Spring color and environmental respect
Bright yellow rudibekia reminds of sunflowers in the garden
May 30, 2021
This will be my last article for the season, so I thought I’d go over some of the important issues we’ve covered. But first, let’s celebrate the fabulous colors of spring in Florida.
Jamaican caper is in bloom right now. This great ornamental native should be a staple in every Palm Beach garden; it works equally well as a specimen, an accent or planted as a hedge. The shiny light green foliage is drought and salt tolerant; in May and June the wonderful fragrant starburst flowers appear, opening with white petals and long stamens, changing to deep pink as they age.
Jamaican caper, with its beautiful starburst flowers, is the larval host to the Florida white butterfly and is loved by honeybees, cardinals, mockingbirds and blue jays
This is the larval host to the Florida white butterfly and is loved by honeybees, cardinals, mockingbirds and blue jays. If you’re looking to replace a hedge of podocarpus or green island ficus, this will work perfectly..
The native geiger tree boasts cluster of tubular flowers in wonderful shades such as this bright orange
Our glorious geiger trees, Cordia sp., are blooming now too with clusters of tubular flowers in wonderful shades of orange, yellow and white. These are excellent small trees for coastal locations, as they are salt, wind and drought tolerant.
Beach verbena is a short-lived perennial coastal wildflower that comes in pinks and
A yellow coreopsis flower does its job by attracting pollinators such as this little fly-like insect
Blue aster is a tall native perennial species that tops out at 24 to 36 inches
Other native flowers blooming now include coreopsis, rudbeckia, tradescantia, lantana, plumbago, salvia, aster, coneflower, swamp lily, sea oxeye daisy, ageratum, helianthus, gaillardia, lobelia, monarda, and verbena, to name just a few. There’s so much spectacular color here now.
The red tubular flowers of coral honeysuckle attract hummingbirds and butterflies
The dangers of pesticides
But let’s get back to those important issues. Every time I bike down the Lake Trail, I run into an “environmental” company spraying imidacloprid (Merit) on hedges for white fly, or spraying glyphosate (Round-up) on grass for weeds, and adding fertilizer, mixed with weed killer on everything else.
When are we going to wake up? Imidacloprid is a neonicotinoid systemic insecticide, killing every insect it contacts, including of course, all your butterflies, bees and other pollinators. As a systemic, it makes every part of the plant poisonous, and it doesn’t even work on many of the new strains of white fly. It is a know carcinogen, hazardous to domestic animals and humans, linked to neurological and reproductive disorders. It can last for years in soil, and it eventually leaches into ground water and our aquifers, where it is toxic to fish and aquatic creatures (read: manatees).
Glyophosate is another known carcinogen, lethal to birds and pollinators, and linked to Alzheimer’s, autism, leukemia, non-Hodgkins lymphoma and other cancers, as well as to developmental and reproductive issues. Seriously, if you have a dog, or a child or grandchild, this is absolutely the last thing you want anywhere near your home or landscape.
Healthy landscapes
If we stop to consider how the “need” for these chemicals arose in the first place, just look at the unstable monocultures we’ve created by the overplanting of a few alien species.
Native hedge alternatives
If you need a hedge or want to replace a ficus hedge to avoid spraying, there are many terrific native alternatives. Simpson’s stopper, Myrcianthes fragrans, is one of the best, growing to 20 feet with glossy deep green foliage, fragrant flowers, and decorative orange fruit that birds love. It makes an excellent specimen tree as well, with stunning light tan exfoliating bark. Mixed with native thatch or sabal palms, this provides interest, beauty and fragrance, as well as privacy
Wild coffee, Pyschotria nervosa, makes another terrific hedge, growing to 10 feet with beautiful, glossy dark green foliage and lovely clusters of small white flowers that attract butterflies and pollinators and oval red berries loved by numerous birds and wildlife.
Cocoplum makes a beautiful hedge in full sun to part shade, with stunning red new growth next to shiny green leaves and purple berries
Cocoplum, Chrysobalanus icaco, makes a beautiful hedge in full sun to part shade, with stunning red new growth next to shiny rounded evergreen leaves. Tiny fragrant white flowers produced year round are sought after by pollinators and the dark purple edible fruits that follow are loved by birds and wildlife (and make an excellent jam as well!) Drought and cold tolerant, this grows to 15 feet, but is easily pruned to a lower height.
Silver buttonwood, Conocarpus erectus, makes another great hedge, with the added benefits of being wind, salt and drought tolerant, making it ideal for oceanfront plantings. The cultivar Silver Sheen is resistant to scale and mealybug, which cause sooty mold on the common silver form. This grows 20-35 feet, but can be clipped to a lower height, and it likes full sun.
Saw palmetto is a tough, versatile native that makes a terrific no-maintenance hedge
Saw palmetto, Serenoa repens, is a tough, versatile native that makes another terrific no-maintenance hedge. This sprawling, low and slow growing palm (5-10’) with stiff silvery blue-green fan shaped leaves creates a dense ground cover in sandy, nutrient poor soil, in full sun or part shade. This is the larval host for monk skipper and palmetto skipper butterflies and the fragrant tiny white flowers provide nectar for bees and a host of other pollinators. Small olive shaped fruits are such an important nutrient rich food source for more than 200 species of birds and mammals that a permit is required to collect this plant in the wild. Planted beneath taller palms or other native trees such as marlberry, this makes a beautiful, multi textured semi formal hedge or screen.
Marlberry, Ardisia escallonioides, is a lovely evergreen shrub with dark green, semi glossy foliage growing 12-20 feet. One of the best landscape choices for shady areas, this makes a great hedge mixed with sabal palms or Simpson's stoppers. Clusters of fragrant white flowers attract a variety of pollinators and butterflies; the purple marble-like fruits provide food for birds and wildlife. Salt tolerant and undemanding, this is another must for any Florida garden.
Fiddlewood, Citharexylum fruiticosum, is a delightful small native tree with glossy green foliage and clusters of fragrant white flowers that attract butterflies and pollinators and showy clusters of reddish-brown fruits. Naturally multi-stemmed, this makes a fine hedge in sun or part shade, growing 15-20 feet, but can also be grown as a specimen; it is rated resistant to hurricane force winds.
Fiddlewood has glossy green foliage and clusters of fragrant white flowers that attract butterflies and pollinators
I recently had an infestation of bagworm in the seashore paspalum in my garden. There were large, brown dead-looking areas that horrified my husband, and the worms would come to the surface if you ran a hose onto the lawn for a few minutes. But there was no way I was going to apply any poison to the grass where my four grandsons roll around every day. I watched as numerous birds arrived each morning to feast on the insects; and now, several weeks later, the grass has basically returned to normal. It was definitely unattractive for awhile, but looks fine now with no chemicals added.
We all need to take responsibility for the health of our island, including the pollinators, mammals and aquatic creatures in our lakes and ocean. We need to restore a relationship of mutual respect and reciprocity with our environment; if we care for our land, it will care for us. It’s pretty simple: add some natives to your landscapes and stop adding chemicals!
If you want any advice on what to plant, call me and I’ll be happy to help. Or visit Pan’s garden and look at all the natives thriving there. And have a wonderful, healthy summer.
-Kim Frisbie
Original article on the Palm Beach Daily News is HERE.