My Scrub Evolves Part 2


 
I've been taking my time with this project. Perhaps it's because it's the last significant one in my landscape, I have been savoring it a bit longer than the others; perhaps it's simply because it is not as ecologically significant as the others. The scrub is, in all honesty, really just for me. I love the plants of Florida's most-xeric areas and this gives me the opportunity to add them to my landscape.

My scrub is tiny in size; much smaller than I would prefer, but it is the only place left where it could work. The sunlight here is good and the natural drainage is sufficient. I have amended that drainage by raising the elevation and adding sand. Right now, all of that seems to be working in its favor; the scrub is taking shape and all of my plant additions are doing well.  

The area is too small for trees and shrubs, but I have added most of what I wanted in the front yard. They have doubled in size since I first added them over 3 years ago now - silk bay (Persea humilis), summer and sandhill haw (Crataegus flava and C. lassa) , Garberia (Garberia heterophylla) and scrub plum (Prunus geniculata).  Right now, I have some scrub hickory (Carya floridana) nuts germinating, but I may not add it here as much as I love that tree. I'm just not sure that I have the room for another one.

What I have added are perennial wildflowers. My favorites are the woody mints and, although I have a few more that I'd like to add, I have three false rosemarys now - Conradina glabra, C. grandiflora, and C. canescens.  None of these persisted in my original pollinator area in the front yard and I missed having them nearby. My butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) are getting crowded out in the front so I've added a few more in this scrub. The same was true for my Flyr's nemesis (Brickellia cordifolia) and my Florida Indian plantain (Arnoglossum floridanum). These are all such wonderful pollinator plants and I want to be able to collect seed each year for propagation in my hobby nursery - Hawthorn Hill.  I've also created a home here for a Lewton's polygala (Polygala lewtonii) that was given to me by a friend.  It is a plant I have not seen in the wild for more than 20 years and one I'd like to photograph again. My only photos are from when I had a 35mm camera.

I am trying to be careful not to crowd this area with too many plants. Scrub plants much prefer some elbow room. It would be easy to plant too many in this limited space, but I think I've learned my lesson after all the years that I've been at it.  I've room for a few more, but I'm in no rush to get it all done.  

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