Ground Plants

This area of Florida gets a minimum of 200 hours of sunshine per month, even in winter. As much as 300 hours during the summer months. That's great for tourism, and for RVs that have solar panels installed. (What, your RV doesn't use solar panels? Better get some solar panel information! In any case, sunshine is also great for plants, if it's combined with the correct watering. The problem is, rainfall in this area tends to come in irregular and torrential doses. The solution:

Xeriscaping:

The word is a combination of xeros (Greek for "dry") with landscaping. Actually, Xeriscape was registered as a trademark by the Water Department of Denver, Colorado.

What it means is attractive, sustainable landscaping that needs little or no supplemental irrigation.

Spider lilies are one of the plants used to decorate the entrance to the park. In the background is Muhly grass.

One aspect of xeriscaping is choice of plants--select those whose requirements match the local climate. Cactus, juniper, sedum and thyme, agave and lavender are common.

Another aspect is making sure that whatever water that nature provides, does not run off, nor evaporate.

Over time, Florida has placed more and more demand on their fresh water supplies. The rational response to the resulting water shortages is drought-tolerant landscaping. At this St. Petersburg park, we see many examples of xeriscaping, and we can see that it can be just as attractive as green lawns and thirsty shrubs.

Coontie is also used at the park entrance; it only grows to a height of 2 or 3 feet.

Well-placed Yucca plants, surrounded by Muhly grass, accent the visual effect of the entrance area plantings.