Wherever you “Stroll” West of Trail you will find ongoing expressions of nature.  Whether you run across egrets and Muscovy ducks; watch the Mullet jump in the bay, or the Snook teasing you in Hudson’s Bayou no one will ever be disappointed!

 

Garden hunting is my pleasure!  Let me share a special garden with you. It will be in full bloom this month of May.  Tenille Dixon Pawlus and her husband Peter Pawlus reside on Grove Street.  This fifties ranch is the home base for all this enterprising woman’s endeavors.  Indeed Tenille is named for “the Captain and Tennille” for those who love “Muskrat Love” and beyond! Her mom notes she decided to spell it differently…causing much discussion and misspelling…

 

Tenille and Peter have lived in Sarasota for twenty two years and have rented on Grove Street for nine… “We hope to be in this house for three more years” notes Tenille.  She hails from Kentucky.

 

Multiple business and volunteer activities make sure that “no moss grows on a rolling stone”!   Tenille has owned and operated Girl Friday Services; a cleaning and house watch business since 2009.

 

Butterflies and Blossoms FL is her “baby”.  “It is what I love doing-it ignites my soul”.  This landscaping enterprise was spurred on by her five year association with the Sarasota Master Gardener Program, where she served as President. Her mentors and teachers from the program encouraged Tenille to follow her calling- creating green oasis for people to enjoy.  “My true love is creating landscaping for our native pollinators”.  This boutique landscaping company is around three years old.   With certification as a designer from Emory University she understands the concepts of garden design; personal hands on installation as well as giving advice in pre-existing gardens. Proper pruning, disease control, seasonal color changes and optimizing garden viability are all her areas of expertise. Tenille is Florida Friendly Certified.  “I am not a native purist but encourage the use of natives”.

 

If that is not enough, Tenille is finishing a degree in Horticultural Therapy with the University of Florida.  She will be offering a service called “Helping Hands” for those who love to personally garden but are no longer fully capable the physical rigors of gardening. “The client and I can work alongside each other.”  I may be her first client!  “Getting our hands in the soil is therapeutic!”

 

Back to Tenille’s home garden….I was amazed to see the latest renovation to her pre-existing naturalized garden which just took place this winter!  Garden rooms and vignettes abound.   Although Peter does not enjoy gardening….he lends support by building arbors and “showing off the garden”. Her new arbors were a necessity post our fall hurricane season.  Tenille and I took a walk about to see all the new installations and to note the growth of foliage since installation.  Indeed “right plant in the right place”. Walk by when you see this article since I know the spring growth will fill the new landscaping quickly.  Tenille noted some of her favorite easy to grow plants include: Silver buttonwood, Silver Saw Palmetto, Pink Muhly Grass, Walters Viburnum ‘Mrs. Schillers Delight’, Coontie, Beauty Berry, Firebush, Jamaican Caper, Coreopsis, Tropical sage and Carolina Jessamine Vine (easy for the novice gardener).

 

My favorites peek a boo through the yard include:  Candle Larkspur, Gerber Daisies, Blue Eyed Grass, Laced Leaf Coreopsis,  Needle Stone Crop in baskets, Verbena-  in waves of pink,  Magnolia Fig, Mednilla or Rose Grape and Chenille Plant…Farfugium with its beefy leaves (a favorite!) and Flaming sword bromeliad.  A really “cool” gnarly burl gives interest to a property-line tree.

 

We hope we have offered you a list of interesting plants to add to your own garden. Thank-you, Tenille for sharing your love of gardening and your garden with our Stroll readers! Walk on by...