Yard of Tom Brown 2021

Not long before we visited the yard of Tom Brown on June 18, 2021, a gopher tortoise had built a burrow in the sandy soil among the native wildflowers in this un-irrigated yard. Plant it, and they will come.

Tom has been very thoughtful about placing plants in the right place in his yard, and his yard includes a diversity of native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and grasses.

Below Tom demonstrates the black cloth that he used in the the moist low area near the road where he placed that enjoy wet conditions including native yellow canna (Canna flaccida) and pineland heliotrope (Heliotropium podophyllum). Note the pine straw mulch, too.

Tom has planted lots of trees including this delicate deciduous pond cypress (Taxodium ascendens) with yellow canna …

Thorny sweet acacia (Acacia farnesiana) “screens” the west side of his yard and was full of fruit pods (which followed sweet-smelling yellow flowers) …

He had planted three types of “bay” trees including redbay (Persea borbonia), which was full of unripe fruits …

… sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana) with silvery lead undersides …

… and loblolly bay (Gordonia lisianthus) …

Teabush (Melochia tomentosa), a small tree, drew lots of attention from pollinators & people alike …

Tom’s pine trees (Pinus densa) were growing beautifully …

Crownbeard (Verbesina virginica), starry rosinweed (Silphium asteriscus), and a hummingbird feeder are planted adjacent to the pines …

The Simpsons stopper (Myrcianthes fragrans) hedge at the back of his property is filling in nicely …

Check out his Florida privet (Forestiera segregata) …

His Darrowii’s blueberries (Vaccinium darowwii) are even bigger and showier than when we last visited …

His sea lavender (Heliotropium gnapholodes) also had grown substantially …

Though sea lavender is a “beach” plant, it thrives in Tom’s yard, as does golden creeper (Ernodea littoralis) …

This post doesn’t do justice to the diversity of Tom’s yard. Click here to check out his yard when we visited in 2020.