CEDAR KEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY''S ISLAND MORNING COFFEE HOSTS EXPERT ON NATIVE PLANTS

February 1, 2019

Hosted by Cedar Key Historical Society, Marjorie Shropshire, a native Floridian, visual artist, and editor of the Florida Native Plant Society’s Palmetto Magazine, provided useful and timely information to thirty attendees at Cedar Key Community Center on the benefits of using native plants in our landscapes.

Aquatic grasses keep our water clean and provide buffers for storms and nurseries for marine life. Native trees provide shade which cools our buildings, absorb water which lessens runoff, and act as central features in gardens. A variety of natives in hedgerows provide natural barriers, seasonal color, and wildlife habitat. Using natural Florida ground cover allows for “Freedom Lawns” that need no irrigation, fertilizer, poisons, and over seeding. Native plants thrive without fertilizer which helps prevent Hazardous Algae Blooms like this state has experienced recently. Ms. Shropshire believes that any fertilizer in Florida is too much.

She would like to see us break the cycle of enriching big corporations by buying all those pretty plants lined up in big box stores filled with chemicals (especially neo-niconoides which kill insects that feed birds), that need feed and care and will die soon to be replaced by others. With the right natives you usually plant once and they will take care of themselves. It saves money in the long run and is something that we can do as individuals to make a little difference to save our environment.

Her favorite trees are oaks because birds love them and live a long time; and cabbage palms because they are self pruning and bats use them for shelter. Twenty percent of the royalties from her book, Step By Step Guide To A Native Florida Yards will go to the Florida Native Plant Society. The book is available on Amazon and Cedar Key Historical Society will soon have it in their shop.

stepbystepnatives.com fnps.org    PlantrealFlorida.com

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