Fall is a stunning season for Palm Beach flora

Blue plumbago, Plumbago auriculata

November 20, 2024

Fall in Palm Beach can’t quite compare to New England’s dazzling display, but there’s still great color around if you know where to look. 

Our native purple passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) is blooming along the beaches — it’s a beautiful climbing vine that also acts as a wonderful sprawler along a sunny walkway or patio. Its enticing fragrance attracts a host of pollinators, including the beautiful zebra heliconian, along with bees and hummingbirds.

Wild coffee (Pyschotria nervosa) is ablaze right now with brilliant deep red berries and Thatch palm (Thrinax radiata) is decorated with lovely long arching inflorescences of bright white fruits. Our native swamp milkweed (Aesclepius incarnata) shows off cheerful mounds (actually umbels) of white flowers above my rampantly spreading river sage (Salvia misela), which itself is dotted with tiny blue flowers. And the deep black berries of marlberry (Ardisa escallonoides) are just beginning to replace their clusters of white flowers.

Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) is full of its astonishing bright purple pearl-like berries, which never cease to delight. This has a white variation which is equally beautiful. The shimmering white berries of snowberry (Chiococca alba) are just starting to appear along the stems of this lovely small shrub. Yellow thryallis and Bahama senna, pink Panama rose, brilliant red firespike, and blue porterweed and plumbago are all in flower —a nd the bright yellow blossoms of yellow trumpetbush (Tecoma stans) seem to never stop.  

But I am still saddened to see the omnipresent chemical trucks arriving on the island every morning to apply pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides to unsuspecting gardens and landscapes. I was fortunate to attend a symposium with the Real Organic Project this summer on Nantucket. It was truly alarming to learn that 90% of the farming in this country uses “conventional” agriculture, which translates to genetically modified seeds (GM)s), synthetic fertilizers and rampant use of pesticides and herbicides.

Videos of planes flying low to spray a billion pounds of chemicals over 285 million acres of grains and produce headed for our grocery shelves is frightening. Organic farming, which uses no chemicals or GMOs, accounts for only 10% of our produce. This amounts essentially to a war between organic biology and chemical science. Monsanto, the biggest chemical giant in the world, has somehow convinced us that the chronically toxic chemicals that have built up in our soils over the past 50 years and that have become ubiquitous in the environment are nothing to worry about.

Yet, coincidentally, we are dealing with increasing numbers of neurotoxic diseases: autism, Parkinson's, Alzheimer’s, ALS,  and a laundry list of cancers. What chemical science has neglected to consider in its obsession with crop manufacturing is the most critical and fundamental piece of the puzzle: the soil. There are more microbes in a tablespoon of healthy soil than there are humans on the planet. Photosynthesis, whereby plants take carbon from the air, and with water and sunlight produce the sugars necessary for the plants’ health, releasing in the process the oxygen that keeps us alive, is the key here.

Excess carbon is stored in the soil, adding to the organic matter already there. Microorganisms in the soil maintain a balance of nutrients; the organic matter they create allows for 30% greater water retention while eliminating the need for pesticides and fertilizers. This system has been around for 500 million years and it works without the addition of any chemicals because living soil is continually building organic matter.

The nutritional content of our food depends on this organic content; produce grown in healthy organic soil is robust and delicious, bursting with vitality, and attractive to the eye. It is nothing like the sallow, tasteless, unappetizing vegetables we find wrapped in plastic in our grocery stores. To further aggravate the situation, the USDA has allowed chemical agriculture to attach organic labels to much of its chemically treated food. After numerous failed attempts to reform the USDA, Real Organic farms created an independent add-on to the organic label to indicate transparency and truly chemical-free produce.

The continued overuse of pesticides and fertilizers has essentially killed our soils, draining them of essential microorganisms and then adding more chemicals to mitigate the lack of nutrients, always aiming for higher crop yield. Soil simply cannot maintain the level of production expected and it becomes scorched, desiccated and barren of life. This is a far bigger problem than global warming — there is a total imbalance in the way the current system values humanity. Why are we consuming poisons so chemical companies can make a profit? We need to restore our relationship to nature, and it must start with each of us.

Glyphosate, found in Round-Up, is the most widely used herbicide in history. It is a known carcinogen, linked to numerous cancers and autoimmune diseases. Atrazine, which has been banned in Europe since the 1990s, is second to glyphosate and is still widely used in the United States. This chemical is an endocrine disrupter, altering testosterone levels in children during pregnancy and in their early developmental years. These chemicals also suppress gut bacteria, causing long-term inflammation, irritable bowel syndrome, celiac, and a host of other syndromes.

Paraquet, the most toxic pesticide in the Unites States, has been banned in 32 countries, including China. Paraquet’s main ingredient is the nerve toxin chlorpyrifos, which has been associated with the 150% increase in Parkinson’s disease. Even our crops are infected; 40 plant diseases that were eliminated years ago have now reappeared. The systemic neonicotinoid imidicloprid, which is sprayed on ficus hedges for white fly, (under the trade name Merit) is another known carcinogen that we continue to apply with abandon here in Palm Beach.

These chemicals are ubiquitous in the environment — they are in our air, our water, and our soils, and most of us now contain them in our blood.

The solution to this problem is so easy. We need to work with nature to create biologically active, fertile soil. By adding organic material, eschewing chemicals of any kind, and practicing sound, proven farming techniques we can create nutrient-rich soil that will look after itself. The beauty of organic is that it is a perpetually renewable system that requires no outside assistance. At home, we need to add diverse native plants to our landscapes to enable our birds and pollinators to thrive; these will also enrich our soils through carbon sequestration and the addition of organic material.

Most important, we need to avoid the use of chemicals on our properties. Numerous studies have proven that there are no “safe” levels of toxins in our environment; the chemicals we apply don’t go away, they persist for decades in our soil and water. Our health and that of our children and pets is inextricably linked to these chemicals, which are registering in ever greater amounts.. Childhood leukemia is 35% more prevalent now than 30 years ago; autism has increased by 70% since the introduction of glyphosate in 1974. Parkinson’s has increased by a staggering 150% in the last 30 years. This chemical exposure is permanent and has lasting effects on brain development and neurologic function.

I urge you to look at the Real Organic project’s website and learn more about Real Organic certified farms, and their stringent code of purity, which far exceeds regular USDA-certified labels. Since “we are what we eat," we should start paying more attention to how our food is grown and follow the practices of real organic in our gardens and homes as well. So keep planting those natives and stop applying unnecessary chemicals to your properties!

 -Kim Frisbie

Original article on the Palm Beach Daily News is HERE.