Bruce J. Host Northeast Branch Library Project - Native Plant and Wildflower Demonstration Garden

Bruce J. Host Northeast Branch Library Project - Native Plant and Wildflower Demonstration Garden Rosalynn Carter Monarch Butterfly Trail Extension to Tallahassee

By Veronica Donnelly

Tallahassee Garden Club, Babies Breath Circle, is striving to assist in local habitat improvement and environmental education via its native plant and wildflower demonstration garden at the Bruce J. Host Library, 5513 Thomasville Road, Bradfordville, Florida. Since receiving a Plant America Grant in 2023, the garden and plant identifier signs have been well received by the public. As a result, the circle expanded the project through a Ben Fusaco Grant from the Apalachee Audubon Society and a Library Wildflower Demonstration Grant from the Florida Wildflower Foundation in 2024.

The application for the Ben Fusaco Grant helped the circle identify current needs for the garden expansion and narrowed the 2024 focus to additional native plantings and freshwater basins to encourage native birds, butterflies and other pollinators to use the area. The grant award gave the circle funds needed for these improvements, plus advice and counsel from Donna Legare, former owner of Native Nurseries..

Donna’s knowledge and work with the circle helped with the selection and location of the new plants purchased from Native Nurseries. Numerous consultations with her reduced the number of trial and error experiences usually suffered by novices attempting to create wildlife habitats. Her suggestions on birdbaths, stepping stones, and hardscape maintenance greatly contributed to a successful expansion. Donna’s skill in anticipating how plants will grow, spread, reseed, and fill the area will continue to be appreciated in the years to come.

The Florida Wildflower Foundation awarded Tallahassee the Pilot Library Wildflower Demonstration Garden for the Northwest Florida Region, one of three regional grants in the state. Marina Mertz from the foundation, advised and assisted with the purchase and maintenance of the garden area allocated to this project. Marina’s expertise, excitement, and teachings were well received and she continues to assist with the four year commitment to the program.

In 2025, the Tallahassee Garden Club generously donated funds to double the size of the garden so that it filled the entire area the library allows the circle to use for the project. This donation enabled the circle to buy more plants,water features, and garden structures. Identifier signs were upgraded; soil and mulch were added.  

Over the last two years, all of the garden improvements have caused an increase in native bees, birds, and butterflies at the site.The number of butterflies of various species in the garden has increased fivefold. This change in the surroundings inspired the circle to apply for, and obtain, registration as a public garden on the Rosalynn Carter Monarch Butterfly Trail. Prior to registration, the trail stopped in Thomasville, Georgia, before arriving at St.Marks.Other types of butterflies are being encouraged to the area as well, due to a careful selection of host plants.

The circle seeks to motivate library patrons to learn about native plants from our posted placards with common and Latin plant names,and QR codes. These codes are tied to our website page on the Florida Wildflower Foundation site and are meant to persuade neighbors to add plants they enjoy to their own yards. Many visitors have confessed to using some of the native plant choices in their own backyards, thanks to the library demonstration garden.

Native Nurseries has inspired and promoted this community project. The circle and The Tallahassee Garden Club, Inc., are indebted and thankful for the help. We have received an exceptional, hands-on education about native plants, regional ecology, and conservation. As undeveloped lands close to the library are developed, the demonstration garden will gain greater importance in local education about the unique ecology and biodiversity of North Florida and the need for native plantings in our own backyards.

Palms: Florida’s Foundation

Many palms seen in landscapes around town are not native to Florida–some are not even palms at all. Windmill, jelly, Pindo, and fan palms are just a few that do not naturally grow here. The popular Sago palms are actually cycads, a prehistoric clade of plants that are more closely related to pines and yews than they are true palms. Yet, they are also distinct from trees. True palms flower and do not have a woody trunk. If you’ve ever seen the cut stump of a palm, you’ll notice it does not contain the distinct sections as a tree does–there is no outer layer of bark or solid rings that indicate the passing years. There is simply a mass of rough, uniform fiber. This is because palms are structurally more similar to grasses, sharing some of their closest ancestry with grasses, lilies, and onions.

All palms are incredibly tolerant and can adapt to some of the widest ranges of environments. Most are salt tolerant, often found right up against the Gulf or in salt barrens where they are inundated by periodic flooding by ocean water. Their extensive roots help with erosion control on slopes and beaches, while their evergreen foliage can act as a reliable privacy screen or hedgerow.

The fibrous trunk of palms gives them incredible flexibility, making them ideal for areas that have the potential to experience extreme winds, as they bend without breaking. They can take all day, blue-blazing sun but can also be found quietly peppering forest floors where they get little light at all. I have seen them flourish in clay, sand, soils that are poor and dry, soils that are constantly mucky and sulfuric, and everything in between. It’s this resilient nature that sees them planted in some of the harshest landscapes that our state has to offer, both in natural environments and our home habitats. 

Despite all this, palms thrive. They flower white- or cream-colored blooms that hang on long flower spikes one to two feet long. These blooms attract a myriad of tiny sweat bees, flower flies, moths, butterflies, and beetles, acting as havens for native pollinators. Their fruits–usually bright orange, black, or both–are a crucial fall source of food for wildlife. 

Cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto)

Cabbage palms (Sabal palmetto) also known as swamp cabbage, are the tallest of our native palms reaching heights of 40-50 feet with the potential to mature to 100 feet or more. When Cabbage palms are young, they resemble most other palms in silhouette before they begin their upward climb. The protrusions on the trunks of younger Cabbage palms are called boots, supposedly because the Spanish used them in lieu of shoehorns, and provide excellent miniature niches of habitat for bird nests, air plants, insects and more before they fall off as the palm matures. Early settlers would use the large palm fronds as brooms and foraged the hearts of palms for food.

Bluestem palms (Sabal minor)

Bluestem palms (Sabal minor) are closely related to Cabbage palms but have a very different growth pattern. This palm only reaches five to ten feet in height, giving it its other common name of Dwarf palmetto. It can often be seen on river edges, in floodplains, and swamps preferring the semi-shade of the forest floor or half-sun of a tree line, though it can do well in full sun as well.

Needle palms (Rhapidophyllum hystrix)

Needle palms (Rhapidophyllum hystrix) are much shorter, eventually forming a 6 by 6 foot rounded shrub. As the name suggests, this palm does have 6 to 10 inch long needles at its base and around its trunk. It is one the most elusive of our native palms, yet it has the best cold hardiness–surviving temperatures down to negative fifteen degrees. This is the only palm that has little to no salt tolerance but can handle near to full shade. The foliage of the needle palm is also the most distinct, with narrow-leaved fronds that provide an airy, fan-like texture.

Silver saw palmettos (Serenoa repens)

Saw palmettos (Serenoa repens) have toothed ridges along each leaf stem that can cause a good scrape to any exposed skin if not careful. These are the lowest growing of all our palms, usually ending up around 4 to 6 feet, though their height can vary in different environments. At St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, it is easy to see one of the most distinctive features of truly mature Saw palmettos–their trunks swim. Instead of growing straight up, saw palmettos grow sideways, their trunks growing many hundreds of feet parallel to the ground, dipping underneath the soil and then reemerging several feet later. This method allows them to form huge colonies by breaking off from and cloning themselves. Running along the middle sandy ridge of Florida are some of the oldest Saw palmettos in existence, estimated to be between 1227-5215 years old. More than 100 bird species, 27 mammals, 25 amphibians, 61 reptiles, and many insects use it as food and habitat. When Saw palmetto extract experienced a boom in popularity for its purported medicinal properties, there was also a spike of people poaching the berries from protected lands, severely impacting bears that rely on palm forage for a chunk of their fattening fall diet.

Not everything about palms in the landscape can be praised. They are slow to grow, often a plant that requires its caretaker to be thinking in years-long terms rather than a few seasons. Adult Cabbage palms can also be rather messy–though it takes a lot to topple one, average winds or sometimes even simple wildlife activity can cause fronds to shake free from the canopy. Yet their versatility and use to our wildlife alone make them a valuable addition to any landscape, acting as a steadfast backdrop or foundation planting. It is undeniable they are a beneficial addition to the landscape, a universal symbol of the state of Florida.

May 2025, Release for the Tallahassee Democrat

Dream Big, Start Small: Plant a Bare Root tree this winter

Instant gratification is a feeling we all can find enjoyment in and have, frankly, become accustomed to. We want instant gratification with many things in our lives, but one thing that we should all consider taking our time with, is planting a tree. 

Donna Legare recently shared a sweet seedling story with me. It was a story that started with her simply gathering natural mulch, a neighbor's American beech leaves, and now has resulted in a beautiful American beech near her driveway. A beech nut was mixed among her leaf pile, which then sprouted and rooted all on its own. This is sometimes known as a “nature planting” or a “volunteer” plant. If that beech nut had landed on a manicured lawn instead of bare soil, it would not have been so lucky to have the chance to sprout. This particular volunteer has now outgrown her previously planted American beech in her backyard, which is about 10 years older than the volunteer. There are plenty of factors to consider when comparing the two beech trees, like the amount of sun and soil drainage, but a particular factor to consider is that the volunteer beech in her yard was never constrained by a pot. 

Donna was fortunate with her volunteer tree, because not all nature plantings deserve a spot in your landscape. And while we may not all be so lucky as to have a stunning native tree pop up in our yard, we can however get pretty close to that same feeling of easy landscaping by choosing a bare root tree.  

If you have ever considered planting a tree, now is the perfect time to do so. Most trees have a dormancy period through the winter, making transplanting less shocking, keeping maintenance to a minimum, and allowing the tree to focus primarily on its root development. One of the best things about planting a tree in the winter, is that you can easily find an adorable little native tree for a fraction of the cost, and it is the overall healthiest option for the tree. These tiny trees are usually called “bare root” seedlings – and the name says it all. 

Bare root trees are usually one to two years old, and are grown in a loose medium such as sand, allowing full root development without being constricted by a plastic nursery pot. What makes bare root trees even more appealing, is that they are extremely affordable. Instead of spending a hundred dollars on an overly large tree that has been bound in its pot and takes multiple people to plant, consider spending a mere seven dollars or less and have a little patience with a younger tree. A bare root tree can be a canopy tree or an understory tree – some readily available and easy to care for native bare root tree species are white oak, bald cypress, longleaf pine, red buckeye, western mayhaw, and American snowbell. Despite how good instant gratification can feel, the feeling of caring for, and watching something grow and thrive over time is even more rewarding. You can spend less time digging a ginormous hole, and more time admiring the new baby native tree in your yard.