This is a profound message by a great and passionate person. I’m a Rutgers Master Gardener and we have an educational butterfly garden . We look to Rutgers and Xerces Society for information and follow Dr. Tallamy! Pesticides and the problems caused by night lighting and climate change and burning fossil fuels.😮😮😮
Florida is a big state. What thrives in w Palm will not necessarily survive a hard freeze in Gainesville. It would be helpful if you mentioned freeze tolerance. Otherwise a helpful video.
Invasive species take more than they give. There are many pollinators that have specialized themselves to plants native to their area. Pollinators feed birds in their caterpillar form, which in turn feed many other species that prey on birds and their eggs. I see some comments insinuating that invasive plants aren’t so bad. I would love for these people to walk in a forest that’s purely invasive and then one that purely native, the silence may help them understand.
Plant some squash , all the worms ( catapillars) you could ever want , I wish the birds could control a pickle worm infestation, wasp are way more voracious imo but people don't like them bc they sting
Invasive could be another word for....we just haven't gotten there on our own yet. Birds spread invasive species all the time. They require no watering and still trap more carbon than a lawn that needs mowing 🎉🎉
@rustyshackleford3078 some people think the only thing needed to save the planet is a reduction in CO2. I see people all the time that have no understanding of real environmental threats. The media has made people believe that greenhouse gasses are the number one threat to the environment. I think global warming is the least of our issues.
Ive recently gotten into gardening, about 2 months ago and though I started with non-natives, it only took me only buying 7 plants before making the switch to mostly Native with some Florida Friendly. I now have planted 49 plants into my a garden, with over 15 different species. Including Coontie, Chapmans Senna, Swamp Milkweed, Passionvine, Porterweed. I dont have a large yard, but I have made a lot out of the room i have and I plan on increasing my garden space drastically, continuing to add in more host plants and shelter for all types of wildlife.
So were going to spread cancer causing chemicals all over to get rid of species that came after a completely arbitrary date of "European colonization". Seems absurd. None of these plants are going anywhere despite the millions spent on "management". Your lawn killed more natives than any invasive plant ever has. I have ear leaf acacia all over my farm. it's an invasive and a incredible biomass producer I am using to increase soil organic matter. Instead of buying cypress mulch at home depot, I use acacia bio mass. If you want to do something for the environment spraying round up into our waterways is the last thing we should be doing. Paying our government to poison our landscape....brilliant. Despite all my ear leaf acacia, and brazillian pepper, none of that crowds out natives, infact, if left undisturbed, you will see those invasives serve as a nursery and I often find young oaks and pines growing in mature stands of acacia and brazilian pepper. Let a few hurricanes pass and the soft wood of the acacia eventually succumbs and the oaks take their successional position.
Giant milkweed is even worse than tropical. The butterflies carry the parasite on their wings and drops the spores on the plants when it flies over it. They say don’t plant tropical milkweed because it is a perennial and there’s no chance for it to die back and take the spores with it. Same with giant milkweed. One sick butterfly can infect the entire plant.
The Monarch butterflies spread the parasite to the plant, whether it's native or tropical. The tropical itself doesn't have the parasites until the butterflies bring it.
But the problem with Tropical Milkweed, is that it doesn't have the normal winter die back, like our native milkweed. So it doesn't reset with the rest of them and continues to keep around the parasite through the winter into the next migration period. Although you can cut it back to the ground creating an artifical die back and getting the same effect.
Yep. The problem with Tropical Milkweed is that it doesn't die back down in winter where most native Milkweeds do. That die back is what helps prevent the spread of OE. There's also the chance of it escaping into the wild and hybridizing with native Milkweeds, which is why it's best to avoid planting Tropical Milkweed outside its native range.
Very interesting video. I'm incorporating more natives into my yard here in Tampa. Also, I don't use pesticides or chemicals because I don't want to contribute to the pollution of our state.
Hillsborough County has a very active Florida Native Plant Society chapter called Suncoast I believe. You might want to consider attending meetings or events for more information and education. 👍
I do want to share that I have come across a patch of the threatened Spiranthes floridana in a ballfield. I fear they will soon be mowed however they seem quite tough. I have never seem them before, hoping to more often!
I'd also like to offer a set of hands, I can help in a garden all day in exchange for knowledge & cuttings hehe. In all seriousness, if either of you have any form of classes or meetups, please do point me to them! We are 5 years into growing out essentially shell rock & now I am in intensive learning mode to fill in the rest & as much as possible. Thank you again for sharing!
I am so glad to have found this! I have a hard time finding others in Palm Beach County & I would really like to learn all I can about all we can grow in our exact area. Thank y'all kindly!
If YT kept to these educational, instructional videos. There would be more educated nature loving American citizens. Th🤝nk you for posting & educating us on invasive plant species. I dont agree with herbicides.
some things i either missed or you didnt cover... are you using any liquid fertilizer as a foliage spray? or are you buying a specific thing? you said 3 times a year, but... when? like is this a spring summer fall thing? and finally you said early morning... can you do it in the evening instead? im up in zone 6 so not tropical
Hi Kirsten. To answer your questions, I use specifically designed foliar sprays. You can find conventional products at your local garden center or you can order organic or conventional online. The three times a year is spread throughout your growth season so in zone 6 that's May -November. Hope that helps!
Hi Kate. Funny enough I don't see roaches in my compost. We certainly have them down here so I guess they are in there somewhere. I haven't noticed any extra roaches in my home as a result of composting outdoors and I make sure to throw my kitchen compost outside twice a day and never leave it overnight. Hope that helps.
Thank you for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed. This is the first video in a series designed to give newcomers the knowledge and confidence to plant their own backyard food forests. More to come!
Thank you! I used one of your earlier videos to change my garden this year. It’s smaller and has northern plants but I’m happy every time I walk by it. Thanks again for the update!
I just moved from Lake Placid, Fl. and my quarter acre food forest to a way smaller space in Jacksonville, zone 9A. I'm turning my 1945 house from a grasshole to a mulch covered forest of edibles, but my current issue is I discovered this summer that my neighborhood is a river bottom and water stands in my yard, front and back, so the mulch brigade begins and finding tolerable planting areas in the meantime is a pot haven until the ground is doable. I just had to cut down my giant dying water oak(5ft diameter)but boy did I get the mulch...but lost all my shade front and back...having only lived here 6 mo. I'm still learning the lay of the land, but what fun, bananas are getting huge, the Barbados cherries, pineapples, hibiscus teas, mulberry, papaya...the only issues will be the frosts in such a northern zone, but they froze in Lake Placid as well...the going is slow, I live alone and am soon to be 73, but the love of Florida gardening pushes me on...and I ain't pushin snow, Iowa transplant of 8 years ago...your yard is beautiful, have fun planting more edibles...!
I love your tropical food forest. I do remember your previous video tour. I wish I could grow more of those fruits and vegetables in the pacific northwest
