By The Numbers
Some of our collection of 98 containers
By Stephen and Kristin Pategas
Engagement with a garden offers numerous rewarding experiences. We brainstormed about what takes place in our garden, then after dinner in our garden room we headed further outside with glasses of wine and counted and counted – some counts were based upon educated guesses. Here are the results of what took place in our garden last year.
72 times we ate outside in the screened garden room or on the open front terrace
4,000 blooms appeared in the mature super-sized magnolia tree
It takes a big magnolia to host 4,000 blossoms
26 harvests of herbs (rosemary, lemon thyme and oregano) for Herbtinis
42 culms/stalks comprise the clump of giant timber bamboo
55 feet to the tips of the soaring giant timber bamboo
29 dead fronds trimmed from three sabal palms in one session in the late winter
10 trimmings of the dwarf Asian jasmine groundcover
17 fillings of the bird feeder
9 species of birds at the bird feeder or on the ground below it
Tubes from Xeri Birds provide low volume irrigation
1,825 times a squirrel was foiled by the Squirrel Buster bird feeder
212 sharpenings with a bastard file of one pair of Felco hand pruners
55 trash bags full of oak leaves collected curbside for mulching plant beds
0 cubic yards of pine bark mulch purchased
28 bales of pine straw purchased for walkway mulching
144 s.f. of raised vegetable beds
12 bushels of produce harvested from the vegetable garden
9 cabbages harvested
Fresh herbs add depth to the Herbtini
212 jalapeno popper appetizers created from the fruits of one long lasting pepper plant
9 different fragrant blooming plants including orchids
26 pauses to search out and enjoy a fragrant blooming plant
28 applications of algaecide to the water features
38 days that toters of yard waste were wheeled to the curb
11 species of birds in the water features
18 cedar waxwings at our spouting fish water bowl at one time (see image for proof)
62 different species of succulents in our garden
98 planted containers (downsized from 110 in 2014)
36 Xeri-Bird devices with 216 tubes providing low volume irrigation to plants and container plants
28 different species of native plants
4 different species of bamboo (all clumping forms)
10 different species of palms and cycads
8 different species of creeping or climbing vines
12 different cultivars of caladiums providing over seven months of foliage color
286 different plants throughout the gardens over the years and an equal number did not survive
.42 acres comprise our property
What’s happening in your garden?
Hortus Oasis (FL26000315) in Winter Park is a boutique garden design company specializing in residential, commercial and specialty gardens. Stephen is a registered landscape architect and Kristin is a certified landscape designer. Contact them at 407-622-4886 / [email protected].
* All photography by Stephen G. Pategas/Hortus Oasis
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