The 28 native plant enthusiasts who visited the yard of Fran and Robin Robinson for Eugenia Chapter’s August 2025 yard tour were treated to a great show of native plant diversity. Fran’s yard provides a mix of sun and shade as well as dry and wet areas that enable her to grow a wide variety of some of our favorite native plants and many species that we seldom see planted in other locations.
Fran and I have regular discussions about determining if we are “successful” cultivating our native plants. I feel if a plant successfully reaches a stage of maturity whereby it is able to continue to cultivate itself in the same location, the plant has found its correct “place”. That idea is based on one of the mantras we regularly stress when trying to decide what to plant in a yard: “right plant for the right place”.
Fran has several of those plants, all of which I always “lust” after when I visit her yard. Her coonties (Zamia integrifolia) grow in sunny and shady locations. Annual populations of the beautiful Atala butterfly depend on the coonties as their larval host plant. The yard has numerous flowering species of annuals and flowering shrubs (including her avocado tree!) that provide nectar to the Atala adults.
Fran grows the best Bahama coffee (Psychotria ligustrilfolia) plants I’ve ever seen. These, low, compact shrubs thrive in the shady area underneath a spreading live oak and have been flowering and producing viable fruit for several years. When I yard sat for her when she was on a trip earlier in the year, I dug up several seedlings to plant in my yard! I’m hoping she will pot some of them up and bring them to one of our plant auctions.
Pineywoods dropseed (Sporobolus junceus) is one of my favorite native bunch grasses. Fran’s well-draining, sunny area in front of her house has turned out to be the perfect place for this diminutive grass. It’s a great plant to use along a walkway or in the foreground of a planting of much larger natives.
Spotted beebalm or dotted horsemint (Monarda punctata), pictured above, is one of the most aromatic, productive flowering plants in Fran’s yard. At times, she complains about how it seems to come up in all the sunny locations, but then in the next breath she will tell you how much she delights in seeing the diversity of pollinators that utilize this plant (not just insects, even hummingbirds!). Sadly, I can’t get a population going like hers though. It is a plant dear to me because it was one of the first native flowering plants I found fascinating in the wild. I used to see spotted beebalm on the backsides of the dune areas along A1A before those lands were developed (pre 1990!). Only in my dreams now! Click on the link so that you can see some great photos and more information about this versatile native.
If you watched what you were walking on in the shady, damp area of Fran’s “back 40” you may have noticed the low-growing, somewhat succulent little ground cover with the tiny whitish lavender flowers called Browne’s savory (Clinopodium brownei). This is one of the few natives that will grow well as a potted plant if you keep it moist enough. Fran has patiently maintained this little gem by religiously pulling all the larger weeds that try to crowd it out.
As always, thanks to all who brought plants for our auction. Congratulations to the lucky bidders who got the best native plant deals. Your participation and contributions help fund our speaker and event costs. Please consider bringing friends with you, so we can get more people interested in promoting the use of native plants in the landscape.
ircnativeplants.org 