Shelby Radcliffe on Designing with Florida Natives (#53)

This month, Shelby Radcliffe of Emergent Gardens joined me on The Plantastic Podcast to share about designing with natives in Florida. She talked about the formative lessons she took from internships at Wave Hill and the US National Arboretum, including why the first year in any new garden should be spent mostly observing. Shelby showed how roadside wildflowers and overlooked field plants can become the most exciting things in a designed garden. She also digs into her favorite underused grasses and sedges for the Southeast. And if you've ever wrestled with how to balance a client's aesthetic preferences with ecological function, Shelby's approach of leading with education, positivity, and great examples is worth hearing. Enjoy the show!