TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Beauty And The Bungalow

ADVERTISEMENT

By PENNY BRAGG

Special to the Tribune

Published: December 3, 2008

PLANT CITY - The Plant City Garden Club's beautification award for September goes to Liana and Larry Langford of 1000 Roux St.

The house, which was built somewhere between 1910 and 1920, is a cozy bungalow-style home. It is painted a vibrant olive green with vanilla trim and is bedecked with wind chimes, which are hung up under the eves here and there on every side of the house and are made of all sorts of materials.

The Langfords have lived in their home for 11 years, and, when asked what they had done to the house since acquiring it, Larry Langford replied, "everything."

It is now landscaped with charm and beauty, but there were only three plants there when they moved in: one orange tree, one magnolia tree and one camellia bush. From the street to the screened porch and front door, you pass through a white arbor with pink seven-sister roses meandering all over it and plumbago at each side of it. The little walkway leading to the house is lined with Indian hawthorne, camellia bushes, holly and the red-orange variety of lantana. Two ceramic pots rest among the plantings; one is home to kalanchoe and another has crown of horns.

The house is encircled with beds of ground cover, which are neatly bordered with paver stones. Within these beds is a large variety of trees, plants and shrubs. At the left front of the house stands a small roebelenii while a crape myrtle has the corner position. As you round the corner, a 3-foot statue of a girl holding a tray in each hand is there to greet you. This statue was purchased by the Langfords when they were on their honeymoon in Savannah, Ga., and is, in fact, a copy of the famous Bird Girl of Savannah statue. The trays she holds can be used to provide water and seed for the birds.

In this same area is a powder puff bush showing off its little red "poufs" near the neighboring plumbago and the butterfly-attracting cassia plants. The backdrop to these is Larry Langford's wooden grape arbor bearing purple-colored muscatel grapes.

At the front and to the side of the property, there is a very healthy orange tree, one of the largest of the plantings on the property. Liana Langford said that they have taken care not to let things grow very big. This has created a pleasing proportion for each plant in relation to its surroundings and the size of the yard. Specimen trees of many kinds are spaced out around the yard and add interest everywhere.

Among the plantings in the side yard are a poinciana tree, several crape myrtles, a Japanese plum tree, a tabebuia tree, an avocado tree and a mimosa tree ringed with lilies.

Looking to the far back of the yard is a gazebo. It is a very inviting and serene spot; but when you start really looking at it, there is a lot going on. The tin roof is supported by three vertical poles at each of the four corners of its wooden deck. It is enclosed by the "walls" of flowers and vines that grow around and on it. There are bougainvillea on two decorative trellises on one side and trumpet vine and wisteria on other sides.

A second horizontal rail is there for the wisteria to travel around the whole structure, and there are hanging plants at various levels, too. There are ground plants such as ixoras and dwarf Rex begonias, vanilla, rabbit hat and croton. In pots on the ground and in hanging planters are the succulent night blooming cereus. Potted caladium, sedum and impatiens can be found here along with a nearby tibouchina tree.

The gazebo is furnished with wrought-iron furniture and is equipped with a grill for cookouts as well as a fire pit for atmosphere.

At the back of the house is a picturesque, white-washed garage. Ferns are growing up against it as well as plumbago and lantana. There you can sit in a double-seated swing while being surrounded by the bottlebrush tree nearby and the confederate jasmine that decorates the back fence. A maple tree stands dripping with planters, bird feeders and wind chimes and is ringed with plumbago; and, over by the back steps, there is an antique light pole. It was there when the Langfords bought the house and is truly from another era but still in working order today. An American flag and a pot of crown of thorns in a cement planter are beneath it.

Walking around the last side on the way to the front of the house we passed by a spray of firecracker plant next to a trellis of white bleeding heart intertwined with red bleeding heart. Also, a large pot of ground orchids with their shrimp-colored blooms is nestled among lantana and up against a double-stemmed, 2-foot tall mushroom with an angel under it.

The Langfords surely do know how to make things inviting and beautiful while pursuing their love of gardening.

Penny Bragg is a member of the Plant City Garden Club.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT