Diversity is the key to any garden

We lost David Crosby recently, and in a fitting radio tribute, I heard his iconic tenor in ‘'Woodstock'’ while I was driving.

Listening to Joni Mitchell’s lyrics, the wonderful refrain — “We are stardust, we are golden / We are billion-year-old carbon / And we’ve got to get ourselves / Back to the garden” — struck me as perhaps more pertinent today than it was in the 1960s. We had it right back then. We do need to get ourselves back to the garden, and there’s no better opportunity than here in South Florida.

The recent brouhaha over the town’s native plant ordinance reflects the strong opinions on both sides of the argument.

Landscapers want little to no restrictions on what they can plant, while conservationists understand the importance of sustaining the native ecosystems on our tiny barrier island. Exotic species from all over the world have been brought to Florida since the late 1880s and many are well-suited to this climate and have acclimated well.

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Some have acclimated too well and are now listed on the Invasive Species list. Others have attracted pest invasions, instigating the toxic chemical treatments we now experience throughout Palm Beach.

While there are many beautiful exotics that do add beauty and interest to our gardens, requiring 30% of plants in new developments to be native shouldn’t be much of a stretch. There are hundreds of beautiful natives that provide sustenance and habitat to the insect pollinators essential to maintaining sustainable ecosystems on our island.

Interestingly, most native naysayers think natives just aren’t attractive and don’t lend themselves to the more formal, manicured landscapes to which we Palm Beachers supposedly aspire. Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, and while we may all differ in garden style preference, I think we can all agree that most butterflies and birds are lovely to look at. It’s exciting to see a hummingbird visit your coral honeysuckle, or to watch a zebra heliconian butterfly on your corky stem passionvine. And just as an aside, we actually need these pollinators to survive.

To say that an ordinance is too restrictive, and that it would limit creativity is interesting because most landscapers use five basic plants in every single design. You will be hard pressed to find a garden in Palm Beach without green island ficus, podocarpus, schefflera (green and/or trinette), jasmine minima and bougainvillea, unless there’s very little light, in which case you’ll see alocacia instead of bougainvillea; usually you’ll see both. If all the green island ficuses were replaced with the beautiful golden creeper (Ernodea littoralis), or with cocoplum or wild coffee, the 30% requirement would probably already be met. And chemicals would never be needed.

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I applaud landscape architects who want more creativity but please use it wisely. When designing a garden with the beautiful angel trumpet (Brugmansia sp.), make sure the homeowner knows that every part of this member of the nightshade family is deadly poisonous. Last year alone, 118 people were admitted to Florida hospitals due to contact with this plant.

Equally beautiful substitutions would be lignum vitae (Guaiacum sanctum) or the lovely sweet acacia (Acacia farnesiana). And instead of using all those fancy leaved aglaonemas, which cause serious skin irritation, why not use pearlberry, wild coffee or cocoplum, which all do equally well in the shade and provide lovely flowers and berries as well.

Diversity is essential to maintaining healthy ecosystems and habitat for wildlife and birds. Using many different species in a garden provides beauty and interest through foliage variation, bark texture, flowers and fragrance.

Of course, all the plants need not be native, but choose your exotics carefully and remember that butterflies need specific native host plants. Adding these and the Florida-friendly pollinator plants they need to survive after the caterpillar stage will provide you with a plethora of butterflies and birds. And whatever you chose to plant, just don’t spray with pesticides and other chemicals. If your plants are having trouble, consider their locations and sun/shade requirements. It could be that they are just in the wrong place.

Native suggestions

Here are some native suggestions: Bay cedar (Suriana maritima) is a wonderful medium-sized shrub with dense clusters of soft, gray-green foliage. This tough plant can withstand heavy blasts of salt wind and is great along coastal areas, where it helps control beach erosion. In a garden setting, the small yellow flowers make a lovely contrast with the grayish foliage. This is the host plant for the martial scrub and mallow scrub hairstreak butterflies, as well as a nectar plant for numerous pollinators

I’ve written about Ernodea littoralis many times, but I cannot stress enough how well this plant performs in sunny difficult locations. As a ground cover, or cascading over a wall, this forms a lovely mat of arching stems with beautiful shiny green foliage and tiny pinkish-white tubular flowers that are a favorite of hummingbirds. A beautiful treatment can be seen in Via Flagler’s courtyard, where this creates an elegant focal point as it spills over the wall surrounding the central planting bed. Tolerant of drought, heat and salt spray, this is also valuable on coastal areas to protect from sand erosion.

Florida shrub thoroughwort (Koanophyllon villosum) is a great pollinator attractor with its many clusters of small white fragrant flowers that are irresistible to butterflies. Listed as endangered in the state of Florida, this is also a great shrub for habitat restoration and natural landscapes. It prefers full sun but will tolerate partial shade and is a must-have for any butterfly enthusiast.

Sweet acacia is a pretty little tree (growing 15-20 feet) with bright yellow, fuzzy, fragrant flowers. The bright green fernlike leaflets add a light airy texture to the garden and the thorny branches provide good nesting for birds. The irregular, spreading crown is a lovely architectural feature, and the puffball-like flowers look stunning against the delicate foliage. This low-maintenance native prefers sun and does well in dry sandy soils where other plants may not grow. The fragrance is famous worldwide and widely used in the perfume industry.

Finally, blue mistflower (Conoclinum coelestinum) is a beautiful, small native perennial that will add powder puffs of lavender blue flowers to your gardens while attracting every butterfly around. Best in full sun, this does well in part shade with plenty of moisture and self seeds so you will often find volunteers once it’s established. This is a nectar plant for the salt marsh and three-spotted skippers, as well as the Southern broken-dash and many other butterflies. You’ll be delighted with all the colorful activity in your landscape.

The closing lyrics in Woodstock are additionally fitting:

“And I dreamed I saw the bomber jet planes / Riding shotgun in the sky / Turning into butterflies / Above our nation.” Now there’s an image! Mr. Crosby, beloved troubadour of the '‘flower children’' of the ‘60s and ‘70s, we’ll miss you. Keep on singing with the angels.