Saltbush Tassles Out
Throughout Hernando
Saltbush, Baccharis halimifolia, goes by many names throughout its range, including Groundseltree, Sea-myrtle, Consumptionweed, Eastern baccharis, Baccharis, Groundsel, Groundsel bush, Salt marsh-elder, and yes, Salt bush.
As the name suggests, it is salt tolerant, and underappreciated as a landscape plant. As Sharon LaPlant writes in the Saltbush Factsheet, Salt-bush is rarely planted by designers and horticulturists, perhaps because it is too ‘common’ in native stands. A useful shrub or small tree for reclaiming wet sites, Salt-bush could be used more frequently near retention basins and drainage ditches. It has a good tolerance to brackish water. With proper care to remove recurring dead wood, nice small-tree specimens can be created.
Miss last month's news? You can scan history from our archives.
Upcoming Programs
February 2
Florida Master Naturalist Program
Jeanne Murphy
Conservation Corner
The High & Low Tech of Composting, continued!
Mark Hutchinson
Conservation Chair
So you tried out the kitchen waste / shallow trench method and you like the results, but what to do with all of your yard waste?
If your yard is bordered with hurricane fencing, the solution is a snap - simply pile all your yard and kitchen waste against an inside corner of the fence. Similar results can be had using any kind of wire fencing to form a cylindrical 'coral' to contain the compost. Even an old trash can with the bottom removed will do the trick. These kind of techniques are still on the low tech side and will not create the high temperatures necessary to destroy any undesirable seeds that go into the compost, so keep seeding invasive's and other noxious plants out of the compost. If you have a lot of citrus trees another thing to avoid is using too much fallen fruit, it will make the compost way too acidic and takes forever to decompose.
Once the compost has been in use for a couple months, check the material at the very bottom for suitability. If you are using the fence corner method: at ground level dig into the center of the compost to get to the oldest materials. If you used the wire cylinder or old trash can method, simply left the cylinder or trash can just enough to be able to remove some of the material at the bottom. The composted material should no longer resemble leaves, grass clippings, or kitchen waste. Rather, it should resemble fine mulch or very course and organically loaded soil. This finished product can be used to amend other soils for potting or planting, or can be broadcast around existing plants just as you would use commercial fertilizer.
Composting will keep an awful lot of material from entering land fills, while creating an organic soil supplement high in nutrients and moisture retaining materials that your garden will love.
Keep an eye on this column for other conservation ideas you can use to improve your life and protect your environment.
Sabal minor E-news
Are you getting your Sabal minor on-line? If not, the Society may not have your correct e-mail address. Please send it to info@fnps.org to keep up with all the FNPS organizational news. You can also get the Sabal minor on-line, in pdf and expanded web page format.
Give a gift that gives on giving by purchasing a FNPS gift membership for only $25.00. For a membership form, visit http://www.fnps.org
Happy New Year! January, 2009
Big Questions for the Florida Native Plant Society:
Planning for the Future
Monday January 5, 2009
The Hernando Chapter FNPS will start its public programs for the year with Eugene Kelly, President of the Florida Native Plant Society. This program will address the Society's role in crafting strategies to preserve, conserve and restore Florida's natural areas and how to best face the challenges ahead.
Mr. Kelly is well qualified, not only to lead the Society, but to provide big-picture leadership for conservation efforts in Florida. In his current role in the Science Department at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), he helps lead conservation planning efforts for our state, and provides science support for conservation priorities and strategic action.
Mr. Kelly has been involved in several state-level and regional planning initiatives in 2008, including the recent Water Congress hosted by the Century Commission. We all look forward to hearing Gene's perspectives on the state of the state of Florida, and future directions for the Society.
Monthly meetings and programs of the Hernando Chapter are held on the first Monday of the month, and are open to the public, free of charge. Meetings are held at the Hernando County Cooperative Extension Office – 19490 Oliver Street (next to the County Fairgrounds) in Brooksville. We gather for delicious food and fellowship at 6:30pm, meeting and program starts at 7:00pm. For more information about this program or the Florida Native Plant Society, contact the Hernando Chapter Board at hcfnps@gmail.com.
Eugene Kelly, longtime member of the Hernando Chapter, now leads the Society as President. More about Gene Kelly, from Gene Kelly,
Conservation Planner, Florida Chapter,
The Nature Conservancy
Member, Hernando Chapter
I've been a Florida resident since my family settled in the Orlando area in 1970. That was basically pre-Disney, so I've seen the Florida population grow from seven million to about 19 million. I discovered a passion for plants early while exploring my father's orchid greenhouse, where I learned that all those plants were either "hybrids" or had come from somewhere else. An important distinction!
After earning a BS degree in biology and a Master’s that focused on plant ecology, I began working to help preserve natural Florida as an intern with the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy; we were just then starting to learn about a huge number of rare species, plants in particular, that occurred only on Florida's Lake Wales Ridge. After working as an environmental planner for Charlotte County, helping them develop the Conservation Element of this new-fangled thing called a Comprehensive Growth Management Plan, I moved to Brooksville where I worked 16 years for the Southwest Florida Water Management District in that agency's Save Our Rivers and Florida Forever land protection program.
Two years ago, I returned to The Nature Conservancy. I’ve enjoyed being a member of the Hernando County Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society since its formative stages, and have served as the chapter's Conservation Chair, two terms as a Member-At-Large of the FNPS Board of Directors, and most recently as Co-Chair of the Conservation Committee
The Hernando Chapter's workdays guarantee a good time with good people for good causes, like our native plant landscape at Green Bean Organic MarketChapter News & Resources
Hernando Environmentally Sensitive Lands Workday
Saturday, January 24, 2009 – Cypress Lakes Preserve Scrub Restoration. Meet at 8:00 AM at the gate on Ridge Manor Boulevard at Olancha Road. Work will be completed by noon. Volunteers should bring gloves, insect repellent, sun screen, drinking water, a five gallon bucket or other container for collecting trash, and saws for cutting small live oaks.
For more information, contact Mark Hutchinson, Conservation Chair, 583-4173
Workday at the Green Bean Organic Market
Saturday, January 24th the Chapter will get together to spruce up the Florida native planting at Green Bean to prepare it for entry in the FNPS landscaping awards programs. 
If you can help, bring gardening tools, gloves, a hat and a desire to play in the dirt.
Landscope Provides Data on Development and Species Distribution
The Beta version of LandScope America was released in December 2008. This website is the result of a long-term initiative NatureServe and the National Geographic Society to develop the premier online conservation and educational resource for the land-protection community and the public. LandScope America uses an interactive map viewer to bring together maps, data, photos and stories and present them in dynamic and accessible formats. It also provides useful tools and resources for strategic conservation planning and priority-setting.
Many features are under development and the developers are welcoming public comment. Try it out at http://www.landscope.org/
Public Comment Welcomed for Building Site Guidelines
JANUARY 20 DEADLINE -- for public comment on the Sustainable Sites Initiative Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks Draft 2008. The Sustainable Sites Initiative is an effort by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the U.S. Botanic Garden to create voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a stakeholder in the initiative, anticipates incorporating the reports guidelines and performance benchmarks into future iterations of the LEED® Green Guide Rating System.
http://sustainablesites.org/report/
The Accidental Gardener
by Brooke Martin
Being a city kid the first twenty-nine years of my life - I mean downtown Baltimore - I came to any sort of gardening late with no knowledge of the most rudimentary information regarding flora. Soil types - acid/alkaline, sandy, clay, loam, etc - what any plant might actually need to thrive, locating the best areas for various plants; all was foreign to me. With this humble admission, I nevertheless have consented to fill this space with a few ideas on readying a Central Florida garden for spring.
If you've never put in a garden, you'll need to find a spot that is as level as possible, well drained, sunny at least 6 hours a day from spring through early fall. You will need to be able to reach it with a garden hose. If you have been provident and have installed rain barrels, you are way ahead of the gardening game!
New garden patches must be tilled at least 8 - 12 inches deep. Pull out rocks, grass and any other debris. Add at least one part of organic material to 3 parts of soil. This can be your own "home made" compost or a commercially prepared one. Mix in a generous helping of earthworms. They are nature's very best gardeners. Their castings - poop - are pure gold!
Well before you plan to place your seeds or seedlings in your garden, you should test the pH. A soil that is too acid ( below 7 on the pH scale) may need the addition of lime. On the other hand, very alkaline soil may require some sulphur. Your Hernando County Extension Service can give you all the details.
Remember that a vegetable garden will be a wonderful gathering spot for rabbits, deer, armadillos and tortoises. Only the deer and rabbits will require substantial fencing. The low, slow moving types will be barred by 12" -16" of decorative edging. If you are willing to share, you can sprinkle some seeds outside the fence for the night visitors.
If you are container gardening, this is the time to dump old potting soils. Scrub your containers, too. Again, organic materials do wonders for flowers and vegetables.
I have found that January and February are good times to turn the soil in existing flower beds and add fresh mulch. Make certain, if you can, that your mulch source is clean and free of weeds and other noxious, unwanted plants and fungi. Unfortunately, in the case of my yard, a very nasty smelling fungus took a shine to my 2-year old piles of oak chips. I was unaware that the odorous toadstools had planted themselves in the piles when I used the chips as mulch for flower beds last February. Now I have a magnificent stand of nasty fungi coming up all around the house. Removing them has been an endless task.
Whatever you do and whatever you plant, have fun! Gardening is an adventure.
