Well, finished planting the rest of the natives today. They are: Florida Privet, Forestiera segregata; Dwarf Walter's Viburnum, Viburnum obovatum aka Mrs. Schiller's Delight; Carolina Yellow Jessamine, Gelsemium; Railroad Vine, Ipomoea pes-caprae; Wild Cotton, Gossyplum hirsutum; Marlberry, Ardisia escallonioldes; Myrsine, Myrsine guianensis; Heart's a Bustin', Euonymus americana; and one from the Florida Native Plant Society called Simpson Stopper, Myrcianthes fragrans. I'm missing 3 tags and I don't know what the other 3 were as I believe I had 15...well, maybe I can figure it out. So many new names to learn.

Jenney,

Hate to say it, but the Ardisia is a serious weed in Florida. It invades hammock forests at a disturbing rate, displacing valuble forest floor vegetation. I've seen places in north Florida where it is threatening such regional rarities as Trillium maculatum and Malaxis unifolia (an orchid). It spreads readily by seed, forming mats of seedlings that eventually grow into continuous beds of shrubs a meter tall. So please, get rid of this one if you want to help against another invasive plant! PF

According to a website I just visited, this variety of Ardisia is invasive: shoebutton, Ardisia elliptica.

The site also said the the variety Jenney planted is the non-invasive type, known as Marlberry.

Sorry, so true! BUT, don't plant the other, it is a invasive. Here's a link to marlberry, a native as she stated. PF

Here is a link that might be useful: A. escallonioides

Whew! Had me worried for a minute there.

You are so lucky you have a native plant nursery to shop at!

Flowerkitty, I don't know if you have checked into the Michigan native plant society which goes by the name of Michigan Botanical Club but surely there's something that could be started at a nursery in your area, perhaps by members who own or work at a nursery. Where I went, the whole nursery wasn't native plants but they had a large enough native plant section and the people that manage it are members of the Florida Native Plant Society. I really liked the tags on the plants much better as they said Florida Native on the tag and not only suggested what light was best, but also the amount of moisture the plant would need, which was very helpful information when considering where to plant it. The tags also mentioned which plants were enjoyed by the birds, and how much or how little the birds liked them. I never saw such helpful information detailed on tags before at other nurseries.

You know, looking at the pictures, Ardisia escallonioldes is actually more attractive than the invasive one.

You can find natives if you just look around. We have some "seasonally" native plant sales by botanical organizations. That is, they don't sell them all the time, but they will get in a bunch for a spring and fall sale.

Anyone wondering how to find them should work with their native plant society as Jenney says. Good going Jenney, I know opting to not plant non-natives must be tough in Florida!

I found a tag on the ground outside today so now I have only 2 missing tags, lol! This was a Florida native named Fakahatchee Grass, Tripsacum dactyloides. I chose it because it only gets so big and then stops growing whereas there was another I liked but it never stops spreading.

Esh, I have noticed the non-natives don't seem to be doing so well anyway. I still have to remove some plants but it's hard to do it all at once.

Jenney,

Just do a bit at a time...gardening is supposed to be fun! Always remember that, and you will do just great. April

Thanks April. I look at my little Ficus tree that I got at Walmart when it had roots coming out of it everywhere and see how much it has grown in just a couple of months....Waaaahhh!

I even told it in the car I was going to save it's life and get it out of that pot where it was so rootbound and I told it I loved it too. I guess the only way I can muster up enough courage to dig it up is if I replace it with a nice native that size. The hardest part about removing some of these plants is that it feels like they are living creatures and I don't want to hurt them. Oh, it's so difficult! I just look at some of them and just shake my head and wonder how I'm going to be able to do it (or if I'll ever be able to).

Anyone else go through this? :(

Yes, I did two things - I gave many plants to someone else (who would've bought them anyway). And then, later, I moved and started fresh in a yard that the owner had not landscaped except for some holly foundation shrubs (and they were too big for the space so they had to be removed).

Of course, the moving was just coincidential, but what a nice benefit.

By the way, plants that were considered invasive (like nandina for me), I did not pass on, I just got rid of them.

Well, I'm just putting the plants alongside the garbage can to dry up. Then I'll put them in the garbage can. Is that an o.k. way to dispose of them? I didn't want any seeds to come from them but just drying them out might not prevent that.

(Maybe I should put the plants in plastic bags and secure them to prevent seeds spreading). Today I pulled my Green Island Fig out of the ground and got rid of it. It's very invasive in Australia and certainly isn't native here. (Roots growing out of it everywhere as it was so root bound in the pot when I got it).

I read through this post laughing about the 'disposal' problems you were facing. When we moved into our home the previous owners had spent over $5K on landscaping, mostly croatans, arecas, and some others which died. In the first week I ripped out probably $3K of it (labor was included in the $5K receipt I found in a folder). I made a pile about 7 feet tall of ficus, which looked like a Home Depot delivery truck had spilled, for the garbage men. I watched the pile dwindle (since I didn't realize trash pick-up was 4 days away) as neighbors plucked them off the street side. I now wonder how many PVC irrigation pipes have been chewed up from my 'recycling', hahaha.
Even worse, after reading the last post, I read about your Green Is. Ficus you pulled out. YIKES! Was I in a state of daze as I walked through the nursery and okayed the delivery of (12) 3-gall. pots of this stuff!? It's now planted up our walkway with intentions on keeping it only 12" tall. Did I goof?

I can only imagine what the Cocoplum was saying to the Ficus on the ride over together...

I discovered that Norway Maple was considered an invasive around here. Even though it was still in the pot, the nursery where I got it didn't want it back, so I took my giant loppers (it was a big sapling - 3" diam. trunk)and cut it off at ground level, after saying a little prayer to the tree goddess, and now I'm using it as a walking stick. That sure was a tough thing for me to do, but everytime I go for a hike I like to think that the maple lives on (without causing trouble) lisa_devon

What an interesting thread. Kind of funny in a sweet way. Jenney, it sounds like you are off to a great start. And, yes, a lot of us go through similar feelings when we get rid of non-natives. I like the idea of finding something useful to do with the unwanted plants. When we removed the boxwoods from my foundation, we threw them on top of the woodpile that we built for wildlife hoping that they make a nice "roof" for the pile. It's always a tough decision about whether to give away an invasive plant and there isn't always a good use for everything. It's just hard to kill stuff that you (or someone else) paid good money for and cared for. Good luck with your new garden, Jenney. I'll bet it will be beautiful.

Shelley