Over a decade in the past I made a decision to strive planting the native Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) within the maritime grassland exhibit on the South Carolina Botanical Backyard. To my amazement, this species that I knew of from the fringes of saltmarsh within the Lowcountry thrived in each moist and dry soils of the higher Piedmont of South Carolina! The plant has confirmed to have unbelievable versatility and grows properly in sand or clay and might be flooded for weeks and fully dry as properly. In contrast to many different vegetation that may accommodate such various situations it isn’t so ugly that solely a mom may like it, in actual fact, it’s charming.
Frogfruit is a low (4” tall) trailing groundcover with 1.25” lengthy leaves that kinds a strong mass of foliage however lacks deep root buildings and thus doesn’t compete with deeper rooted structural factor vegetation. The flowers are pale pink to lavender and resemble tiny lantanas (an in depth relative). The flowering season right here within the south begins in April and might proceed by exhausting freezes (usually November) however might produce flowers year-round in delicate winters.
Our vegetation, Phyla nodiflora ‘Ramble On,’ are from a Charleston County, South Carolina assortment alongside the margins of a moist ditch (freshwater), however the species has an amazingly wide selection being discovered from New Jersey west to California and all through the tropical areas of the world. One other species, Phyla lanceolata, is a extra upright plant, with an analogous vary (however extending north to Ontario) it has longer leaves and is usually much less showy as a groundcover.
That is the perfect dwelling mulch for robust areas of your panorama. It spreads quickly however is simple to maintain contained by trimming the sides of your patch. We positioned it in certainly one of our pond overflow pits and had been amazed to see it fully rework a time-sink of fixed weeding right into a mass of beautiful little flowers whereas permitting the Hymenocallis and Hibiscus to proceed to rise by the groundcover with out obstruction.
The flowers are favored by skipper butterflies, significantly the smaller species and there may be an all-day-long assortment of a whole lot on our patch each day. As well as, small flies, native bees, sweat bees and tiny wasps are keen on their continually produced flowers. The leaf and stem coloration ranges from inexperienced to deep purple relying on the environmental situations—typically, the extra uncovered to solar, intermittent drought or salty soils, the extra purple within the plant. If the objective of your backyard is to extend the manufacturing of life by filling all of your areas with vegetation which are cherished by bugs whereas on the identical time decreasing the necessity for mulch and weeding, this plant is certainly price a strive. Search for this within the close to future. – Patrick McMillan.
