Our yard visit was postponed for a week due to rain, and the yard of Lori and Terry Greene was well worth the wait. Located in the Collier Club subdivision in Sebastian, this impeccably maintained yard is filled with lots of native plants – in stark contrast to the adjacent yards. Terry had marked the native plants with signs and has plans to replace more of the many of the “original” non-native plants.
Terry began installing native plants about 2 years ago. Click here to see pictures of his yard that he took in the winter. Below he provides scale to the water-loving scarlet hibiscus (Hibiscus coccineus) that he grew from seed …
… and to the dahoon holly tree (Ilex cassine) that was so laden with love bug pollinated fruits that branches had broken off …
Giant leather fern (Acrostichum daenifolium) also is planted near the downspout along with strappy spider lily (Hymenocallis latifolia) …
Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) and river sage (Salvia stellaris) also grace this area mulched with pine bark, a long-lasting mulch that is a by-product of pine plantations.
Other wildflowers included bee balm (Monarda punctata) flowering beautifully …
… and blanketflower (Gaillardia pulchella) full of seed …
… beach dune sunflower (Helianthus debilis) …
… water-loving lake sunflower (Helianthus carnosus) …
… blazing star (Liatris sp.) …
… swamp milkweed (Asclepias perrenis) chewed to the ground by monarch butterflies in the front but present in the back yard …
… river sage (Salvia misella) …
… and morning-flowering spiderwort (Tradecentia ohienis) …
Trees included thorny sweet acacia (Acacia farnesiana) …
Some of the shrubs included firebush (Hammelia patens) …
… wild sage (Lantana involucrata) …
… 3 different species of Psychotria, including the most common wild coffee (Psychotria nervosa) dwarf-form …
… very tropical Bahama wild coffee (Psychotria ligustifolia) …
… and shortleaf wild coffee (Psychtoria tenuifolia) …
… pitchapple (Clusia rosea) …
… Florida anise (Illicium floridanum) …
… coralbean (Erythrina herbacea) with ripe seeds …
… Curacoa bush (Varronia globosa), also known as bloodberry and Cordia globosa …
Among the vines were butterfly host plants corkystem passionflower (Passiflora suberosa) and maypop (Passiflora incarnata) not shown, coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) …
… and skyblue clustervine (Jacquemontia pentathos) grown by Chapter Auctioneer Carol Thomas and purchased at a recent meeting plant auction …
Potted natives included Caracoa bush (Varronia globosa) …
… and calamint (Calamintha sp. ) …
His plantings create privacy and beauty …
Eugenia Chapter - Florida Native Plant Society 