Rain gardens in Florida

Stormwater carries pollutants that
end up in our waterways.

Why do we need rain gardens?

Sequestering stormwater reduces pollution of our waterways and of our aquifers. This is because stormwater runoff carries: fertilizers, sediments, plant matter, manures, pesticides, herbicides, salts, oils and other vehicular drippage. 

Pollution that originates from numerous, diffuse sources, such as our yards is called Non-Point-Source (NPS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that NPS pollution is the largest threat to our waterways. But, we can reduce NPS pollution from our yards and from our communities by holding or sequestering more rainwater by installing rain barrels and by building rain gardens.

Miami's Underline Park

The Underline is an impressive
& well-used urban park located
under the Metro Rail in Miami.

Taking its inspiration from the High Line Park in New York City and The Lurie Garden in Chicago, The Friends of The Underline non-profit organization formed in 2013. The Underline is basically a multi-use path with parks, recreational spaces, playgrounds, plantings, and stormwater infrastructure. It's expected to extend to its full 10-mile distance by 2026.

These gardens feature untrimmed native plants that attract and feed insects and birds. This is different than traditional formal gardens where everything is tightly trimmed and exotic plants are chosen for their beauty and because they are not favored by the local insects. This style is left over from British and European upper class expectations where those who owned grand houses and estates favored those highly maintained gardens to show how wealthy they were.

Morning glories: So much more than just pretty flowers

The iconic tall or common morning glory
(I. purpurea) is a garden favorite around the world.

Iconic garden morning glories

When most people think of morning glories, it's the tall or common morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea) that they envision. It's a vine native to Mexico, Central and South America, but its beautiful blossoms and vigorous growth even in poor conditions have made it a garden favorite around the world. There are hundreds of named cultivars.

Each delicate flower lasts only one day and they look best in the morning when they first open; hence the name "morning glory."

How palms work

A cabbage palm tree (Sabal palmetto) silhouetted
by a sunrise on the St. Johns River.

Palms decorate tropical and subtropical regions of the World

Palms are monocots. Angiosperms or true flowering plants are divided into two major groups—monocots and dicots, which have various differences, but are named for the number of seed leaves or cotyledons they have. 

Monocots also include grasses, orchids, gingers, bananas, and bamboo. Also, most of the bulbs including onions, garlic, lilies, tulips, and more, but probably most important characteristic for our discussion on palms, there is no real wood with annual rings. The vascular tissue (the phloem and xylem) in monocots is arranged in bundles throughout the stem. In a dicot, they occur in the cambium layer just under or inside the bark around the plant stem. It is the new set of xylem and phloem cells that are produced each year which form the annual rings that produce the wood in true trees.

It's Time to Think Globally, but Act Locally.

www.climatewiselandscaping.com 

Climate change is real!

We are seeing its effects on the weather with more frequent, stronger and slower-moving hurricanes, more severe droughts, more fires, and rising sea levels. But Sue Reed and I did not debate the reality of climate change or what has caused these rapid changes when we wrote our award-winning book, "Climate-Wise Landscaping: Practical Actions for a Sustainable Future." Instead we said, "Let's roll up our sleeves and get to work."

The same thing has happened in the writing of my 7th book with the working title "Living Shorelines for Florida: A Practical Guide for Building Resilience," which will be published in 2025. I and my three coauthors did not debate sea level rise or discuss what the causes might be, but plans for dealing with rising sea levels are included in our various actions and designs for more resilient shorelines.

So what actions can we take and will it make any difference?

While actions we take in our yards and in our communities may seem insignificant, there are many millions of homeowners and communities, and together, we are a powerful force. What follows are some ideas and links to resources for some of the most significant actions. 

Chives and meadow garlic: two members of the onion family

Chives and meadow garlic together in my herb garden in 2010.

Chives: (Allium schoenoprasum) a classic herb that produces edible leaves, bulbs, and flowers. A perennial plant, chives is widespread in nature across much of Eurasia and North America. It is the only species of Allium native to both the New and the Old Worlds.

Chives are a commonly used herb and vegetable with a variety of culinary uses, but mostly for garnish, because with their hollow stems they fall apart during cooking. They are also used to repel insects, but chives are not native to Florida. 

Meadow Garlic: (Allium canadense) a rarely used perennial herb native to most of eastern North America. It also produces edible leaves, bulbs, and flowers. It's leaves are solid which means that this plant does withstand cooking. As a crop, it has a few characteristics that are a bit different. It dies back for the summer, so leaves are not available for harvesting then, but you could dig the bulbs to use if you know where they are. They sprout again from their bulbs in mid fall, bloom in the spring, and die back after blooming. They produce several bulblets in each flower head, which readily grow where they fall, so this crop spreads rapidly once it's established.

When they are available from late fall through to spring, I use the leaves for both salads and cooking in soups, omelets, stir frys and more. Because the leaves are solid they are more useful in the kitchen than the chives. The taste is similar to, but not the same as chives or garlic chives (Allium tuberosum) and it has a bit of spicyness or heat. All three have an onion overtone, and of the three, chives is the most bland. The meadow garlic flowers also have more flavor than the chives flowers. 

Two weeds: one native and one nonnative

While the sharp, hard spikes
 on the seeds hurt our feet and
embed themselves in the
lawnmower tires, this is their
method of dispersal. 

Sand spurs

Six species of sand spurs or sandburs (Cenchrus spp.) are native to Florida. They are true grasses in the grass family, Poaceae.  While native plants are highly recommended for sustainable, climate-wise landscapes, these are not desirable because of the hard and very sharp prickles that cover their seeds. 

They have volunteered in our yard only out by the road where the other plants in our freedom lawn are a bit more sparse and where the neighborhood dog walkers visit on a regular basis. So even though I have cleared out this population of annual plants before, new ones can get a start out there when dogs bring more seeds from elsewhere.

Grapes (Vitis spp.)

A muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia 'Alachua')
Credit: Ali Sarkhosh, UF/IFAS

Florida's grapes

There are six species of grapes that are native to Florida, while some have small ranges, grapes are found in all parts of the state. 

- Summer grape (Vitis aestivalis)
- Florida grape (Vitis cinerea var. floridana)
- Catbird grape (Vitis palmata)
- Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia)
- Calloose grape (Vitis shuttleworthii)
- Frost grape (Vitis vulpina)

The muscadine grape is native to all of Florida and from Delaware to eastern Texas. This is grown as a sustainable crop in Florida and has been bred so that this normally dioecious plant (with separate male and female plants) is self-fertile or monoecious.

Snags, stumps, and logs provide habitat

Three birds perched on a snag. A ball moss
(Tillandsia recurvata) also lives on this snag.

Dead standing trees are snags. If a snag is located so that it will not hurt people or damage property, leave it standing for its wildlife value. Snags are highly productive sources of habitat that work well in both natural areas and designed landscapes.

Tree basics

The vast majority of organisms on our planet depend upon the life-giving process of photosynthesis. Plants and other organisms with chlorophyll combine carbon dioxide from the air and water with energy from the sun to form sugars and oxygen gas. The plant can then combine the sugars to form starches, fats, enzymes, or whatever the plant needs. 

Photosynthesis: 6CO2 + 6H2O >> C6H12O6 + 6O2

Then most living organisms (plants, animals, fungi, bacteria) take in oxygen and digest the sugars in one form or another to gain energy for life through respiration, a process the equal and opposite of photosynthesis. 

Respiration: C6H12O6 + 6O2  >> 6CO2 + 6H2O 

Since trees normally live for many years, they sequester carbon in their wood and root tissues as long as they live, while the flowers, fruits and leaves store carbon only temporarily until they are eaten or decompose. Much of this decomposing plant matter ends up in the soil. But when a tree dies, the wood begins to break down as bacteria, fungi, insects, and other organisms begin to absorb the wood tissue so they can gain energy for life. As the wood deteriorates, then birds and other larger animals can consume the decomposers and so the carbon-based sugars stored in the wood moves up the food chain. The organisms store the sugars created during photosynthesis, but as they respire and when they die, the carbon is released into the atmosphere.

One note here on carbon sequestration: The soil sequesters 3 to 4 times as much carbon as all the terrestrial plants, including rain forests. Peat is especially important since it can sequester carbon for thousands of years. This is important because the more carbon sequestered means less carbon dioxide, our most abundant greenhouse gas, in the atmosphere and that is good for our only planet. (Read my article on peat moss.)

Winged sumac, a useful understory shrub

A small winged sumac in bloom, which
attracts a wide variety of pollinators.

Winged Sumac (Rhus copallinum) is a deciduous, compact, densely growing, colonizing shrub that is native to all of Florida and the eastern half of North America. It can grow to 10 to 25 feet tall and nearly as wide, although the ones in our yard are much smaller than that. They will grow in a wide variety of situations, but they do best in full sun or partial shade and require good drainage. 

This plant could be used in a hedge row with a variety of other shrubs and is a good choice for naturalizing at the edge between wooded and open areas. Keep in mind that it will be bare for a few months in the winter. It can spread quite some distance via rhizomes or underground roots, so keep that in mind when choosing planting sites.