THE SHRUB QUEEN : LANDSCAPE COMMENTARY FROM THE TREASURE COAST

THE SHRUB QUEEN

In A Vase on Monday -Going Native

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One of the results of moving to Florida from a colder climate – sooner or later you go native. Winter Coats, who needs ’em? The coats are the first thing to go followed by socks, then shoes (sandals are an exception) and most long pants. One year my husband felt compelled to wear long pants twice. It was 50 degrees.

Plants for the garden are no exception. The first thing I had to quit desiring was Japanese Maples, followed by Yoshino Cherries. I got over Azaleas and Roses prior to moving south. Now and again I will suffer perennial envy, then again we have a plethora of great plants here in Florida – many are new to me.

I have always been a fan of native plants and decided to learn more about them by taking an online course about native plants on the Treasure Coast of Florida, taught by the guys behind the WordPress blog, Treasure Coast Natives. This one is for you, George.

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The flowers in this vase are all native and from plants included in the online course. The yellow flowers are Beach Sunflowers (Helianthus debilis), the white flowers are Spanish Needles (Bidens alba), the orange tubular flowers are Firebush, actually Dwarf Firebush (Hamelia patens) I planted the Beach Sunflowers and Firebush but the Spanish Needles appeared on their own and seed freely everywhere cursing me forever.

The vase is also a sort of native. A gift from my mother bought on one of her trips to the Southwestern United States, the vase was made by Native Americans of the Ute tribe and marked as such. One of my favorite things from my mother.

One of the benefits of native plants in the garden is the local butterflies love them. Here is a Zebra Longwing Butterfly on the Firebush:

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Bio: Amelia Grant

A native of Atlanta, Georgia and extraordinarily well seasoned Landscape Architect/Designer/Writer. I began bouncing around South Florida in the late 1980’s selecting and buying plants for Shopping Mall Interiors I had designed.
Eventually my college roommate landed in Hobe Sound and I came to visit and fell in love with the Treasure Coast. My husband was on the verge of retiring from the practice of Architecture so we came down, bought a house near the Indian River and left the big city’s cold and the traffic far behind.
The blog began as an effort to fill what I considered a vacuum in good gardening information for the Treasure Coast. The Shrub Queen name is a nod to a long standing joke, my husband has called me this for years after one too many Architects asked me to “shrub something up”.
Amelia Grant
Freelance Writing
Blog address theshrubqueen.wordpress.com

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  • Posted 8 years ago

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