About 10 years ago, I planted a thin row of sea oats on the ocean side of our beach. They were sparse, lonely, little 4-inch sprigs, barely visible from 20 feet away. But they were salt-tolerant and thrived in the sandy, well-drained beach. Now they form a thick, formidable barrier between the beach and the waves. I did nothing to help them along. All on their own they established themselves proudly, growing deep, broad roots and spreading above ground to form a protective barrier between the raging waters and the pristine sand.
These native grasses attract a variety of skipper caterpillars as their host plant. When you plant a host plant, incredulously the things that feed on the host will arrive. Are they attracted to the smell? Do they actually see the difference between plants? Who teaches them this? I don’t know how they find their choice of food, but they do.
Key West Master Gardener Robin Robinson was a columnist for the Chicago Daily News. Her books “Plants of Paradise” and award-winning “Roots Rocks and Rain: Native Trees of the Florida Keys” and the newest addition, “Sexy Shrubs in Sandy Soil,” can be found at the Garden Club. This column is part of a series developed by the Key West Garden Club. For information about plants, visit a compilation of previous columns at http://www.keywestgardenclub.com, Robin’s Columns.
