Florida Gardening

When I was young, I took butterflies and moths for granted. I didn’t know about their amazing migrations, service as pollinators or unique capacity to amaze children, drawing them into science and nature like few other animals can. It wasn’t until just before graduate school that I first saw someone raising a monarch in a netted enclosure, serving it daily rations of fresh milkweed leaves, that the depth of public sentiment became clear to me.

A critical first step in designing a native landscape is understanding what the right plant for the right place is. This concept is central to ecosystem function as the particular characteristics of “place” often determine what plants will be successful. Shady or sunny, sandy or loamy, near a stream or high and dry. We want to help create functioning ecosystems and defining the system and its parts comes before laying out a palette of beautiful and unique natives.

People have one of two reactions when they hear the word “cracker.”

Many respond with an uncomfortable, blank stare that says: “Do you mean like… the race-related cracker?” ”Cracker” is slang for poor white settlers in rural southern climes, and it’s important to acknowledge the additional weight bearing down on this word from decades of racial tension in both rural and urban quarters of America. It can and should be uncomfortable in that context.