A Quest for Florida Native Plants

Coral Honeysuckle; Lonicera sempervirens

Last spring I was delving into the (new-to-me) world of vegetable-gardening-in-Florida and it captured all my brain energy. It was the center of all my attention~ reading, researching, planning, ordering, and simply figuring out where/how/when to plant and nurture a (very) small one in my side yard.

Blue-eyed Grass; Sisyrinchium angustifolium

This spring, along with expanding that (very) small vegetable garden, and learning more about companion planting ... it is Florida native plants that has my focus and energy.

My brain is on overload making every effort to learn more about them. The goal being to incorporate them (this spring) into my tropicalesque, eclectic landscape style. I sort of, kind of started this ambition last year adding a few native plants here and there. But this year, it is serious business. :-)

Walter's Viburnum; Viburnum obovatum

Acquiring native plants seems to be a task in itself. No retail nurseries close by sell natives as a specialty. Some of them have a few but not necessarily the ones I'm looking out for. I've gone out of town and had more good fortune in finding the plants on my wish list.

Last week mom and I were on our way to a fun getaway day. On our way to a Florida State Park, while passing through Dunnellon, a little town about 2 hours north of us, Mom agreed to let me detour into a Native Plant Nursery I had located from the Internet. It occurred to me to jot down the phone number just in case we decided to take the time out of our fun day for a plant nursery tour. To tell you the truth, I didn't expect too much since the nursery didn't even have a website. Still, I thought, it was worth a look-see.

What we found at the end of a very long and bumpy dirt road and way out in the middle of 'no-where ville' was a delightful little lady living alone with her nursery and nature. Her nursery was her front yard. Her name was Jane.

Jane

Jane sees customers by appointment only. But on my spur of the moment phone call she happened to be there and graciously welcomed us to have a look around. Immediately it was clear, she contained a wealth of knowledge about native plants and didn't mind sharing what she knew. I asked my usual 1001 questions and she talked a mile a minute.

Other than the plants she was so willingly educating me about, she had an uncanny connection with the natural habitat around her.

We sat down together on a bench under a shade tree. Generously Jane gave me a folder with some general information that was going to make it easy for me to reference later what she was teaching me.

What happened while we chatted I've never witnessed before. The wild birds started flying in and perching on nearby branches. Mostly Towhees at first. Then Cardinals and Titmice, and a stray blue jay. She talked to them in between sentences while talking to me. It was really something to witness! It was as if a signal went out to the birds when she sat down.

Jane directed Mom and I to move with her onto her wide, open front porch because she was saying to the birds that "yes, she had a treat for them." On a wooden table situated only 3 or 4 feet in front of us she offered a handful of seeds and some peanut butter to her bird friends.

In the meantime she continued giving me all kinds of good information and telling me which is THE best native plant book to buy for Florida Landscapes.

I was thrilled because it was one that was already on my wish list. Her confirmation that it was worth purchasing meant I ordered it as soon as I got home. It has already been delivered and I am consuming the great information contained in its pages.

Mrs. Cardinal

Titmouse

Carolina Chickadee

It was so fun to walk through the nursery and pick out some plants to take home with me. My mind swirling with which ones like full sun or not, how big they would get, whether they bloom or not and when and how much water and what kind of soil... I feel like I'm starting over in the garden and learning all brand new stuff.

After we loaded up my car - and I do mean loaded - she asked us to stay for tea. Isn't that just like a gardener? There we sat, three hours after our arrival, sipping tea in china cups on her shady porch with the birds flying in for sunflowers and peanut butter.

Coreopsis; Leavenworthii Tickseed (the only one native to my county)She was more interested in talking about plants than selling them. Most of what I purchased had recently been transplanted or were seedlings. This made the price nice for me. All the plants were $2 or less. Some of them might not even do well in my location. Afterall she was 4 counties north of me.

Blue-eyed grass; Sisyrinchium angustifolium

Spiderwort; Tradescontia ohiensis

So here's the rundown of what has found a home at Hoe and Shovel:

Blue-eyed grass; Sisyrinchium angustifolium

Cherokee Bean; Erythrina Herbacea

Oakleaf Hydrangea; Hydrangea quercifolia

Spiderwort; Tradescantia ohiensis

Coreopsis; Leavenworthii Tickseed

Seaside Goldenrod; Solidago sempervirens

Gayfeather/Blazing Star; Liatris spicata

Stoke's Aster; Stokesia laevis

Garlic Chives; Allium tuberosum

Black-eyed Susan; Rudbeckia hirta

We aren't finished with our quest but it's a good start. Practicing patience, waiting to see how well they do here, will be the order of the season.

And a big thanks to Mom for indulging me on this fun day away from the ordinary. Mom didn't go away empty handed either. She took home a Carolina Jessamine and a Japanese Yew.

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Southern Crabapple; Malus angustifolia
If you'd like to see more of this magnificently blooming crabapple tree click over here to my post, Florida in Flower, on my 'For the Love of Florida' blog. Mom and I ended up at Rainbow Springs State Park that day for a feast of Florida's flowering plants.

Happy Spring!

Meems