There is an ornamental grass that I am beginning to use a lot in my landscapes, it is called Lemon grass.

From a distance, lemon grass looks similar to Pampas grass except the leaves are greener and a little but wider. The good news with the Lemon grass is that the leaves do not cut you like a Pampas grass.

The other good news is that you can make Lemon grass tea. If you are interested, you can whip up some cool Asian dishes and you'll have Lemon grass in the back yard to add to the mix.

I use it in the landscape as a background or corner plant. In front of them I will often plant a Red Pentas to attract butterflies and in front of the Red Pentas, I will often plant the low ground cover called blue daze or a yellow flowering drought tolerant plant called Yellow Bulbine. With these choices you are guaranteed to have butterflies!

Right now is when you should be planting your vegetable garden. Most of the nurseries should have a variety of plants and they are usually available in four inch pots. One of the methods that I like to use is:

Grow at least three different varieties of the same plant if you have enough room. For example, with tomatoes you can grow a Better Boy, Celebrity, and the smaller and sweeter Cherry Tomato.

You see, sometimes some varieties, some years, decide not to perform well. This way, you have three varieties and a higher chance of having bushels of tomatoes. You can use the same concept with peppers.

Also, there is nothing wrong with adding your favorite herbs along the parameter of your vegetable garden. If you are not going to have a vegetable garden, a large pot with a variety of herbs looks terrific in a sunny spot on the patio.

Xeriscaping: The State vs. Home Owners Associations

If you are not aware, there is a new Florida state law that allows you to landscape your yard with Xeriscape plants and allows you to replace your St. Augustine grass with a drought tolerant grass or plant ground cover plant. The great thing is, you as the owner of your own property now have the law on your side and this new law overrides your home owner association rules for landscaping.

For more on that story look here.

Good Xeriscape plants that I love are Perennial Peanut ground cover, orange and yellow Bulbine, Ilex, India Hawthorne, Crown of Thorns, Agave, Fejoa, Anise, and all Junipers. All of these plants can be used in mass groupings and this way you can still have a creative, well designed landscape which tolerates the heat and is unusually low maintenance.

As a side not, all of the plants mentioned above are available from Sims landscaping, (352) 383-3303.