Garden Clippings
House and garden tour provides many ideas
By RUTH DAVIES
Article published on Thursday, June 8, 2006  |
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| Florida House, for the present and future, is environmentally friendly. |
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A unique Florida Friendly house and garden is only one-and-a-half hours down I-75 in Sarasota. The Florida House Learning Center, sponsored by the University of Florida Extension and Sarasota County Extension, is a model home and landscape featuring environmentally friendly material and methods. Students at the county’s vocational school and volunteers built the house.
The house features shaded lanais with recycled auto glass in the tile. The open floor plan that includes living, dining and kitchen areas boasts a cupola with windows that can be opened to draft the hot air up and outside. The other rooms have 10-foot high ceilings. One demonstration room with TV, fan and lights can be operated by solar energy – there are storage batteries on the closet shelves.
The walls are cement that is poured into forms offering nothing to eat for termites. Flooring is made of fast-growing, sustainable bamboo and cork. A heat pump provides heat and air conditioning, while fans increase comfort and movement of the air. Water conservation is an important consideration through flapperless toilets and water-saving showerheads. The house has a metal roof that reflects the sun’s heat and captures rainwater to be stored in cisterns, one for the house and the other for the garden. In other areas, solar collectors are used to trap solar energy, for instance to run the pond pump.
Literature is available in every room describing products and their use.
The landscaping also is environmentally friendly, as well as easy on the gardener. Native plants, fruit trees and other edibles are comfortably growing throughout the property. Water is provided by micro-irrigation systems; there are mulched paths, composters and a rain barrel. A small water garden with its trickling water attracts visitors and wildlife.
Also included in the garden is a sample of a hurricane room. This is relevant for our part of the country. Literature was not available here, but my assumption is that this could be built inside or next to one’s house.
The volunteers were knowledgeable and answered my many questions. The center is at 4600 Beneva Road S. near Proctor Road. Summer hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Year-round it is open Saturdays 1 to 4 p.m. There is no admission charge.
Events for garden enthusiasts:
• The Pinellas Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society will meet on Wednesday, June 7, 7:30 p.m., at Moccasin Lake Nature Park, 2750 Park Trail Lane in Clearwater. Cathy Harrelson, chairman of the Suncoast Sierra Club will speak. The meeting will include a silent auction of plants and there will be refreshments. Call 544-7341 or visit pinellas.fnpschapters.org.
• The Florida West Coast Orchid Society will meet on Thursday, June 8, 7:30 p.m., at Pinellas County Extension, 12520 Ulmerton Road, Largo. An educational class is at 7, followed by a speaker, an orchid sale, raffle and refreshments. Call 725-1719.
• The Florida Botanical Gardens and Pinellas County Extension, 12520 Ulmerton Road, will present “The Life of a Butterfly” on Saturday, June 10, 1 to 2 p.m. Children will learn the life cycle, how to attract butterflies and will make a butterfly craft. The event is free, but register at 582-2671.
• The American Hibiscus Society, Sunset Chapter, will sponsor its show and sale on Saturday, June 10, 1 to 4 p.m., at Pinellas County Extension. Admission is free. The show is expected to have 500 to 700 blooms. Call Tom Miller at 530-9118 or visit sunsetchapter.org.
• The African Violet Society will host its annual sale at Extension on Friday and Saturday, June 16 and 17, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The show provides many varieties of flowering African violets, starter plants and leaves, as well as a selection of the other gesneriads and supplies. Society members will answer questions and offer help to grow violets and related gesneriads. Extension horticulturists also will assist with horticultural questions. Call 398-7450 or e-mail rlphyllis@verizon.net.
• Free and low cost plants will be offered at 305 173rd Ave. in North Redington Beach on Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., as a fundraiser for the Equal Rights Amendment lobby effort. A red ixora hedge is free to those who want to dig it up – bring a shovel. Other plants include bromeliads, frangipani, cacti, dwarf palms and potted gardens. Call 393-0932.
• The first annual Pinellas Living Green Expo will be on Saturday, June 17, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, June 18, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at The Coliseum, 535 Fourth Ave. N. in St. Petersburg. Admission is free.
The expo provides real solutions for people to live better, healthier lives with less impact on the environment.
Call Darden Rice, Sierra Club, 824-8813, ext. 303.
Ruth Davies is a Pinellas County Master Gardener. Questions can be sent to her at editorial@TBNweekly.com.
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Article published on Thursday, June 8, 2006
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