.

This picture really shows how tall the lake grass had grown. Including the roots, each clump of grass, weighing anywhere from 5 to 15 lbs., were pulled out individually requiring a lot of effort, but had a huge affect on the look of the pond by day's end.

Winter Park Landscaping will transform Mid-Century Modern

2009-10-03T03:54:00.000-07:00

Front of the house as work begins.

The existing walk-way

After several weeks of planning, we are finally starting on a project that is going to transform our project house into a real architectural gem. By taking this 1950's ranch that was "dolled up" to look like a Brittany farm house (all the rage in Orlando at the time) and bringing it back to it's roots in mid-century modern design, we are creating a template that will hopefully be useful to myriads of others who occupy this abundant style./
The subject property sits in a charming and popular neighborhood in the affluent and culturally rich Orlando suburb of Winter Park. A popular tongue in cheek send up of upper middle class values published in the nineteen eighties, "The Preppy Handbook," lists only two cities in Florida as proper preppy addresses, Palm Beach and Winter Park. Winter Park is certainly less pretentious than Palm Beach and a lot of the city life centers on places like Rollins College, the Farmer's Market and it's two famous art festivals. It's just the right environment to showcase a project that will appeal to aficionados of modern architecture, as we seek to return this property to its proper roots. At the end of the day, we plan to push it a little beyond its previous incarnation and bring it together with new touches that will strengthen its "modernist aspects. Hope you'll enjoy watching the transformation.Me at the front door

Windermere Landscaping Includes Fruit Trees

2009-09-22T04:49:00.000-07:00

A medium size carambola also called starfruit

This week will see the installation of fourteen fruit trees on the south side of the property. In addition to our selection of citrus, which you might expect to find in an Orlando home's garden, we're planting carambola, lychee and avocodo. These first two are liable to be a little exotic to many people so we'll explain them in a bit more detail.
The carambola is also commonly called the star fruit and is certainly one of the most delightful tropicals imaginable The entire fruit may be eaten, skin and all and the seeds and pith are usually small and soft enough to be eaten whole as well. Right now the fruits are ripening on the trees around Orlando and we usually get to enjoy the harvest for about a month. Packed with antioxidants, carambola have a lovely and sophisticated sweetness that has earned them a place in some lists as one of the world's super fruits! And although they are tropical, the trees we know around town withstood temperatures of 28 degrees in this last winter's colder than normal freeze and have still produced a bountiful harvest. Though no one knows the exact origin of carambola it's presumed to be southeast Asia.

Landscaping Windermere Continues

2009-09-14T02:51:00.000-07:00

The best view of the waterfall I think is from this side, the right. One gets a great view of the three types of waterfalls.

This last week saw the addition of shade giving plants in the back garden flanking the water feature. Six Queen Palms, which have large heads of palm fronds that are ideal for creating shade without blocking the view, were added in two groups of three each. In addition we added three Adonidia Palms with multiple trunks and a Coconut Palm. Both of these have been considered too cold sensitive for the Orlando area, but this year after seeing specimens even in outlying areas survive an unusual drop to 28 degrees and come back flourishing, I decided to add them to the mix. A large single trunked Foxtail , two magnolias, three golden bamboo, and a magnificent Bismarkia round out the mix. As great as these look now, the results with a year of growth will be even more spectacular. Bamboo and queen palms in particular respond quickly to being freed from their pots.

This foxtail palm adds great shade to the patio along with the 6 queen palms spaced out on each side of the pond.

You can see the magnolias flanking the water feature along with this great specimen of coconut palm. It's the brighter green one leaning towards the pond. I can just imagine how this will look with a year growth.

Orlando Bamboo Garden

2009-08-29T03:13:00.000-07:00

This project on a lakefront north of downtown Orlando, was begun with one client for whom we've done multiple projects, and when he sold it, the new owner let us continue in the same vein. It represents the ultimate in synthesizing indoor/outdoor living and incorporates many concepts embraced by the Garden Monkey Florida design philosophy.
When we started the project a decade ago, there was a dearth of plantings, with the exception of a couple of terrific live oaks, one in front the other in back. The rest of what you see has all been planted since then. Believe it or not, tropical style plantings are the easiest to maintain. We simply thin it out and whack it back periodically. Other than that and blowing off the decks and walks, it pretty much takes care of itself. Once established, irrigation is minimal, since the shade creates its own water saving micro climate. Also the natural leaf litter makes its own compost , so adding fertilizers is virtually unnecessary.

Water Feature Windermere Gets Landscaping

2009-08-23T16:14:00.001-07:00

View of the water feature from the back patio.

Here she is in all her glory, The Water Feature is wearing all her beautiful greenery. There will be quite a bit more, but this goes a long way toward achieving the natural look which is our ultimate goal, This is a big step.

Me at the Water Feature. The water hayacinth's will help the water clear as will a UV screener.

Side view of the water feature. More landscaping will come in the near future.

Downtown Orlando Cottage and Baldwin Park

2009-08-21T04:27:00.000-07:00

A beautiful morning in Baldwin Park
A square fountain near downtown Baldwin Park

Just a mile northeast of the cottage is the new village of Baldwin Park. Built on the site of the old Naval Training Center, which itself succeeded the Orlando Air Force Base, the area represents all that is best in contemporary urban landscape design.

Bridge over the river that runs through much of Baldwin Park

Downtown Orlando Cottage Environs

2009-08-21T04:07:00.000-07:00

One of the great benefits of our location is its walkability. We have access to lots of shopping and dining within half a mile, from the mundane like Target, the regular mall-type stores at Fashion Square, the favorite chains like Barnes and Noble and TooJays or the cool and hip like The Drunken Monkey and Kyle's Bike Shop, our neighborhood has it all. We go to the LA Fitness just a few blocks away and it has the best cross-section of people you could possibly want. And the night spots are all right here too, from Revolution (a gay club) to the Sportstown billiard hall (an institution for over fifty years), entertainment venues abound. The neighborhood doesn't actually have a name. But I've just decided to call it "East End." Not terribly original, but neither is the moniker "downtown," which still seems to work.
After reading today's paper, sadly downsized to have contents rivalling a really good "shopper," I realize that one of the purposes of this blog should be to review local restaurants and shops because, there's just a need for it. Hail the new media!

Downtown Orlando Cottage and Fern Creek

2009-08-19T03:46:00.000-07:00

Just one example of the lush vegetation growing in Azalea Park with a view of what I call the Brontasaurus Oak.

A view of the gorgeous Central Ave. Bridge from park level.

Looking south from under the Central Ave. Bridge, paradise awaits just on the other side.

Just north of the Central Ave. Bridge.

Dickson Azalea Park contains one of the most lush areas of flora growing beside fern creek, and a walking trail with bridges like this one that lets you criss-cross it several times. Running from Robinson Street down to the resovoir in the Greenwood Cemetary and 1/4 mile west of Bumby Ave. the park stretches about two miles from north to south.

While making sure I had the right angle for this shot down the creek, did I miss a giant alligator just in front of me?

Another shot of the brontasauras tree. It seems it has stretched it's way horizontal and then vertical over the years trying to get more sunlight.

Hanging bridge across Fern Creek in Azalea Park.

Beautiful waterfall on the north end of the park.

View from one of the park's many bridges.

The entrance to a part of Azalea Park as seen from Central Ave. The trail on the left leads into the lush woods and goes along Fern Creek.

Carl T. Langford park. Next to Fern Creek are large clearings like this one.

A few blocks west of the cottage, Jefferson Street runs into Dickson's Azalea Park. It is built along a little stream called Fern Creek that flows south into the reservoir and wetlands that lie

just outside Greenwood Cemetery, the city's oldest. Here are a few shots of this little oasis. It looks more like something you think of in North Carolina than downtown Orlando, but I think one of the fun things about this blog is to dispel some of the misconceptions that people have of what Florida is really like. It is as layered and complicated as a zone that transitions from temperate to tropic, from mainland to island, should be.

Along the elevated board walk in Carl T. Langford park is this covered stage area. Fern Creek on the left hand side and plenty of covered pick-nic areas on the right side.Giant Elephant Ear, about 6ft.X4ft.

Downtown Orlando Cottage

2009-08-16T13:19:00.000-07:00

Painting of the trim and Golden Yellow. The porch and ceiling will be next.

I have been completely pre-occuppied by doing the things I want to write about and making the money to do them. Wednesday and Thursday were spent painting the cottage outside . Friday I arose at 3:30 and got on the road to plant country south of Miami at 4. After stopping at my favorite cafeteria on Krome Avenue for a breakfast of stuffed peppers,Cuban-style, I headed down to a nursery almost at the entrance to the Everglades to buy a couple of large (eight foot) trellised bouganvilla. I had a fairly extensive shopping list, plus the requisite stop to buy orchids and bromeliads, so I was glad to get back to Orlando a little before seven, go to gym and feed Mike and David's dog before going to bed. That was how I spent my birthday. Yesterday we installed plants at the cottage and out in Windermere at the water feature. Today was paperwork, reading and spent some time on the internet. I purchased some chain on which to hang some of the orchids. The front of the house after everything has been painted and some of the orchids I purchased in Miami are placed out.
We trimmed out the volunteer oak that had grown up in the cherry laurel on the west side of the front porch. There's a lot less cherry laurel there than I thought but the effect of the removal has been very positive. The house looks larger, more balanced and cheerful. Ultimately I plan to build trellis-like structures on each side of the porch that will be painted and trimmed to augment the woodwork and style of the cottage.

The first bit of landscaping to the cottage. Just having the lawn mowed made a big difference and and the addition of a plant bed in the front ads a tropical look to the cottage.

Orlando Remodel, Windermere Water Feature and Busy Week

2009-08-11T03:20:00.000-07:00

This is going to continue to be one heck of a week. I took Mike and David to the airport early Sunday Morning so they can attend a one week family reunion on the shores of Lake Michigan. The water feature is structurally complete but my trip to south Florida is on hold until I hear from a couple of more people on plant orders. The cost in time and gas is the same so the more plants I can get, the better the return. Also want to pick up some crotons, ti-plants, eugenias and a couple orchids for the garden cottage. Work has progressed on it, we've only been in a week and we have done quite a lot.
In the middle of the scrapping and wood putty job.

Sanding after the wood putty gets rid of the divets in the wood.

Sunday I scraped, sanded, filled and sanded some more the door surround which bore the scars of multiple Christmas decorations and an old screen door. I used Behr's ultra white exterior "prime and paint all in one" for the trim. It saves having to use a runny, messy primer and the fresh white looks perfect with almost everything. It costs about $35 per gallon but it's well worth it. And using one white for just about everything means we don't have to worry about matching for touch ups later.
I chose to keep the yellow body color but went for something a bit richer. I had a Ralph Lauren color, "Golden Yellow" made up at the local Benjamin Moore dealer, Watkins Paint on Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando. With the help of the manager, Ryan, I also chose what he said was as close as the had to a Charleston green as possible, "Black Forrest Green" for the porch floor. The color named for the classic southern city became popular after the Civil War. Impoverished gentility longed for color, but it tended to be too expensive. They discovered that by adding a little yellow to black paint (with a slight blue bias), they could achieve a rich, dark green. Hence the birth of one of the classic Southern color schemes- dark green with crisp white. To top it all off we'll paint the porch ceiling a very pale blue. Haven't picked the color yet, but again this choice of a sky blue on a porch ceiling is classic southern palette choice. So there you have it- Ultra white trim, "Golden Yellow Body," "Black Forrest Green" floor, Sky Blue ceiling. The porch will be done by Saturday. Oh yes, the wicker is all being sprayed flat black.

The Golden Yellow on the bottom vs. the paler existing yellow.

Lunch Break at the Garden Cottage. Notice the line between the two yellows.

Windemere Water Feature Progress

2009-08-09T07:30:00.001-07:00

Handing Mike the field stone so he can place it to continue building up where the waterfall will eventually be.

The 2 inch pipes flowing with water from the 1.5 h.p. pump, we will need to cover these later so they're out of sight.

Now beginning to look like a water feature, its time to begin covering the pipes.

A small discussion about the best way to cover the pipes between Mike and Ed.

Mike taking a dip and well deserved break on a day that is near 100 F.

Earlier in the day Steve added some 4x4's to the retaining wall so more dirt can be added for the tropical plants to come.

Garden Bungalow in Downtown Orlando

2009-08-04T02:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday saw the move into the new house on Jefferson Street that we will transform into the Garden Cottage over the next several months. It's complete evolution will take years, but in only a few weeks it should be ready for an open house. The condition on move-in could not be more ideal for helping stage dramatic before and after pictures. The Bahia grass is at least a foot high and there is a nice pile of debris at the curb waiting for its Thursday pickup.
The front porch floor has been painted a distracting yellow and green checkerboard in a previous errant attempt at decorating. The outside paint is deteriorating and dirty. The landscaping is a disjointed non-entity in front and the back is just a shambles. The inside is clean but in need of every kind of attention to details. The freestanding garage is an ignored hulk complete with cobwebs and dirt covered floor, but I expect it to be the star of the whole show. It will become the studio- home to the production of art, design and writing. It will be the publishing h.q. of this blog and its partner, "Florida Life and Times." These pages will be replete with images of the transformation of the bungalow into the ideal garden retreat set in an historic neighborhood only a little more than a mile from the downtown of a city that is the center of a metropolitan area that is growing on three million. Nature and urbanity blended sound like a heaven for Florida monkeys. I can hardly wait.

On a slight lean due to some of the compromised wood structuring, this shed will be re-made into an art and work studio.

This structure is in definite need of a new paint job.

Some of the wood is completely rotted through and will need to be replaced, but at least its fixable.

Yesterday we emptied the garage so we, Steve, could pressure wash it. Sure going to miss those black widow spider webs. We found the timber is badly deteriorated in many spots, totally useless in others. No wonder the building is leaning! Mike said someone should roll the camera so we might at least get the video of the whole thing crashing down on us on tv. Of course the driveway in front looks like a rubbish pile. Thank goodness we also pressure washed the front and porch. At least if we paint that today, something will actually look better rather than worse when the weekend is over.

Hopefully we'll be tackling the front porch which needs a complete painting. Notice the yellow used inside of the window frames?

The checkerboard floor will be replaced with a Charleston green all over.

Water Feature in Windermere- The Saga continues

2009-08-02T06:28:00.000-07:00

We missed a couple of days of blogging. That's because on Thursday morning when we arrived, we discovered that our retaining wall of 4x4's was listing sadly off upright. The previous two days of almost five inches of rain had caused the soil, which is at the edge of a drainage creek, to soften. With the added weight of the water it developed a sag that couldn't be lived with. We determined to build a concrete footer, reinforced with 4x4's and re bar.

The structure that will form the 27,000 lbs. concrete footer.

The 4x4's on each side are dug into the ground 2 ft. and braced on top by 2x4's.

Handling the concrete pouring hose can be tough work because of its weight, but you couldn't tell by the look on this crewman's face.

Construction on the form for our pour began and took all day.
In the end we arrived to put the finishing touches on everything at 6 thirty on Friday morning. The concrete arrived at 7 as planned and we had them pump it over the side wall. It took 27,000 pounds of three thousand PSI fibered concrete. The site looks worse than ever. But as I told the client, if we had built this in dry weather and then had the rains, we might of had the collapse include rocks, plants and a finished project. That would have been a nightmare. This was just a bad dream from which we quickly woke up. We have built berms twice this high for water features and they've withstood hurricanes. But this subsoil was just to loose.

This is the concrete being poured from the truck that has a ten yard capacity into a hopper that then pumps it through the hose.

We felt really lucky to have had our early morning watched over by a Great Horned Owl. He perched in a sycamore tree branch and let us take his picture. We spied a little rabbit coming out of the bushes. That might have been the cause of his arrival.

Windermere Water Feature Construction

2009-07-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Jose and Primo beginning to dig out the two foot depth of the pond.

Having built the retaining wall of 4x4's and putting in 60 yards of sandy fill we've been starting to shape out the pond for our water feature over the last two days. Our liner is 20x30 feet and we're going to make a pond approximately 14x 24 and 2 feet deep. The electrician is coming to wire up the big pump (one and a half horsepower). Having most of the rock work done by the end of the day. That's going to consist of a little less than four tons of Florida field stone and a little more than a ton of ( log cabin) flag stone and about a ton of Niagara jacks. Now take the ingredients, mix them all together carefully, season with an artistic eye, and you should have one beautiful water feature. Ours will have one major waterfall that will cascade down into a bunch of rocks and a smaller river effect on the other side. Tomorrow we'll be putting on the finishing touches and then of course the plants will be the thing that be brings it all to life in the end. Check out our next blog tomorrow to see the progress. Our crew for this endeavor includes Mike, David, Steve, Primo, Jose, Roland and me, your Garden Monkey Florida.

By the end of the day the pond is dug out, the liner installed, and we begin to fill it which ended up taking about 5 hrs. It's a big pond!

Renningers Antiques in Mount Dora

2009-07-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

A row of permanent shops at Renningers

Sunday morning, Mike, Stephen and I headed up to Renningers Twin Markets in Mount Dora. It's about a thirty minute ride northwest from Colonialtown and a favorite weekend getaway. One of the things that make it unique is that it has a flea market on one side and a first class antique market on the other.
For another," the flea market is the real deal, not a bunch of inferior trash brought in from the orient last week and guaranteed to break the next. Ninety percent of the merchandise is recycled or fresh grown (including the miniature goats and African geese). The vendors are as unique as the merchandise, and as we got there very early, they provided the best people watching.

Collectible comic book characters and cartoon figurines.

Miniature goat about the size of a small dog

African goose dreaming of the un-caged days

Actually the most intriguing thing was people" imagining". I was really intrigued by the big space that had no people in it but had a few dozen empty beer cans, an empty quart of Jim Beam and a couple of drained wine bottles. Judging by the displays everywhere, including the Santa Claus head mobile and the twenty foot long plank with a hundred pairs of toy dinosaurs glued to it in solemn procession, I think those empties might be the remnants of a bipolar person in full blown mania seeking to self-medicate. At least in this environment they would not stick out like a sore thumb. The only thing that would look strange here would be a "normal" person. I know we all felt right at home.

Lost City, possibly home to a Bipolar man, definitely home to the last remaining dinosaurs

The last remaining dinosaurs on a mission

A beer can mobile

On the Antique side there was the charming dealer who used to be in Palm Beach. He has exquisite taste and I fancied a pair of dolphin planters that he had copied by a Cuban craftsman from Miami. He says these are the last ones and I believe him. We've never regretted a purchase from him yet. There is a custom jeweler here as well who fashions classic pieces that could only be equalled by fin de siecle masters.

Fine antique jewelery at Renningers

There are over 150 dealers with permanent displays and I'll have to feature some of my other favorites in future posts. In addition to the weekly wonders, there are monthly fairs that bring in 200 more dealers, and four times a year, the Extravaganzas bring in over a thousand. It's no wonder that this place is the antique center par excellence in the whole state of Florida. Best of all, it;s in Orlando's backyard.

A pair of Mi-Mo swivel seat bar stools

A mounted sailfish above mosaic inlaid cow head

A lion statue I wouldn't mind receiving as a birthday gift

A monkey on the cross holding a guitar clock , more Lost City

An antique shop at Renningers that has been around for 25years and counting

A perfect example of the vast people watching opportunities at Renningers

An antique shop with everything from deer heads to put on your mantle to board games to play with your kids.

I've bought many pieces of antique furniture at Renningers for my design/build projects. Visit my website at http://www.landscapesorlandoflorida.com/

Butterflies at the Winter Park Farmers Market

2009-07-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

Lorenzo behind his butterfly exhibit.

Another Saturday at the Farmer's Market in Winter Park began with an obligatory visit to the patisserie for quiche Lorraine and the chance to engage in a little French speaking, so easy on the ears in the morning. There were lots of tee-shirts for Bill Segal, who is running for mayor of Orange County. I know Bill since he frequents a conclave that floats in and out of the local Einstein's called The Breakfast Club.. They exist everywhere in the world, these informal groups of coffee drinkers and bagel noshers ruminating on tidbits of the day's news and assorted bites of gossip. It's an agreeable way to add structure to a day and strengthens the sense of community. Here invitations to other events are extended and reviews of previous gatherings are submitted. On Saturdays, many of these folks assemble on the porch at the Market in what was the old freight train terminal. It makes a great place for politicians to glad hand as the crowd here consists of people who not only vote, but tend to be involved in politics, at least as contributors. And most refreshingly, here in Winter Park, the political spectrum freely ranges from to the right of Attila the Hun to left of Che.

From catepillar to cacoon to butterfly, at Larenzo's butterfly display you can purchase a plastic box containing everything you need to watch the entire transformation.

Decidedly less political is the display of butterflies and chrysalis offered by Lorenzo, much to the delight of children and grownups alike. Lorenzo is a native of Cuba who has been selling these ephemeral beauties here for fifteen years. Two years ago he furnished the butterflies we set loose in the garden on Lake Conway we had created for Irene Ellis. Her daughter Pam and I thought it was a fitting tribute to a woman who loved gardens, nature and life. And the butterfly is a fitting symbol of the beauty and fragility of existence. We plant butterfly attracting plants in almost all our gardens. And when I see a butterfly fluttering among the blossoms I think of Irene and other beautiful souls I have known as being reanimated in them. I might well up just a bit, but the sense of peace and contentment overtakes me in the end .

This little girl was really having fun at the butterfly display but I think I accidently made her camera shy as I snapped the photo.

Sweet lady from the Phillipines has been at the market for twenty years.

Popcorn made the old fashion way, in a huge cast iron popper and then topped with a sugar glaze, delicious.

Winter Park Antique Shop

2009-07-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

Open for business, I'm ready to go inside to visit Hardy Hudson and see what new treasures he's gathered at his antiques shop on Park Ave. in Winter Park.

Certainly one of the finest antique shops I've ever been in is Antiques on the Avenue. The proprietor, Hardy Hudson ,has an incredible eye and voracious appetite for acquiring the most amazing objects- pottery, glass, paintings, sculpture, you name it, he's got it. I'm personally prejudiced in favor of him since he loves my paintings. Almost exactly a year ago he was driving by my studio as I was having a big sale. Big sale indeed! Hardy bought five paintings on the spot and said if I touched another one up, he'd buy it too. He sold that one as I brought it in to show him a couple of days later. He's sold them all except two. One he kept for himself, the other , a big study of Constable's "The Haywain" is still at the shop.

This is the painting I had displayed in front of my studio during my big sale that caught Hardy's attention as he was driving by.

It was great seeing Hardy completely swamped by catalogs and boxes. He could hardly move, he said the extra clutter was a result of buys made at the big pottery show in Zanesville Ohio. He is the coolest kind of antiquarian. He really loves beauty and he and I share a particular affection for Florida landscape paintings. He inspires me to do more. It seems appropriate that Hardy's shop is right next door to the world class treasure that is the Morse Museum. His store ranks equally high in its category.

Beautifully decorative pottery pieces bought in Zanesville, Ohio.

Winter Park Farmers Market

2009-07-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

One row of vendors selling everything from organic dog treats to sizzling brauts.

This Saturday we went to the Winter Park Farmers Market. It's a spot I know well, having been a vendor here of orchids and bromeliads for over a dozen years. The greatest strength of the market are its flowering plants and prepared foods. This place is nationally known, having been featured in several magazines and most recently shown on the Travel Channel's "Weekend Getaways with Samantha Brown. " And it's about as much fun as you could expect to have any where on the planet on a Saturday morning.

Here I am viewing a fine speciment of bromeliad at one of the market's several flowering plant stands.

One of the newer attractions is from a dairy located only about four miles from downtown Winter Park that makes artisinal cheese. They have a killer blue and just recently added a Swiss that is as good as any I've ever tasted. If the gouda they plan to be introducing in the fall is half as tasty, it will be good. Two incredible French cuisine stands produce some of the tastiest morsels imiginable. The one run by Quebecois has a croque monseuir made with boursin and bacon that is memorably moist and creamy. Another stand run by native Orlandoans has bread puddings, like key lime, double chocolate and rum raisin that are truly decadent.
For BreakfastI had a sicilian omelet cooked up by a Colombian family that included shrimp, asparagus and feta cheese, although the German woman's crepes would have been just as good.

This is not a good time for greens so my friends who grow organic ones just had the last of this season's zinnias and sunflowers. They plan to take August off. Our seasons in Florida march totally to a different drummer.

The charming couple who have a home here and a farm in Adele Georgia, came with some terrific peaches and the last of their summer squash and zucchini. I realize how much I miss this place, it's a groove that you have to get into coming each Saturday to kick off the weekend. And it's a habit I fully intend not to kick again any time soon.

The Winter Park Farmer's market having just celebrated its 30th year in existence drawes a crowd each weekend of market goers who come to enjoy the fine cuisine of local food artisans.

More of only in Miami Beach

2009-07-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

The scene I witnessed on Monday morning on 41st Street was even more bizarre than sable hats with palm trees. Black yamulke propped on dishwater blonde hair, a forty something wearing shorts and holding a long turqoise skateboard looked like a panhandler, but I didn't have to turn him down. He only seemed to be approaching fellow yamulke wearers who also had prayer shawls. And by the time I got close enough to hear his spiel, I heard him say, "I'm not asking for a handout- I do accounting, web design, taxes..." Obviously this is the kosher way to street hustle in the heart of Miami Beach. Where else could I have been amused, but not surprised , to be the audience for a sketch like that ? (The art of the deal mid- beach syle)

The capstone to my trip through diversity ended when I went to the west end of the street to take a picture of the belltower of the St Charles Catholic Church. Resting thirty feet up the building's side was a monumental statue of Jesus. One of his hands was holding an orb, while the other seemed to be offering a benediction to the building across the street. It used to be the bayfront Howard Johnsons Hotel I stayed at years ago when I first started coming down to buy plants. Now it serenely houses the Talmudic University. I'm pretty sure I saw an image of Buddha being formed in the clouds that rose up above the aqua blue waters of Biscayne Bay behind it.
(Jesus gives his benediction to Talmudic Univ.) (My old Howard Johnson as an institution of higher learning, Talamudic University)

Miami Beach Anachronisms

2009-07-14T03:51:00.000-07:00

The mixture that makes the beach such a great town inevitably spawns some anachronistic images. One of my favorites, which I've witnessed before, was on last Friday night. On the 41st street bridge crossing Indian Creek, a middle-aged blond haired hasidic Jew wearing the most beautiful giant sable hat. The headgear would have been perfect for a snowy day in Kiev, but set against the palms and sultry July night in Miami Beach, the effect was truly surreal.

Lincoln Road Miami Beach for Dinner

2009-07-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

We took a cab to Lincoln Road. My old favorite haunt, a Belgian restaurant, has closed but my second favorite, Carnivale did not disappoint. I'm really glad our waiter didn't arrive in a few minutes, because after I caught one of the owner's eyes, he came over and asked if we had been helped already. When I said no, he immediately summoned the nearest waiter and said " We've cooked all day, wr made the ravioli. the sauces and all the rest and now they've finally come, our guests! Let's get them some food, what do you say?" The rest of our experience was flawless-penne with vodka sauce was extraordinary and beef carpaccio salmone was as good as I have ever tasted. Our experience was of course enhanced by the passing parade that is Lincoln Road. And a clever sense of humor turned a negative into a memorable experience that showed how quickly a sense of humor can turn things around.

Miami Beach breakfast at Lincoln Road

2009-07-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

We arrived about six last night at our "boutique" hotel, The Atlantic Beach. By the time we provisioned ourselves and settled in, I just didn't have a blog in me. But today, I can't wait to write.

We started out the day with a terrific breakfast at Balans on Lincoln Road. It's one of the few cafes there to open early. A few years back, we had a stint at selling orchids and bromeliads right next to Balans at the Sunday Farmers Market. That's when I took the picture of a couple shopping that became the basis for a painting. You can view my other artwork at http://www.floridagardengallery.com/.

After going back to the room, I headed north to the Fountainebleu. Ten blocks north of 44th and Collins, this amazing construction from 1954 is considered a masterwork of Morris Lapidus. This architect, who was snubbed by the cognoscenti of his day, has rightly assumed his role as one of the founders of post-modernism. His style is defined as MiMo (mid-century modern) and he is single handedly responsible for setting the style and tone for the whole section of Miami Beach north of 41st Street.

This was my first visit back since the latest remodeling, which was an attempt to restore it to the original Lapidus look that had been bastardized in previous attempts to "fix it up." And although it's managed to undue some of the previous harm, it is still not as good as the original. I can only imagine what the Mona Lisa would look like if a trio of less talented artists had been invited to over paint Leonardo's masterpiece.
Nothing about it now trumps my memory of it as a sixteen year old. Every year in high school, my debate team spent the week between Christmas and New Years at a competition held at Miami Beach High School that attracted National Forensic Leaguers from all over the country. My friend Brian and I donned suits that we brought just for the occasion and proudly presented ourselves to the maitre'd of the main dining room of the Fountainebleu. If anything seemed strange to him about seating a couple of unattended young men ( I looked fourteen), nothing in his demeanor betrayed it. The surroundings surely enhanced the taste of the vichyssoise and escargot, but I'm pretty sure they really were good.

Certainly we were living proof of Lapidus' adage that if you build a wonderful set, its occupants will have a great time acting in it. That evening we two starred in our production of a grand little play that is fondly enshrined in my memory. Little wonder that the botched attempts at improving on the site of our production seem so much like heresy to me. But a glimmer of some that is great from the original has been returned. The reconstruction of Morris' "Stairway to Nowhere" is most appreciated. Originally constructed solely as an entrance to the coat room, its real purpose was to allow the hotel's clientele, after dropping their outerwear and hats, to make a grand entrance to the throngs of guests milling around the lobby. Each was probably expecting that they would become the star of the history of their own lives. I think Morris would have been amused at the little drama a couple of boys played out in his place that December night in 1966.

Plans for Tomorrow, In Miami Beach

2009-07-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

We'll leave around around 10 thirty and should have late lunch at Lincoln Road cafe. I'm excited to go as usual. Orlando is my pretty sweet and comforting wife, we have beautiful children together and I'll always love her. But Miami Beach is my hot seething mistress who makes my blood boil. It's a yin/yang thing. Every life should have it. Too much of one or the other could unbalance me. But when the proportions are right everything flows just fine,

Landscape Windermere

2009-07-09T05:14:00.000-07:00

This week has seen us focusing on some of the more mundane aspects of the hacienda project. Fine tuning the irrigation, bed work and mulch installation have helped polish off the front. We are working on addressing drainage issues created by the new gutters. We have ordered new pavers to match the existing ones for the expansion of the back terrace. Railroad ties for creating the berm that will eventually house the water feature have been requisitioned. And today we begin the painstaking job of creating 28 2x6x12 crossmembers for the pergola top. Each has to be cut with a proper end, then filled , sanded and painted before being installed.
Steve, Jose and Primo are working on three little sod jobs on the east side of town, while Mike and Roland work in Windermere.
The prediction is for heavy showers this afternoon, but fortunately the carpentry for the pergola can go on in one of the two huge garages at the hacienda. I'll be going to ranch country to pick up the sod today and tomorrow and later I'm doing two little design projects for places in Winter Park and Altamonte Springs. It's not as exciting as doing a big installation, but everyone deserves a little help. And watching a team of highly trained monkeys working in your front yard in the rain should be at least mildly amusing for someone to see.

Progress in Windermere

2009-07-05T11:51:00.000-07:00

Friday we wrapped up work on the front of the hacienda with everything but the pedestals and their accompanying urns. Monday we start the retaining wall in the back in preparation for the new terrace, pergola and water feature. The owners, Lawrence and Debra were in town for the holiday and couldn't have been happier with the progress. And I brought over a few orchids, just to show them some of the beautiful things they could grow here. We have so many hundreds of growers of orchids and bromeliads around us that the bounty available is almost an embarrassment of riches. With Lawrence in particular being an avid gardener, I'm pretty sure he'll become as much an addict as I am. At least the physical effects of this addiction all seem to be good. It's about as evil as being addicted to exercise and healthy food. If something's going to kill me, let it be these things.

Lake Eola is the Green Heart of Orlando

2009-06-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

Full view of Lake Eola Park, fountain and ducks

Downtown Orlando stretches from Lake Ivanhoe on the north to Lake Lucerne on the south. Right in the middle is Lake Eola Park. It's about forty five acres more or less evenly split between lake and land. The park is at the core of much of downtown's activity and has been for over a hundred years. A monument on the east side says it was placed at the site where Orlando Rees, the city's namesake was killed by Seminole Indians in 1837.

Southside of Lade Eola Park

As a native of Orlando, my memories of the park go back to my grandparents taking my sister and I down when we were barely able to walk or talk and feeding the ducks and swans. I repeated the ritual with my godson David when he was not much older. Some things are always fun.

The Sunday Farmer's Market at Lake Eola is always a blast

From the ages of six to nine I attended art school in a two story Victorian house at the southeast corner of the park. Once a year the school sponsored a contest where people from all over would come for a day to paint in the park. Likewise there was a fishing competition and one year when I couldn't have been older than five, I won!

Painting from SW side of Lake Eola featuring the main attraction, the fabulous center fountain

This painting which is also visible on my website, floridagardengallery.com, was painted summer 2008. I've now been painting the park for fifty years. I still enjoy looking at it.

A postcard from 1914 of the Sperry Fountain. The same fountain my above painting was created after.

The wonders of the park are too numerous to describe. One is no longer there, having lasted about fifty years and ending in the late seventies. It was the sweet pea wall, a fabulous multi tiered annual bed that boasted as many as seven tiers ending in a ten foot trellis of sweet peas that smelled as beautifully as they looked. For two summers in college, I was the assistant to the city of Orlando landscape architect. One of my jobs was to visit all of the parks and draw the annual beds so that he could twice a year plot the layout of the season's annuals. The most elaborate was the sweet pea bed. We were told that Kodak reported it was one of the ten most frequently photographed spots in the country.

Ariel view of 1930's Orlando and the Lake Eola bandstand.

One of the water features of Lake Eola Park include this pond with a magnificent bronze sculpture and bridge with lovely scenic view of downtown Orlando in the background

Windermere Landscaping

2009-06-30T03:05:00.000-07:00

Today we will install the wider drive with contrasting color at the hacienda in Windermere. Yesterday saw the end of the installation of most of the plants and the footers for the pedestals that will support the large urns flanking the drive. We're in full monsoon season now with a seventy percent chance of showers. We'll work on with cover in the garage to make our cuts. It's all coming together. The owners are flying in tomorrow and we are trying to have it done before they get here. Hope they'll be on the late flights. Whatever is done, they'll be delighted because the transformation from no landscape to now is huge. Below is a before and after shot.

The town of Windermere where this property is located is so full of lakes that on a map it appears to be a virtual island. These spring-fed lakes are considered pristine waters and are connected by a series of canals. A hundred years ago wealthy Orlandoans would keep camps here to escape on weekends for swimming, boating and fishing. Proximity to the resorts and world class golffing at courses like Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill and Tavistock's Islesworth have made this an enclave for sports celebrities like Tiger Woods and Shaquille O'Neal as well as anonymous super-rich from all over the world. Despite this, the town has retained much of it's charm with a little village center and many dirt roads, kept that way to keep the lakes clean by avoiding run-off that paved streets would cause. The tree canopy remains largely undisturbed. And in areas like the Hacienda, we are doing our part to increase the tree cover by planting numerous species of shade and flowering trees. Other plants are being added for their ability to attract the three b's- butterflies, bees and birds. When we are done, our acre should be doing its part to produce pleasure, beauty and an upgraded environment on it's little plot of town.

St Johns River plain

2009-06-28T16:29:00.000-07:00

Coming back over the St. Johns River Thursday at twilight, the sun turned the marshes gold and a thousand white ibises took off in flight all at once. Maybe they were frightened by an alligator. The river basin looks so prehistoric, Spielberg used it as the background shot for the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. And all day, everything I've seen has been so wet. The cornfields along the Okeechobee canal, the tree farms in the Redlands, the lakes and ponds along the long stretches of grasslands full of cattle. It's every shade of green and the air is full of the smell of leaves and flowers. It's so sensual. Wildly coloured clouds soar up so soaked with water they explode with sheets of rain and the air is charged until it flashes with shafts of electricity. The lush life of Florida penetrates my pores, fills every sense of me with a rich erotic connection to its untamed nature. As I let it wash over me , it cleanses me.

Most Visitors to Orlando have Never Been There

2009-06-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

Few destinations are as tricky as Orlando. For millions who visit Disney, Sea World and Universal their trip never brings them to the city of that name. And this is no accident. When Disney announced it's imminent arrival in the mid sixties, the city leaders were happy, as well as determined that downtown Orlando would be protected from an onslaught of tourists.
Contrary to popularly received wisdom, Orlando was an extremely prosperous city before Disney arrived. It sat straddling the rich citrus producing region which generated tens of billions in revenue in the fifties and sixties. Other agriculture in the area, from vegetable and foliage industries, to massive cattle ranches south of town, brought in billions more. The city had a full-time professional orchestra before Miami. The aerospace industry and in particular, the Martin company, had brought tens of thousands of high tech workers to the area, some of whom really were "rocket scientists." They laid the foundation that has made Orlando one of the top high tech regions in the country.
So, not to see their beautiful city besmirched by hordes of station wagon driving, tee -shirt buying hordes of middle class American and international gypsies, the city leaders erected the International Drive Area and actively encouraged all hotels to be built there, safely removed from downtown, but close enough for the city to gain tax and employment benefits.
The net effect of this little trick is that it let's those of us who live in Orlando forget there are any tourists here at all . They're all safely segregated ten to twenty miles to the southwest of anything that was ever historically considered to be the city.
And what's left for us to enjoy is one of the greenest cities in the country built around the shores of a hundred park lined lakes and downtown neighborhoods blanketed by live oaks. For those hip tourists smart enough to discover the deception, the trip to the real Orlando is the best part of their vacation. And we like them to come. It's just that our litlle slight of hand allows us to filter out the hordes of folks whose idea of a great time is to stand in line at a really slick amusement park.
Those old guys back in sixties Orlando were a pretty savy bunch. Even now most people haven't got a clue what they did.

Nurseries in Pahokee and Redlands

2009-06-27T03:31:00.000-07:00

I got on the road at four thirty and made it down to the town of Okeechobee by sunrise. It is one of the neatest and cleanest little cities you can imagine, You can sense the prosperity that the surrounding farms and ranches bring. There seems to be a bank on every corner to hold the money. The route I took from Orlando took me down the turnpike past fifty miles of cattle country and woodlands where people come from all over to hunt for deer and wild turkeys. Disembarking at the intersection called Yeehaw Junction took me down a further thirty five miles, which starts as hunting camp land. Just above Okeechobee I passed the six mile long MacArthur Dairy, where tens of thousands of cows produce the leche for Miami's cafe.
I climbed the observation tower at a hotel to take a picture of the north shore of the lake. You have to get up tall to see it, because the whole shore is surrounded by a thirty foot dyke. It's then encircled by a canal with locks that give access every ten miles or so to the lake itself. What an elaborate engineering system. It will take billions to undo it but the benefits to wildlife and natural beauty will be worth it.
As I passed through Pahokee, I was struck by the contrast with its sister town on the other side of the lake. The dilapidated tenements and boarded up buildings provide the perfect stage set for hundreds of actors milling about with their paper bags just revealing a glint of aluminum or glass peeking over the top. Even by third world standards it seems poor.
The first nursery on my trip took my order for five hundred minima jasmine, one hundred twenty purple queen and fifty blue ruellia. I told them I would pick these up on my way back out of town as I headed to Homestead for some big stuff. Two pink tabebuias, a cassia, four eight foot trellised bouganvilla and three multi -trunked robellinis were capped off by a pair of standard "Miami" gardenias(as beautiful as they are fragrant) and two standard double peach hibiscus. The loading crew seemed incredulous that I intended to put all this in my little sixteen foot truck. They didn't know that I was planning on topping it off with a pair of twelve foot Queen crape myrtles and the six hundred seventy one gallon plants I'd already ordered.
Of course no trip to this area would have been complete without a fix of orchids. I stopped at my friends at Banjong whose other nursery is in Thailand. Sometimes when I come here their son and his other Buddhist monk friends are chanting in the avocado grove next to the greenhouses. I managed to limit myself to one blue species rynchostylis. It kept me company in the cab on the way home.

Windemere Landscape Design

2009-06-24T08:57:00.000-07:00

We completed plans for the back garden at the hacienda that include expanded terrace, forty foot pergola and water feature. Tomorrow I will drive to Homestead, the Redlands and Okeechobee for more plants. We put in a french drain for new gutters in the atrium /pool area. We are modifying irrigation to give better watering to the eugenia hedge. And we got materials to build the front pedestals which will eventually have planter urns.
The south side of the property will have a grove with assorted citrus and tropical fruit trees. I'm trying to formulate a plan where we could give the food to second harvest or another food bank, but I've actually had a brain storm. We could form a charity that would have a stand at one of the farmer's markets where homeowners could donate their excess production and it could be sold there to raise money for the Audubon Society or other group seeking to preserve the natural environment. I'm going to work on fleshing this out. And with a 4 o'clock wake up, I'm going to make it an early night before hitting the road south.

Landscape Windemere Progress

2009-06-24T08:19:00.001-07:00

There is a lot of planning to do in the next couple of days. The hacienda in Windermere needs a water feature. We'll have to build up a berm for it at the back of the property, which drops off a good four feet in just thirty feet of depth. This is the area of the home where the family will do a lot of their living, as it has a large covered lanai which we are expanding by ten additional feet in width and that space will be covered by a vine-covered pergola. In order to make the pond as low maintenance as possible we will need to make it large so that it becomes a mini-ecosystem. It will also serve as visual stimulus from the great room which has access through a pair of french doors, as does the eat-in area of the kitchen. This is a large house and will be used by many people, both overnight and day visitors.We'll be making a couple more trips dowm south for plants including fruit trees, robellini palms, queen crape myrtles and more bouganvilla. The back garden area will be heavy with shade and will feature tons of orchids and bromeliads. Orlando and Miami are world centers for the propogation and growth of both of these and stocking this garden will be a real delight. Water features, exotic tropicals, it sounds like a perfect spot for a monkey to party.

The Hacienda Home Before We Begin Work

Hong Kong Orchids imported from Lake Okeechobee

2009-06-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

Thursday brought me down past the shores of Lake Okeechobee to get four Hong Kong Orchid trees. Latin name is Bauhinia, these trees are covered from January through March with large lavender blooms that resemble cattleya orchids. And although they are tropical, I've known specimens that have withstood 25 degrees and are still flourishing. They reach 30 to 40 feet here and make great shade trees with their evergreen foliage. I've always admired them, but for no good reason, have only used them once before at a home in Vero Beach. I plan on putting them in many more landscapes in the future. We'll put a couple tabebuia trees, beautiful flowering trees native to Brazil, to add more color to the hacienda in Windermere where we are currently working.

Hong Kong Orchid Tree Bloom

On the way down I took a couple pictures of the big lake. You can't see the far shore, but I did see a twelve foot alligator guarding the near shore. I wish I could have seen the lake before it was surrounded by its twelve foot dyke and filled with sludge created by phosphorous input from the surrounding sugar farms. The horizon showed three huge sugar refineries and fields as far as the eye could see east of the lake. I don't think it will look like that in twenty years. I wonder if the rows of houses I forsee will be much of an improvement. They could be if they were designed properly with appropiate parkland and green space. One can only hope that we'll continue in that direction.

Park Avenue Is Really Like It Sounds

2009-06-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

Park Avenue in Winter Park. Postcard circa 1940's

Winter Park is the towm just north of downtown Orlando that is the center of the area's cultural life. Park Avenue bisects the center of it and the street, heavily lined with trees, has over a hundred tableaus of planters and potted specimens that show the vast diversity of flora that grow in this area as it straddles climatic zones where both tropical and temperate plants flourish. The avenue starts on the south end at the Rollins College campus as it spreads along the shores of Lake Virginia. The school boasts an outstanding art museum, the Cornell , which Frommer's Travel guide once rated as one of the nation's top free attractions(there is now a nominal fee). Gourgeous live oaks and long leaf pines shade the campus which boasts a mediterranean revival style. Moving north the street is lined with shops and sidewalk cafes as it passes Central Park. After the park, the street passes the Morse Museum of American Art. Here one finds the world's greatest collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany. One can easily make an argument that he is one of the most important figures in the history of American art and design.
Park Ave. Winter Park

As the the street progresses, it slices through the Winter Park Golf Course along whose eastern perimeter is the relocated masterpiece "Casa Feliz" by renowned architect James Gamble Rogers. The citizens of Winter Park raised the money to move it when a nouveau riche gent in the cruise line business bought the lakefront lot where it was located and promptly announced his intention to tear it down. Folks rallied, got the funds and the place will now serve as a community center and museum to Roger's works.
Park Ave. Winter Park

Park Avenue turns west just past this spot and eventually joins Orlando Avenue as it passes into the charming little city of Maitland. Half a mile further it passes Lake Lily Park. Today there was a farmer's market and I sampled a piece of cabernet soaked fromage called "Drunken Goat." And just a short block further north is the Maitland Art Center.
Originally conceived by Andre Smith in the 1930's as a research studio, it consists of a series of small buildings with stamped concrete inspired by Mayan designs and set in a series of gardens. I can't think of a better place for a monkey to rest at the end of a trek up Park Avenue.

Park Avenue, Winter Park.

Greenada Court located on Park Avenue. Postcard circa 1940's

This boat tour runs every hour, every day, and has been for the last 70 years. Postcard circa 1940's.

Winter Parks Spring Art Festival. Postcard circa 1964.

The Hills of Clermont

2009-06-14T03:44:00.000-07:00

Clermont, the Gem of The Hills. Postcard circa 1930's

Last week we drove out to Clermont to build a paver patio.
As we headed up the turnpike from I-4, we began the climb into low hills that mark the western side of Orlando, I remember that if your driving up from Miami, this is the first real change in terrain that you would have experienced in two hundred fifty miles. It's the place that the huge savanna that holds the Kissimmee River basin, Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades ends and the sand hills of the state's spine begin.

View of Fosgate Groves, 1940's.

Clermont is the hilliest part of this area. It's home to the citrus tower, a two hundred plus foot edifice that was originally erected to let tourists marvel at the sight of endless miles of beautiful citrus groves rolling symetrically over the landscape. Much of this land once belonged to my great uncle Chester Fosgate, a pioneer in the citrus industry. Since my cousins sold 12oo acres of the grove, called Sky Top, about twenty years ago, the oranges are gone and have been replaced by equally symetrical lines of stucco and wallboard construction whose drabness is hardly ever interrupted by trees.

Citrus Tower. Postcard circa 1956.

There are some nice things. The National Triathlon Training Center is here and a golf course has used the elevation changes to create a dramatic setting for the sport. People have access, as they drive up the roads, to look down on Lake Apopka and downtown Orlando over twenty miles away, and experience views which are for Florida, astounding and beautiful.

Citrus Tower, Circa 1950's.

It is really a unique place. The scarred nature of the rude construction could certainly be significantly healed if more than a handful of people would landscape their land and turn it into garden space. Many are transplants who have no clue about plants or the beautiful spot that was once the source of tens millions of valencia oranges that gave up their juice at breakfast tables all over the world. Lucy, I think we got a lot of splaining to do.

Monkey, Man and Me

2009-06-14T02:41:00.000-07:00

When I tell people I have a blog called The Garden Monkey, I'm usually met with a look of wry amusement. I think they wonder if I mean to be taken seriously. Yes, I do.
I remember a show where Betty White, who had just been on a visit to Ohio to spend time with Koko the gorilla, decribed the experience as transformative. To spend time with a so called great ape who has gained the ability to communicate through a few hundred words, changes our basic conception of what it is to be human. Language has previously been thought to be the most important attribute that distinguishes us from our sister species. To sit down with another creature that is both so like us and so different looking and have a conversation in which the gorilla might appear to be the more insightful participant, really shakes up our notion of the natural order of things. It undermines that arrogance that makes us feel superior to other animals. It's the same inflated sense of ourselves that makes humans feel superior to others of the same species who look different, who have other world views, religions or belong to a different tribe or nation.

People have felt uncomfortable with the monkey/man connection since Darwin first posited it over a hundred and fifty years ago. Are we not god's chosen creatures who have been given dominion over all the other animals? The fact that we have super egos has led us to presume superiority. It ultimately finds expression in dogmas, like those in the Old Testament, that say we are chosen by God as his favorites, to the detriment of other peoples, be they Moabites or Phillistines. We are lead by such notions down a path that not only presumes our primacy over other animals, but also over other people as well.
When we embrace our simian brothers, we start to heal that schism which has been the source of so much unhappiness. If we accept stewardship of nature, instead of control of it, we begin to enjoy the harmony with our environment that so many of our attempts to be civilized have destroyed. It's ok to have fun and the idea of being a monkey man sounds liberating to me. It's no wonder people give a little smile.

Sod Farms in Cowboy Country

2009-05-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

(Partin Ranch Sod Farms)
It's been super wet these days and the sod farms thirty miles south of Orlando are just as soaked as we are. It sure lifts my spirits going out to these broad open pastures. These guys grow grass on their 10,000 acre ranches that have been passed down through generations. They're definitely tied to the land. And half the time when they meet me they've just finished moving the cattle to a new field or some other chore. The animals are beautiful, the Partins sell theirs to people all over the world. This headland area to the Everglades sure holds the heart of Florida. The tourists for the most part don't have a clue. I guess I like it that way. But part of me wants everyone to experience it and love it the way I do. I guess that's why I like to paint and write about it.

Houses are Too Big and Take Up Too Much Garden Space

2009-05-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

Monkeys need lots of open space to live in, not so much with roofed over places. Bedrooms need to be big enough to sleep in with maybe a couple nightstands, lighting and perhaps a dresser and flat screen. A closet/storage/dressing space can accommodate all the clothing, linens and other personal items and keeps the space neat. I built a sleeping room for a client by enclosing a large hallway adjacent to her old bedroom. It was on the upper floor with windows looking out on trees and a view of the lake with the third side turned into an arch that opened to the sitting room we made of the old bedroom, which made a real retreat. Her sons were 16 and 18 at the time and the older son really liked to have lots of friends over so that having a separate living space let her gave the boys free reign in the living and family rooms without disturbing her.

How social you are is a big factor in how much space you need. I've known tons of empty nesters who were not social and did not like to entertain yet had giant houses with tons of empty, unused space. Such places seem extra lonely and they are a huge waste of resources. There is nothing wrong with a big house filled with happy people. But big for bigness sake is a wasteful shame.

Bathrooms have been another big source of misuse of space. An ideal bathroom might have a double sink, separate water closet and shower bath and could reasonably accommodate four people at the same time in a fairly compact space. As a practical matter very few people actually hang out in their parlor baths, they are again mainly showpieces.

And the so called gourmet kitchens are probably the biggest waste of money. A well stocked and organized pantry can greatly increase the food prep areas efficiency, but scads of cabinets stuffed with gadgets and superfluous counters can actually work against a really good cook. Tight and efficient are the most likely attributes sought by the truly talented in this arena.

For the average family of four, a great optimum living space can easily be accommodated in 1500 square feet. In fact, unless the home is used for business purposes or a lot of entertaining and overnight guests, a number within 500 square feet of this, up or down, would be more than sufficient for almost anyone, yet the average US home has grown to 2500 square feet( a number that thankfully has fallen off a bit in the last couple years). Think of the implications for waste by having to heat,cool, light, clean and otherwise maintain 60 to 70 per cent too much space. Reversing this trend could eliminate in one effort most of the need to increase electrical generation. Ultimately it would single handedly drop consumption to below today's levels. Let it be understood that I have had my hand in a number of large residences design and construction. It was always my hope that we would make them so special that the owners would feel compelled to share them with others, thereby justifying their size. I'm glad that Versailles was constructed on such a marvelous scale. But one shouldn't forget that it was inhabited by thousands.

Perhaps most importantly, tighter, better thought out spaces would promote greater happiness and a sense of well being. They would be more aesthetically pleasing, the way that properly sized things always are. The monkey is making drawings and then you can see what he means.

Home As Shelter

2009-05-20T05:12:00.000-07:00

The heavy rains these last few days in Orlando have caused me to be reminded of the essential use of the home as shelter. The structure provides us with protection from the elements of nature that make us wet, cold, hot, vulnerable to insects and other animals. We need dry safe places to store our food, clothing, books, art, furnishings. These are basic needs- but the home should not insulate us from nature so completely that we lose our connection with it. The need for shelter has morphed into today's modern average home which has grown way beyond the need for shelter into a space that is so artificial as to lead its occupants to do a disconnect from the environment. Many are shut up in their shelters without a clue to the world around them. This causes people to begin to suffer from a sense of isolation and alienation that manifests itself in any number of psychosomatic ills.
The monkey wants shelter, but with a view of water and trees, of birds, butterflies and flowers that remind us of our link to the powerful natural environment that is the source of all that we seek shelter from. There is nothing quite so satisfying as watching a torrential thunderstorm through a big window or porch, safely protected by our home while still being able to marvel at the beauty and power of the weather. Many of us go on vacation to marvel at the splendor of mountains or canyons, of beautiful beaches next to turqoise oceans and then return home to our airtight cages set on top of our chemically treated patch of sod with a tree, some snipped and trimmed bushes and maybe a patch of concrete for a little gas grill. Is it any wonder that we can hardly wait for our next getaway? People would be much happier if they built their homes as if they were little vacation bungalows, endowing their surroundings with as much natural beauty as they would hope to enjoy if they got out of town. I'm working on some drawings of what that might look like - here in subtropical Florida the possibilties are practically endless. Especially if you let your monkey mind loose.

Global Warming

2009-05-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

The debate about global warming is a bit of a red herring in the drive to live eco-friendly. The
prognostications of long term climate models are highly suspect. Meteorologists are not terrifically adept at predicting the weather a day in advance, much less a decade. By their own admission, reliability of forecasts drops dramaticaly when extended by mere days so crediting these extended predictions much credibility seems to fly in the face of reason.
What is most important is that the climate change debate is irrelevant when trying to formulate a rational course on how to live on earth. The arguments for a profound rethinking of the way we build, travel, work and do almost anything which we consider civilized needs a radical overhaul for a host of other reasons. Among those are a need to eliminate waste on moral, spiritual and aesthetic grounds. And the waste is everywhere.
Obesity is widely known to be a problem with serious health consequences. It also affects people in many other ways, impacting their ability to engage in physical activity- from sex to working around the house. It is a drag on their self confidence and consequently limits their sense of well being. Once that's out of alignment everything else begins to shift in a negative direction and the downward spiral begins to feel like an inescapable vortex.
The way we bulid our homes, communities, vehicles, infrastructure are just as gluttonous and ill thought out as patterns of overindulgence that lead to obesity on a personal level. We are a grossly overweight body living in grotesquely oversized houses and wasting almost every resource we can get our hands on.
When we start doing the right things with our personal environments as individuals, we begin to experience that revitilization that the obese feel when they begin to lose weight. Our spirits are lifted and each improvement spurs us on to get more in touch with that healthy animal we yearn to be. We start to become the happy monkey in the garden that our nature wants us to embody.

Garden Monkey in Florida Starts Blogging

2009-05-17T06:07:00.000-07:00

This garden monkey in Florida portrays himself that way because monkeys are more clearly perceived as animals than are humans. And he wants to explore that connectedness which animals seem to maintain with their natural environment and humans have increasingly lost, This site is a celebration of the garden, as it has always symbolized the perfect synthesis of man and the world he lives in. It will be a place that expounds on the essential unified concept of existence and seeks to explore all its aspects through art, philosophy and natural sciences. It promtes a sense of happiness that comes from embracing the beauty and richness of life on earth and the simple pleasures that flow from nurturing a plant, painting a sunset, sculpting a hunk of clay or writing a poem.You will see photographs of gardens my friends and I have created, drawings of ones we might create and thoughts on what it all might mean. In true monkey style-Let the fun begin!
http://www.LandscapesOrlandoFlorida.com