All Natural Ingredients!

It is the gardener who makes the garden, and who thereby gives access to his own private idea of the natural world - Joe Eck (gardener, writer, and author of Elements of Garden Design)

I spent last year working in a public garden to earn my living, and my own garden suffered. Weeds and vines grew unchecked, and my potted plants languished from neglect. I was often too tired to care for my own plants at the end of the day. My garden managed fairly well on its own because of the careful selection of drought-tolerant native and exotic plants.

Last week I attended the annual fall plant sale of the Florida Native Plant Society. I am a strong supporter of the use of native plants, but their inclusion in highly disturbed, urban settings has limits. There were hundreds of beautiful, native Florida plants for sale, but not all of them will thrive in the shady (and often dry) confines of my own garden. Some may do too well - southern wax myrtle (Myrica cerifera) tends to sucker and spread, as does the beautiful stiff dogwood (Cornus foemina). Both plants do well in my garden, but they are not maintenance-free. If left to their own devices they would spread far beyond their allotted spot in the landscape.

Notably lacking from the currently available palette of native Florida plants are many broadleaved, bold shrubs. There is Florida Anise (Illicium floridanum), which I use to good effect at the back of a shady border, but it has limited drought tolerance and resents sunny, dry siting. For more open areas I turn to Japan, and the Camellia sasanqua hybrids - their bold, dark green leaves contrast nicely with their delicate flowers. They pair up well with the bold, dramatic foliage of our native saw palmetto (Serenoa repens). A silver form of this palm grows along Florida's east coast, and is available in nurseries. In my garden it makes a nice foil for the delicate pink Camellia, and the fern-like fronds of our only native cycad, Zamia pumila (or Z. floridana).

My wide but shallow backyard garden, bordered on one side by a high fence and on the other by a neighbor's dirt side yard, is not a replica of a natural Florida habitat. It is filled with native and non-native shrubs and plants that can tolerate extended periods of rainy weather, and extended periods of drought. It allows me to garden with minimal interference, irrigation, or fertilization, and that's natural enough for me. The birds seem to like it, too.