Miami Beach Botanical Garden

Public gardens are some of the best kind of public spaces, and I was lucky to stumble across one recently: the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. The tall wrought-iron gates were open, so I stepped past them into the lush, tamed jungle, looking around at the green and pink and white as though I was collecting colors, and wondered which way to go first. A young couple was to the right, peering over a flowered bush, so I went left. Finding a garden isn't something that happens to me a lot, so I allowed myself the rare chance to wander. And possibly get lost.

Getting lost turned out not to be a possibility, because the garden covers half of a small block (shared with the Holocaust Memorial) -- surrounded by development on all sides. A half-mile to the west is the Intracoastal, and a half-mile to the east is the Atlantic Ocean. The paths in the garden start out paved and well-marked, then become walkways of various surfaces, eventually winding down into grass where no path is visible. I couldn't have lost my way in the garden, but there are enough solitary places that you could sit and think, and not believe that just past the gates is a large parking lot.

The Miami Beach Botanical Garden, like Miami Beach, is eclectic. The garden displays its Art Deco side:



Its sensual side:



And an Asian side:





There are areas of the garden where you're not quite sure where you are, or which could be anygarden:



Miami Beach Botanical Garden also displays some of the flowers and plants that could only be grown in a subtropical place, such as Miami Beach: miniature pomegrantes,



Orchids,



Frangipani (which are used to make leis),



And many other flowering plants, bushes and small trees that are right at home in South Florida.

Miami Beach Botanical Garden seems to be a popular place to hold events, and to some people, that may be all the small garden is worth. It's not a place to bring young children for an outing, only because they wouldn't find it fun. But a person who simply wants to step into a beautiful space for a while will find the garden a haven.

Miami Beach Botanical Garden is at 2000 Convention Center Drive (across from the Miami Beach Convention Center and back-to-back with the Holocaust Memorial), open 9 am to 5 pm Tuesday through Friday. Admission is free.

Project: Make seed paper for a plantable homemade card

Ever seen those greeting cards made out of paper that you can plant, which grows flowers or herbs? My husband gave me a card like that a long time ago, and I thought it was fun.

It's also fun to make your own seed paper -- and this is a great project for older kids.

(That's code for my preschooler and toddler weren't that interested or able to help.)

First, you make a frame. I used a plastic 8X10 picture frame on clearance for $3.50, and some mesh that I think plastic Easter eggs came in. The mesh is doubled and duct taped onto the frame. Not pretty, but functional.



Then you use a blender to whip up some slurry -- torn pieces of paper you were going to recycle anyway (I used office paper; one piece had red ink, so the paper turned out slightly pink) that had been sitting in a big bowl of water for a day.

Yum yum.

You pour the slurry into a large dish.



Add your seeds. If I do this again, I will also add tiny flowers placed just so on the paper. You know, weeds can be pretty.



Shake your frame through the slurry to get it all paper-y, and place the frame on an old towel.



Blot to soak up the water, then carefully peel off the layer of new paper.



Let the paper lie flat to dry, and then you can decorate it to use as a card to give to your favorite person.

Think I'm the homemade seed paper card expert? I'm not! I tried out this project as a National Wildlife Federation Be Out There Founding Mother. Find all the detailed steps for making seed paper, and suggestions for good wildflower seeds based on where you live, at the National Wildlife Federation site.

Make your yard a Certified Wildlife Habitat

It's here! I have an officially certified backyard wildlife habitat!

Long before our kids were born, my husband and I worked on making our yard friendly to wildlife. We learned what wildlife need: shelter, water, food and a place to raise their young. It was easy to make sure our yard had all of those elements. We knew about the National Wildlife Federation's Certified Wildlife Habitat program, but we just never got around to certification.

When I heard recently the NWF is hoping to reach 150,000 yards certified, I finally filled out the forms online. (See on my certificate, I'm number 139,834.) It's a simple process.

If you want to be a bird nerd cool like me and make your yard a wildlife habitat, just make sure you have what wildlife look for in a habitat:

Shelter



See this dead tree in my yard? It's called a snag. And it's great for wildlife! A rock pile or rock wall or even thick brush work too.

Water

Wildlife also need a source of water. We live on a canal that attracts wading birds like herons and egrets, and it's also home to turtles. A bird bath in our wildflower garden gives smaller birds a place to find fresh water.

Food

Our yard also provides sources of food for critters, like the queen palm seeds that I've seen raccoons eat:



The firebush that gives butterflies nectar:



Cocoplum bushes that will eventually fruit (and I see something has been eating the leaves):



Several bird feeders that attract different birds at different times of the year:



Place to Raise Young

Behind the bird feeder in the picture is a Dutchman's pipe vine, which is a larval host plant, aka food for caterpillars that grow into swallowtail butterflies.

My husband built a nesting box that is just the right dimensions for an American kestrel or a northern screech owl. (But most of the time, it houses squirrels, and that's OK too.) One time, he put a video camera in the box and recorded an owl making a nest there. Sure wish I could find that video! Another time, bees made a hive in there.



If you don't want to make a nesting box, that's OK because many animals live in trees. If you have a tree in your yard, that might be a good place for a critter to nest.



Sustainable Gardening

Do you use mulch? Maybe you compost or have a rain barrel? These are beneficial to wildlife too. We avoid using pesticides in or around our yard because we don't want to kill off the butterflies we have worked hard to attract by planting nectar and larval plants.

You can see it doesn't take much to attract wildlife to your yard -- after that, it's just a matter of filling out the Certified Wildlife Habitat form and paying the fee ($20). Then tell all your friends, who will think you are an awesome wildlife expert.

Around the Home: Hydrangeas

Family gave me a hydrangea plant for Easter. I love hydrangea bushes and the range of colors they have. Unfortunately, they don't grow well here in southern Florida. I'm going to try it anyway, and plant this in a spot that is always shady.

Have you ever had success with a plant growing out of its usual gardening range?

Around the Home: Orchids

Two of my orchid plants are blooming. It sounds funny to me to say it that way. It sounds like I have a lot of orchids. I don't. I actually am a little afraid of them. Anything that doesn't grow in the dirt? I don't get it. But the orchid plants were presents, so I keep them around. I love their flowers!

Around the Home: Wild iris after the rain

It rained here two days in a row, which was great because we really needed it. In between showers, I swished across the wet grass in the back yard because I saw something white. It turned out to be a few of these irises/lilies. I have found so many different names for this flower, from wild iris to butterfly lily. I am going to call it a wild iris because it just popped up. I know I didn't plant it!