Florida Native Plants

Is anyone else growing any Florida natives? I'm at work now so I'm unable to post photographs but I'm growing the following:

Myrcianthes fragrans (Simpson's Stopper)
Lysiloma latisiliqua (Wild Tamarind)
Byrsonima lucida (Locustberry)
Hamelia patens (Firebush)
Chrysobalanus icaco (Redtip Cocoplum)
Guaiacum sanctum (lignum vitae)
Psychotria ligustrifolia (Bahama Coffee)
Psychotria nervosa (Wild Coffee)
Sideroxylon salicifolia (Willow Bustic)
Callicarpa americana (American Beautyberry)

I also have a piece of Bursera simaruba (Gumbo Limbo) that began sprouting years ago when it was destined for the compost pile. It is leaning against the fence (not planted into the ground) and it's full of leaves.

Hi, Delcie,

I just recently finished putting in a Florida Native garden in the middle of my front yard.
Some of the plants were bought at the Florida Native Plant Society Conference this year. And some were given to me by my neighbor whose whole yard is native plants.

I have:
6 Gumbo Limbo trees (3 in the new garden, the other 3 scattered around my yard)
Varnish Leaf
Gallardia
Stokes Aster
Blue Porterweed
Wild Plumbago
Firebush
Coral Honeysuckle
Maypop Passionflower
Dune Sunflower

I have pictures but they are on my laptop computer. I'll post one later.

Terrie

I have lots of firebush, porterweed.
Been wanting a Simpson Stopper but haven't found any in this area.
Jan...

Terrie:
I'm looking forward to seeing your pictures.

Jan:
When my stopper develops fruit again, I will try to save some seeds for you.

Delecie,

Only a couple of those names are familiar to me, one is a navigational point in the keys and the other is a culinary dish.

My goodness, I live in Florida and I have no real native plants here?

Maybe I should do some inventory to find out. (I'm one of those zone pushers.)

Molly
:^)))

Uh oh Molly! I'll have to see what I can do to change your lack of natives. :-)

I love all of my plants but the natives are the ones that basically take care of themselves, giving me more time to devote to the exotics.

MollyMc visited me out here in the Everglades and knows what wild native plants I have here. I don't know names. But it's 38 acres- mostly wilderness and if anyone decides to take a field trip- please feel welcome to come and get stuff.

Molly, I could swear that somebody gave me a BeautyBerry at Jeremy's house... was it you or Norma? (Or am I confused with some other treasure?)

And what was that nut? The nut case fell off and the plant is doing very well. It looks like marijuana, but I know it's some kind of nut... I'm quite sure you gave it to me.

(I still have about half a dozen plants from that Roundup that I'm not quite sure what they are.)

Hi Delecie, I grow a lot of natives. I have Wild Coffee, Beautyberry (which got attacked by mealybugs and I had to cut it down to 4 sticks. Thankfully, it's got a lot of new growth already) Bahama Cassia, Red Tip Cocoplum, Live Oaks, Blue Eye Grass,Blue porterweed, Natal plum, Firebush, Wax Myrtle, Necklace Pod, White Stopper, Simpson Stopper, Jamaica Caper, Fiddlewood and a few more.
I also have Monk Orchid growing all over, although the native aspect is still in question. Some say it is a native others say it is an invasive ????

I would love to have a Gumbo Limbo, but I have no space for it. There's a wonderful nursery on Flamingo Road that sells mainly natives. I have bought most of my plants from them.

Jnana:

I would love to see photographs of your plants. My natives have come from Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden ( http://www.ftg.org ) native plant sales, and one of my favorite nurseries, Plant Creations Nursery ( http://www.plantcreations.com )

Diane,

That nut that grew into what looks like pot, is a jatropha multifida. I am now finding out that if you hold the seeds too long before planting them, they turn black. Not sure if that's good or not.

Delecie, I am always the first to admit that I have a lot to learn, no matter how old I get. LOL

Molly
:^)))

Hi, all.

I have a slew of BeautyBerry. If anyone wants some of it, let me know. It comes up wild in my yard. I transplant some of it to its own little sanctuary, but there is always more popping up.

I am interested in having some of the white berried BeautyBerry. A friend is supposed to give me his plant before he moves out of his house and puts it up for sale, but that may be a while.

It may not grow much further south than Jacksonville and Tallahassee, but I have Clematis virginiana (Virgin's Bower) that is plentiful in my yard. Very fragrant, small white blossoms in the Fall.

Bidens alba var. radiata wants to take over every square inch of my property!

I have lantana to last for several lifetimes.

And what... no one mentioned those lovely Spiderworts? Tradescantia ohiensis? How many dozens would you like of them?

And a non-flowering native wonder was on my property when I bought it: Botrychium biternatum (Southern Grape Fern). I checked with the online Univ. of S. Fla. vascular plants site, sent a photo of my plant to them, and the professors there verified that it is B. biternatum. Not rare and endangered, but infrequently seen. I protected the main patch of it in my yard and successfully transplanted strays that were in other areas in my yard that might get mowed. I'm concerned that I did harm to its growing conditions by taking out the tops of the trees that were providing it shade, but the trees were also threatening to come through my roof in major wind storms. I will know around September/October if the B. biternatum is O. K. That's when it sends up it spore stalks and the leaves are at their fullest. Currently, it is totally dormant (I hope dormant and not dead!).

I have Cross Vine (Bignonia capreolata 'Jekyll'
and a volunteer Stoke's Blue Aster.

There are probably more natives scattered around. I'm trying to do an inventory of all my plants, but that seems to be such an enormous task that I can't quite get around to figuring out how to set it up and how to manage it. Maybe someday in my much older age it will happen!

We once had a chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society in Jacksonville about 15 years ago. It was a lot of fun and very informative, but it just kind of dissipated with a change of club officers. A real shame. I greatly enjoyed the field trips, especially.

Jeremy

Thanks, Molly. It's doing very well, by the way.

I still think somebody already gave me a beauty berry...

Now I'm looking for Witch Hazel. My local native nursery has me on their call list if they get it, but their suppliers haven't had any for more than a year. Anybody got some? Willing to trade? I've got lots of herbs and flutterby/hummer attractors!

Hi Jeremy. Your yard is full of native treasures. Can you post photographs? I still plan to post photographs of my young plants but I haven't been able to take photographs lately because the mosquitoes are numerous and vicious! I will try to take some this weekend after I spray the yard with Yard Guard and myself with insect repellent. :-)

Delecie, I have posted some pictures to the PF. But here are more. I don't have pictures of everything. I will try to take some pictures this weekend if it doesn't rain. I also don't venture out into my yard much right now because the mosquitoes are beyond vicious.
This is a picture of blue eye grass. It's almost dead at this point because of the heavy rains. I doubt that it will recover.

Here is a picture of the Beautyberry before it was attacked by mealybugs.

A photo of Wild Coffee with berries.

Simpson Stopper flowers.

Fiddlewood before I planted it.

Bahama Cassia

You have beautiful plants jnana. I am still surprised when I hear people say that they don't plant natives because they're unattractive. I wonder what natives they've been looking at!

Natal Plum.

jnana, I had a Bahama Cassia but I didn't know what it was. It didn't survive the hurricanes, but I really loved the plant and would like to get another. I love the pictures, puts a name to things I see, but don't know what they are.
Thanks,
Pati

Thank you Delecie.

I also wonder that. There are so many beautiful natives out there, I wish I could have just a yard full of them. I'm always on the lookout for new ones. Unfortunately, I have run out of space and I don't think I can squeeze anymore plants in my already overcrowded space.

If you want to see more please look at the pictures I've posted to the PF. I have Florida Gardenia, Cordia globosa and others. I hope you enjoyed them.

Patischell, I'll see if I can get a cutting rooted for you. It will take a little while but I'll send it to you when it roots.

Thank you so much! I don't know where I got the one I had. I was just starting to garden and bought one of everything! *grin*
Pati

That's my garden in a nutshell, one of everything LOL. I just can't resist a new plant, if it's weird or uncommon even better. So I have a very eclectic garden from natives to exotics and everything in between. Now, if I could convince my hubbie to buy a house with a big chunk of land I would be in heaven...

Jnana,

Patishell reports she's coming to the S Florida Round Up and YOU ARE TOO. I'll bet that would be a good time to give her the plant.

I know, Molly, mind your own beeswax.

:^))))

Hi Delecie..
A lot of my butterfly bed is native plants and then whatever comes up in the swamp including the recently transplanted pitcher plants

I've been trying to make the entire garden native plants, because am so discouraged with trying to push the zone limit, at least for now! LOL

My firebush is doing great, getting bigger and bigger, and probably will need pruning in the fall.

The gardens look so much better with the natives, and there are so very many of them, so a few experiments to see what can grow and what can't is a lot of fun

I'm especially interested in the yellow columbine that Jeremy pictured, and I've always loved Spiderworts....they have a sentimental meaning to me, as when we moved here my niece separated hers, and I brought it here, only to die......too much of a shock, I guess.

Gracie

The tree in the foreground is coming down today.........yes!!

My tree guys are here as I type, and have been waiting for quite awhile to get this job done

Oh, and if you don't mind seeing one more.......

I realize I over-exposed it......but, you get the idea!

Hummers dive into this each morning and at dusk.

Gracie

Stokesia is a FL native, and I have lots of that.
"Stokes' aster is native to the southeastern coastal plain from South Carolina to northern Florida to Louisiana where it grows in wetlands, including pine flatwoods, savannas, and pitcher plant seepage areas"
but I'm a little south of its native range. Its fine though, never has any problem whatsoever.

Boy, I'm way behind here! Just found out that the Florida Forum finally got started, now I need to catch up with everyone! (Dogzilla, that Beautyberry came from my yard.)

I'll have to go home and take inventory of my natives. I've been trying to use more of them over the past few years - they don't need as much attention as other plants. ; )

Amaryllisgal, Thank you!

A) I've been wondering where you were in this new forum, and
B) So it IS a beauty berry and it came from you! Now I remember and you'll be happy to know that it's doing great.

Now there's still a few more plants I can't remember what they are, but I'll have to take pics and e-mail them to the people they might have come from.

Is it the holiday weekend yet? Today has been the longest working day of my entire life. I swear the clock slowed to a crawl around 2:00 p.m. Gah!

Hi everyone! Here is a listing of my native plants. Beautyberry, blanket-flower, firebush, east coast beach sunflower, scorpion-tail, wild lantana, snow squarestem, shiny-leaf wild-coffee, live oak, cabbage palm, coontie, wild-lime, bee balm, Porterweed, Plumbago, Boston Fern, shepherd’s needles.
I may have more but I don't know the names of a good bunch of stuff I have. Pictures of some of my plants are posted in the plant files. As plants become more photographable, I take the shots and send them to the plant files area.
Art

I may have posted this before...some days don't remember my name until 11AM *grin*.....but I think it's a great site for Florida plant info. Check out the "landscaping" segment for wildlife plants.
Pati

http://www.fnps.org/pages/homepage/home.php

I just started "going native" about two years ago. I have been trying to add more natives and less exotics to my yard since then. I am mostly interested in attracting butterflies and birds with plants that are native and require little care and are attractive. I have had lots of help from friends who sent me seeds or gave me cuttings of various plants and I have bought some at Native Plant fairs and local business establishments. I still have a number of the usual exotic shrubs that are commonly planted around the foundations of homes and since they have been there 30 years I probably won't change those. But most of the new plants that are added will be natives. Most of my list is going to be common names but you will know what plant I am speaking of. I THINK these are natives--let me know if I include something that isn't. These are the ones I am growing on purpose. There are others growing in my "lawn" (such as it is) that I would rather do without. I have Live Oaks, Sweetbay, Cabbage Palm, Jamaica Caper, Fiddlewood, Wax Myrtle, Firebush, Simpson's Stopper, Shiny-Leaf Wild Coffee, Beautyberry, Dune Sunflower, Bahama Senna or Senna mexicana var. chapmanii (doesn't sound native either way, but it is), Blue Porterweed (the short groundcover variety with the light blue flowers), Silkleaf wild coffee, Rouge Plant, Elderberry, Wild Petunia, Blanket Flower, Marlberry, Bird Pepper, Scarlet Hibiscus or Swamp Hibiscus, Buttonbush, Salvia coccinea, Maypop Passionflower. And a few more which may or may not be native. Corky Stemmed Passion Flower Vine (Passiflora suberosa), Golden Dewdrop (Durantha erecta), Firethorn, and False Nettle. I had a couple of other natives but was unable to keep them alive: Paint Brush and Flatwoods Pawpaw. I am thrilled to see so many other native plant enthusiasts in the Florida Gardening permanent thread.

I have Rail Road Vine, Coontie Palms, Swamp Crinum Lily, Passiflora Incarnata and subrosa, and indian blanket flower as natives... oh and not to forget my green fly orchid I found on the side of the road during the last hurricane..

Chris

Hey, Chris! Another Jacksonvillian! I've not yet been able to locate a green fly orchid, unless I'm finding them and misidentifying them. I have lots of the so-called "Ball Moss" (Tillandsia recurvata) and it often has flower spikes on it that I sometimes hope are green fly orchid. I would love to see your specimen of green fly so that I would know what to look for. Oddly, I can't find any reference to the green fly orchid in the Plant Files, so maybe you can get a pix of yours to post?

Thanks, KillerC, for the info on Stoke's Blue Aster. I had two of them volunteer and am moving them out of the middle of the yard and into the flower beds so that I don't mistakenly mow them down (assuming I ever get around to mowing -- the one garden job I HATE to do!)

Patti, the FNPS site is great! I especially liked the page that lets you view a list of all the natives specific to each county. I bookmarked the page for Duval County. I contacted the E-mail address provided at the site to check on the possibility or re-starting a chapter of the native plant society in Jacksonville, but so far no response -- but then it is a holiday weekend. Anyone else in NE Fla that doesn't have a Native Plant Society chapter closer than Jacksonville would be, get in touch. Maybe we can get a chapter started up again.

Gracie, if you want spiderworts, I have the mother lode of them! It seems that those of us that have them either love or hate them. I've worked out a deal with them to allow them to grow at the backs of borders where they can reach about 4 ft high and add a nice blue touch and are hidden by the plants in front of them during their browned out down time. So far, they don't seem to be a respector of established boundaries. They still come up all over my yard, full sun to deep shade. I just sent a box full of them off to a DGer in Massachusetts that wanted to add them to his botanical garden collection. One gardener's weed is another gardener's treasured wonder!

The rain stopped long enough for me to check on the columbine seeds. I got quite a lot of seeds from the deep blue Alpine with large flowers. Few, if any, from my whiter shades, and, alas, very few from the yellow, but it still has some buds forming which I will watch carefully. I still have about 1/4 cup of the A. canadensis seeds to share.

Long-winded as usual. I forgot to mark this as a thread to "watch" so I had a lot of reading to catch up on!

Jeremy


This message was edited Jul 5, 2005 2:58 PM