Grandpa Peter's amazing garden oasis!

gm garden lovers! greetings from brick city!

As some of you might now, I'm a downtown cat. I live right in the middle of the city surrounded by buildings made of concrete and brick. Doesn't mean I don't have an urban garden though!

But today I have a real treat for you. A top notch, pro garden oasis.

Grandpa Peter and Grandma Gretel had us over for thanksgiving dinner, and I couldn't help snapping some pictures so I could share with you their amazing home which is actually more garden than home.

Let's step inside, shall we?

As soon as you walk in the door and past the foyer, you see the living room.

a whiskey blues playlist is filling the airwaves from every room in the house. There are about 10 amazon Echos all over the place. Who knew seniors could be so techie? 😄

Through the window to the right, you can see the outside garden and koi pond which is lit for effect. To the left, you'll see the two beautiful ficus trees that have grown into each other and inside the house! They've actually had to make a few modifications to the walls, windows and ceiling to make space for the trees!

They were both in pots once upon a time. But Grandpa Peter planted them in the ground 35 years ago when I was just a wee lad. They've obviously loved growing in the ground and have grown into each other making a lovely natural archway that leads to the outside garden.

Here's a better shot of the ficuses. See how big they are?

There's not a fallen leaf in sight. Grandma Gretel says they have to sweep the floor on a daily basis and sometimes clean up some sap from the trees. But not today. Everything is spick-and-span.

Let's take a walk up the spiral staircase to the left and see what's upstairs.

Once you're on the second floor, you can take a look to your right and get a bird's eye view of the outside garden and koi pond. Some of the bigger fishies are 8 years old. They probably won't introduce any new koi to the pond as they might very well develop something known as old pond syndrome. This sometimes happens when the fish live in isolation for so long, that they develop a closed ecosystem with their surroundings and thus are not exposed to any new pathogens, so their weakened immune system. When new koi are introduced into the pond, the older fish could get sick and die.

off to the left is the entrance to the garden. You can already see some orchids, narrow sword ferns or fishbone ferns (Nephrolepis cordifolia), some cactuses and ... a cage?

Let's look inside!

Sounds like Bob Marley's Sun is Shining playing..

Oh! will you look at that! It's Matilde, the bearded dragon and queen of chill 😄 she's listening to some reggae and hanging out on her tree trunk haha. Some living beings just know how to live life!

up ahead a bit are the succulents and lotuses protected by some chinese figurines and a pony tail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata) which, get this, is actually related to asparagus, and yuca. They are all part of the Asparagaceae family. This one is a baby and in a pot. There's a giant one outside where the koi pond is.

Up ahead are these amazing elkhorn ferns (Platycerium bifurcatum) Now these little guys are cool and the story of how they got here is hella cool too. It turns out, these are not native to Central America at all. They are native to the Java and New Guinea rainforests in the Indian Ocean. quite a ways away!

How did they get here? They were smuggled into the country from New Guinea by a flight attendant friend of Grandpa Peter. Every specimen in the country came from that one fern. As you can see, grandpa has been busy reproducing them for the last 25 years.

See how they don't have any roots?

In their habitat it grows on tree trunks and branches and it collects moisture with its fronds and into its... buldge? lol. I'm sorry, I can't find what it's called.

As an epiphyte, the Elkhorn Fern attaches to other trees and gets moisture from the air, rain and debris around it. And it's named that way because of its resemblance to stag or elk horns.

There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of information on the Elkhorn fern on the interwebs. It seems to be pretty darn rare and very cool to look at.

Right next to the elkhorn ferns is a little chillout area where one can hang out outdoors and admire the bonzais in the back. Do you see them? looks comfy, right?

Grandpa Peter was into the art of bonsai once, but said he's not that into it anymore because it's like forcing the plants into a certain shape and size. He much prefers them to grow naturally like the ficuses downstairs. I agree.

Wow! look at that!

plants everywhere!

First look up!

That's right. That's a Muscat Grape orchard that is already starting to show some baby grapes! You never know, maybe one day give me some delicious wine from the garden haha