The Plant City Garden Club presented its December beautification award to one of its own: Liz Miller, who has been a member since 1981. In 1998 she moved from the country to Walden Lake, and brought many of her plants with her. She is full of gardening knowledge and will share with anyone who wants to learn.
"When I joined the garden club 13 years ago one of the first members I met was Liz Miller; she immediately started sharing her knowledge and cuttings of her favorite plants with me. I have been hooked on the garden club and gardening ever since," past president Cassandra Banning said.
We started our tour at the entryway where a salmon-colored crown of thorns is in full bloom. Miller told us that this plant won best in show at the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs State Flower Show.
The entry is surrounded by blooming plants, a deep red poinsettia that bloomed just in time for Christmas, a hanging basket filled with a Christmas cactus heavy with little red blooms, a birdbath where she has placed a bird's nest fern and a finely manicured topiary.
The front of the house is bordered with a ligustrum tree, yellow marigolds, kalanchoes, a cardboard palm and many different bromeliads nestled under the trees and shrubs. She planted a camphor tree in her front yard several years ago to offer shade from the afternoon sun. She also planted a flowering plum tree that is a beautiful dark pink color in early spring.
Her side and back yards are filled with water oaks that give the shade needed for her extensive orchid collection hanging from the trees and her many bromeliads nestled amongst the roots. The orchid that caught our eye was a cattleya with a purple and fuchsia color and a yellow throat. Most of her plants are left in pots so they can be displayed in flower shows and can be carried into the garage during bad weather. Miller has a great passion for her orchids and bromeliads.
In the island of water oaks, where Miller has carefully placed some of her most prize-winning plants, many are one-of-a-kind specimens, which she has been collecting for as many years as she has been a gardener. They are tucked in with other plants, where the afternoon sun won't burn them and they can be protected from the few cold winter days we experience.
She has begonias, crotons, special bromeliads, white and pink anthuriums, ferns, bridal wreath, holly, ginger, aralias, malpighia, geraniums, cactus, aluminum plant, succulents, plumerias, philodendrons, herbs, roses, bleeding heart, lantana, plumbago and even a miniature pomegranate. The common thread in the garden is the volunteer impatiens that come up everywhere.
Miller has an interesting collection of flowering trees including a Jatropha, a Japanese magnolia, a pink Tabebuia and a yellow Tabebuia, a Calamondin, a Southern red bud and several crepe myrtles. In the spring when the garden is in full bloom it is a sight to behold.
She also collects plants for their beautiful foliage to use in floral design. Texture, color, shape and line are all important to the beauty of her garden and to the designs she makes for her home and competitions. One of her favorites is the variegated cast iron plant (Aspidistra) that shows so well because it is light and dark green.
The care Miller puts into her garden is evident throughout. Even though she has an automatic watering system she often hand waters as it is her time to spend communing in her garden.