Down to Earth

A few years ago, the National Wildlife Federation published a great article called “How Green is Your Garden?“, encouraging gardeners to consider the carbon footprint of their gardens. (Did you know a garden could even have a negative effect on the environment?) She offered six tips for reducing your garden’s carbon footprint, and I was inspired to spend some time examining those tips and deciding if they were too difficult for an average gardener to implement.

Below, you’ll find the six tips along with a brief summary of my thoughts on implementing these tips in an average garden. For a detailed look at each tip, click the links to read my original posts from 2009. Happy Earth Day!

********************************************************************************


Tip #1:
Reduce the size of your lawn. Better yet, consider eliminating it entirely.

There's definitely an initial investment of time in changing your water-hungry lawn to a greener garden. However, down the line, your payoff is very rewarding indeed! Our lawn maintenance is almost zero during the winter months, and during the summer months, it takes only 10 - 15 minutes a week. Take the time to do some up-front work, and reap the benefits in the long run.

Tip #2:
Use hand tools instead of power equipment.

Although tools like a classic reel mower may take a little more exercise and cause some Beaver Cleaver remarks from neighbors, today’s models are easy to maintain and operate. If you’ve reduced the size of your lawn as suggested in tip #1, then this tip becomes pretty easy to implement. Plus, hand tools like rakes are a heckuva lot cheaper than leaf blowers.

Tip #3:
Choose materials with low-embodied energy.

The most difficult part of this tip is probably the research involved. Just remember to consider the total amount of energy involved in manufacturing the materials and transporting them to your yard. Choose materials like wood or crushed shell over concrete bricks or solid cement. Ask questions to find out where and how materials are made, and choose locally when possible.

Tips #4 and 5:
Emphasize woody plants that capture more carbon than fleshy herbaceous species. Plant trees and shrubs where they will block winter winds and provide shade in summer.

The key here is to remember that “woody plants” doesn’t have to mean trees. In a small lot, you may not want to plant many more tall trees than you already have. However, you can choose shrubs or woody plants that provide the same benefits. Plan your plantings to help your house conserve energy, sit back, and enjoy! (Don't forget - you can get 10 free trees with an Arbor Day Foundation membership!)

Tip #6:
Minimize, or better yet eliminate, the use of fertilizers and pesticides on your property.

Most Florida-Friendly plants will need minimal fertilization to thrive in our sandy soil, but when fertilizers are necessary, choose natural over synthetic. Depending on where you live, these may not be available locally, involving a little more work combing the internet. As for pesticides – many of the bugs in your garden are beneficial. Fire Ants? Don’t get me started on Fire Ants. Try a natural killer and spot treat only when you find them rather than putting down a broadcast killer on a regular basis.

Shelter from the Storm

With the low here in Tampa Bay forecast at a ridiculous 29 degrees tonight, we spent the afternoon covering some of the most vulnerable plants in My Florida Backyard with all the spare sheets, blankets, and towels we have on hand.

It's always a little difficult to decide what to cover - we certainly can't cover everything, nor would we want to. Many of our plants are natives that can stand frost or even a freeze, but plenty of our residents, native or not, still can't take the temperatures in the forecast for the next few days.

So, first we cover vulnerable plants that have wildlife value. For instance, Gulf Fritillary butterflies are some of the hardiest of Florida's flyers - they're almost always the first ones you'll see venturing out when the sun warms up the afternoons above 65 degrees or so. So, we wanted to save the passionvine to allow them to continue laying eggs. We also covered some milkweed for the monarchs, and some New Gold lantana to provide nectar plants once the freeze is over.

Then we covered a few plants that just look so happy and healthy right now that we couldn't stand to lose them. The Knockout Rose by the front door is loaded with new growth, buds, and blooms, so we hope the radiant heat from the house and the sheet we covered it with will keep it robust through the cold. The Yellowtop (Flaveria linearis) is budding out again after being cut back a few weeks ago, so we covered that as well. And the pipevine (Aristolochia elegans) by the kitchen window is so green and full, we couldn't help trying to protect it.

Will they survive? Who can say. We covered the plants during the warmest part of the afternoon, when the ground could provide as much radiant heat as possible. All the sheets and blankets are draped down to the ground, keeping the heat inside, and pinned or secured to keep them from blowing away. And that's all we can do. Optimism and old sheets are cheap, so we give our plants all of both that we have, and then hope for the best!

I Don't Wanna Fight

It's no secret that we garden for wildlife in My Florida Backyard. Every living thing (with the notable exception of fire ants) is welcome, and we generally don't worry about holes in leaves that show something has been finding the sustenance it needs in our garden.

However, we recently decided to try growing some vegetables for human consumption, starting with peppers and zucchini. Things were going well, until we realized the leaves of the zucchini were being skeletonized with a vengeance:

Within a few days, our once healthy plants were nearly eaten to the ground. A little searching and we were able to follow the frass right to the culprits:

We're not sure exactly what kind of creature this caterpillar will turn into; most likely some kind of moth. There were more than a dozen doing very serious damage, and we need to figure out how to control them if we want to have any success with our zucchini at all. Considering we've spent the last few years trying to lure all kinds of caterpillars to the garden, the irony of the current situation is not lost on us.

And here's where the challenge of being an organic and wildlife-friendly gardener comes into play. We could probably use some kind of pesticide like Seven on this plant alone without really affecting the other plants nearby, but there's always the danger of run-off, plus we don't really like the idea of putting poison onto foods we want to eat someday. Insecticidal soap is generally our go-to in these situations, but the caterpillars are leaf-rollers, so a general overall spraying of the plant isn't effective.

We're left with just one solution - diligence. We'll need to check the plants every day or two for these caterpillars, and pick them off when we find them. It's not the easiest way to garden, but it's the only way we really feel comfortable with in My Florida Backyard.

Seeds of Promise

Whatever the thermometer may say, the shortening days and dates on the calendar tell us fall is here. Plants know it too, and those that peak in the summer months are now putting out seeds to ensure they'll be around next summer. This is a great time to gather seeds you may want to share with friends (and vice versa) or for those plants you want to spread to a new location in the garden. Here are some of the seeds we've been gathering:

Partridge Pea (Chamaechrista fasciculata):

Sicklepod (Senna obtusifolia L.):

Yellowtop (Flaveria linearis):

Sunshine Mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa):

Some of our favorite My Florida Backyard native wildflowers have grown and spread prodigiously from seed alone, especially Blanket Flower (Gaillardia). Starting wildflower seeds is a little different (and much easier) than starting seeds of the more cultivated plants. Wildflower seeds can simply be sown where you want them, as long as you do it at the right time of year (December is great in Central Florida) and provide them adequate soil conditions for growth. For great information on sowing wildflower seeds and also a fantastic source to buy seeds you haven't been able to get your hands on, visit the Florida Wildflower Growers Cooperative website.

What wildflowers do you love to grow from seed? Do you have any "secret" seed sources you're willing to share? Come on, spread the wildflower love!

Blast From the Past

My Florida Backyard will be on its own for the next few days while its owners head north to visit family. In the meantime, you might enjoy this article I co-wrote with Kristen Gilpin, who runs the BioWorks Butterfly Garden at MOSI. It's an interesting look at how different gardening in Florida was 50 years ago, when DDT was still A-OK and the term "exotic invasives" just didn't exist...

Where it All Went Terribly Wrong: Post-WWII Landscaping in Florida

by Kristen Gilpin and Jill M. Staake

Most Florida gardeners today are familiar with the concept of “Florida-Friendly Gardening”. It involves simple steps like eliminating water-hungry turfgrass, minimizing use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to protect our waterways, focusing on native plants, and avoiding exotic invasives. But the ideas behind Florida-Friendly Gardening didn’t evolve overnight - instead, like many things, they were developed in response to serious mistakes Florida residents made in the past. A Florida gardening book from 1962 shows the astonishing turnaround Florida gardeners have made in the last 50 years.

The Way We Were: In the last one hundred years, Florida’s population has boomed to over 18 million residents. But in 1900, Florida had a population of 528,542 people and was a largely agrarian state. That all changed with the land boom of the early 1920’s and near doubling of the state population just after World War II. Low property costs, a gorgeous climate, and an inexpensive cost of living saw rapid Florida development. Urban areas sprouted vast tracts of suburban housing developments and millions of new residents streamed into Florida. These new homeowners were from all parts of the nation and looking for some ways to make their new properties look lush and tropical.

Gardening in Florida is like gardening no where else in the country. High temperatures, seasonal rains, and extended dry seasons test even the most experienced of gardeners. New Florida residents were looking for gardening tips and wanted fast-growing plants that would make their property look more established. Without  the Internet or TV gardening programs to consult, many residents of Pinellas and Hillsborough county tuned their radio dials to listen to Uncle Pasco Roberts’ Radio Garden Club.

“The Radio Garden Club is a 15-minute program over Radio Station WSUN (St. Petersburg, Fla.) five days a week (Monday through Friday) at 1:45 to 2pm. It is devoted to What Grows in Florida... How to Grow It... and Where to Get It.” (Florida State Horticultural Society, 1950)

Uncle Pasco’s show was so popular it led to the publication of The Book of Florida Gardening in 1962. It featured a month-by-month gardening guide and even a section on the newest gardening craze, hydroponics. It’s clear that Uncle Pasco wanted to provide his readers with garden tips that would help them combine traditional northern gardening with the exotic feel of the tropics. The first chapters of the book focus on establishing a turfgrass lawn (“No matter whether you have a modest or palatial home, estate of building, it usually takes a beautiful lawn to give it the proper setting,” he notes on page 15), along with planting roses, azaleas, and lilies - plants Northerners would be familiar with, even if they were a little challenging to grow in Florida’s climate. He also provided lengthy chapters on hibiscus, camellias, and gardenias, appealing to the desire to create a tropical oasis. Judging by the stock most nurseries carry, it’s fair to say these same desires exist among gardeners today. Although Uncle Pasco rarely recommended a native plant to these new Florida gardeners, many of his recommendations are still popular and acceptable in modern Florida gardens.

So What’s the Problem?  It’s when Uncle Pasco begins to focus on trees that we begin to see how these new residents quickly created an ecological nightmare for Florida’s native plants. Of the 24 trees he recommends in his chapter “Fast Growing Trees”, 18 (75%!) of them can now be found on the FLEPPC Category I and II invasive species list, which includes plants that are or may become “invasive exotics that are altering native plant communities by displacing native species, changing community structures or ecological functions, or hybridizing with natives.”

Let’s take a look at some of the recommendations from Uncle Pasco:

• Golden Rain Tree: (Koelreuteria elegans) native to eastern Asia, in China and Korea is a fast growing and colorful tree that does incredibly well in Florida. It is now listed as a category 2 invasive species in Florida.
• Melaleuca : (Melaleuca quinquenervia) is an aggressively spreading member of the myrtle family with blooms that attract butterflies and bees. Planted in numbers to help drain swampy portions of the Everglades, these trees quickly escaped plantings. Mellaleuca is highly flammable, which helped to worsen wildfires in the area and increase their intensity. It is now listed as a category 1 invasive in Florida.
• Tree of Gold (Tabebuia argentea) is native to South America where it was an important nesting tree for the highly endangered Spix’s Macaw (Cyanopsitta spixii). Each year it blooms with brilliant yellow trumpet shaped flowers.
• Golden Shower Tree (Cassia fistula) is native to southern Asia and blooms with lovely yellow flowers each spring. It develops large seed pods and has seeds that are toxic.
• Earleaf Acacia: (Acacia auriculiformis) It is native to Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. It is now listed as a category 1 invasive in Florida.
• Australian Pine is native to Australia. Uncle Pasco Roberts notes that the shallow root system has been recently identified as a problem with the note “during the worst of hurricanes in the Everglades, they blew across the roadways and became a hazard.”. He further notes that the planting of this tree has become prohibited but continues to recommend it as windbreak protection perfect for wide open spaces and sandy beaches! It is now listed as a category 1 invasive and is prohibited from further planting in Florida.
• Chinese Tallow (Sapium sebiferum) is native to Eastern Asia and is now listed as a noxious weed on the Florida Invasive Species List. This tree had rapid growth and quickly outperforms native tree species. It is now listed as a category 1 invasive species in Florida.
• Mother’s Tongue Tree (Albizzia lebbek) is native to tropical southern Asia and drops huge seed pods over the course of two months in the spring. It is now listed as a category 1 invasive in Florida.
• Monkey Pod Tree (Pithecolobium) native to Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. Uncle Pasco Roberts writes: “The tree is good for shade, ornament and for food for monkeys”. Well, at least our Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay can find some good forage out there!

Perhaps the most interesting recommendation is the Java Plum (Syzgium cumini), which is native to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Indonesia. Uncle Pasco particularly praises this tree for for its fruit, and includes a recipe from his wife for Java Plum jelly. He proudly credits himself with the spread of this Category I invasive in the Tampa Bay area, noting on page 61:

The author came across several [Java Plum] trees in Laurel, Fla. about 1949 and from seeds and small trees obtained... I have helped popularize this tree in Pinellas and Hillsborough Counties to the extent that there are many hundreds now growing and some have reached 60 to 70 feet in height. The first seeds I planted produced a growth of 20 feet within three years...

 Uncle Pasco does not recommend a single native tree from Florida or even from the Southeast United States. This sort of gardening advice is precisely what landed Florida in the spot it is in today. Costly remediation efforts are being conducted every year to remove trees like these that have escaped cultivation and are outperforming our native trees. Non-native species are often unaffected by local diseases and pest populations and can spread unchecked by the normal balances of nature. To learn more about the problems caused by invasive plants in Florida, visit the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council website.

A 1962 view of “pesky worms”: Uncle Pasco’s 50-year-old advice contains other recommendations that modern gardeners would do well to ignore. Among these are his recommendations on fertilizer (everything needs it!) and pesticides.

Butterfly gardening has really only been popularized in recent years, so reading 50-year-old commentary on caterpillar destruction can be a touch unsettling.The beautiful Cloudless Sulhpur and Orange Barred Sulhpur butterfies host on many species of cassia, including Christmas Cassia (Cassia bicapsularis). Butterfly gardeners today welcome these creatures, but Uncle Pasco disagreed. In the planting guide for April on page 89, he says, “This is the month that most of the insects, pests, etc begin to show up in numbers... For instance those pesky worms appear on... cassia (Cassia bicapsularis)... and look like part of the foliage or flowers. Spray with arsenate of lead.”

Uncle Pasco seems to dislike caterpillars on general principal. The quick and darting Canna Skipper butterfly hosts in the leaves of native and ornamental cannas where it rolls the leaf around itself for protection from predators.  In the February planting guide (p. 86), he tells us, “One of the old time garden favorites that is staging a comeback is the canna... they are very easy to grow but are bothered however with leaf-rollers that cut good sized holes in the leaves. This may be controlled with a Chlordane dust.”

Not surprisingly, every pesticide Uncle Pasco recommends is now banned or not used in the United States. Chlordane was a carcinogenic insecticide that has not been sold in the United States since 1983; arsenate of lead was banned in 1988. He also recommends Nemagon (banned in 1975), Toxaphene (banned in 1986), and explains the proper application of DDT for flea control.

Lessons Learned: It’s important to remember that we can’t blame Uncle Pasco Roberts for his advice. A number of the species he suggests were also found listed in an article by the Florida State Horticultural Society from 1951 entitled Ornamental Trees, Shrubs, and Vines for South Florida Homes by Frank J Rimoldi. Clearly, this was the sort of information that was available to new Florida residents in the 1950’s and 1960’s, and they didn’t know then what we know now. The gardeners of 50 years ago had no idea how out of control their plantings could become. No one meant to destroy native habitats, or apply pesticides that would cause cancer, but lack of knowledge caused widespread and far-reaching damage.

What should we as modern gardeners learn from Uncle Pasco? Perhaps the most important thing to understand is that we all must become more considerate and thoughtful gardeners. We should learn more about the plants we choose to put in our yards, and think about what will happen when we’re no longer there to take care of them. Mexican Petunia is tempting at the nursery with its fast-growth habit and numerous pretty purple flowers, but this Category I invasive is displacing native wild petunia (Ruellia humilis) used by Buckeye caterpillars as a host plant, and it’s nearly impossible to remove once established in a yard due to its deep root system and aggressive seed distribution. Florida-Friendly Gardeners are learning to consider native plants when possible and carefully investigate non-native species before introducing them into the ecosystem.

It’s really about a return to common sense. If we can avoid chemicals in the garden, we should, whether the EPA tells us they’re safe or not. Today’s “safe pesticide” is tomorrow’s DDT. When chemicals like pesticides and fertilizers are necessary, we can use them sparingly, rather than applying them widely and regularly regardless of need. Rather than looking for fast results, which Uncle Pasco and the new Florida residents of 50 years ago desired, we can plan for the future and work toward a yard worth having and enjoying - safely.

Uncle Pasco teaches us to learn from the past. As Dr. Dale E. Turner said, “Some of the best lessons we ever learn are learned from past mistakes. The error of the past is the wisdom and success of the future.” We don’t need to cast blame on Uncle Pasco and his contemporaries, but we can certainly see where they went wrong and try to avoid similar mistakes in the future.

When the Bloom is on the Sage

The calendar says May, but the hot and humid temperatures say that summer has arrived in Florida. It seems just yesterday we were shivering around the space heaters as we endured the unusually cold winter, but that's definitely behind us now. Due to the surprisingly high amount of rain we got in April, the plants are thriving, including the pink, red, and blue sage we have in the butterfly garden.

Sage is also commonly known by its scientific genus, salvia, and there are many types and colors available. We particularly love tropical or scarlet sage (Salvia coccinea), as it is native to Florida and incredibly easy to grow. Tropical sage tolerates light frost and reseeds itself readily, popping up in random places that you don't remember putting it. Butterflies and hummingbirds love its year-round blooms, and gardeners love the fact that it needs almost no attention to thrive once established.

Despite the many great features, you'll generally have to look to native plant nurseries to find this gem - the red salvia offered at most big box stores is actually Salvia splendens. Salvia splendens is a very nice bedding plant, and will bloom happily until a frost, but it does not draw butterflies like the native tropical sage. We learned this last year when we planted a whole row of it, thinking the red flowers would be a magnet for butterflies. I guarantee you, it was not.

However, you may be able to find Salvia guarantica at big box stores, and it's definitely worth planting in a butterfly garden. I purchased several pots at Lowe's the other day of a cultivar called "Black and Blue Salvia". Though this sage is not native, it does well in Florida gardens and draws butterflies like crazy. It is frost-tender, so will die back in the winter, but easily grows back from the ground. It also reseeds readily, so this is another plant you can buy just one or two of and allow to spread throughout an area.

Another blue sage you may come across is Salvia farinacea. It's native to Mexico and Texas, and grows well in Florida. I recently started some of this from seed, a cultivar called Blue Bedding from Burpee. Starting sage from seed is very economical - and easy! Even those of us who don't have much luck starting plants from seed can buy a packet of sage seeds and do pretty well with it.


One other sage you may have noticed lately without even knowing its name is Lyreleaf Sage (salvia lyrata). This wonderful native wildflower is out in droves right now on the side of the road and in ditches. If you see a tall field of purple when you fly past at 60 miles an hour, there's a good chance you're looking at Lyreleaf. If you're lucky enough to have some growing near you, you can gather seed and sow it in your own garden (don't try this on private property, though!) - like all sages, it grows easily from seed.

There are many more kinds of sage out there; many of them are wonderful in a butterfly garden, and nearly all work well in Florida gardens. Do remember to avoid Salvia splendens if you're looking to attract butterflies - it won't do you much good. The other varieties mentioned above are essential to a Florida butterfly garden, and we love having them in My Florida Backyard!

One Piece at a Time

It's been unseasonably warm here in My Florida Backyard, and we haven't been getting as much outside time as we might like. We're getting all the moist heat of the summer with very little of the beneficial afternoon rain. Temps are running 5-7 degrees among normal, with days approaching record highs of near or at 90. Still, it beats snow, sleet, and nasty north winds, so we're trying not to complain - much.

Still, I try to get out each day for at least a little stroll around the yard, to check on everyone and plan maintenance and improvements for when the weather finally cools off. Today, I was pleased to notice that the new Mexican Petunia plants I started a few weeks ago are doing well.

I've written my thoughts about Mexican Petunia before - the only way it belongs in a Florida-Friendly yard is if you use a sterile cultivar. That is, of course, what we have, so the plants don't spread unless we want them to. You might think that means that when I want new plants, I have to buy them, since these plants produce no seeds. Fortunately, Mexican Petunia has to be one of the absolute easiest plants to start from cuttings.

In fact, "start from cuttings" makes the process sound more complicated than it is. All I did to start this new set of plants was to break off a piece of an existing plant at a joint, where it forms a sort of square. Then, I used a stake to make a narrow deep hole and shoved the "cutting" down into the soil. I watered them in well, and watered them once a week or so - when I remembered.

They looked a little wilty for the first day or two, but now they're beginning to establish roots and starting to thrive. By this time next year, my new plants should be reaching the heights of the older ones, creating a nice border between our property and the neighbors - all at no additional cost to me.

Mexican Petunias (Ruellia brittoniana) are both a blessing and a curse to Florida gardeners. They're easy to grow, produce flowers during much of the year, and are readily available at any local nursery - that's good. But the non-sterile cultivars produce seeds and spread at a prodigious rate; they can easily choke out other plantings and become impossible to eradicate - that's bad. So once again, I have to say - if you want them, look for those marked "sterile cultivar". It's the only responsible thing to do.

P.S. There is a similar native plant out there, by the way. Just this weekend, I was able to buy a very healthy looking Wild Petunia (Ruellia caroliniensis) at my favorite native plant nursery. It only grows to about 12 inches, as opposed to the 5-6 foot range of the Mexican Petunia, and the purple flowers are a bit smaller. They are just as attractive to butterflies, if not more so, and serve as a host plant for Buckeye butterfly caterpillars. If you have the chance to buy Wild Petunia instead of Mexican Petunia, you should certainly do so.

Way Down Yonder in the Paw Paw Patch

This weekend, the USF Botanical Gardens held their annual fall plant sale. At 10:00 a.m., when I was standing in line waiting to get in, the temperature was already 90 degrees, with humidity making the air so thick that it was hard to breathe. I was on a mission, though, and with sweat dripping in my eyes, I plunged inside to find one or more of the following: pipevine, cassia, wild lime, and paw paw. These are all butterfly larval host plants that I desperately want for My Florida Backyard, and they are all fairly hard to find.

An hour later, I emerged victoriously, carrying a Candlestick Cassia and a Dwarf Paw Paw. (I also had a red and white bleeding heart vine and a sweet almond bush, but that's beside the point. Isn't everyone susceptible to impulse buys?) The paw paw especially was a treasured find - only one vendor at the entire fair was carrying them, and she was a specialist.

I was barely inside the sale before I found the small booth for Pietro's Paw Paws, owned by Terri Pietroburgo. Terri lives in Leesburg, in the middle of the state in "lake country", and started her business because she herself had trouble finding paw paws for her own garden. I told her I wanted to grow paw paw to draw Zebra Swallowtails to my garden - they are the only host plant for these amazing butterflies - but that I'd heard they could be very tricky to grow considering they're a Florida native.

Terri helped me pick out one of the best dwarf paw paws (better suited to our small yard, as it will only grow to about 3 feet) and gave me a sheet describing the planting process. She even walked me through it, so when we planted our precious paw paw in the butterfly garden this evening, we felt comfortable following the very specific instructions.

The trick to paw paws is understanding they have a very deep tap root. While they may grow about a foot above ground during a growing season, their tap root can grow down to five feet or more. In other words, when you pick a place to plant a paw paw, you better be sure, because you're not going to be able to move it later. So, step one was digging a narrow deep hole in the right location - the paw paw can take full sun to full shade, although it flowers best in sun. We chose a partially shaded spot.


Paws paws must also have well-drained soil - this is perhaps the most important thing. The paw paw in the pot was actually planted and grown in sand. We happened to have some sand handy, so we back-filled the hole with sand about two-thirds of the way up, and the topped it off with some dirt. Terri made a point of telling me that it is very important not to add any kind of fertilizer; paw paws are delicate and easily burned. Even organic fertilizers should be avoided. We use very little fertilizer, though I do often add organic bone meal or blood meal to new transplants, so I was glad Terri shared this with me.

Before setting the plant in the hole, we had cut off the bottom of the pot with a knife, and split the pot on either side, again per Terri's instructions. Once the hole was filled with sand and dirt, we carefully pulled out the pot, one side at a time. This ensured that the fragile roots were not disturbed at all, giving the plant a better chance of establishing itself. We had watered the plant in the pot before planting so the sand would hold together, so there was no need to water it again.

Usually, once a native plant is in the ground, you can just water it for a few weeks to get it established and then ignore it. Paw paws, it seems, require a little bit more. We need to monitor the soil moisture every other day for the first six months, keeping it moist but not soggy. The foliage needs to be protected from full sun for the first year, so as the sun shifts position in the sky, it may be necessary to provide additional shade for the leaves. Terri provided lots of useful details, so I'm hopeful we may be successful.

If you're wondering why we're taking all this trouble for a rather nondescript looking plant, then you've never seen a Zebra Swallowtail butterfly. Click here for some pictures of this amazing creature and its caterpillar. It's a little late in the year to hope for eggs now in My Florida Backyard, plus I'd really like the plant to become established before caterpillars start munching on the leaves. This is a case where patience will be a virtue, so we'll just have to wait for our hoped-for payoff. Stay tuned!

P.S. Check back in the next few days for a post on my other fantastic find, the Candlestick Cassia!

The Ants Go Marching

We love most bugs in My Florida Backyard. In general, they're part of a healthy balanced garden, and can often be fascinating to watch.

And then there are fire ants.

Ants are amazing creatures. Their colonies and work ethics are beyond compare in the animal kingdom - I have no doubt that given the opportunity, ants could take over the earth and probably run it better than we do. For the most part, I admire ants.

So why do we in My Florida Backyard feel so differently about fire ants? Perhaps this picture of a fire ant queen and some of her minions can begin to answer the question...

Still not convinced?

Fire ants are an invasive species in Florida. Originally from Argentina, fire ants were accidentally introduced to the U.S. in 1918. Since then, they've spread throughout most southern states. They have no natural controls here, so they've been able to proliferate unchecked.

Fire ants are aggressive. If you step on a mound accidentally, they will attack in force. I can understand the need to defend your home, but honestly, these guys are nasty. The bite is painful at first, and then insanely itchy. Some people (including yours truly) swell up around the bite site, and suffer from the bites for days afterward.

Fire ant colonies build enormous unsightly mounds that deface your landscaping. Case in point:

Once they show up in your yard, they can be pretty hard to get rid of. Even harsh chemical treatments are only effective temporarily. Unless you choose to treat your entire yard every couple of weeks (which is horrifyingly bad for the environment), you're going to get occasional fire ant infestations in Florida.

General "Green" Pesticide Rules:

• It's always best to use pesticides reactively rather than proactively. On other words, treat only when you discover the problem.
• Always treat as minimally as possible to eliminate the pests. More is not always better.
  
• When you can, use treatments approved for organic gardening, as they are generally better for the environment.
• Find a treatment that attacks only the specific pest you have. It's not desirable to kill every insect in your garden; in fact, that's usually the worst thing you can do.
• Always leave a "buffer zone" if you live on the water. Experts recommend avoiding pesticide and fertilizer applications within 30 feet of water to avoid runoff contamination.

All of that being said, what fire ant treatments can environmentally-conscious gardeners use? Well, as always, you're not going to find effective "green" treatments at the big box stores, so it's best to try local eco-friendly nurseries. If you can't find what you need locally, you can go online. Clean Air Gardening offers organic fire ant treatments - we like Green Light Fire Ant Control. They also offer details on less toxic ways to deal with these demon creatures.

Fire ants are a fact of life in My Florida Backyard. Because of them, I always garden in jeans with shoes and socks - the less skin I expose, the less likely I am to be bitten. But for the most part, they don't keep me from enjoying the year-round pleasures of the great Florida outdoors - and that's what's important.

Make New Friends (But Keep the Old)

As we finish out the last few weeks of summer, I've been thinking about my butterfly garden and its successes and failures this year. Last year, when I was establishing the garden, my only real goal was to draw butterflies (of any kind) to the yard. This year, I expanded my goals to include drawing a wider variety of butterflies, and providing host plants to begin encouraging caterpillars to live and grow in our habitat.

To draw a wider variety of butterflies, I planted a wider variety and/or greater number of nectar plants. (Makes sense, huh?) This summer, nectar plants in My Florida Backyard included (bold items were new):

• Blue Porterweed* - This drew some smaller species, like the Horace Duskywing and Long-Tailed Skipper.
• Butterflyweed - This yellow milkweed type plant seemed to be a favorite of Giant Swallowtails.
• Tropical Lantana and Pineland Lantana* - A perennial favorite; this year I noticed Fiery Skippers and White Peacocks visiting these frequently.
• Tampa Vervain* - Similar to lantana, in a pretty purple color.
• Milkweed - Many butterflies, including Eastern Black Swallowtails, love to visit the flowers for nectar.
• Tropical Sage*, Red Salvia*, and Coral Honeysuckle* - Red trumpet-shaped flowers (as on the salvia to the right) draw butterflies and the occasional hummingbird.
• Mexican Petunia (sterile cultivar) - I've seen the occasional sulphur butterfly visiting these, a rare find in my garden.
• Plumbago - Another favorite of several kinds of butterflies.
• Firebush* - Gulf fritillaries love these.
  

I planted some new host plants this year, and learned that some things I already had serve as host plants as well.

• Passionvine* - I planted this in both native purple and non-native blue. The gulf fritillary caterpillars dined like kings all summer long, and we've seen plenty of empty chrysalises indicating their healthy metamorphosis into butterflies.
• Parsley - I added this for the Eastern Black Swallowtails and am raising several generations right now.
• Sicklepod Cassia* - This is a plant I learned about while volunteering at the MOSI BioWorks Butterfly Garden. It is the host plant for several sulphur butterflies, but I've yet to see any eggs or caterpillars.
• Tropical Milkweed - We planted some last year and added plenty more this year. However, wasps and ants took a toll on the monarch caterpillars, so I've taken to raising some in captivity for release when they become butterflies.
• Plumbago - Turns out this is the host plant for Cassius Blues, although I've yet to spot any.

I feel pretty good about my accomplishments this year, but next year I hope to have better luck with sulphurs. I'd also like to add wild lime for Giant Swallotail caterpillars, pipevine for Polydamus Swallowtail caterpillars, and get my hands on some pawpaw to draw Zebra Swallowtails.

The great thing about gardening for wildlife is that there are always new species to try to attract. A friend of mine says that since we have such small yards here in the 'burbs, she tries hard to plant only things that will benefit wildlife in some way. I've adopted this philosophy - no room for sterile ornamental plants here. My Florida Backyard is a NWF Certified Wildlife Habitat and proud of it!

*Native to Florida

It's Not That Easy Being Green (Reprise)

With yesterday's post, I've finished looking at the difficulty of implementing the National Wildlife Federation's six tips for a green garden. For those who like to see everything all at one time, all in one place, here's a summary* of my oh-so-expert analysis. Remember that all ratings are on a scale of 1 - 5, 5 being the most difficult. For more details on my analysis of each tip, click the tip to read the original post.

Tip #1:
Reduce the size of your lawn. Better yet, consider eliminating it entirely.

Our Rating:
Initial: 4 – 5
Overall: 1


Explanation:
There's definitely an initial investment of time in changing your water-hungry lawn to a greener garden. However, down the line, your payoff is very rewarding indeed! Our lawn maintenance is almost zero during the winter months, and during the summer months, it takes only 10 - 15 minutes a week. Take the time to do some up-front work, and reap the benefits in the long run.



Tip #2:
Use hand tools instead of power equipment.

Our Rating:
Overall: 2



Explanation:
Although tools like a classic reel mower may take a little more exercise and cause some Beaver Cleaver remarks from neighbors, today’s models are easy to maintain and operate. If you’ve reduced the size of your lawn as suggested in tip #1, then this tip becomes pretty easy to implement. Plus, hand tools like rakes are a heckuva lot cheaper than leaf blowers.



Tip #3:
Choose materials with low-embodied energy.

Our Rating:
Overall: 2



Explanation:
The most difficult part of this tip is probably the research involved. Just remember to consider the total amount of energy involved in manufacturing the materials and transporting them to your yard. Choose materials like wood or crushed shell over concrete bricks or solid cement. Ask questions to find out where and how materials are made, and choose locally when possible.

Tips #4 and 5:
Emphasize woody plants that capture more carbon than fleshy herbaceous species. Plant trees and shrubs where they will block winter winds and provide shade in summer.

Our Rating:
Overall: 1

Explanation:
The key here is to remember that “woody plants” doesn’t have to mean trees. In a small lot, you may not want to plant many more tall trees than you already have. However, you can choose shrubs or woody plants that provide the same benefits. Plan your plantings to help your house conserve energy, sit back, and enjoy! (Don't forget - you can get 10 free trees with an Arbor Day Foundation membership!)

Tip #6:
Minimize, or better yet eliminate, the use of fertilizers and pesticides on your property.

Our Rating:
Overall: 2 - 3


Explanation:
Most Florida-Friendly plants will need minimal fertilization to thrive in our sandy soil, but when fertilizers are necessary, choose natural over synthetic. Depending on where you live, these may not be available locally, involving a little more work combing the internet. As for pesticides – many of the bugs in your garden are beneficial. Fire Ants? Don’t get me started on Fire Ants. Try a natural killer and spot treat only when you find them rather than putting down a broadcast killer on a regular basis.


So where does that leave us? Well, I have to go back to my friend Kermit, who really says it best:

"When green is all there is to be,
It could make you wonder why. But, why wonder, why wonder?
I am green and it'll do fine.
It's beautiful and I think it's what I want to be."


*To quote Inigo Montoya, "Let me 'splain... No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

Make Our Garden Grow

It's time to wrap up our exploration of the difficulty of implementing NWF's six tips for a green garden.

Tip #6: Minimize, or better yet eliminate, the use of fertilizers and pesticides on your property.

Let's talk fertilizers first. Most people assume that when you put plants in the ground, you have to fertilize them for good results. Actually, if you're picking appropriate native or Florida-Friendly plants, there's a good chance this just isn't the case. Florida-Friendly plants grow very happily in Florida soil with little or no help. If you want to be thorough about it, there are tools available that allow you to test your soil and determine the nutrients it contains and lacks. But really, if you just mix some organic compost into the soil when you plant, your plants will dig in and establish themselves just fine.

If you do find the need to fertilize, and I do it myself occasionally, use natural or organic fertilizers that give the soil and plants only what they need. There are more and more alternatives to the traditional "Miracle-Gro" fertilizers, and they are even starting to be available at local big box stores. My local Lowe's now has a section for natural and organic fertilizers. If you can't find them locally, you can find a great selection online at places like Clean Air Gardening. I'll spend more time in a future post describing some of the organic and natural fertilizer solutions I've tried (and describing traumatic fish fertilizer flashbacks from my childhood).

Now, let's talk pesticides. Honestly, I find this one a lot harder, because we have major ant issues in My Florida Backyard, and I have yet to find a really effective solution. We've finally decided that they if they don't bite, and don't seem to be a problem for the plants, we'll leave them alone. If they get into the house, I use something like Orange Guard to spot-treat. Outside, I just leave them alone.

However, then there are fire ants. Fire ants are a serious invasive pest in Florida, and if you're like me and happen to be especially sensitive to their bites (one bite on my toe can cause my whole foot to swell), your first instinct when you see a new mound is DESTROY!!! Poison, bleach, flame throwers, whatever it takes! Be gone, you horrible non-native demons from hell!

I'm sorry. Did I get carried away? I really hate fire ants. The good news is, I have found an organic Fire Ant Control solution. The bad news is, it's definitely more expensive and I have to yet to find it locally, so I have to order it online.

Level of Difficulty: So, where does that leave us with tip #6? Well, if you're choosing the right plants for your area, you really shouldn't need to fertilize much, and natural fertilizers are becoming more readily available locally. That makes this one pretty easy. However, when you bring pesticides into the mix, it can get trickier, especially here in fire ant country. Remember, though, there are lots of beneficial bugs that you want in your garden, especially spiders, so it's best to follow a "if they're not bothering you, don't bother them" rule of thumb. And that's pretty darn easy.

Overall, on the scale from 1 - 5 (5 being most difficult), I'm going to rate this a 2 or 3, depending on your local access to natural fertilizers and pesticides and whether you have planned a garden that will thrive without a lot of extra help.

It's Not That Easy Being Green (or is it?)

Kermit the Frog famously told us it's not easy to be green. And in many ways, I think he may be right. It would be a lot easier to throw all my trash away, instead of separating for recycling. It would be a lot easier to spray every ant wandering my yard with pesticides, or to buy the Miracle-Gro readily available at every store instead of scouring the internet for organic alternatives. But surprisingly often, being green is actually easier than the alternative.

In an article from this month's National Wildlife magazine, Janet Marinelli asks "How Green Is Your Garden?" She highlights yards in California where the gardeners have created gardens that help reduce carbon emissions. Pictures highlight landscapes full of blooming flowers and cool green oases, all intended to require minimal watering, chemicals, and upkeep from power tools.

Janet's article includes Six Ways to Save Energy and Reduce Your Yard’s Carbon Footprint. In an effort to consider if it really is harder to "be green", I'm going to dedicate my next series of blog posts to considering these six tips, all of which we've employed to some extent in My Florida Backyard. I'll let you know what we've done to comply, and how they rate on a difficulty scale of 1 - 5, with 1 being ridiculously easy and 5 being a heck of a lot of effort.

For now, here are the six tips, with full and complete credit given to National Wildlife magazine, published by the National Wildlife Federation, April/May 2009 edition.

1. Reduce the size of your lawn. Better yet, consider eliminating it entirely. Families with young children require only a small area of lawn where the kids can play. Everyone else can manage without turf by creating patios for living space, enlarging planting beds or installing a rock garden.

Tip: Consider replacing your lawn with a native wildflower meadow. This will provide habitat for wildlife and requires no watering after its young plants are established. Since introducing plants to your property that are not indigenous to your region can contribute to ecological problems, ask your local native plant society which species are appropriate to cultivate.

2. Use hand tools instead of power equipment. When you reduce the size of your lawn, for example, you’ll only need a push mower.

3. Choose materials with low-embodied energy. Brick and concrete have large carbon footprints compared to gravel and especially wood. Used brick and other recycled materials are good choices, too.

4. Emphasize woody plants that capture more carbon than fleshy herbaceous species. Create a flower meadow or vegetable patch, but plant most of your property with low-maintenance native trees and shrubs, preferably those that also provide food and nesting and resting places for birds and other wildlife. Again, choose species native to your region.

5. Plant trees and shrubs where they will block winter winds and provide shade in summer. This will reduce the amount of energy required to heat and cool your home and thus reduce your carbon footprint even further. The particular landscape strategy depends on your climate.

Tip: For more details, see "Landscaping for Energy Efficiency," a booklet produced for the U.S. Department of Energy and available online at www.eere.energy.gov.

6. Minimize, or better yet eliminate, the use of fertilizers and pesticides on your property. Use compost and mulch produced from garden trimmings to enrich your soil instead, and use native plants that are naturally pest resistant.