Karspeak's (Karen's) Gardening...

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Karspeak's (Karen's) Gardening...

1karspeak
maaliskuu 6, 2021, 10:12 pm

Hi, all, I've dropped in on this group periodically over the years, living vicariously through your gardens and the creatures that visited them:). After many, many moves, we finally own a home that we plan to stay in for a long while. I live in the Florida panhandle in zone 9a. I haven't gardened in 20 years (since college!), so I am rusty and have a lot to learn! My yard came fully landscaped but has very few plants to support wildlife. I've bought 10 native plants to start with, a mixture of flowers, bushes, and trees, and I plan to build from there. There is a great native plants website for Florida, which has been so helpful. I'll try to post photos as things progress! Please feel free to chime in with advice!

2Tess_W
maaliskuu 10, 2021, 5:57 am

Congrats on the new digs! 10 plants is a great start to supporting wildlife. Please tell us what kind of plants and what type of wildlife can be found in the Florida panhandle. (I'm from the midwest)

32wonderY
maaliskuu 10, 2021, 6:42 am

Yes; I too want more info and pictures. Glad you’ve gotten started!

4karspeak
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 16, 2021, 10:12 pm

>2 Tess_W: >3 2wonderY: Thank you!
Here is a list of the plants I’ve planted thus far. I’ll try to post pictures in a few weeks!

In pots:
Leavenworth’s Tickseed, coreopsis leavenworthii
Lanceleaf Coreopsis (x2), coreopsis lanceolata
Blanket Flower, gaillardia pulchella

Pool yard fences:
American Native Wisteria, wisteria frutescens
Coral Honeysuckle, lonicera sempervirens
Scarlet Sage, salvia coccinea
White Wild Indigo, baptisia alba, full sun, mod water, 1-2 foot stems

Backyard:
Beautyberry, callicarpa americana
Frogfruit, phyla nodiflora
Privet cassia, senna ligustrina, 3-8 feet tall, up to 6 feet wide, but usually taller than wider, full sun to light shade, dry to slightly moist sandy soil, sensitive to cold

Edge of woods:
Sweet Pepperbush, clethra alnifolia, 3-10 feet tall, 2-5 feet wide, full sun-shade

Woods:
Elderberry, sambucus canadensis, up to 12 feet, likes wet areas

Sandy Patch:
Ironweed, vernonia gigantiea
White Milkweed, asclepias perennis

Discovered wildflowers:
False rosemary, conradina
Bidens alba

5karspeak
Muokkaaja: maaliskuu 23, 2021, 8:40 pm


This is yellow rhexia, a native wildflower I found growing in the woods next to my house. It is listed as "infrequent to rare" and grows in "the coastal plain pinelands and savannas of northern Florida, west to Louisiana, and north to the Carolinas."

6karspeak
maaliskuu 23, 2021, 8:44 pm


This native wildflower is conradina canescens, also known as false rosemary.

7karspeak
Muokkaaja: elokuu 8, 2023, 11:37 pm


And finally, here is bidens alba, which is apparently quite a common wildflower throughout Florida, although I haven't seen it much around my area. I've also discovered some fetterbush (lyonia lucida), sand blackberry (rubus cuneifolius), and Carolina jesamine. Now that more plants are leafing out, I will try to learn what other native plants are growing near my house.

8karspeak
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 2, 2021, 5:16 pm

9karspeak
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 2, 2021, 5:17 pm

10karspeak
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 14, 2021, 1:40 pm

11karspeak
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 2, 2021, 5:30 pm

The above 3 pictures are my only plants blooming thus far. The first two pictures are salvia coccinea (scarlet sage) and baptisia alba (wild white indigo). I haven't seen any bees, etc on them yet, but the bees have been visiting my Meyer lemon blossoms, which smell lovely.

I planted new plants today, listed below:).
3 asclepias tuberosa (butterflyweed)
1 lantana depressa (pineland lantana)
1 asclepias perennis (white swamp milkweed)
2 more frogfruit
1 native phlox

12karspeak
huhtikuu 3, 2021, 6:19 pm

I planted 4 passionflower seedlings this afternoon that a neighbor gave me, so hopefully at least one or two will take.

13karspeak
huhtikuu 16, 2021, 9:37 pm

I bought 7 new plants today which I hope to get in the ground this weekend.

Phlox divaricata (woodland phlox)
Viburnum nudum (possum haw) --I'm going to try this bush in a low spot in my yard that sometimes has standing water for up to 2 days after heavy rains
Prunus umbellata (flatwoods plum) --supports a huge number of pollinators (#2 after oaks in my area)
Vernonia angustifolia (ironweed)
Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush) --this will be planted next to a pond behind our house, replacing a thorny olive bush (Elaeagnus pungens)
Rhododendron austrinum (Florida azalea or orange azalea)
Salvia coccinea (scarlet sage)

14japaul22
huhtikuu 17, 2021, 8:25 am

Lovely!

15karspeak
huhtikuu 17, 2021, 1:25 pm

>14 japaul22: Thanks!!

16qebo
huhtikuu 18, 2021, 9:37 am

I haven't been around this group much lately, but saw your post in Club Read. Interesting to see native plants in a different part of the country.

17karspeak
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 18, 2021, 10:19 am

>16 qebo: It’s still a high learning curve for me, since I’m fairly new to Florida.

18karspeak
toukokuu 12, 2021, 11:20 pm

I planted one more plant, some kind of native sunflower, that I bought at the library plant sale. My scarlet sage is still blooming a little bit, and my lanceleaf coreopsis and blanket flower began blooming in late April and look lovely. My fogfruit is also blooming, although you have to look closely to see its tiny flowers. Everything else seems to be doing fine, except my butterfly weed plants and my passionflower plants have hardly grown at all. They either need more sun or don't like all the rain we've been getting. I'll try to post photos in the next few weeks.

19karspeak
toukokuu 12, 2021, 11:38 pm

Oh, and I harvested a few seeds from a spiderwort plant growing in the ditch across from the grocery store today, so I'll try sowing those in the ground tomorrow.

202wonderY
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 13, 2021, 5:52 am

I’ve never noticed seeds on a spiderwort.

And yes, the butterfly weed loves full sun.

Looking foreword to pictures!

21karspeak
Muokkaaja: joulukuu 24, 2021, 10:26 pm



Lanceleaf coreopsis

22karspeak
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 14, 2021, 2:01 pm



Blanket flowers

23karspeak
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 6, 2022, 6:15 pm



A new-to-me wildflower I found in the woods today. It is sandhill laurel, and apparently it's related to mountain laurel. It's also called hairy wicky(!!).

24karspeak
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 14, 2021, 2:24 pm



The edge of my backyard. I have only planted a few things here--possum haw, sweet pepperbush, and a flatwoods plum. I identified a fair number of plants in the understory, and I was surprised at the diversity. All the green bushes look the same from a distance.

25karspeak
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 14, 2021, 2:23 pm

I moved one of the milkweeds that had barely grown to a sunnier spot (thanks 2wonderY!), we'll see if it survives the transplant. I also planted my scavenged spiderwort seeds, which are about the size of sesame seeds. My patio flowers are flourishing, as you can see above, but my other plants that are blooming are much more understated. I look forward next year to (hopefully) having my native wysteria, coral honeysuckle, and passionflower plants bloom.

I haven't seen any bees or butterflies for the past month, which worries me, since I saw them earlier in the spring. Tons of lizards and birds, though, including the occasional heron or hawk.

26karspeak
heinäkuu 11, 2021, 10:45 am

My husband planted a black mission fig tree for me in our back yard last week. It is only a few feet tall but seems quite healthy. The grass growing in the pine straw beds around the house has been quite challenging. I don’t want to spray, and it is very difficult to weed. My next plan is to try laying cardboard under the pine straw. I recently heard that the only native plant nursery in this region is closing at the end of the summer, so I will try to make a final trip up there before it closes. I have gathered seeds from some of the wildflowers on my patio, and I’ll try to grow them in small pots. I tried planting them directly in the ground, and that didn’t work. My next “gardening” task is to clear some of the small trees and brush by the pond, so that open areas in the woods remain for wildflowers to grow. Normally wildfires would serve the same purpose.

27karspeak
heinäkuu 26, 2021, 12:17 am

My husband and I planted the following today:
1 butterfly weed
2 pointed blue eye grass
1 cardinal flower
1 coral bean
2 spiderworts
1 goldenrod

It was so hot, but we got it done.

28karspeak
syyskuu 6, 2021, 10:51 pm

Well, my plants are all doing well, except for my coral honeysuckle which the yard crew accidentally cut down. The bad news is that I have torpedo grass invading my yard. It is a class 1 invasive species (that means it's really bad), originally from Asia. Even the hardcore Florida native gardening FB group admits you have to use herbicide to control it. So, I have an herbicide guy coming to spray certain parts of my yard, and I will try to very carefully spot treat it in other parts of the yard, including the back part that borders the small forest. Ugh. It is spreading into the small patch of open forest where various wildflowers grow, and if it takes over it will be nothing but torpedo grass. Ugh.

I recently read/skimmed The Nature of Oaks by Doug Tallamy. Oak trees support the highest number of insects, and therefore wildlife, of any plant in the US. That is even more true if the leaf litter is allowed to accumulate under the branches, instead of just having mown grass beneath. I tramped around part of the small pine forest behind my house and found three small oak trees growing in the underbrush. I cleared out around them and pulled away the vines, and I'll try to nurture them over the next few years. Normally, naturally occurring fires would help to keep the underbrush in check.

29lisapeet
syyskuu 7, 2021, 12:20 pm

Our coral honeysuckle is constantly under threat from the white honeysuckle, which is 100% our fault for planting since it's so aggressive, but together they're gorgeous... if the coral gets a sporting chance.

30karspeak
Muokkaaja: syyskuu 7, 2021, 4:51 pm

>29 lisapeet: Ooh, I bet that color combo is amazing!

31karspeak
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 6, 2022, 7:06 pm

32karspeak
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 6, 2022, 6:16 pm



33karspeak
Muokkaaja: tammikuu 6, 2022, 7:13 pm

Here are some photos I took on December 2nd, of the ponds behind and in front of our house. The orange trees (besides the two scraggly crepe myrtles) are bald cypress trees. The fall colors were stunning this year! It was a lovely surprise since the previous two winters everything just turned a drab brown. I didn't get a photo of the golden wild muscadine vines, which contrasted with the green of the pine trees, or the scarlet Virginia creepers that climbed up some of the pine trunks.

342wonderY
tammikuu 6, 2022, 9:01 pm

>32 karspeak: Wow! Nice view!

35lisapeet
tammikuu 7, 2022, 11:43 am

>32 karspeak: Gorgeous! I'm looking out the window at black branches with a lot of snow, with just a few spots of color from my neighbor's holly tree, so that sight is very welcome.

Do you grow any vegetables? This weekend I'm sitting down and ordering seeds to start so I can get seedlings in the ground on time for once.

36karspeak
tammikuu 23, 2022, 2:53 pm

>35 lisapeet: I don't grow any vegetables, only herbs. The herbs are on a drip system tied to the automatic sprinklers, so I don't have to hand water every day in the Florida heat, thankfully. I still have to hand water some plants year round, such as our fig tree, elderberry tree, and flatwoods plum. But hopefully in a few years their roots will be well established enough that I don't have to. I would like to try growing flowers from seed this year, since it's almost impossible for me to buy native wildflowers locally.

37karspeak
Muokkaaja: huhtikuu 10, 2022, 6:55 pm

I spent many hours in my yard this weekend, mostly weeding. The good news is that pretty much all of the plants from last year are doing well, and some of the annuals spread naturally by seed. I planted one new tree, a fringe tree (American, not Chinese), which I ordered online. I would like to plant more flowers such as milkweed, etc, but the native plants nursery near-ish me closed down. I'm hoping that the library plant sale in a few weeks might have some good options. The two oaks that I "saved" in the forest by clearing out vines and competing bushes are also doing well.

More good news is that the evil torpedo grass didn't spread over the winter in my back yard. Today I carefully applied herbicide by paintbrush to the torpedo grass, which seems to keep it at bay. It is also spreading along the edges of the lake, in the water, but there isn't much I can do about that.

The bad news is that grass is growing into my pinestraw beds like crazy. Our lot is a half acre, so we have a lot of beds around the house, with various bushes, liriope, etc. I've been battling it by weeding, laying cardboard, etc, but at this point I have to admit defeat, I think. The pine straw on the edge of the forest is okay thus far, but I'm not quite sure what to do about the rest of the yard...

38fuzzi
huhtikuu 15, 2022, 7:55 am

Found and starred your thread!

39karspeak
huhtikuu 15, 2022, 4:00 pm

>38 fuzzi: I like your raised beds!

40fuzzi
huhtikuu 15, 2022, 8:55 pm

>39 karspeak: thank you!

I'm trying to get as much done as I can before Summer HEAT arrives, with humidity.

41karspeak
toukokuu 10, 2022, 1:17 pm

I spent a lot of time weeding this past weekend, and I also planted 3 butterfly weed plants. I transplanted some coreopsis, blanketflower, and bidens alba, so we'll see what takes.

422wonderY
toukokuu 10, 2022, 1:30 pm

I love butterfly weed!

43fuzzi
toukokuu 10, 2022, 2:03 pm

>41 karspeak: my coreopsis takes over in every place I plant it.

44karspeak
Muokkaaja: toukokuu 20, 2022, 9:17 pm

>43 fuzzi: I have a fairly large space I'm trying to fill in, so hopefully it will spread to the challenge!

I spent several hours today painting on herbicide to each stalk of torpedo grass trying to spread to the back yard from the lake. In another week or two there will need to be a second application. The good news is that I found another small oak tree being smothered by bushes and vines in the woods, and opened up the space around it. That's a total of 3 "rescued" oak trees, which are prioritized since they support more wildlife than other plant/tree species in the US (per the author Doug Tallamy). The goldenrod and fetterbush are about to bloom, and it looks like there will be wild grapes soon, which the birds will like. The privet cassia tree is blooming, but I haven't found any signs of cloudless sulphur caterpillars or sleepy orange caterpillars. I just looked, and, oops, I am north of privet cassia's natural range (southern Florida), so that could explain it.

45karspeak
Muokkaaja: elokuu 8, 2023, 11:40 pm

It's been over a year since I posted. We had a hard freeze here in the Florida panhandle this past winter, and we lost our lime tree (nooo!) and many of the other native plants I had planted. A few did fine, though. None of the trees/plants in the forest adjoining our property died in the freeze, so I am questioning the supposed "native plants" which didn't make it. Since we are only about 2 miles from the beach, I'm guessing it's a microclimate issue.

This summer I have continued to battle the highly invasive torpedo grass. Ugh. I have also spent time cutting down vines etc which love to grow and cover everything in the forest. Normally occasional wildfires (or controlled burns, for state forests) would suppress the overgrowth, but I try to at least keep the forest edges in check, since controlled burns aren't an option.

The native perennials in pots on my patio have done well and come back each year. They are maintenance free, besides the occasional trim.

46karspeak
Muokkaaja: elokuu 8, 2023, 11:37 pm

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