Couple's landscaping efforts reap reward

The Plant City Garden Club Beautification Award for April goes to Alan and Jule
Colvin of 3005 Barret Ave.

The Colvins, after moving to the South, wanted a "Florida house." The landscaping of the lovely brick house on Barret, which they purchased in 2005, did not fit those criteria; so they took almost everything out and started from scratch. They achieved stunning, and drip-irrigated, results with the help of landscaper Rodger McFarlane, the pastor of their church in Valrico.

The house sits on a corner lot with an expansive front lawn. The side yard, at the corner of Barret and Clubhouse Drive, is notable due to a large live oak with low and sprawling limbs draped with moss and ringed by a sea of ferns. The Colvins wisely left tall oaks in place all over the property.

In the front yard, several stands of tall live oaks with high foliage are surrounded with generously mulched areas. The plantings in these areas are in orderly, geometric groupings with plenty of space between groupings. In one area you will find a semi-circle of small palms, a set of three variegated schefflera, and a line of salvia.

To the left of the front door, an atrium-like effect is created by the portico. This is home to a two-tiered fountain that Jule
Colvin spray-painted bronze to better fit in with its surroundings. There is a clump of variegated ginger in the corner and a diagonal line of croton leading out to the sidewalk. Liriope, a ti plant and a pink hibiscus are near the fountain and a red hibiscus and red bird of paradise are further away. A small section of brick wall helps to create the atrium and curves from the house to the walkway; it ends in a column topped by an earthenware pot with ornamental grasses. On the front side of the wall, there is a newly pruned roebelenii, and a rectangular flowerbed made up of two forward lines of marigolds and a line of taller salvia in the back.

In the back of the house, the Colvins have the best of both worlds with a unique creation done for them by a company called Phantom Screens. They can have a screened lanai when they want it, or slide the large screens of the covered lanai up and out of sight with ease. They disappear into an attractive housing and work as easily as a roller shade allowing them to enjoy the lanai separately or as part of the gorgeous outdoor room beyond it.

The terracotta tile of the lanai transitions beautifully with the brick patio pavers of the outdoor living room where comfortable, cushioned furniture is surrounded by a low, botanical wall created by small palms, gingers, philodendron, crinum and African iris. An in-the-ground planter filled with lady palms is a buffer zone between the screened dining area and the patio. Potted croton, impatiens and fern are placed here and there and further embellish the patio.

At the very back perimeter of their property is a privacy hedge. The area that used to be all dirt is now a grassy carpet under the forest of live oaks. The oaks provide a canopied backdrop to the patio setting and are lighted at night. Outdoor Impressions helped them with the lighting and patio pavers; the whole setting is quite magical.