Flowers or weeds? Sad looking flowers around the common areas and roundabouts
 

I’ve been in/around The Villages for nearly 8 years and have always appreciated the landscaping and flowers throughout the neighborhoods. This year though, they look more like weeds! I’m wondering if they simply cut the budget, or what??

The tall ones look like thistle. Hard to tell with that shot though, they're too far away to see any details. Could be cynara or maybe basketflower. They're all very pretty, to me. I love wildflowers though.

If I were the landscaper, however, I'd put them in the middle of the garden, with shorter ones encircling it outward, to the shortest ones at the curb.

I'd prefer more perennials accented with some annuals also more use of mulch to conserve over watering

What is an "annual" back home up north, is apparently a "perennial" down here. My basil plant is still living, still producing green leaves, but it's absolutely classified as an annual and I planted it over a year ago.

The begonias they plant in the beds around the Villages will definitely grow more than just for the singular season. The last time they switched out the beds a month or so ago, I got lucky and was driving by at the time. I grabbed a few random plants, I don't even know what kind they were, and planted them in pots in my garden.

Two of them died right away, I think they'd been left unrooted in the sun a little too long. But the other two seem to still be doing well.

Florida gardening is definitely weird. We don't have seasons in the same way, there's no true dormant season for wintering plants that need to be wintered before greening again in the spring.

At least they're still kinda purdy weeds.

Those taller purple flowers are verbenas not weeds. They do tend to lean and meander a bit and that might not please everyone. Landscapers like them because you can see through them and they don’t form a solid block of foliage. I lost a good number of them a few years back as the soil they were planted in was too heavy and wet. Verbenas like well drained soil. I have some ‘volunteer” verbenas that came up on their own this year and they are doing well. I did notice that this year the landscapers had planted them in the median gardens.

I actually love the look of them. Also, my neighbor just stopped by yesterday and also mentioned how much she like them. I guess to each their own? I actually really like them a lot.

I've been thinking that these are the best flower plantings I've seen since we moved here. I absolutely love those tall, lanky pink flowers. I hope they stick with this look!

Don’t worry they will rip them out and plant other flowers soon

I believe the tall ones are Gomphrena pulchella. I call them gum balls. This has been a difficult summer for flowering plants. Blazing sun and too much rain/humidity.. Some of my regular summer plants called it quits a few weeks ago.

Since it’s Florida, I think they plant what will look good for a while and be able to withstand the heat/dry temperatures here. As far as the budget goes, maybe they are saving Salome money to be able to clean up all the palm trees that look horrible.

looks like some annuals and wild flower mix thrown in.

I googled them right away when they were planted because I think they are delightful! Reminds me of Dr Suess. As an earlier poster said, it appears to be a Gomphrena. Sounds like Dr Suess too!

I was just mentioning them to my husband over the weekend. They are wildflowers and I think they are beautiful. :icon_wink:

“ , I got lucky and was driving by at the time. I grabbed a few random plants, I don't even know what kind they were, and planted them in pots in my garden.‘

So it is OK to steal plants

TVs always have beautiful flower beds.

I really think she meant that the plants that were taken out, she took. Don't be so quick to judge next time

Looks pretty to me. And I dont see any budget cut

Actually I applaud the landscaping crew for doing such a good job. Different times of the year you have to plant differently. And it's nice to see that they have creativity in trying different plants. I certainly would not like to see the exact same thing over and over again whether it was typical marigolds or mums. There are a lot of perennials that are lovely that only come up for short times. Over in Pennbrooke , Fairways, we have several plantings of the large 4 ft perennials that have blue bell flowers on top that I don't know the name of that are just lovely but they only come up for a few short weeks a year and I would hate not to see them when they do. Back North we had tons of rhododendrons in azaleas which are not favored as much here but the azaleas seem to do very well but I have a few in my garden and in the spring they're lovely for several weeks, in The villages however I don't see so many roses planted but they tend to do very nicely of course in Florida and I have a few here and they're perennial and Bloom constantly during the year.

I actually love these flowers! Trying to find out what they are as I would love some in my flower beds!

I think the flowers are beautiful! You can not trim palms all the time. The arborist informed me the more you trim palms the larger they grow. You are not supposed to trim palms. They are supposed to shed.

Yes, to your question..... flower budget cuts. A headline in the only news source. CDD 2 supervisor suggests cutting back on flowers to save money. "A Community Development District 2 supervisor has suggested cutting back 10 percent on flowers to save residents’ money on maintenance assessment fees.

Supervisor Bart Zoellner raised the idea Friday at the CDD 2 board meeting at Savannah Center. The board was discussing a proposed $1.5 million operating budget for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. The budget includes an 8 percent increase in maintenance assessment fees paid by residents."

I think Orange Blossom took only the discarded plants the landscapers were removing.

Nah. I don't think that has happened. Someone may have raised the subject but that doesn't mean they have cut the budget. Sad thing is that the economy has made all things cost more.

One of the things I love about this place are the flowers everywhere and the care given to the public areas. Some people are more "visual" than others.

Sometimes I love the choices made more than other times but I have never not liked them. They are a joy to see.

I wish I could know when the landscaping crews were pulling because they put them in plastic bags and dispose of them. I would take some of these plants for my natural garden!

Look on the other side.(pass 466) their flower beds are much nicer. I think their bond Snd taxes were different .

When they're putting in new plants they will give you all you want of the plants being removed...
:ho::welcome:

I took the discarded plants that they had pulled out of the beds. They had to do that in order to put in new plants. They do this every quarter. If you're lucky, and enjoy gardening, you will be in the spots where they're doing their quarterly switching and get your pick of the discards before they bag them and throw them in the trash.

There is usually nothing wrong with any of the plants, and if they're not unrooted and burned by the sun after sitting there without soil, water, shade, for a few hours, then they can be easily replanted in your own garden and give you a few months of enjoyment.

They don't sell the ones they pull out of those beds, they throw them in the trash. It's a HUGE waste of money and I can't stand that they do that to perfectly good, healthy growing plants.

😖. So, did you enjoy your short time in the limelight?

Which is the "other side" of 466 (that has better plants)?

It is so sad to see....Just when they start looking really well, they come and rip them out and replace them with scrawny looking new plants all over again.... I wish they planted more perennials or stripped/multi-colored grasses, instead of replacing stuff every 3 months. It would be great if they notified us (via tiny sign?) that the old things were being removed within a day or so - so that we could come and get some of the stuff that was still looking perfectly good.

A weed is simply an unwanted plant. For you a weed maybe. A flower for others. I’ve noticed them too and think they’re pretty. It’s nice to see something a little different than the usual. But they do get rather talk and block the view in some roundabouts.

I too have noticed that the general maintenance of the landscaping in the common areas has declined a bit. I have seen weeds growing in cracks of the sidewalks, dead palm branches lying on the ground for days and the flowers seem less vibrant and hearty as in the past. The one thing that has always stood out about TV is the infrastructure and the upkeep. I hate to think that it is slowly deteriorating.

Why not call District Property Management with your concerns and observations?
Main Office
1026 Canal Street
The Villages, FL 32162

Phone: 352-753-4022
Fax: 352-753-4296


Business Hours:
8am to 5pm

They look like flowers from that picture to me.

We've discussed hoping they never plant these again, as now they are blocking the view seeing into oncoming traffic in several of the roundabouts. This could easily cause an accident down by the Rohan roundabout going north from 44.

I agree about balancing and sloping the flower height. And I would say that ALL flowers are really wildflowers. There is special breeding going on, yet your strongest, toughest, most drought-resistant, and maintenance-free ARE probably the wildflowers.IMO.

I believe that "they" pay attention to the seasons, and maybe the heat and place flowers that weather the temperature.

If "they" did all of the things that everyone wanted them to do, that would cost in money and manpower and I like this place run just the way it has been run for the last sixteen years.

I don't want "striped grasses". The plants they plant are never SCRAWNY but they do get bigger as the time continues. I like things just the way they are. BEAUTIFUL.

I think that colorful stone gravels are prettier than that pukey faded red, dyed shredded wood - which floats away in a hurricane or heavy rainstorm. Pine needles are just as bad at "floating away". Now as far as holding moisture, I imagine that natural wood and needles are superior to gravel, but gravel (like shell) MUST hold some rainwater. IMO.

Well, to each their own, but I happen to like the looks of them over the same old traditional look I’ve looked at the past 7 years.