Coastal Trees and Shrubs
We share some beautiful plants with the Bahamas, West Indies and other Caribbean islands. They include the gumbo limbo, wild coffee, paradise tree and other plants that arrived here thousands of years ago as seeds in bird droppings, being blown in by hurricanes and by floating across the ocean.
Natural coastal areas from the Florida Keys to Merritt Island are covered with these tropical looking plants. Actually, they are subtropical and can withstand temperatures of 36 degrees F or below.
It is hard to find plants that are better adapted to salt air, some saltwater flooding, long periods of drought and hurricanes.
Many of these plants have beautiful clusters of small, fragrant flowers that are followed by fruit in progression throughout the season. During bird migration, storms may cause a fallout of robins and cedar waxwings.
These birds will be grateful for the food that your trees and bushes provide. This is a good time to have marlberry, mastic, pineland and Florida privet, redberry stopper, pigeon plum, wild coffee and beautyberry in your yard offering their fruit.
None of these are poisonous to pets or kids; yet don’t make a meal of them as they may cause a belly ache.
My wife and I recently visited Key West for the first time in six years and were delighted to see native trees, shrubs and ground covers used in many of the landscapes.
They have a 70 percent native plant landscape requirement in new construction compared to Palm Beach County’s 60 percent. In the near future Key West will raise this to 90 percent.
The result is that hotels, parks, homes and businesses are more beautifully landscaped than anywhere else I have seen in South Florida since moving here in 1982.
There are columns of Jamaica caper, large groups of key thatch, beautiful wild cinnamon trees full of red berries, and masses of golden creeper, coontie, key lily, and silvery sea oxeye daisies used as ground covers.
Water use is minimal to none on these sites and there are plenty of berries for the birds. I even got buzzed by a hummingbird in town.
We can thank Cynthia Domenech-Coogle, the Urban Forestry Program Manager in Key West for her great efforts in introducing native plants to the public. It is amazing what one person can do to beautify a city and start a wonderful trend.
A good reference book for native plants is “Florida’s Best Native Landscape Plants” by Gil Nelson. Many of the plants that he mentions are found in our local native plant nurseries.
Check out the AFNN.org site to locate nurseries near you. Call them for what you want as the plants listed on the site are only a small picture of what they have.
Planting in the spring will give your plants the whole growing season to become established and you should start seeing berries by next year. Hand watering will use very little water to establish the plants.
There are a wealth of local native plants found along our coast that will give your yard a tropical look and provide local wildlife with food and nest sites.
Why settle for the tired look of impatiens and invasive clusia, podocarpus, Green Island Ficus, areca palms and Trinette that provide little wildlife value when you can have a yard full of birds and butterflies and other interesting insects like ladybugs.