A Courtyard Garden

Las Ventanas is the home and garden of my daughter ML and her family. Three dogs and a bevy of chickens. ML and her husband are keen gardeners and have created a heaven for birds and wildlife in their garden with planting hundreds of native flowering trees and shrubs.


"Sasha" is guarding the entrance.



In the corner in a pot grows epiphillum oxipetalum. Pots planted with a variety of succulents are arranged in groups. Hanging pots are filled with spider plants which ML likes.

The Spider Plant, Chlorophytum comosum, is a species of Chlorophytum native to South Africa.
Spider plants have long narrow leaves that are 20–40 cm (8–15 in) long and 5–20 mm (0.2–0.8 in) broad, which grow from a central rosette. It also produces branched stolons with small white flowers and baby plantlets.
It is a very popular houseplant. The most widely grown is the variegated cultivar 'Variegatum', with one or two broad yellowish-white bands running along the length of each leaf, but natural, entirely green plants are also grown.
The Spider Plant is very easy to propagate. They can be propagated by splitting its main rosette, or more easily by removing plantlets from the stolons and potting them separately or putting them in a glass of water.
It is an especially popular plant with beginners, as it is easy to grow and propagate and is very tolerant of neglect, being able to thrive in nearly any type of condition.
Spider plants have also been shown to reduce indoor air pollution.
At the spot where a leaf would normally develop a node, these plants will produce adventitious roots down into the soil, and new above ground shoots.Wikipedia

The whole area holds an under ground rainwater tank. ML has covered the concrete floor with small river pebbles. She has placed matching slabs to walk. Along this pathway she has placed Pony tails in pots. Two matching lollipop fig trees are framing the blue entrance door, and in the corner are Aloes and Agaves growing in pots.

Beaucarnea recurvata (often called the ponytail palm in English, even though it is not a true palm) is a species of Beaucarnea often grown as a houseplant in temperate latitudes. Successful cultivation requires winter minimum temperatures of above 10 °C, rising to around 30 °C in summer

The tinkling water from a small fountain gives a relaxed feeling to the setting...

Along the wall grows a Wisteria and in the troughs are more succulents. The flowering one the "donkey ear" with huge spotted leaves and tall flower stalks. This is a very hot area in summer. The succulents cope well and don't have to be watered all the time.

A shot of Agave and Aloes. A spider plant keeps company with the potted fig and the Lady Julia looks on!

A group of succulents. In the corner a big pot with a variegated Agave. ML cuts of the sharp pointy ends.

Believe it or not: The ponderous clouds that speak of thunder hail and lightening are male. The soft, gray clouds that nourish the plants with their dancing rain are female. In Africa.

Organic tip of the week.


Plant trees! They filter air pollution, contribute oxygen, help with soil erosion, provide shelter and habitats for birds and other creatures. Trees help control the greenhouse effect and act as air conditioners, keeping areas shaded and cool.

Photos by ML.

Copyright. T.S. Yesterdaytodayandtomorrow in my garden.

Thank you for your visit and have a happy day.

THIS IS WINTER...in my garden

Pyrostegia venusta climbing up a tree. Its glowing orange flowers light up the winter garden. (Pyro=fire)

The lovely flowers of a scented Geranium which come into their own over winter. I love this colour, I will make cuttings of this one.

Dianthus planted into containers in spring go to sleep over the hot summer, are pruned and then flower on from autumn into winter. From time to time they are replaced with new plants. If I have time I make cuttings otherwise I buy them as seedlings in punnets.

Ice Bear

The beautiful but temperamental Hana Fuki

Drama girl is an actress of excellence, she performs well from early autumn into spring.

Some of my Camellias, they add colour to the garden through winter.

Agave attenuate is a bold looking plant, after about 10 years this plant bears a foxtail crowned with white umbels. If you never look at a flower you will turn your head for this one.

Agave attenuata is a species of agave sometimes known as the "lion's tail", "swan's neck", or "foxtail" for its development of a curved stem, unusual among agaves. Native to the plateau of central Mexico, as one of the unarmed agaves, it is popular as an ornamental plant in gardens.
The stems typically range from 50-150 cm in length, and eventually old leaves fall off, leaving them naked and visible. The leaves are ovate-accuminate, 50-70 cm long and 12-16 cm, pale in color, ranging from a light gray to a light yellowish green. There are no teeth, nor terminal spines, although the leaves taper to points that fray with age. The inflorescence is a dense raceme 2.5 to 3 meters high, with greenish-yellow flowers.

The flowers of this Begonia have finished but the leaves are attractive and provide interest through winter.

Ivy Geraniums come into their own over winter with non stop flowering and glossy leaves. In summer they struggle with the heat and humidity. This was just a cutting a few weeks ago.

A Laelia orchid has decided that winter is the time it likes best.

Schlumbergera also kown as Zygocactus are epiphytes growing on tree branches. They show their exotic flowers in winter.




Cordylines are attractive all year round winter doesn't make a difference to them.

The small Zinnias seed where ever they think it is convenient even between paving stones.

Winter is the time to plant roses.

Pink Euphorbia milii flowers well into winter.

Melaleucas flower profusely in winter providing food for birds, small mammals, bats and insects.

Anthurium grows in many forms, mostly evergreen, bushy or climbing epiphytes with roots that often hang from the canopy all the way to the floor of the rain forest. There are also many terrestrial forms as well as hemiepiphytic forms. A hemiepiphyte is a plant capable of beginning life as a seed and sending roots to the soil, or beginning as a terrestrial plant that climbs a tree and then sends roots back to the soil. They occur also as lithophytes. Some are only found in association with arboreal ant colonies or growing on rocks in midstream (such as A. amnicola).

Believe it or not:

1768-1786 were the years of enlightenment with its belief that the application of reason and good sense could solve all the problems of mankind!

Organic tip of the week:

Use egg cartons to grow seedlings, from seed. When the seedlings are ready to plant, simply cut the egg carton and plant the seedlings with the carton, without disturbing the root system. The carton eventually breaks down and creates mulch for your new plant!

Pictures T.S. from my garden.

Blog Copyright T.S. Yesterdaytodayandtomorrow in my garden.