Tag: foundation planting

The Sunday porch: Miami, Florida

Cindy at enclos*ure1 Comment

House in Miami, Florida, July 11, 1955, via Florida Memory (State Library and Archives of Florida) Commons on flickr (cropped slightly by me).

Widely available by the 1950s, aluminum awnings were touted as longer-lasting and lower-maintenance than traditional [canvas] awnings. . . . [T]hey were especially popular with homeowners. Aluminum awnings were made with slats called “pans” arranged horizontally or vertically. For variety and to match the building to which they were applied, different colored slats could be arranged to create stripes or other decorative patterns.

— U.S. National Park Service “Preservation Brief“

King’s College, Cambridge

Cindy at enclos*ure4 Comments

On a quick trip to Cambridge last week, I really liked this border of Echium pininana (or giant viper’s bugloss) along the lawn behind King’s College, here. (The building is actually part of Clare College.)


A different kind of foundation planting.


The biennials, which are native to the Canary Islands, can grow as tall as 13′ (or 4 m.). They want well-drained soil, full sun, and shelter from wind.

They are also called tower of jewels.
Looking back to the King’s College Chapel.

Trinity College

I also liked this wide walkway border of Queen’s Anne lace and long grass at the entrance to Trinity College.


The tree on the right is a grafted descendant of the apple tree that inspired Isaac Newton.