Accepting Change

Where I live, there seems to be an aversion to planting deciduous plants. We want to believe in perpetual summer here - without the real summer inconveniences of heat, humidity and mosquitoes. Folks in Florida fertilize their turf grass throughout the winter, hoping to maintain a lush green lawn despite the fact that our turf grasses are warm-season species that seek rest between the late fall and early spring - even in Florida. We surround ourselves with tropical plants that maintain their foliage year round. Things like crotons and pittosporums that mark off the days of the year with the drudgery of an assembly line worker who despises their job.  Each day in these kinds of landscapes is the same. No need to worry or wonder what tomorrow will bring. I sometimes wonder why such people don't simply paint their windows with this motif. It would save them the time of having to peek outside to see what's going on...
It is my belief that landscapes should bring change and that this change is what makes real gardeners out of us. The anticipation of a plant leafing out once more, the wonder of watching buds swell and burst into bloom, the excitement of watching a visiting hummingbird, and the satisfaction of following a pair of songbirds completing their life cycle in one's plantings is based on change, not in monotony.  I abhor a landscape that does not change with the seasons and I relish the fact that my landscape is never quite the same day-to-day.
In Florida. the complaint that there are no seasons rings statewide. It's not true in natural Florida; it is only true in non-native-dominated landscapes and that fault lies with us not in Florida. It also depends on whether we use deciduous instead of evergreen plants. I am not against evergreens. There are a great many values to be had in using them, but I love my deciduous plants the best. All plants shed their leaves, so the sneer against deciduous plants as being "messy" is simply a misperception. In my former landscape, the two mature slash pines (Pinus elliottii) constantly shed needles into the understory below and the live oaks (Quercus virginiana) lost their leaves every April. All plants lose their leaves and replace them. Deciduous plants just have the decency to do it all at once and the audacity to remain leafless for a period of time after the leaves have left.
It is easier to mark the seasons with a landscape dominated by deciduous plants and there is more anticipation generated by one as we wait for the leaves and flowers to make their reappearance. I love to watch the changes in my landscape, especially the seasonal ones. As I plan the small woodland I expect to plant this year in my suburban backyard, it will be anchored in the shade created by a deciduous tree or two and the mid-canopy will comprised almost solely of flowering sub-canopy deciduous trees and shrubs. I will maximize color as well as diversity and it will change with the seasons. We should embrace change in our landscapes.