I'm interested in attracting pollinators: bees, butterflies, hummingbirds and whatever. Mostly interested in native, non-woody perennials that do well in the sandy barrier island soil and thrive without much maintenance. I have areas that are shady and also some full sun areas. I will plant non-envasive non-native plants as well.

-------------------------
Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean

The path to Spanish House through the Refuge looks like a somewhat overgrown garden in fall.  Would be neat to get some of the white-flowered Eupatoriums.  I don't know the species.  A couple of easy ones:

sea ox-eye daisies (Borrichia frutescens), which are abundant in wet swales, ocean side of A1A south of Inlet.  There's a clump in South Beach Park, but maintenance people think they need to be trimmed like a hedge, so no daisies.  On dryer ground above the oxeyes, Flaveria linearis (yellowtop) is a goldenrod-like plant.  Also the exotic-looking Argusia gnaphalodes (sea-lavender) is west of the restroom.  

It's worth having woody plants that butterly larvae eat.  Zanthoxylum clava-herculis, devil's club, is kind of sorry looking because it drops leaves with only a little provocation from salt spray, but swallowtail butterflies eat the leaves.  

Along with beach sunflowers, zinnias are surprisingly good beach plants in full sun with presumably some irrigation.  Expensive and hard to find, rain lilies (Zephyranthes and Habranthus) can eventually spread to make flower carpets.  

A spiderlily, Hymenocallis latifolia, hangs around beaches and mangroves.  Moonflower is a treasured annual in northern states.  Locally, it covers mangroves and ditch banks, flowers highly visible in the morning. 

beachside but closer to the river around the house:

milkweed for monarchs

passion flower for gulf fritillarys (get a natural, the gulfs don't lay on most of the ornamentals)

four-o-clocks for sphinx moths

oleanders for oleander moths

porterweed for most everything

put up a couple owl houses and you'll probably get a swarm of honeybees in one

edit:  forgot that zebra longwings go for passion flower too 

 

-------------------------
add a signature since I'm here in profile anyway

Lots of white cabbage butterflies flying around the hospital area this afternoon.

Bees love my mimosa strigillosa, native & hardy

-------------------------
"The truth is incontrovertible.
malice may attack it,
ignorance may deride it,
but in the end,
there it is." -Sir Winston Churchill

Our passion flower is hosting gulf fritilary and zebra heliconians right now. Larvae munching away and adults laying eggs. The larvae got a little too abundant and were threatening to completely defoliate part of the plant. The wasps found them and took care of that. Then the red bellied wood pecker found the wasp nest and took care of them.

Bees like the mimosa and ice plant ground covers and the bigger rosemary bush that has a lot of flowers right now.

 

-------------------------
...

The nursery didn't have the passion flower vine. That stuff is great. Years ago we had it covering one side of our pool enclosure then it just died. WG we have that mimosa ground cover and it is great.

We ended up getting goldenrod, blanket flower, milkweed, goats head, horse mint, silver grass, porterweed, a wild lime tree, fire bush and a couple of others that escape me now. That is just a start so keep the ideas coming. Thanks

-------------------------
Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean

"goats head", like "puncture vine", Tribulus sp.? Or some other goats head?

-------------------------
add a signature since I'm here in profile anyway

Tribulus.  Nasty, non-native.  Thrives on road shoulders.  Perennial peanut (non-native) is proving a pretty good lawn plant.  

 

Bees definitely love mimosa and gaillardia, both natives. If you have room for shrubs, small trees, I can't believe how many bees and pollinating flies lovemy simpson stopper when it is flowering. Also, native passion vine for zebra longwings.

No nothing like THAT! It has wide leaves. I'll take a picture of it. Got it at Maple Street Natives and that's what she called it.



-------------------------
Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean

Simpson Stopper is great! Wish mine would flower more often. We got some blanket flower last week. Cant wait for it to flower.

My son got a passion vine for his mom for Mother's Day so that is going in.

Great suggestions. Thanks



-------------------------
Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean

How about coral honeysuckle for hummingbirds? They love that and its a native. Pink porterweed is also another favorite for the hummingbirds in my yard. They had some at the nursery on Eau Gallie Causeway last time I was over there.

Ouu that looks great. I'll have to get some coral honeysuckel! Our firebush have attracked hummingbirds in the past but they are getting a little long in the tooth and not flowering like they once did. We just added a couple of young ones to add old folks.

-------------------------
Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean

Firebushes can be cut back severely, even to the ground.  

I'll try to remember tomorrow to take a photo of a big coral honeysuckle in Ft. Pierce.

Update:  forgot to bring the camera, but the honeysuckle is putting on a big show.  

Edited: 05/11/2016 at 12:52 PM by ww

Coral honeysuckle this evening and a couple years ago.  

 

 

Beautiful! Thanks

-------------------------
Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean