American Beauty

It's no secret that one of our favorite native shrubs is the American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana). Although it's deciduous, it's an interesting plant every day of the year. The berries that appear in fall stay with the bush through the leafless days of winter (at least until the birds eat them), and when the soft green leaves appear in the spring, the delicate pink blooms won't be far behind.

Most people are familiar with the purple-berried version of C. americana, but on a recent trip to Wilcox Nursery in Largo, we found the white-berried version at last, and we snapped one up to add to our Beautyberry hedge. At this time of year, the leaves and flowers look exactly the same, but we look forward to seeing the white berries mixed with the purple when fall arrives.

If you're new to American Beautyberry, check out some of our previous posts to learn more. If you're already a Beautyberry lover and you don't have the white-berried version yet, check with Wilcox or your local native plant nursery to see if they have any in stock. We're very glad to have one at last in My Florida Backyard!

Mint Condition

This neat little shrub is another of our purchases from Wilcox Nursery last weekend. It's called Georgia Basil or Georgia Calamint (Calamintha georgiana). While it is native to Florida, it's very rare here, found only in a few of the northern counties. It's much more common throughout much of zone 8, including Alabama and Georgia (as you might expect from the name).

Calamint is a member of the Lamiaceae family, which includes culinary herbs like mint and basil. Interestingly, that's exactly what Calamint smells like - a combination of mint and basil. It can be used as seasoning in cooking, or even in making teas.

Practical uses aside, look at these little flowers! Though calamint supposedly blooms only in the fall, ours has one stem covered in blooms right now, and truly it was these little flowers that made us notice the plant in the first place. The flowers themselves are very attractive to bees and smaller butterflies, making it a nice addition to the wildlife garden.

Calamint prefers sandy well-drained soil, and will tolerate full to part sun. Since we live in zone 9b, a little to the south of its common range, we chose to plant it in only part sun, thinking the full sun of summer might be a bit too much for it. It's described as an evergreen, growing to about 2 feet maximum, so it's perfect in the corner of the butterfly garden. We look forward to seeing it this fall when, we've been promised, it will be completely covered in delightful blooms. All in all, a great little native that we're glad to add to My Florida Backyard!

Hot Button

As promised, here is the first of several posts detailing our purchases at Wilcox Nursery this past weekend. First up: Button Sage (Lantana involucrata), a small and terrific native shrub.

Lantana varieties are one of the best butterfly nectar plants out there. Unfortunately, the most common species sold is Lantana camara, which has become invasive in Florida. L. camara quickly escaped cultivation in Florida and has hybridized with our native Lantana depressa to the point that the Florida Association of Native Nurseries no longer recognizes L. depressa as a true native. (See: The Lantana Mess.) That means that Lantana involucrata, known as Button Sage, is the only true Florida native lantana available for sale, and finding it can be a challenge.

Button Sage is common in coastal areas from Central Florida south. It likes well-drained soil and will take full to part sun. It blooms year-round and is hardy to zone 8a, so though it may take a little frost damage in the winter, it should recover quickly and stay green all winter. Like all lantanas, it's drought-tolerant once established but will bloom best with regular water. We planted ours out back near the butterfly garden where it has room to grow and spread, in a mostly sunny spot.

Button sage is a wonderful wildlife plant. The flowers are big nectar draws for butterflies. The subsequent purple berries (how pretty!) are great for songbirds. As a shrub, it provides shelter for smaller creatures as well. All in all, button sage is a must-have for any native wildlife gardener, though it's fairly difficult to find. If you see one, snap it up like we did!

Temptation

It was a glorious Sunday afternoon, and we took advantage of the day to drive across to Largo and visit Wilcox Nursery (our very favorite native plant nursery in the Tampa area) to get some muhly grass we'd been wanting for the front yard. Of course, that wasn't the only thing we bought, not by a long shot. Spring is just too tempting of a time to visit a native plant nursery - here's what we ended up coming home with:

• The white-berried variety of American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)
• Necklace Pod (Sophora tomentosa)
• Twinflower (Linnaea borealis)
• Button Sage (Lantana involucrata)
• Georgia Calamintha (Calamintha georgiana)

Look for detailed posts on these in the days ahead, as we settle our new residents into their places!

Who Will Buy My Pretty Flowers? (Part Three)

As mentioned the other day, we recently took a little field trip and visited several new native plant nurseries along the way. This is the third of three posts detailing those nurseries and the plants we bought there.

On our way to visit The Butterfly Estates in Fort Myers, we made one last stop at a native plant nursery. It was a darn good thing we had GPS, because this place was tricky to find for out-of-towners. All Native Garden Center* is near one of the airports, so not exactly in the most scenic part of town, but of all the nurseries we visited on our travels, this was by far our favorite.

We knew we were in luck when we pulled in, because a supplier truck was parked outside and new plants were being unloaded. Special areas were set up with butterfly nectar and host plants, and all plants were clearly labeled with names and growing needs. We'd only looked around a few moments when a nursery worker approached to ask if we were looking for anything in particular. When I asked for wild petunia (Ruellia humilis), which we hadn't been able to find anywhere else on this trip, her eyes lit up and she ran to bring me some, fresh off the truck (that's it on the left, planted in a shady spot under a tree, where it will do best). When I told her I was a butterfly gardener, she immediately began to show me other plants I might want or need, telling me her own experiences with the plants and asking what might work in my yard. Before long, we had loaded up a cart, and could have bought much more if we hadn't had to schlep it all back to Tampa.

So, what did we get, aside from the wild petunia? Well, first we found some Scorpion Tail (Heliotropum angiospermum), a very cool member of the heliotrope family. It's not a big plant, growing to a maximum of 2 feet, but its delicate little flowers are very attractive to the smaller butterflies like blues and skippers. It does well in sun or shade, and is fairly drought-tolerant. We planted ours in the butterfly garden.

The next plant was one I was not familiar with, but the nursery worker assured us was a natural in a butterfly garden. It's called Yellowtop (Flaveria linearis) and is really more of a zone 10 plant, but we decided to give it a try since we've had reasonably good luck with zone 10 plants before (not this past winter, of course), and we can just plan to give it a little protection if we need to. Even if it does die back in a freeze, it should re-grow from the roots, so it seemed work the risk.

When it blooms this summer and fall, the bright yellow flat-topped flowers will attract butterflies by the barrelful, so we planted it in the butterfly garden. It can grow 2-4 feet tall, and likes full to partial sun. It reseeds readily, so hopefully we'll have more of these plants by next year. We'll post some pictures of it once it starts to bloom.

Our helpful All Native employee also suggested we try some pennyroyal (Piloblephis rigida). This drought-tolerant wildflower blooms year-round, and will tolerate a light frost, though it may die back to the ground in a heavier freeze. The flowers are a light lavender and are attractive to butterflies, so this was another addition to the butterfly garden.

Our final purchase was a bit of an impulse buy. We had been discussing how much we loved silver buttonwood for its silvery leaves, and the All Native worker showed us some Sea Lavender (Argusia gnaphalodes), also called Sea Rosemary. The photo doesn't do it justice - the soft foliage of this plant almost seems to glow silver in the sun. It is a coastal plant, growing wild on sand dunes from Central Florida south, so it is very salt tolerant (not that that's an issue in My Florida Backyard), and can grow several feet tall given the opportunity.

If the beauty of this plant weren't enough to get us, the fact that it's rare and endangered certainly was. It's very difficult to find, both in the wild and from plant nurseries, so we really couldn't pass up a chance to bring this unusual native to our own yard. We planted it in a full sun spot in the backyard where we can admire the silvery leaves up close.

And that wrapped up our native plant shopping. All of the nurseries we visited were nice, but All Native was the best. The staff was helpful, the plants were healthy, and the selection was great. Prices were a little high, but no more so than other native plant nurseries - these sellers and growers don't have the high volume that allows other nurseries to keep prices down. Still, we always feel the extra cost is worth it for native plants; we have a much higher success rate with them, and it feels good to know My Florida Backyard is helping to restore some native habitat for the native wildlife.

* Tip: If you visit All Native's website (nolawn.com - how cool is that?), use Internet Explorer as opposed to Firefox or another browser.

Who Will Buy My Pretty Flowers? (Part Two)

As mentioned the other day, we recently took a little field trip and visited several new native plant nurseries along the way. This is the second of three posts detailing those nurseries and the plants we bought there.

Whenever we visit Fort Myers, a trip to Sanibel Island is an absolute must. The J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge is worth the trip alone, not to mention the great shelling along the beach. This year, we added a new "must-do" to our trip when we visited the Sanibel-Captival Conservation Foundation nature center and walking trails. SCCF is dedicated to keeping Sanibel and Captiva islands as much like nature intended as possible. They have removed invasive plants, restored wildlife habitat, and perhaps most importantly, educated the folks living on these islands about the right way to treat their environment.

As part of educating the public, SCCF has established a very extensive native plant nursery. They propagate their plants themselves, as you can see when you visit the shade houses, and so are able to provide healthy, happy plants that are perfectly adjusted for life on the islands. The plants are well-labeled and described, and the staff was on hand for questions. Many plants were available in smaller, more affordable sizes, as well as larger specimens for those looking for instant garden gratification.

We made just one purchase here: a Carolina or Climbing Aster (Aster carolinianus). As the name implies, this aster is a climber and can reach 12 feet tall with adequate support. It recovers very quickly after a frost, and is a prodigious late-season bloomer. Butterflies love to visit its light purple blooms when other wildflowers have started to fade. It is an champion climber but lacks the tendrils that make other vines like passionvine so hard to control. In My Florida Backyard, we planted it along the fence in a mostly sunny spot and provided a trellis to support its growth. It's pretty small now, but it won't be long before it begins to climb and thrive.

There was still one more native plant nursery to visit during our travels, so look for our next post when we buy out the store at All Native in Fort Myers!

Who Will Buy My Pretty Flowers? (Part One)

As mentioned the other day, we recently took a little field trip and visited several new native plant nurseries along the way. This is the first of three posts detailing those nurseries and the plants we bought there.

 Between Tampa and Ford Myers, just east of Sarasota, is one of Florida's gems:  Myakka River State Park. It offers a 7-mile drive that winds through the park along the river and lake, meaning you don't even need to get out of your car to spot wading birds, alligators, deer, and more. Of course, there are plenty of trails, including one leading to a tree-top canopy walk, as well as all the other amenities you'll find at state parks.
 

Just north of the park on Myakka Road is Florida Native Plants, the kind of place that's tucked away so well you have to know it's there in order to find it (thank you, GPS!). Set in a beautiful area with the park nearby and farmland all around, Florida Native Plants is a lovely little nursery with a good selection and reasonable prices, bearing in mind you pretty much always pay more for native plants.. The staff was friendly and helpful, and all the plants were well-labeled and described (I refuse to buy a plant unless I know what it is and what it needs to grow well).


We made two purchases at Florida Native Plants: a wild lime tree and a starry rosinweed. Wild lime (Zanthoxylum fagara) has been on our wish list for quite some time, as it serves as a host plant for the gorgeous giant swallowtail butterfly. It's a manageable little tree with a moderate growth rate; we plan to keep it more the size of a large shrub in our yard by some judicious pruning. It grows best in full sun, so we planted it in the front yard where it will have room to spread a bit. It's tiny now but can grow to about 10-15 feet in Central Florida. This is a wonderful native plant to add to your gardens, as long as you're aware that it's not a tree you want to get up close and friendly with - like all citrus trees, wild lime protects itself with very sharp little pricklies all over the branches.

Our other purchase, starry rosinweed (Silphium asteriscus), is a member of the aster family. Sometimes called tall rosinweed, this native wildflower resembles a sunflower when in bloom. It grows about 2-3 feet tall and is very drought-tolerant. It's a great nectar source, so we planted ours in the butterfly garden. It doesn't look like much now, but this perennial should start to bloom before too long, so we'll provide pictures when it does.




So, that wraps up the first installment of our native plant shopping. Look for part two tomorrow, when we visit the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation!