Florida is home to nearly 4,000 varieties of ferns, flowering and nonflowering plants, making it the third most diverse state ranked by plant flora. The abundance of plant life is the result of Florida’s ample sunlight, sandy soil, torrential rains (followed by long stretches with NO rain) and nearly a 12-month growing season.
As a newcomer to Villages at Country Creek, I remember falling in love with our community’s brilliantly colored hibiscus and bougainvillea. To my Midwestern eyes, exotic crotons and ti plants resembled something from another planet.
I immersed myself in this brave new world of Florida flora by joining Deadheaders, one of our volunteer groups at Villages at Country Creek. Residents can see us Monday and Wednesday mornings, the ladies wearing pink shirts, pulling invasive vines and weeds, deadheading flowers, and replacing sick plants with healthy new ones on Common Grounds. Volunteering with Deadheaders has been a great way to learn about Florida plant life and I encourage everyone who is interested in gardening to join us. Contact Barb McNally ([email protected]) or Mary Marrone ([email protected]) if you wish to volunteer for Deadheaders.
The landscaped areas considered part of Common Grounds include both entrances, the clubhouse, parking lots, the fern garden, the pools, bocce and tennis courts, all cul-de-sacs and peninsulas, swales, and along Country Creek Drive. Approximately 40-50 different native plants are used in our landscaping; these plants were selected because they are non-invasive, require little maintenance and are relatively drought and disease resistant. We are putting together two plant guides that we hope to make available to our community’s residents as downloadable documents via the Villages at Country Creek website in the next few weeks. The first is a Guide to Common Grounds Plants that will picture, identify and describe 25 non-flowering plants found in various locations around Villages at Country Creek. The second is a Guide to Flowering Plants that will picture and identify 25 flowers and flowering shrubs frequently seen around our community. We also hope to publish a Guide to Invasive Vines and Plants on the website prior to the upcoming Community Service Day scheduled in early November and a Guide to Common Grounds Palmsand Hardwood Trees later this year.
