April 2022 Selection of the Month

Carlos and Lucia Sousa of Eric Drive have been recognized as April 2022 Selection of the Month by The Garden Club at Palm Coast.

The Sousa’s are originally from Portugal. They lived in Rhode Island then retired and moved to Palm Coast 13 years ago.

The driveway has terra cotta landscape edging and red rocks with several Schefflera bushes planted on both sides. The terra cotta edging and red rocks also border the front beds as well as the center island.

The front door area is flanked by two decorative pots with rubber trees. Inside the beds on both sides are several bird of paradise, Hawaiian Ti, red crown of thorns, Phoenix roebelenii, Chinese ixora, red camelia, purple vinca, mountain snow cap, Schefflera, persimmon fruit and a tangerine tree just started from propagation.

The center island contains a loquat tree, Schefflera, and Chinese ixoras.

Along the side of the house are several 6-foot dragon fruit trees, mountain snow cap and Schefflera. The back yard has 25 different fruit trees: olive, several varieties of orange and tangerines, which have fruit on them, apple, avocado, lemon, fig, bananas, peach, plum, pear, loquat and kumquats. They have an impressive life saver cactus (Huernia zebrina)– however, it was not in bloom.

In pots complete with their own irrigation, they grow cilantro, parsley, mint, asparagus fern, pineapple, shamrock, and croton. They have a grape vine and vegetable garden with lettuce, bush beans, and cabbage. They let one cabbage go to seed so they always have some to replant.

Carlos has an impressive fertilizer chart that lists all their plants with the type of fertilizer to use, how much and what month(s) to apply them. He is quite the gardener!