MASTERS OF THE GARDEN: Partners Create a Multilayered Retreat of Palms and Rare Plants Where Once There Was Just Grass

By Georgia Tasker, The Miami Herald

Apr. 8–Twenty years ago, Allan Stein and Richard Wilkerson bought a house on a lake in Palmetto Bay. It came with grass.

Today, that half-acre of grass has become a tropical garden so lovely that it might well be among the most refined in the area. That it is tropical suggests a rain forest atmosphere — including constant rain or irrigation. But that’s not the case.

“I’ve never watered more than three times a week,” Wilkerson says. “And I’m careful about hand-watering certain plants to save water.”

Water restrictions now in place mean thrice-weekly irrigation is the maximum allowed by law. Experts say watering more often is unnecessary and even excessive.

Stein and Wilkerson are optimistic about getting their garden through the current drought because they have eliminated all but the smallest area of grass for their dogs. Last week, they applied four pallets of mulch to keep moisture in the soil, and their plants are protected by a microclimate created by the towering palms they planted to create cover. Many of the water-loving impatiens already have come out; more will be replaced with caladiums in the coming weeks, as will beds of wax begonias.

“We wanted a jungle look, and we wanted the fastest growing palms for shade,” Wilkerson says.

“The initial idea was to get palms high and do multiple layers of plants beneath them,” Stein says.

Stein, 57, retired as a physician 11 months ago. While he was practicing medicine and specializing in HIV/AIDs, his contribution to the specimen-rich, sophisticated garden was to outline the shape of the koi ponds using a hose. Since his retirement, however, he has become deeply involved in the garden on a daily basis, even if he confesses that “I schlep; he does the work.”

Wilkerson, 62, retired five years ago from the Division of Plant Inspection of the United States Department of Agriculture in Miami. He is the “master gardener,” says his partner of 32 years.

THREE JOBS

The men worked three jobs for 20 years to realize a goal of retiring in their 50s. They now have time to walk through the garden every morning and keep it in tiptop condition — removing palm seeds, mulching, feeding chicken hot dogs to the catfish and koi.

Wilkerson planted every tree, shrub and vine. After Hurricane Andrew, he grew from seed and planted most of the palms belonging to his neighbors ringing the lake.

Of the natural events that can affect gardens in South Florida, the most powerful are hurricanes. Hurricanes reconfigure even the best laid plans.

Hurricane Andrew in 1992 removed an orchid house and hundreds of orchids collected by Wilkerson over two decades.

“The greatest lesson I learned from Andrew was the resiliency of nature,” Wilkerson says. “I was so traumatized about my orchids, I called friends and said take the hundred or so that were left. But about three months later, I saw that those that had been attached to trees were coming back.”

Four or five years after Andrew, Wilkerson decided to grow orchids once more, but chiefly on the trunks of palms. He has dozens of Phalaenopsis hybrids flowering in lovely arched sprays on palms around the circular drive. He puts some sphagnum moss around their roots, and protects them with a covering of screening. In short order, the orchids send their roots beneath the screening onto the trunk, attaching themselves securely. Some of these phals have been in flower since December.

WILMA ADJUSTMENT

The most recent garden “adjustment” was made after Hurricane Wilma, which beheaded most of the foxtail palms (Wodyetia bifurcata), which had reached the 20-foot level. The trunks remain as homes for woodpeckers and owls. A Bismarck palm (Bismarckia nobilis) in the front garden remains upright but suffered a blow to the trunk during the 2005 storm. A family of owls has taken up residence in the wound cavity.

A trio of hurricane or princess palms (Dictyosperma album) acquired a graceful tilt from Wilma. The palms rise about 25 feet over the garden. Various licuala palms, including Licuala grandis and L. cordata, are stars of the mid-story canopy. They hold out those generous circular fronds in fetching and alluring ways among aroids and crotons.

A pair of muscular ravenea palms (Ravenea rivularis) frame the lake view at the far end of the garden, close to the water. “They may be the largest in Dade County,” Wilkerson says. That is attributable to their location. Rivularis means “of the river” and the Madagascar palm is “nearly an aquatic,” according to An Encyclopedia of Cultivated Palms.

Here are additional highlights:

–A multi-stemmed cycad, Zamia furfuraceae, is kept trimmed and reduced in size in its container so it is a handsome bonsai specimen.

–A well-trained jade vine (Strongylodon macrobotrys) resides on a bamboo trellis made from bamboo culms grown in the garden. The vine, a vigorous Philippine native, is cut back to the trellis edge each year after flowering to keep it under control.

–Several oversized stone sculptures of Buddha from Indonesia harmonize with the surroundings.

–A ceramic container from Vietnam is home to a magnificent, fountain-like bird’s-nest anthurium.

–Tree ferns spread their lacy fronds and dark textural trunks of matted adventitious roots.

–An iguana makes its home in a coconut palm cavity. Wilkerson feeds the iguana vegetables and fruit every morning, which thus far has diminished its appetite for garden foliage.

–Colocasias — called Nancy’s Revenge — grows among stones in the ponds, providing hiding places for the cichlids and other tiny fish.

–Black elephant ear, Colocasia Black Magic, contrasts strikingly with the delicate leaflets and black stems of maidenhair ferns.

–A standard, or tree, form of a shrub called golden dewdrop, Duranta erecta, shows off racemes of blue and white flowers. By pinching off the terminal flower clusters after the blooms have fallen, Wilkerson keeps the plant colorful year-round.

The garden walks were built around the various beds, not the other way around, and wind among shady groves and around the sunny, two-level central pond.

NEW BEGONIAS

In addition to collecting croton cultivars, Wilkerson has lately begun to add begonias to his garden. Two begonias found in abundance here are Begonia Joe Hayden, with burgundy-black leaves and pink flowers, and a plant with textured leaves called Pigskin.

Three times a year, Wilkerson applies 15 bags of slow-release palm fertilizer to the garden. He uses 20-20-20 water-soluble fertilizer once a month on the orchids, except in September when he uses a blossom booster.

Stein confesses that he dreaded retirement. “I’m a product of Jewish survivor home,” he says. “Hard work was the only thing. Rich had to teach me about this part of life. Now, I love every minute.”

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Miami Herald

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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