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Visit www.plantrealflorida.org and click on Retail Nurseries to find the Florida Native Plant Nursery closest to you.
Here we will see the Loyolas transform their quite ordinary yard of their new home into a landscape filled with life: birds & butterflies, and other native critters, who are welcomed as part of a beautiful native landscape. I hope to share pictures and videos documenting every step of the way. Stay tuned!
I'll be calling Tim to see if he would like to be on camera with us, regarding proper pruning and tree placement.
May 5th, 2013 Has it really been so long? MORE mulch, this time for FREE, donuts are connected and low places filled in.
Before
After!
October 1st, 2012: Back Ten Feet is Filling In!
A bird bath is always welcome! Notice it is shallow, and made of a rough material birds can easily hold onto or stand in without slipping.
September 1, 2012: Transformation 3.5 DETAILS! Spacing Matters!
August 16, 2012: Updated Pictures from the Loyolas Back Ten Feet
More mulch will be added beyond the plants closest to us as time goes by
Cathy and Carlos used cardboard from moving boxes to help kill
the grass before putting the mulch down: re-use, re-cycle! Mulch will be added all
the way to the fence and out beyond the plants at least 10 feet wide.
Simpson stopper loaded with berries! One of many Florida native shrubs they
put in that feed native and migratory birds and butterflies.
If you can get Florimulch from Forestry Resources, it's a wonderful mulch.
Made from an invasive plant here in Florida, it doesn't float, does not attract
termites, and really works great for all your plants.
August 15, 2012
Thank you Lord! We are finally getting some rain. Our plants are looking so much better and the birds are coming in like crazy. The beautiful fiddlewood really had us concerned. It was such a large plant, 25 gallon, and it was so hot. We watered every morning after we planted and by 6pm it was looking sad! Now we have received a nice afternoon drenching for about a week everyday and that fiddlewood is looking fantastic! Some of the berries are maturing and the birds are having a feast.
The little firebush has been stripped of all its berries; I watched as the birds plucked each berry off the plant! And the spicewood berries are green and will be maturing soon-so cool.
We did have one casualty----yep---you guessed, the rusty lyonia. We knew it was a stretch but we tried it anyway. It really prefers acidic soil. It started dying almost as soon as we put it in the ground and I pronounced it completely dead as of this morning. So sorry, I was stubborn. The other option would have been to grow it in a large pot, but I really wanted to see if it would survive our soil---the definitive answer is a resounding NO.
Everything else is looking great. We have a few bags of mulch to put out still and we will be done with our initial planting. So sorry I have not provided you with any pictures so you can see how lovely everything looks. We are quite pleased!!!!!
We are trying to schedule Rick Joyce to come by, our certified arborist friend, to talk to us about what we have and whether or not it is in the right place or not. We have a feeling one of our best trees is too close to the house, but we are not thinking about it until we talk to Rick!
Thanks for keeping up with our progress.
July 29, 2012
Here is the list of plants native to a mesic hamock in the 33901 zip code per the Institute For Regional Conservation. The Loyolas will pick the plants they use in their yard from this list based on mature height and width, light conditions, and what they are trying to accomplish.
Mesic Hammock: Flatland with sand/organic soil over a sand substrate; mesic; subtropical; occasional or rare fire; live oak and/or cabbage palm.
Plants found in the Mesic Hammock habitat, in
zip code 33901
|
 |
Widely cultivated |
 |
Cultivated at native plant nurseries |
| Common Name | Scientific Name |
| American beautyberry |
Callicarpa americana |
| Ball-moss | Tillandsia recurvata |
| Bloodleaf, Juba's bush | Iresine diffusa |
| Blue-maidencane |
Amphicarpum muhlenbergianum |
| Button-hemp, False nettle, Bog hemp | Boehmeria cylindrica |
| Cabbage palm |
Sabal palmetto |
| Calusa grape | Vitis shuttleworthii |
| Canada toadflax | Linaria canadensis |
| Coastal bedstraw | Galium hispidulum |
| Coastalplain staggerbush | Lyonia fruticosa |
| Coco-plum |
Chrysobalanus icaco |
| Common moonflowers, Moonflowers | Ipomoea alba |
| Coontie, Florida arrowroot |
Zamia integrifolia |
| Coralbean, Cherokee bean |
Erythrina herbacea |
| Corkystem passionflower |
Passiflora suberosa |
| Dahoon holly, Dahoon |
Ilex cassine |
| Eastern gamagrass, Fakahatchee grass |
Tripsacum dactyloides |
| Elderberry, American elder |
Sambucus canadensis |
| Fetterbush | Lyonia lucida |
| Firebush |
Hamelia patens |
| Florida butterfly orchid | Encyclia tampensis |
| Florida elephant's-foot, Tall elephant's-foot |
Elephantopus elatus |
| Florida grape | Vitis cinerea var. floridana |
| Giant wild-pine, Giant airplant | Tillandsia utriculata |
| Golden polypody | Phlebodium aureum |
| Gumbo-limbo |
Bursera simaruba |
| Hog-plum, Tallowwood |
Ximenia americana |
| Laurel oak, Diamond oak |
Quercus laurifolia |
| Long strap fern | Campyloneurum phyllitidis |
| Marlberry |
Ardisia escallonioides |
| Muscadine, Muscadine grape | Vitis rotundifolia |
| Myrsine, Colicwood |
Myrsine cubana |
| Ocean-blue morningglory | Ipomoea indica var. acuminata |
| Persimmon, Common persimmon |
Diospyros virginiana |
| Red mulberry |
Morus rubra |
| Reflexed wild-pine, Northern needleleaf | Tillandsia balbisiana |
| Rein orchid, Toothpetal false reinorchid | Habenaria floribunda |
| Resurrection fern | Pleopeltis polypodioides var. michauxiana |
| Rougeplant |
Rivina humilis |
| Royal fern |
Osmunda regalis var. spectabilis |
| Saltbush, Groundsel tree, Sea-myrtle |
Baccharis halimifolia |
| Satinleaf |
Chrysophyllum oliviforme |
| Saw palmetto |
Serenoa repens |
| Shiny blueberry |
Vaccinium myrsinites |
| Shiny-leaved wild coffee |
Psychotria nervosa |
| Shoestring fern | Vittaria lineata |
| Shortleaf wild coffee |
Psychotria sulzneri |
| Silverling | Baccharis glomeruliflora |
| Soft-leaved wild-pine, Leatherleaf airplant | Tillandsia variabilis |
| Southern shield fern | Thelypteris kunthii |
| Spanish-moss | Tillandsia usneoides |
| St. Andrew's-cross | Hypericum hypericoides |
| Stiff-leaved wild-pine, Cardinal airplant | Tillandsia fasciculata var. densispica |
| Strangler fig, Golden fig |
Ficus aurea |
| Sugarberry, Southern Hackberry |
Celtis laevigata |
| Swamp fern, Toothed midsorus fern |
Blechnum serrulatum |
| Thin-leaved wild-pine, Southern needleleaf | Tillandsia setacea |
| Twinberry, Simpson's stopper |
Myrcianthes fragrans |
| Twisted wild-pine, Potbelly airplant | Tillandsia paucifolia |
| Variable witchgrass | Dichanthelium commutatum |
| Virginia live oak |
Quercus virginiana |
| Virginia-creeper, Woodbine | Parthenocissus quinquefolia |
| Wax myrtle, Southern Bayberry |
Myrica cerifera |
| Whisk-fern |
Psilotum nudum |
| White stopper |
Eugenia axillaris |
| Wild Boston fern |
Nephrolepis exaltata |
| Wild-lime, Lime prickly-ash |
Zanthoxylum fagara |
| Woodsgrass, Basketgrass |
Oplismenus hirtellus |
July 28
Hey
Everyone,
Well, Carlos and I figured some time has passed and we should let you know what is going on in our Back Ten Feet. Today I am working at All Native Garden Center, come see me, and my wonderful husband is putting our last few plants in the ground and spreading mulch. It has been a slow process and hot as heck to boot. We are so excited to have our first round of plants in the ground and our first large area of mulch completed. Our friend, Sue Scott, will be over tomorrow to get you some pictures of our progress---it is awesome--we love it and the birds love it!!!!!
Well, Carlos and I figured some time has passed and we should let you know what is going on in our Back Ten Feet. Today I am working at All Native Garden Center, come see me, and my wonderful husband is putting our last few plants in the ground and spreading mulch. It has been a slow process and hot as heck to boot. We are so excited to have our first round of plants in the ground and our first large area of mulch completed. Our friend, Sue Scott, will be over tomorrow to get you some pictures of our progress---it is awesome--we love it and the birds love it!!!!!
Transformation 3: Planning The Back Ten Feet. June 16, 2012
To find the Florida native nursery nearest you, visit www.plantrealflorida.org
The back edges in the video is a result of YouTube correcting for my shaky hands.
Transformation 2: What to know before you dig. May 4, 2012
A wonderful resource for what native plants work best for your area is the Institute for Regional Conservation, www.regionalconservation.org . Just plug in your zip code and get a list of native plant communities for your neighborhood.
Transformation 1: Introduction to the Loyolas and their property. April 18, 2012
First pictures taken on Saturday, April 14, 2012. Sandy, well drained soil isn't a problem for drought tolerant Florida Native plants. Organic mulch will give them what they need to survive. The right choices will make this yard look like SW Florida, and give the owners real joy.
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