Coontie, Wood Fern and Red Bay

It's been more than a year since I planted most of the stuff in the backyard. For the most part, everything's been surviving, but nothing's been thriving. As the summer rains start arriving, some of the plants are beginning to respond. Hopefully they've spent the last year putting down good root systems and now they are ready to take off. One prime example of this is the coontie (Zamia pumila). I'll spare you the discussion about whether or not floridana is a more accurate species classification. These are special plants that deserve a spot in every landscape in Florida. The coontie's attributes are many: attractive shape, ability to survive almost any light and moisture conditions, good potted plant, habitat and larval food plant for the endangered Atala butterfly, not to mention it is a true living fossil leftover from the dinosaur age. I'll back off the species account for now; if you want to learn more just take "the google" for a spin.

Here is one of several coonties planted in the backyard which is designed as a woodland/oak hammock habitat. The coontie is very versatile and works well in almost any setting, but I prefer its appearance among the ferns and coffees that make up the understory in the forested backyard. After a year of wondering whether or my coonties were alive, they all shot up lots of new bright green growth as the summer arrived.

OK, enough coontie love for one day! I also threw in a bunch of wood ferns aka southern shield ferns (thelypteris kunthii) below the oak trees. These look like they belong in the Pacific Northwest and you would think they require tons of water. Actually, they are quite drought tolerant. They may not look great when its dry, but they'll hang in there, just waiting to throw out some bright green fronds as soon as the water is available. These are very graceful and more airy than the slightly tougher boston fern. After several weeks of good rains, these plants glow bright green against the dark leaf litter.

Another specimen that has been doing well is this red bay tree (Persea borbonia). I splurged and threw down 5 trees (3 dahoon holiles and 2 red bays) in the back to help develop a mid-story between the ground and the high oak canopy. Wild coffees, velvet-leaf coffees and one huge beautyberry are grouped around the base. These bay trees look pretty and they provide food and cover for several wildlife species. Red bays across the southeast are dying off from laurel wilt infections caused by the introduced ambrosia beetle so they need all the help they can get. These leaves share the same desirable characteristics as the bay leaves you buy in the store and can be used similarly.

I've been unable to ID that spider from the previous post. It must be some type of orb weaver, but none of the ID books show a picture that looks like it. It's probably a certain phase or sex, etc. that doesn't always show the green spot. I think it's a pretty identifiable characteristic. Anyway, if you know what it is, let me know in the comments!

Red/orange spider

I noticed a cool spider out in the meadow today taking care of a bee that had been caught in the web. I haven't been able to ID it yet; hopefully I'll figure it out tomorrow. If anyone has any ideas, let me know in the comments. The photos are a little rough because the sun had already gone down and I was shooting at ISO 1600, but they do the job.

Tampa Blog on Native Plants

I happened across a Tampa blog today that recently posted a blurb about native plants. It's pretty basic but good info. Direct link here.

Morning Meadow

I always think the meadow looks best first thing in the morning as I walk and drive past it on the way to work. I stopped the other day and made a few quick images before leaving.

I really need to yank that pygmy date palm out. It's the only non-native plant and it just doesn't fit in. Otherwise, things look pretty good. I think a few of the goldenrod missed their spring flowering period and will continue to grow upwards all summer if not whacked back. This plant (seaside goldenrod) is accustomed to dry sand and full sun at the beach so it usually finds home garden conditions a little too friendly.

Here's an overall shot of the new (to me) tickseed Coreopsis basalis, known by the common names goldmane, golden wave and calliposis. I like the bushy plant appearance compared to the similar but skinnier Coreopsis trinctoria.

A vertical shot shows the length of the meadow. One of the reasons I like the morning is that the red/tropical sage has new and very bright red flowers that have usually dried out or fallen off by the time I get home.

A closer look at some red sage seedlings. This is a good reliable reseeder.

I think I only bought one or maybe two pink phenotypes when I planted the meadow, but they seem to be propogating themselves nicely.

Remember, the USF Botanical Gardens is having their annual Butterfly, Herb and Native Plant Fair this weeekend.

New Tickseed and More Horsemint

Toward the end of last summer, the meadow started to look a little spent. The fall brought another burst of life, but there were a couple tough months. Around that time, my dotted (spotted) horsemint (Monarda punctata) was growing and flowering nicely. If only there were some of that in the meadow! So I'm trying to make some cuttings of my existing plants that are starting to grow back. But I broke down and bought some too just in case the cuttings fail or wont' be ready in time to flower. Here are a few shots from last year that show the horsemint in its prime.

Here are some overall shots from this year after planting the horsemint and a new coreopsis.

Welcome home.

The garberia gives some wonderful texture. It looks like its getting ready to flower again.

The yellow necklacepod pokes up.

A closer shot of the entrance shows the beautiful new growth on the red-tipped cocoplums.

Best black-eyed susan plant ever.

Here is the new coreopsis variety I found today at Twigs n' Leaves native nursery in St. Pete. It's a Coreopsis basalis. The lady at the nursery said they had never seen it down here before but it seems to like it hot and dry. I haven't had many coreopsis come back from seed and it seemed like they needed more water than I was willing to give them. Hopefully it does well.

A group of muhly grass makes the back side of the meadow.

The Front Yard with V

Here's a look at our front yard responding to some of the recent rain. As usual, my daughter V was exploring with me so she made it into a few photos.

We removed most of our grass last year to make room for the wildflower meadow. There is a non-native pygmy date palm in there and I'm just waiting until I get the motivation to dig it out and move it somewhere else.

A nice black-eyed susan starts popping out multiple blossoms.

V stands on the front walkway in front of the firebush and behind the dwarf simpson's stoppers and elliott's lovegrass.

The simpson's stoppers looked a bit sparse through the winter, but benefited from being cut back. The new growth this spring is very green and robust.

The seaside goldenrod flowers in the spring and again in the fall.

V walks out into the meadow.

V investigates some greeneyes. Elliott's lovegrass and starry rosinweed can be seen in the foreground.

My little flower shoots up above the other plants in the meadow. She sure grows like a weed!

Worried about Woodpeckers

We keep a Laurel Oak snag (dead tree) in the yard because they offer valuable habitat for a number of species. Last year, we had a red-bellied woodpecker work on a hole in the snag. For whatever reason (I think the lower part of the tree was still alive and too hard to dig out) the woodpecker abandoned the effort. This year, I was very happy to see another one, or maybe the same one, working on a nest in the same snag only a little higher up. Red-bellied pairs are known to use the same tree each year. Eventually, we had two birds coming and going from the nest. Recently, we noticed the parents bringing food back to the nest and could hear the chirping of several baby birds.

A parent leaves the nest to forage for more food.

Food is brought back for the babies.

Looking down at the human neigbors.

Yesterday, my wife called and explained what happened. I guess the woodpeckers hollowed out a pretty large nest and the recent heavy rains must have soaked the dead wood above the nest. The snag snapped in half right at the point of the nest. We were worried that the babies were gone.

One parent stayed perched on the broken snag, chirping up a storm.

It was a relief to see that the parents were still bringing food back to the nest and you could hear the nestlings chirping again.

More food.

I guess enough of the nest is left for the babies, but now they are completely exposed. I'm usually a fan of letting nature take its course, but these woodpeckers suffer from a lack of suitable habitat in urban areas. I'd entertain the idea of building a nest box, but I don't even have a ladder tall enough to reach them. The nestling baby birds need about one month to develop enough to leave the nest. I'm afraid it's only been about a week or two since they hatched. Good luck little woodpeckers!