Bet Your Bottom Dollar

And suddenly, it's March. How the heck did that happen? It eases in so quietly down here in Florida, especially this year when everything is blooming weeks early and the temperatures have been far above average all winter. At any rate, all of a sudden March is here, and nothing really has an excuse for laying low anymore. Our front yard is full of the in-your-face color of hippeastrum, trees are showing off spring green leaves (and plenty of pollen), and the butterflies are out in force, with Giant Swallowtails, Spicebush Swallowtails, and Tiger Swallowtails all flashing their wings against the blue sky.

Amidst all of this is when I sometimes really like to just look down for a minute and admire the smallest things, like the flowers of the Dollarweed (Dichondra micrantha) growing in the backyard. Some call Dollarweed a noxious weed and try to eliminate it; others choose to use it as groundcover. We're not fond of turf grass in My Florida Backyard, of course, so we can just enjoy the adorable little flowers of dollarweed without worry.

In spring, we really have to agree with Ferris Bueller of movie fame, who famously stated, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." That's what we try to do in My Florida Backyard!

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.

Brighten the Corner Where You Are

The house next to My Florida Backyard is vacant and no one is taking care of the yard, so it's a little haven for wildflowers and even interesting weeds these days. In a corner on the north side of the house, these cheery little yellow flowers have taken over in recent weeks.

We consulted the always-handy Wildflowers of Florida Field Guide and found our answer on pages 302-303: Oriental False Hawksbeard (Youngia japonica). As the species name would indicate, this is a non-native from Asia which has naturalized around the globe in the tropics and semi-tropics.

Gardeners often say that a weed is just a flower growing where it isn't wanted, but it seems no one has any love for hawksbeard. It's one of the most common pests encountered by those attempting to cultivate a nice green lawn in Florida (good luck with that, folks), and can be hard to get rid of; there's evidence of this plant beginning to show herbicide resistance in its native Japan. It doesn't seem to be bothered by frosts in our area, and the dandelion-like seeds spread quickly by wind from the multiple flower heads.

This plant is an annual with a shallow taproot, so if you find it growing where you don't want it, it's best to simply remove it by hand. If the heads have gone to seed, you can avoid spreading the seeds by snipping off the seed heads first and carefully placing them in your yard waste. Check the area in a week or two to see if new plants have sprouted from seed heads you missed, and remove them the same way.

On the plus side, this plant is seldom found in the wild and it doesn't appear to have a disrupting effect on native plants, so it's not considered a harmful invasive. It's mostly just a nuisance for those concerned with the perfect lawn (something My Florida Backyard will certainly never be). The rest of us will just live with it, maybe even enjoying the glimpse of happy yellow it adds to the landscape around us.

Don't Know Much

Once again, a faithful reader has been able to help us identify a mystery plant in My Florida Backyard. The other day, we posted a picture of the plant below and asked for help, and Carolyn from The Longleaf blog was able to help us out. Our mystery plant is.... West Indian Sage (Salvia occidentalis).

This is the part where we generally tell you some interesting facts about the plant. Our internet searches, though, turned up pretty skimpy results. Here's what we know: this plant is native to Mexico and Central and South America, including the West Indies (as you might have guessed). It's not native to Florida, though it is generally considered to be naturalized, and is often thought of as (no surprise here) a weed.

Other than that, the only interesting fact we could find was that Charles Darwin documented this plant during his trip to the Galapagos Islands on the HMS Beagle in 1835. This wasn't the first time the plant was documented in the New World, though - that honor belongs to botanist Olaf Swartz, who gets credit for naming the species in 1788. (Occidentalis is Latin meaning "West", and is used in this case to describe species from the Western hemisphere.)

So, that's all we know about Salvia occidentalis. We don't know much, but we know we love the pretty little flower, and that may be all we need to know.

Blue's Clues

Continuing our exploration of the weeds in My Florida Backyard's little scrap of lawn, we discovered two lovely little blue flowers. One of these we were able to find in our Wildflowers of Florida Field Guide, but the other is another mystery that we're hoping our readers might be able to help out with.

Here's the one we know: Commelina diffusa, also known as Climbing Dayflower or Creeping Dayflower. As you might guess, the blooms on this non-native wildflower bloom for only one day. It grows along the ground, rooting at the stem nodes and often forming mats, causing it to be difficult to uproot once it's started. In its native Asia, it's grown as an herb and used as a diuretic and fever-reducer. Here in the U.S., it's generally just considered a weed in cultivated lawns, but since our lawn is really just the few scraps of grass we haven't turned into gardens (yet), we don't mind this little invader, whose blooms are delicate and lovely up-close.

Our other little blue bloom is somewhat similar, but we can't find it in our book or online. Any thoughts on this new mystery wildflower in My Florida Backyard?

Is That Your Final Answer?

A few weeks ago, we posted a picture of a mystery wildflower from My Florida Backyard:

Since then, we've come up with two possible answers. One was suggested by a reader (Thanks, Marti B!), while the other comes from our own research. Both seem valid possibilities, so we thought we'd post them both and let you weigh in.

Contestant #1 is Lespedeza striata, known as Common Lespedeza or Japanese Clover. This non-native was brought to the U.S. as a food crop for foraging animals like cattle, but quickly established itself as an invasive weed of lawns and gardens. The picture to the right is from the Virginia Tech Weed Identification Guide, and it's this picture that makes us a little uncertain about identifying our mystery plant as L. striata - the pattern on the leaves just doesn't look quite right. However, other pictures we've found show very similar-looking flowers, and the size and other characteristics seem right. Click here for more pictures of Contestant #1 from Invasive.org.

Contestant #2 is Desmodium triflorum, generally known as Creeping Tick Trefoil. This one is also a non-native, and the picture on the left (from Wikipedia Commons) caught our eye because the flowers seem almost identical to our mystery wildflower, and the leaves also seem like a closer match. Another common Desmodium species in Florida is D. tortuosum (Florida Beggarweed), which serves as a host plant for several kinds of skipper butterflies. We can't find any information to indicate whether D. triflorum can also serve as a host plant..


So, distinguished judges, there are the two contestants. Take a look for yourself, and if you have an opinion, let us know in the comments. And be sure to tune in later this week, when we'll present another mystery plant from My Florida Backyard's very weedy lawn!

There Grew a Little Flower

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

We don't have a lot of lawn in My Florida Backyard - it provides little wildlife value and requires too much maintenance. The little bits of lawn we do have are speckled with what others might call weeds and try to eradicate, but we call wildflowers and treasure for their beauty.

We recently reviewed a new book by Jaret C. Daniels called the Wildflowers of Florida Field Guide. When flipping through it, we saw many of the wildflowers that grow in our lawn at different times of year, and decided to see how it could help us identify the ones growing there now.

On pages 172-173, we found the Florida Tasselflower (Emilia fosbergii), a non-native that has naturalized throughout the American south. This showy little flower is great for bees and butterflies, and incredibly beautiful up close.

Another find was Creeping Wood Sorrel (Oxalis corniculata) on pages 304-305. This little yellow-flowered native is often confused with clover due to the shape of its leaves, which fold up in the mid-day sun. It's worth noting that during the recent drought, the patches of lawn colonized by Creeping Wood Sorrel remained an attractive green when the nearby turf grass turned brown and dry.

Tropical Mexican Clover (Richardia brasiliensis) was on pages 238-239, and is another non-native that's naturalized throughout Florida. Despite the name, it's not actually part of the clover genus (Trefoil), and isn't from Mexico - it's from South America. Regardless, the little starry white flowers are delicate and deserve some up-close admiration. It's shown in the picture below with an unidentified purple flower we'll discuss later.

We already knew the scientific name of the native plant on pages 284-285: Bidens alba. We've learned to call it Spanish Needle, although Daniels refers to it as "Romerillo". We have a real love/hate relationship with Bidens. It makes a wonderful nectar plant for butterflies, but the barbed seeds are really unpleasant to deal with. We generally allow them to thrive in a few areas of the yard where we don't need to walk too frequently.

One of the most wonderfully named plants is on pages 228-229: Arrasa Con Todo (Gomphrena serrata). Loosely translated from Spanish, it means "destroys everything", which seems a little hyperbolic. This non-native definitely invades lawns in Florida, though, and is generally considered a nuisance.

Of course, no field guide can ever provide all the answers. One of the prettiest little flowers in our lawn doesn't seem to be in the book. In the wide world of nature, we've learned that sometimes you just have to ask for help, so... do you recognize this tiny little flower? Let us know in the comments if you do.

So, the Wildflowers of Florida Field Guide was 5 for 6 in My Florida Backyard today. We consider this a pretty good track record, and look forward to taking it on the road with us to help us identify (and perhaps collect seeds from) wildflowers in the field. In the meantime, we're glad to have it as we put names to the little flowers that we refuse to call weeds.

Looking for Space

My Florida Backyard took another step this week toward the goal of eliminating as much boring, fairly useless grass from our front lawn as possible. This gives us more room for interesting plants that can attract wildlife and, quite frankly, look much better than patchy grass.

To that end, we decided to expand the front garden from two arcs:

Into one big arc:

Now the tantalizing question remains... what to plant in all the new space? We already have a lot of fountain grass and muhly grass lining the walkways, with plumbago bushes on the right side and beach sunflower under the tree. We'd like to continue with more yellows, purples, and blues - we do have some Blazing Star (liatris) bulbs to scatter throughout the new and old beds, so their purple should mix nicely with the purples of the muhly grass in the fall.

Any suggestions? Bear in mind that we have some pretty firm rules about not using supplemental irrigation once a plant is established... it needs to survive on the rain Mother Nature provides (or doesn't). This area faces southwest and gets lots of sun in the hottest part of summer. We'd like some low plants along the edge in front, and higher plants or even a shrub in the middle. We prefer native plants, though we're flexible as long as they're Florida-Friendly, and we really don't like to have to do a lot of maintenance in the front yard. Now, with all these thoughts in mind, what should we put in our newly-expanded garden?

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.

Power to the People

NOTE: I'm continuing to explore the difficulty of implementing NWF's six tips for a green garden.

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

Why?

• As I mentioned in yesterday's post, the carbon footprint of gas-powered lawn mowers is surprisingly large. In fact, according to an article in the March 2009 National Geographic magazine, "The average gasoline-powered push mower ... puts out as much pollution per hour as eleven cars—a riding mower as much as 34 cars."
• Using electric tools instead? Well, don't forget that the electricity still has to come from somewhere, and that "somewhere" is often dirty coal power plants. Those electric tools aren't always all that convenient either - last week, I watched the guy across the lake mowing his lawn with an electric push mower attached to a lo-o-o-ng extension cord. I can just imagine the conversation with his wife that led to that moment. "I don't care if the lawn mower isn't charged up, Bob. You said you'd mow the lawn this afternoon, and I want it mowed!"

How? Well, with the Leave it to Beaver theme song running through our heads, we here in My Florida Backyard turned to the old-fashioned Classic Push Reel Lawn Mower, made by Scotts.
The mower itself is really pretty easy to push. As easy as a self-propelled gas or electric mower? Well, of course not. But it rolls along pretty smoothly. After a few test runs, we determined that the mower does a great job cutting regular old grass. It does not do so well with the tougher weeds that seem to spring up to six inches tall overnight.

In the end, after doing some research, we also decided to invest in the Black & Decker Automatic Feed String Trimmer and Edger, even though it required electricity. If you have to choose power tools, electric tools in general will provide a lower carbon footprint (although I can never really get those dirty coal plants out of my mind...). Still, in fairness, we did try a hand-edger tool first, and it just didn't seem to get the job done.

Level of Difficulty: Well, there's no doubt you get a little more exercise when using a classic push reel lawn mower. But, if you drastically reduce the size of your lawn, it's definitely do-able. In fact, it takes only about 15 minutes to mow, trim, and edge the little bit of grass we have left. Would it be faster with a power mower? I doubt it, though it might take a little less man power. But, we definitely saved money with this option. The reel mower cost only about $100, and we don't have to buy gas for it - the only maintenance is having the blades sharpened every few years.

So, on that difficulty scale of 1 - 5 (5 being the hardest), I'm going to rank this one about a 2, assuming you've reduced the size of your lawn. Although it's a little more difficult to push the mower, it's really not that hard at all, and you save the hassle of getting gas to fill the thing. Plus, it's nearly silent to operate, so you can mow the lawn at any time without worrying about disturbing the neighbors.

I should mention, though, that you may take a little ribbing from your neighbors. "Hey, Cleaver!" one neighbor down the street calls out every single time we mow the lawn. But we're willing to take a little guff to make My Florida Backyard just a little bit greener.

P.S. I didn't mention other power tools for maintaining your yard, such as leaf blowers. Suffice it to say that doing the work by hand will always be a little more difficult, but it can (and really should) be done that way. When I was a kid growing up in Ohio, we raked the leaves from an acre of trees by hand every fall, and we did it as a family activity. Did I love doing it? Probably not. But rakes are cheap, and we didn't have much money. Now, here in Florida, a leaf blower is pretty much inexcusable, given the lack of "fall foliage". Come on, people. Get out the rake, if you must. Or better yet, plant gardens under your trees and let the leaves fall where they may, providing free and excellent self-mulching.

Keep Off The Grass

In my post on March 30, I introduced the National Wildlife Federation's six tips for a green garden. It's time to begin taking a look at those tips, to figure out if maybe, just maybe, it's a little easier being green than Kermit the Frog thought.

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

Why? In a place like Florida, where we're basically a rain forest for one half of the year and a desert for the other half, grass just requires too much upkeep.

• Grass is a notoriously water-hunger monster. It takes at least an inch of water a week to keep a lawn green. We simply don't get that on a regular basis here in Florida from November through May. That means you'll have to water the lawn to keep it healthy, costing time and money. Not to mention the fact that this drought has prompted some new and very tricky watering restrictions for most of us. Do you really want to get up to turn on your sprinklers at midnight?
• Once summertime hits, at least an inch of rain a week is almost guaranteed. What does that mean for grass? It G-R-O-W-S. What does that mean for you? You M-O-W. Now, I'm sure that there are those out there who think there's nothing more fun than mowing the lawn on a 90 degree day (with 90% humidity!) but for everyone else, it's just a chore. Plus, if you're using a gas-powered mower, your carbon footprint is surprisingly large.

How? There are a lot of options out there, from creating gardens to planting groundcovers. Here in My Florida Backyard, we've eliminated over half our lawn by creating gardens full of native and Florida-Friendly plants. To see details, read my previous posts Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes and Sunshine on My Shoulders.

Level of Difficulty: There's definitely an initial investment of time here, ranking from 4 - 5 on the scale of 1 - 5 depending on what you decide to do. 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.

So, for tip #1, eliminating your lawn, I think it's safe to say that ultimately, it actually is easier being green. Put in the work up front, and reap the benefits for years to come, like we do in My Florida Backyard.