Underwater fixtures. LED fixtures are also a great choice for wet and submerged environments, such as a swimming pool, pond or water feature. They are available in fully waterproofed cases, and their long life span means they’re less-maintenance over time. The LED pool lights here create a glowing blue body of water.
2. Contrast with blue-green. Directly opposite each other on the color wheel, blue-green and the more copper tones of bronze are perfect complements. Here, New Zealand iris (Libertia peregrinans, zones 7 to 11) is combined with blue fescue (Festuca glauca, zones 4 to 8) and Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas, zones 5 to 9) for a beautiful and drought-tolerant front yard planting.
If your vision of tiki style includes lots of wood and decorative touches from Asia or Oceania, woven woods will surely be your window treatment of choice. They can be customized to fit just about any window, with the exception of arches, and on larger expanses they offer the same effect as a bamboo screen enclosing a patio. Most of all, they offer one more way to blur the boundaries between home and nature, as so many South Pacific homes do.
Garden Mentors In this design, the sand has been replaced by river rocks, and the mossy ground cover and native Japanese plant species are emphasized as much as the rocks themselves. The Japanese maple and bamboo are thoughtful details, and the translucent acrylic screen recall Japanese shoji screens. This garden is stylized, but it feels completely natural, as if every element is exactly where it must be.
Air plants: Search for your local bromeliad or orchid society. These groups often have plant exchanges among members who propagate their own plants and are happy to trade or share them. The bare-root orchids pictured here are for sale in the greenhouse of Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/29614569?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u3106&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery21
Reynlds-Sebastiani Design Services SaveEmail Shopping for Air Plants Look for native air plants. Epiphytes are a specialty plant that may not show up in a search for local natives; rest assured, there are some species of native epiphytic ferns, orchids and bromeliads that thrive in the hardwood forests of the Southeast. Most of them are concentrated in Florida, which is home to 85 species of native epiphytes.
Air plants: Living Green Design SaveEmail You can also spray plants with a fish emulsion once per month during the summer to increase blooms and growth. Don’t overdo it with watering or fish emulsion, because air plants are adapted to getting what they need from the air alone. Consider water and fertilizer as supplemental ways to increase the vitality of your air plants. Some of the colorful bromeliads, like the ones pictured here, will develop a richer color with the spraying of some nutrients. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/29614569?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u3106&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery21
D-CRAIN Design and Construction SaveEmail Planting notes. Pink muhly’s tolerance of many soil types is noteworthy. However, this grass enjoys moist but well-drained soil in a sunny to partially shady portion of your garden. It is drought tolerant once established but will grow fuller and thrive more with irrigation. Pink muhly clumps, so it will not invade other beds and can be divided to create more plants in spring. Cut the grass down in late winter, after it's done flowering, to allow for new growth in spring.
How to use it. Pink muhly's fine texture is an effective landscape softener. Note how attractively pink muhly highlights the sculptural agave in this landscape by D-Crain Design and Construction. Pink muhly grass is native to the East Coast of the United States, so many native plantings incorporate it into prairies, savannas and coastal dunes. Planted en masse, pink muhly blurs where this garden inside the fence ends and that of the outside begins, bridging maintained and wild landscapes.
Violet Silverleaf (Leucophyllum candidum) Native to southwestern Texas and Mexico Violet silverleaf’s silvery- gray foliage catches your attention at first glance — until it begins to bloom, when it produces vibrant purple flowers that quickly take center stage. Flowering occurs in spurts, often in response to increased humidity. Blooming begins in summer and increases in the fall. Where it will grow: Hardy to 0 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 18 degrees Celsius), zones 7 to 10 Water requirement: Low; water twice a month in summer and monthly in winter Light requirement: Full sun Mature size: 3 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide Growing tips: Plant in well-drained soil and full sun; over-watering will lead to rot, so sporadic, deep watering is best; little to no pruning is needed other than to hand prune any wayward branches when given enough room to grow to its mature size
9. Add vibrant color — without flowers. Some grasses, like the pink muhly grass shown here, erupt in colorful, feathery fronds from late summer to fall. This is a wonderful way to bring color to a water-wise garden where flowers are sparingly used. Grass: Pink muhly grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris Need to know: Native to the East Coast of the United States, pink muhly grass clumps, so it will not invade other planting beds. Hardy in zones 7 to 9.
This was part of Frey’s education of the desert environment, and he clearly learned a lesson here. The exteriors of his future homes feature much more durable materials. For example, in the house he designed for himself, the Frey House II, there is no exterior wood, only concrete block, corrugated metal and steel beams.
Q