Spring’s Vibrant Colors and Native Wildlife

Most of you that are missing the spring flowers up north put tulips high on that list. Well, Amaryllis is sometimes called the Tulip of Florida and you can grow them here in Marco. They are putting on quite a show right now and come in shades of orange, pinks, reds, doubles or single petals and without too much fuss, they come back every year.

What do I love about them? There are at least three things. They are a fantastic multiplier. They perform well in Southwest Florida’s sandy soil and they are an abundant re-bloomer that get bigger and more showy the more mature. You can easily share them with friends.

I dug out at least 40 bulbs for a friend of mine who was homesick of that “northern feeling of spring.” In another week or so, the colors will begin to fade. Once established, amaryllis are carefree and drought tolerant.

Spring is also the best time to watch out for local feather friends that come to the feeder and bird baths. For the last two years, I’ve enjoyed the frequent visit of the Painted Buntings, both male and female. For a longtime I thought the female Bunting was a finch due to its dull green color. The colors of the male Painted Bunting are so stunning that I look forward to their visit every morning and early evening. They are not shy around the feeders and bird baths and cardinals and blue jays also enjoy the sunflower seeds.

Both the Red Bellied and Pileated Woodpecker regularly check out the barks of the palm trees on the property. Apparently, there are eight woodpecker species that call Florida home year-round but these two are the most frequent visitors I see almost daily. First, you hear the loud cry of the Pileated Woodpecker – a loud repeated “cuk, cuk, cuk.” Or if you are walking around the neighborhood, you’ll hear the unmistakable drumming against a dead tree or against the siding of a metal roof or gutter.

Why did the gopher cross the road? My front and back yard are bordered by two vacant lots which are home to many Gopher tortoises, and they do cross the road frequently. The Gopher tortoises are the reason why my landscape is fertilizer and herbicide free.  And I also grow some of their favorite browse foods – dune sunflower, gaillardia or blanket flower and I recently discovered tortoises also like the young shoots of the prickly pear growing at the backlot.

I think Gopher tortoises are such cool creatures. They originated 60 million years ago and are one of the oldest living species on the planet. To think that they visit my yard four to five times a day to feed!  

My yard, along with several vacant lots in my neighborhood, is known as bobcat crossing. One evening while sitting inside our lanai, a healthy-looking bobcat sauntered by the side yard with an iguana hanging from its mouth! They are very shy but we do get a few sightings a month, often in the morning or early evening.

I might be in the minority here but I consider it a privilege to be surrounded by all this wildlife on Marco but they are living on borrowed time. There is not a day that goes by that the Gopher tortoises in my neighborhood aren’t in danger speeding vehicles.