Florida Native Plants Doing Well Post Ian

Recently I was invited to attend a Native Plant Workshop hosted by the Calusa Garden Club at Susan LaGrotta’s garden in Marco Island. Susan is a member of Calusa Garden Club and also of the Naples Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society.

In 2020 Susan decided to transform her landscape using 95% Florida native plants. Ever since Susan joined the Garden Club and the Florida Native Plant Society, she’s been planning this transition. She was frustrated in dealing with all kinds of pests into her landscape like chinch bugs for the lawn and white fly, thrips and aphids for flowering plants. She was constantly using pesticides and fertilizer and felt that all this spraying was not healthy for both their dog and humans.

“I now have a beautiful habitat and do not have to deal with chemical sprays; a garden that is easy to maintain, uses less water and no chemicals leaching into the waterways,” shared Susan.

Most of the attendees experienced salt water over their gardens, and it was a tough learning experience. Hurricanes can cause damage in the landscape but it can also reveal the types of plants that survived and are most resilient. 

The phrase “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” also applies to plants – as Susan began pointing and naming the native plants that survived and are coming back strong three months later. Florida native plants have been subjected to harsh conditions over time and tolerated salt water in our South Florida coastal environment.

Susan pointed out the Myrsine hedge which was subjected to a strong surge but remained rooted and intact. It is a magnet for berry eating birds. Myrsine is found only in Florida among the 50 states. Susan pointed out that the surge took away soil and exposed roots for some of her ground covers but it did not take long for new stems and leaves to pop out.

Resiliency is the word for native plants as they survived Hurricane Ian. Here is a partial list of familiar plants: Beech creeper (low growing mat forming evergreen shrub); Wild Coffee already bearing fruits; Buttonwood; Muhly Grass; Coco Plum; Wild lime; Coontie; Necklace Pod; Sea Oxeye Daisy (great border plant) and Saw Palmetto for the classic Florida look.

Slowly recovering are the purple Passion Vines and the sprawling Sea Lavender. The blue Porterweeds were in full bloom and the native Pineland lantanas added bursts of bright yellow flowers to the flower bed.

False rosemary (Conradina grandiflora), a true Florida native, is a new addition and found nowhere else in the planet other than the Sunshine State. Susan is growing it in a decorative pot.

Brittany Piersma, staff biologist for Owl Watch Program and gopher tortoises on Marco Island, also attended the workshop. She will keep Florida native plants in mind while promoting wildlife corridors in Marco Island.

It can take a small fortune to have a well-manicured landscape and still you are going to lose a few plants each season as some of the plants are not conditioned to the tough conditions of coastal Marco. If you visit a nearby nature preserve, check out the plants that are thriving with little human intervention - those are most likely native plants. No trimming, fertilizing, watering or spraying and when a storm surge comes along, they may be weather beaten but will bounce right back.

Eryk Jadaszewski of Everglades Native Designs worked with Susan in designing her native landscape. According to Erik many of the landscapes in Marco show a scarcity of pollinators in contrast to a landscape with native plants alive with color and activities from assorted pollinators.

This workshop provided many options for the attendees. A good start is the Naples Chapter of Florida Native Plants (FNPS). Thanks to members of the FNPS Maureen McFadden (VP-Native Plant Society) and Rhonda Gloodt - both are also Calusa Garden Club members and were very helpful in answering questions.