In Jo's Yard - 67 Wild Lime Tree

Northerners come to Florida and “think palm trees”, but there are many other beautiful native trees.  My Wild Lime (Zanthoxylum fagara) is an example. It is known for its unusual foliage and fragrance.  You won’t get limes suitable for margaritas, but it can put out a tiny fruit that looks like a lime.  When it ripens the green skin opens to show two tiny black seeds that the birds like.  Its thorns make it a useful plant in buffer or screen area.  It will grow to 5-20 feet (height) and 2-12 feet (width).  It is evergreen, so it may provide some shade when it gets bigger.  On my Wild Lime tree, at least, the leaves are a yellow-green.  

This tree is host to for Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) and Schaus' Swallowtail (Heraclides aristodemus) in southern Florida. 

RESOURCES:

https://www.fnps.org/plants/plant/zanthoxylum-fagara

https://flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-zanthoxylum-fagara/#:~:text=Wild%20lime%20(Zanthoxylum%20fagara),for%20birds%20and%20small%20wildlife. 
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fp619


                                              October 2018 - Three months after planting
                                   Wild Lime Tree with Pinelands lantana and Muhly grass

                                                          July 2018 - tiny lime fruits

                     September 2018 - the two fruits ripened, opened to offer shiny black seeds

                                June 2020 - a close-up of the foliage of my Wild Lime tree

In Jo's Yard - 66 Pineland lantana

Two of my front yard flower beds have Pineland Lantana (Lantana depressa) shrubs bordering them.  There are three other species: Lantana camara (an aggressive and invasive plant), Lantana involucrata and Lantana depressa var. sanibelensis.  This species – Lantana depressa – is the one most often planted in residential areas.  My plants have beautiful yellow flowers almost all year round.  They also have some shiny black berry like fruit, which at first I found alarming – thinking there was something attacking the flowers.  The birds enjoyed this fruit.     

Pineland Lantana is fairly slow growing, but can be trimmed to keep a tidy appearance in the Fall or Winter when there are fewer flowers.  The butterflies love visiting these flowers – I see them flitting around there frequently, when looking out my office window.  I’ve also watched as a crow, being chased by six mockingbirds, finally released the baby mockingbird it had kidnapped.  The baby bird hopped to the Pineland Lantana for cover. 

   

This native shrub is one of the lower maintenance, flowering plants in my yard. 

RESOURCES:

https://www.fnai.org/FieldGuide/pdf/Lantana_depressa_var_depressa.pdf
https://www.fnps.org/plants/plant/lantana-depressa-var-depressa

https://www.miamiherald.com/living/home-garden/article218656865.html

                         August 2018 Pineland Lantana blooms just 1 month after planting, 

                        October 2018 Pineland Lantana border with Wild Lime Tree & Muhly Grass

In Jo's Yard - 65 Bee Balm

Bee Balm (Monards punctada),  also known as dotted horse mint, is a late summer bloomer. It is described as having “showy flowers” – and the blooms are quite unusual – to me the shape is reminiscent of an elaborate crown or tiara. I don’t think of them as “showy” though, because of the pale pink / blush color.  The Bee Balm plant is quite lovely though.  

The plant can grow to 3 feet tall by 4 feet wide, but it is tolerant of being trimmed and shaped if you want to keep it tidy in a bed.  Bee Balm attracts a wide variety of pollinators – bees, butterflies, wasps.  The plant had many homeopathic uses – to treat ringworm and hookworm infections, has been used as an antiseptic in mouthwash and toothpaste – because of it is a natural source of the antiseptic compound, thymol. 

Bee Balm is an aggressive re-seeder, so you may want to cut the spent flower stalks as soon as possible. I read that it does not mix well with other wildflowers, so that explains why Green Isle Habitat Designer Kirsten Sharp-Ortega [Green Isle Gardens], planted it inside a bed, between my Flatwood Plum trees and behind the Pinelands Lantana.  The plant dies back down to the ground in the fall.

RESOURCES:

https://www.fnps.org/plants/plant/monarda-punctata
http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/bayco/2016/09/16/attract-pollinators-with-dotted-horsemint/
https://flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-monarda-punctata/
http://hawthornhillwildflowers.blogspot.com/2010/11/dotted-horsemint-monarda-punctata.html

                    August 2018 – Bee Balm planted in July, starting to bloom

                             September 2018 Beautiful Bee Balm plant

                            September 2019 Bee Balm blooms in morning sun

In Jo's Yard - 64 Tropical Sage

Next to the Blanket Flower, I think the Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinea) is the most prolific flower in my garden.  My plants have flowers that are scarlet red, a rosy pink or white.  It is native all along the Southeast of the US from South Carolina to Florida to Texas.  It likes full sun to partial shade.  In my yard it grows best in the Wildflower garden that gets morning & afternoon sun, and grows also in the backyard which gets the afternoon sun.  It flowers nearly year-round depending on the weather, but typically from spring to first frost.  Tropical Sage pops up everywhere in my yard.  It is easily plucked from the ground and re-planted, or stuck in a pot to give as a gift.  I have found it growing up though the Scorpion-tail, in amongst the twinflower, all over the yard in the frog-fruit.  I love to look at its glowing red tubular flowers in the morning sun from my office window. 

The tubular flowers attract butterflies, hummingbirds, bees.  The sparrows and finches alight on it and pluck the seeds.  If not thinned out, it will easily take over the space.  You can pinch the spent flower stems at the bottom to encourage more flowers. 

I can highly recommend this flower if you just want to add a native plant to your bed, because it is so easy to grow. 

RESOURCES: 

https://www.fnps.org/assets/pdf/pubs/salvia_coccinea_tropicalsage.pdf

http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/charlotteco/2017/11/20/tropical-sage-cheerful-little-native-flower/

                                        July 2019, bee (left) enjoys my red Tropical Sage

                        September 2019, white Tropical Sage in my Wildflower Garden

In Jo's Yard - 63 Black Racer Snake

May 24, 2020, a Facebook friend who is wintering in Southern Florida, posts a photo of a black snake she sees in her yard.  That same morning, I come upon a Southern black racer snake (aka Eastern racer) among the pine straw bales on the north side of the house.  I take a photo – look up and it’s gone.  This non-venomous snake is aptly named, for how fast it moves, usually away from you. 

However, if they are cornered and feel threatened, they may vigorously shake their tail (making a rattling sound on the floor or dry leaves) and may release a foul-smelling "musk" on their captor or even strike if handled.  

This is actually my second encounter with a black racer.  Back in August 2019, a black racer snake (over 2' long, non-venomous, still scary) evidently chased a mouse into my garage - both stuck in the glue trap! Thank heavens Terry from Creative Garden Structures [Creative Garden Structures] was here working on my yard! He removed the glue trap from the black racer's head & "released it into the wild"! The mouse was a "goner".   

My neighbor mentioned that just this previous week, he observed a black snake crossing an open area on his lawn, and being attacked by mockingbirds.  The mockingbirds were dive-bombing the snake until the snake made it to cover of shrubbery by the house.  No doubt there is a mockingbird nest nearby, that the birds were protecting.  

Racer snakes are generally welcomed by gardeners.  Their diet consists of lizards, insects, moles, rodents, birds, eggs, small snakes, and frogs.  Their natural enemies are birds of prey such as hawks.  A hawk with its keen eyesight and ability to drop down from above, catching this snake, negating the snake’s acute awareness of what is going on at ground level.  Dwindling natural habitat and human interference are contributing factors in the demise of these snakes which are really beneficial to the environment. 

VIDEO LINK from YOUTUBE of mockingbird attacking black snake:         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LflgPbQJm_o

RESOURCES:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_black_racer

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/uw258

https://academic.oup.com/auk/article-abstract/72/3/296/5213324?redirectedFrom=PDF

Black Racer Snake over 2' long among the bales of pine straw in my yard

In Jo's Yard - 62 Helmut Skullcap

Helmet Skullcap (Scutellaria integrifolia) is just stunning when in full bloom in my wildflower garden.  I just love the deep blue color, and they remind me of little snapdragons.  It attracts a variety of pollinators including a wide range of bees, as well as some butterflies, like the Gulf fritillary, Eastern black swallowtail or Spicebush swallowtail.   

Helmut Skullcap dies back to the ground in the winter.  In the spring, it emerges with arrow shaped leaves, sometimes with a reddish tinge.  They may grow to 2 to 2-1/2 feet tall, and the flowers appear in the summer.  They are pollinated by the bees mostly, and the occasional butterfly visitor.  They produce a large number of seeds, and the next spring may pop up all over.  This is one plant that is easily removed or potted up to give to friends (or donate to native plant auctions, like the ones we have at our Villages’ Chapter of FNPS meetings – when we can get back together. 

RESOURCES:  

https://www.fnps.org/plants/plant/scutellaria-integrifolia

https://flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-scutellaria-integrifolia/

http://hawthornhillwildflowers.blogspot.com/2010/08/helmet-skullcap-scutellaria.html

July 2018 when first planted in my wildflower garden

May 2019 Helmut Skullcap is back for year 2                       June 2019 Helmut Skullcap in full bloom

In Jo's Yard - 61 Narrow-Leaf Ironweed

The Tall Narrow-leaf Ironweed (Vernonia angustifolia) in my backyard is starting to come back after a winter’s rest.  It is deciduous, dying back to the ground in winter and emerging in early spring. In March-April, it begins as a fresh green little pile of elliptical leaves with serrated edges.  By June it could be 2-3 feet tall, with stunning purple flowers.  I love that it is planted with the tall yellow starry Rosinflower – a beautiful color combination.   

This plant is attractive to bees, butterflies and birds, and currently, my birdhouse is right in the middle – and occupied every spring! 

In the fall, the Ironweed is quite tall, and sometimes leaning one way or another.  The purple flowers start to form seed heads.  The stems seem quite thick, but they are hollow, so it is possible to use hand clippers to cut them back to the ground.  Over winter, it can be hard to remember where they were, so you might want to mark them with sign, or pine cones, etc., so you can look for their emergence the next spring. 

RESOURCES:

https://www.fnps.org/plants/plant/vernonia-angustifolia

https://flawildflowers.org/wildflowers-blow/

https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/162507/#b

http://hawthornhillwildflowers.blogspot.com/2010/07/common-ironweed-vernonia-angustifolia.html

                  MARCH 2019 – Narrow-leaf Ironweed starting to come back

                              JUNE 2019 – Narrow-leaf Ironweed in full bloom

                                        JUNE 2019 – Narrow-leaf Ironweed with Starry 
                                                       Rosinflower – lovely contrast

In Jo's Yard - 60 Wild Petunias

WILD PETUNIAS!  What does that name conjure up? Petunias run wild!  Fun times …. Gosh I’ve been in quarantine too long!  But my yard and garden is a refuge in these times of “corona virus lockdown”. 

I love my wild petunias (Ruellia caroliniensis) and I’ve doubled the number of plants since they were planted in September 2018, in my backyard (the west side of the house).  Fresh blooms every day for spring, summer and fall, April -  September.  It is the host to two types of butterflies, the common buckeye and the white peacock.  Its tubular flowers attract a variety of pollinators.  It will self-seed, and this spring (second spring in my yard), I have found just a couple of “volunteers” in the backyard bed. 

Wild petunias are winter dormant, and by late fall are getting leggy.  I was advised to trim them back.  They will die back to the ground, so the other advice I received was that I might want to mark where they are, so I could remember over the winter.  I marked them with pinecones from the pine straw the first two winters.    Now that I know where they are, or where they are supposed to be, I don’t think I need to mark them anymore. 

CAUTION: many big box stores sell the highly invasive Mexican Petunias (Ruellia simplex).  This invasive species will displace the native species. It does not respond well to herbicides.  I encourage you to “plant responsibly” – Native plants support native wildlife. 

RESOURCES: 

https://www.fnps.org/plants/plant/ruellia-caroliniensis

https://flawildflowers.org/resources/pdfs/Publications/10EasyWildflowersButterfliesBees.pdf

  September 2018 These Wild Petunias were planted in my backyard just 2 weeks earlier

                            June 2019 - My Wild Petunias in front of the Compact Firebush

                          Wild Petunia with White Peacock butterfly (from FlWildflowers.org)

In Jo's Yard - 59 Stokes Aster

In my Wildflower garden bed, I have Twinflower, Rain Lily, Tropical Sage, Scorpion-Tail, Milkweed, Goldenaster, Skullcap, Brown-Eyed Susan and Stokes Aster.  The Stokes Aster plant reminds me a little of the Starry Rosinflower plant – a group of leaves with stems and flowers rising up 10”-24”.  “Stokes aster is named to honor the English physician and botanist Jonathan Stokes who became well known for his work using foxglove (digitalis) to treat heart failure” according to the University of Florida. 

The foliage is evergreen.  It prefers sun to partial sunny areas (my Wildflower garden faces East).  The flowers are abundant and frequented by pollinators.  The buds and flowers are quite lovely.  Pinch of the spent flowers to encourage more flowering.  Otherwise, they are very low maintenance.  I’ve read that you may need to divide mature clumps, but at two-years in my garden I have not had to deal with that yet.  The usual color, shown in photos from my garden below, is a kind of lavender, but I have read that it has been cultivated in other colors.  It is easy to collect the tiny seeds, if you want.

RESOURCES:  

 

https://www.fnps.org/plants/plant/stokesia-laevis

https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/ornamentals/stokes-aster.html

                  Planted in July 2018, starting to bloom in September 2018      

Nov 2018  Stokes aster plants in various stages of bloom

                    April 2019 Monarch Butterfly visits Stokes Aster bloom 

In Jo's Yard - 58 Starry Rosinflower

Starry Rosinweed (Silphium asteriscus) is in a corner of my backyard, in a bed with Muhly Grass, Privet Senna and Narrowleaf Ironweed.  They are beautiful daisy-like tall flowers that bloom from March into September or October.  I clip the spent stems low to the ground.  I have to say that Green Isle Gardens [Green Isle Gardens website] had a great suggestion to plant the Narrowleaf Ironweed in with it – when they are both in full bloom the yellow and deep purple just look stunning! 

I always find the feel of the Rosinflower leaves surprising – stiff, a little hairy, a little sticky!  The leaves are a deep green color and “firm”, not droopy.  The buds are delicate looking and flowers are bright and with well-formed petals.  The stems are tall and graceful.  Even when the flowers die back, they provide an interesting sight in the garden.  It is described as a prolific self-seeder, but I have not had that experience in my yard.  


RESOURCES:
https://flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-silphium-asteriscus/  
https://www.fnps.org/plants/plant/silphium-asteriscus



                              Starry Rosinflower – bud on the right, in bloom, 
                              and past blooms (no petals, brown seeds)

                                 June 2019 – Starry Rosinflower in full bloom

                                Starry Rosinflower with Narrowleaf Ironweed

In Jo's Yard - 57 Blanket Flowers

Blanket Flowers (Gaillardia pulchella) and one lone red Pentas make up a large bed around my lamp post in the front yard.  I describe the Blanket Flowers as quite happy and prolific flowers – they seem to re-seed anywhere at the drop of a hat (or a seed)!  Blanket flowers are native to Florida, but actually grow from Florida all the way to Canada. 

In Central Florida, Blanketfower is heat- and drought-tolerant.  Its peak blooming season is mid-Spring to late-Summer, but generally here has flowers year-round.   The bees and the butterflies love it!  I found by chance a Monarch Butterfly Chrysalis attached to one, one summer. 

As I said, it will reproduce prolifically, anywhere and everywhere – in the cracks of the driveway, in the middle of the flori-mulch pathway.  But if the plants are in the ground, it is also easy to dig them up and replant where you want them, and have them grow successfully. 

In late fall, trim them down to 6”-8” stubble.  You don’t have to worry about cold snaps, they are very hardy. 

Caution:  If you are purchasing from a box store, check the variety of blanket flower to get the native variety.  Avoid non-native Gaillardia aristata or one of the many varieties of Gaillardia pulchella or Gaillardia x grandiflora (a hybrid of G. pulchella and G. aristata).


Resources:
http://flawildflowers.org/resources/pdfs/2014/Blanketflower.pdf

                                                 Blanket Flower close-up in my garden

Blanket Flower garden around my lamp post