While some of us love the long-lasting dazzling color of annuals they are unfortunately not sustainable and do not provide our native plants ’ ecosystem services . Consider how much water and fertilizer they require to keep them looking their best and the fact they must be re-planted each year .
We do have color on Kiawah , but not the intense color of high-input gardens like Butchart or Disney World . Kiawah ’ s color is understated , but it is present . If you want to add color to your garden , consider using Kiawah ’ s natives in mass plantings . Try the silvery-blue form of our native salt- and deer-tolerant saw palm ( Serenoa repens ‘ Cinerea ’). Instead of planting just three saw palms , try seven or nine , and do not remove the fruit after it flowers . The fruit provides food that sustains amphibians and birds . The flowers are a larval host for the palmetto skipper — part of the Lepidoptera order that includes butterflies and moths . Instead of just three beautyberries , try nine ! Resist the urge to shape them and other plants into meatballs . Think less about your old high school solid geometry classes when pruning shrubs — no pyramids , cubes , or spheres , please — and more about natural forms that you occasionally lightly prune for size or because one particular branch is getting out of control . If we prune everything into a geometric shape , we will lose the beauty , and likely , the wildlife benefits of the plant .
Below : Red-bellied woodpecker . Above right : Beautyberry . Opposite page : Seaside goldenrod .
Photo by Jane Ellis Photo by Robert Hill
WINTER / SPRING 2021 • VOLUME 43
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