Weekend Walkabout: Lantana, A Bunny, and Some Ibises

An autumn cold front finally blew through this week, lowering our temps from the mid-90sF to the low 80s. Time for walkies! What's to be seen this weekend?

The Lantana camara is still blooming like crazy....

Lantana camara, MR 2013

The Eastern cottontails are busily munching tasty riverbank salad....

Eastern cottontail, MR, 2013

The white ibises are flocking. Eudocimus albus is a friendly neighborhood bird around here. It's not uncommon to see a flock of 10-12 rooting around the yard at breakfast time, using their narrow beaks to precisely target tasty insects and worms. Apparently, only about 10-20% of the huge flocks that graced our shores are currently still with us. The demise of the Everglades, and general wetland encroachment by humans, has thinned their numbers considerably across the South. Fortunately, we have many here on the dunes, and they appear well-fed and healthy.

White Ibis Pair, MR, 2013

Have a wonderful weekend!

Smelly Plant of the Month: Lantana camara

For May, I chose a plant from my garden that's full of controversy, pluses and minuses, pros and cons. You might love it or hate it. It's Lantana!

Lantana camara MR May 2013

Sometimes known as "Stinkflower", this colorful member of the Verbena family came to the American Southeast from the tropics several centuries ago. So it was an invasive, but now it's considered "naturalized".  It's called "Stinkflower" because the leaves give off a pungent, herbaceous perfume that some people perceive as cat pee. To others, it smells sharply green with sweeter, floral undertones. Lantana is even used in perfumes occasionally, and I'd say the closest odor in the flower world to my nose would be marigold, also known as genda, or tagetes.

"Lantana Morning"  MR 2013

What I love about Lantana is the beautiful clusters of multicolored flowers. Lantana blooms all year in warm climates. It can grow on our difficult dunes, and is very pest-resistant. Though it can grow 6 feet high and 8 feet across, it tends to stay small and bushy in beachy environments. It can anchor the soil in places most plants cannot grow at all, and it looks lovely. It also attracts butterflies.

Lantana has a dark side, it's true. It's a seriously nasty invasive in Hawai'i, and several other places on the planet. The plant, particularly the berries, are quite toxic to pets and several species of wildlife. So Lantana might be a great choice for you, or a dreadful one, depending on where you live, and what your gardening needs are. Have you tried Lantana in your garden? If so, how did it work out?