No Mow March was an awesome success this year! Together, by leaving some unmown areas of our lawns and landscapes, we helped create acres of additional valuable pollinator habitat in a critical time of the year. However, we can’t forget that there are still nine months remaining in which we can provide low-maintenance food and shelter for pollinators and other wildlife in our landscapes this year! The following are three of my favorite ultra-low maintenance pollinator friendly shrubs for Panhandle landscapes for summer and fall.
Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus)
Chaste tree or vitex, an outstanding Florida-Friendly Landscape shrub/small tree, provides many aesthetic and wildlife landscape benefits throughout the growing season. Vitex features attractive grayish-green foliage and grows into a nice, rounded shape (10-15’ tall). However, the primary draw is its summer/fall flower show. Sporting striking masses of purplish-blue flowers for months on end until frost, Vitex is a pollinator magnet. Bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and all manner of other pollinators visit vitex when in bloom and birds frequent the shrub in the fall to feed on its seeds. Simply select a site with full sun and well-drained soil and Vitex will reward gardeners and pollinators for years to come.
Firebush (Hamelia patens)
Firebush is a showstopper for both passers-by and pollinators. This sorta native shrub (Florida native but does not occur naturally in the Panhandle), is a prolific producer of tubular, bright-red flowers from late spring-through frost. These flowers are a preferred nectar source for many species of butterflies, Zebra longwing and Gulf Fritillary included, and a favorite of hummingbirds. Like vitex, birds also enjoy feeding on the berries that follow firebush flowers. In the Panhandle, firebush tops out at around 6’ tall and about as wide and is often killed back to the ground by frost, regrowing rapidly each spring. Firebush has no real insect or disease issues in landscapes and prefers the same sites as Vitex and will appreciate as much sun as you can give it and well-drained soil.
Bright orange-red blooms on a firebush. Photo courtesy UF/IFAS.
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)
American beautyberry, or just Beautyberry as it is commonly referred to, is a lovely little deciduous shrub native to all parts of Florida and provides benefits to all manner of landscape wildlife. Though primarily known for its bird-attracting, vibrant purple berry clusters that appear late summer through fall, Beautyberry is a host plant for several butterfly/moth species and its dainty, pink flowers are an early summer favorite of many bees! Beautyberry grows 5-7’ in height and is extremely adaptable in landscapes as well, thriving in sun or light shade and many different soil conditions.
American Beautyberry
Photo by: UF/IFAS
It’s important to remember that providing pollinator/bird food and habitat in lawns and landscapes is not a one month event, but a year round commitment. Reducing mowing frequency, reducing pesticide use, planting native trees, including host and nectar annuals/perennials in landscape beds, and yes, planting native fauna friendly shrubs like vitex, firebush, and American beautyberry are all part of maintaining a pollinator-friendly yard! Plant one (or several) today! For more information on creating pollinator habitat in landscapes or any other horticultural topic, contact your local UF/IFAS County Extension Office.
Beach vitex in bloom is an attractive plant, which can make it more difficult to convince property owners of its harmful potential. Photo credit: Rick O’Connor, Florida Sea Grant
One of the biggest problems with beach vitex (Vitex rotundifolia) is its beauty. It has rounded, deep green leaves (with a silvery gray cast) and a beautiful little lavender-purple bloom. Like most weedy invasive plants, the plant was imported and sold as an ornamental groundcover for many years. Homeowners and landscapers planted it in coastal areas where it is well adapted to the salt and heat, and no one realized it would be so problematic. Ever since, beach vitex took root and has continued growing, unchecked, throughout the coastal south.
In this photo, beach vitex has overrun all native dune vegetation to form a monoculture. Photo credit: Randy Westbrook, Invasive Plant Control, Inc. bugwood.org
North and South Carolina started having big issues first, when beach vitex was planted deliberately to stabilize sand dunes after hurricanes. Soon after, a coastal restoration specialist with the Army Corps of Engineers realized the mistake. The vines run along the ground in such thick mats that native vegetation like sea oats can be choked out. The wide-spreading fibrous roots and tall profile of sea oats hold sand in place better than the beach vitex’s low growth and taproot, which have long term consequences for maintaining dune stability. The thick tangle of vitex growth is yet another obstacle for hatchling sea turtles in a long list of man-made problems that has made nesting and reproduction difficult.
The invasive vine beach vitex has taken over a stretch of sand on Pensacola Beach. Photo credit: Rick O’Connor, Florida Sea Grant
Eradication of the noxious weed has proved difficult. When a plant gets the nickname, “beach kudzu,” you know something went seriously wrong. Beach vitex produces millions of seeds in late summer and early fall, which are dispersed by wind, birds, and float over water. Unless removed before going to seed, even a small patch of the vine can expand rapidly. While not as prevalent in Florida, over 80 sites have been identified in the western panhandle with beach vitex. Due to these problematic issues, the plant was recently added to the Florida Noxious Weed and Invasive Species List, making it illegal to sell, grow, move, or release the plant.
Chaste tree. The showy chaste tree makes an attractive specimen as the centerpiece of your landscape bed or in a large container on the deck. Easy-to-grow, drought resistant, and attractive to butterflies and bees, Vitex agnus-castus is a multi-stemmed small tree with fragrant, upwardly pointing lavender blooms and gray-green foliage. The chaste tree’s palmately divided leaves resemble those of the marijuana (Cannabis sativa) plant; its flowers can be mistaken for butterfly bush (Buddleia sp.); and the dry, darkened drupes can be used for seasoning, similar to black pepper, making it a conversation piece for those unfamiliar with the tree.
Vitex , with its sage-scented leaves that were once believed to have a sedative effect, has the common name “Chastetree” since Athenian women used the leaves in their beds to keep themselves chaste during the feasts of Ceres, a Roman festival held on April 12. In modern times, the tree is more often planted where beekeepers visit in order to promote excellent honey production or simply included in the landscape for the enjoyment of its showy, summer display of violet panicles.
Chaste tree is native to woodlands and dry areas of southern Europe and western Asia. It will thrive in almost any soil that has good drainage, prefers full sun or light shade, and can even tolerate moderate salt air. Vitex is a sprawling plant that grows 10-20 feet high and wide, that looks best unpruned. If pruning is desired to control the size, it should be done in the winter, since it is a deciduous tree and the blooms form on new wood. The chaste tree can take care of itself, but can be pushed to faster growth with light applications of fertilizer in spring and early summer and by mulching around the plant. There are no pests of major concern associated with this species, but, root rot can cause decline in soils that are kept too moist.
The showy chaste tree makes an attractive specimen as the centerpiece of your landscape bed or in a large container on the deck. Easy-to-grow, drought resistant, and attractive to butterflies and bees, Vitex agnus-castus is a multi-stemmed small tree with fragrant, upwardly-pointing lavender blooms and gray-green foliage. The chaste tree’s palmately divided leaves resemble those of the marijuana (Cannabis sativa) plant; its flowers can be mistaken for butterfly bush (Buddleia sp.); and the dry, darkened drupes can be used for seasoning, similar to black pepper, making it a conversation piece for those unfamiliar with the tree.
Vitex, with its sage-scented leaves that were once believed to have a sedative effect, has the common name “Chastetree” since Athenian women used the leaves in their beds to keep themselves chaste during the feasts of Ceres, a Roman festival held on April 12. In modern times, the tree is more often planted where beekeepers visit in order to promote excellent honey production or simply included in the landscape for the enjoyment of its showy, summer display of violet panicles.
Chaste tree is native to woodlands and dry areas of southern Europe and western Asia. It will thrive in almost any soil that has good drainage, prefers full sun or light shade, and can even tolerate moderate salt air. Vitex is a sprawling plant that grows 10-20 feet high and wide, that looks best unpruned. If pruning is desired to control the size, it should be done in the winter, since it is a deciduous tree and the blooms form on new wood. The chaste tree can take care of itself, but can be pushed to faster growth with light applications of fertilizer in spring and early summer and by mulching around the plant. There are no pests of major concern associated with this species, but, root rot can cause decline in soils that are kept too moist.
