Visit Five Private Gardens & One Public Natural Habitat in SE Palm Beach County
(West Palm Beach, FL – October 18, 2022) The Palm Beach County Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society,today announced that it would be hosting its first major Native Plant Garden Tour since 2019.
From 9 am to 3 pm on Sunday, November 6, participants can visit five unique private gardens and one public natural habitat in Southeastern Palm Beach County, and each one is landscaped with Florida native plants. There will be docents at each property to answer questions, plant lists and labels on most of the plants will be available, and native plant literature will be at the welcome tables.
The entrance fee for non-members ($10) can be paid by cash or check at any of the gardens. For more information, please call 561.247.3677 or visit http://www.palmbeach.fnpschapters.org
The six sights on this year’s Native Plant Garden Tour include:
+ Laragh Garden
5 Sandpiper Drive in Village of Golf
“A Five-Star Garden and Habitat”
The garden of Jean Sealey Laragh has evolved over 25 years as she “learned to recognize the beauty and native plants and watch them adapt as shade develops… I love the different shades of green (and listening) for the secondary rainfall from the trees after a heavy rainstorm.” The all-natural garden also hosts numerous butterflies, from atala to long wing zebras.
(Note: Must provide name by November 4 to access this garden. Please check http://www.palmbeach.fnpschapters.orgfor details.)
+ McCoy Garden
4 NW 16th Street in Delray Beach
“An Impressive Lawn-Free Landscape”
Jim and Lora McCoy spent years mowing lawns at their residences in Florida and Massachusetts, but five years ago they purchased a 1924 cottage house that came “with a Koi pond, a wildly overgrown yard, and (gate signage) identifying the property as a ‘wild’ animal sanctuary and a bird and butterfly friendly landscape… There was no grass when we came, and no grass is how it shall remain. We are trying our best to plant and nurture native plants and trees and doing our small part to hold the sound of the leaf blowers at bay.”
+ Gannon Garden
236 Dixie Blvd. in Delray Beach
“Backyard Paradise”
“I consider my garden like a room in my house, always moving plants around based on their sub requirements,” says owner Anne Gannon. As seasons change and plants grew, she found great benefits from bringing native plants into her yard. Reduction in water, fertilizer, bugs and maintenance. Native plantings adjust to less rainwater, are able to withstand diseases more easily, and thrive with heat and humidity. Now Gannon’s time in her garden is less maintenance and all about watching the native butterflies and birds that find refuge among the native plantings.
+ Delray Historical Society Heritage Garden
3 NE 1st Street in Delray Beach
Conceived in 2017 as a collaboration between the Historical Society and the Grass River Garden Club, the garden’s goal was to teach the importance of utilizing native plants and as a way to mitigate the dwindling green space and natural habitats in the city due to increased development. The garden has distinct sections, including a Florida scrub section, a pollinator garden, the Lower Keys, oak hammock, Dade County pine forest, wetlands. In the wetland area are swamp milkweed, a host for monarch butterflies, fragrant water lilies, buttonbush and a pond apple tree (Annona glabra). “It’s an asset and a green oasis in the midst of downtown Delray Beach,” says Winnie Diggans Edwards, executive director of the Historical Society. “We’re blessed with one acre of property and as a gathering place for the community. We wanted to create an outdoor classroom to educate the public on its history through nature.”
(Adapted from an article by Jan Engoren in The Coastal Star)
+ Oster Garden
845 NE 71st Street in Boca Raton
“Where the Seagrapes Meet the Mangroves”
One thing that stands out during the approach to the Oster Garden. It is in an upscale neighborhood where all the houses look the same, but the Oster home is different. It has no front lawn, while inviting pathways lead to different areas. The west side is an edible forest of natives and Caribbean fruit trees. Heading to the back northeast side is a tiered pond that features wetland plants and trees, in the back is a massive trunk of an old seagrape (female) that is stout in height, provides shade for a back deck sitting area that overlooks the waterway where planted mangroves in PVC piping thrive off of his boat deck It is really spectacular.
+ Kohner Garden
447 SW 8th Terrace in Boca Raton
“Oasis in a Green Desert”
Why not native? That is the motto of Michael Kohner when it comes to landscaping. He and his wife choose a native plant every time they add to their landscape, increasing the garden’s beauty while supporting the pollinators and reducing impact on the environment. It started slow, with a few laurel oaks, Quercus laurifolia, in the swale, and now the garden has 190 native species, with a few non-natives yet to be replaced. Originally, the yard was grass and sand and now has a thriving population of earthworms and other delights that the opossums eat at night, and the butterflies can be so thick that they are impossible to count.
Note:
The Palm Beach County Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society–in partnership with Audubon Everglades andAtala Chapter of the North American Butterfly Association—will be giving away a native plant at one of the gardens while supplies last.
About The Palm Beach County Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society:
The Palm Beach County Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the preservation, conservation and restoration of native plants and native plant communities of Florida.
Educational meetings are the third Tuesday of each month at 7 pm at Mounts Botanical Garden. Each meeting has an educational program related to Florida native plants, a native plant raffle and refreshments For more information, call561.247.3677 or visit http://www.palmbeach.fnpschapters.org.
