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Dig This: Garden Notes

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 17, 2008

Those of us who can dig a hole in sweltering heat are planting for all we're worth these days.

The sweat-soaked T-shirts and sun headaches are worth it: The plants I put in during the rainy season always grow bigger and stronger than those I plant any other time of year. Most can go a couple weeks or more without any rain or irrigation, and they seem to bloom more than the rest.

Given that I have a veritable beach for a backyard and no irrigation system but a rain barrel and hand-held hose, I need all the help I can get.

So I also choose plants not just for their good looks (although I'm a sucker for a pretty face), but for how well they're suited to growing

conditions here. Purists go for Florida natives, but others (me included) like the broader range of choices

comprising Florida-friendly plants.

Most of these good-looking troopers are fairly easy to find in locally owned nurseries. The exception may be the Florida coontie, which is a native. Sweet Bay Nursery in Parrish - open to the public 8 a.m.

to 1 p.m. the first Saturday of the month - has them. You can find other sellers online.

Bleeding heart

Bright, heart-shaped blooms that appear

to dangle like lockets from their stalks brighten up shady

gardens. The bleeding-heart vine blooms frequently in our climate, but it can get out of control in sandy soil, sending out runners to pop up where you least want them.
Coontie
Florida's only native cycad makes a nice replacement for its cousin, the sago palm, which has been killed off in recent years by scale. Coontie grows in full sun to light shade. Watch for it in highway medians; it's so hardy, it's a favorite choice for landscaping there.
Coontie is extra special because it's the only larval food for the beautiful atala butterfly.

A dozen or so plants can support an atala colony, which will remain close to home to entertain their coontie supplier.

Sweet almond bush

Selected as a 2008 Plant of the Year by the Florida Nursery Growers and Landscape Association,

this fragrant bush can be pruned to grow as a small tree or left to fill out into a big 6- to 8-foot-tall shrub. It's drought-tolerant and likes full sun, and its blossoms attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

Black-eyed Susan

We have many

varieties of this wildflower. Rudbeckia hirta (pictured) grows about 2 feet tall, likes full sun and can

tolerate drought. Dead-head for more blooms, which work well as cut flowers.

Penny Carnathan

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