Botanical Gardening in Paradise
Hippity Hop...
Our garden is the home of a large and growing family of Marsh Rabbits (Sylvilagus palustris).
They can be seen morning and evening nibbling all over our grassy areas. Marsh Rabbits are blackish-brown in color with a grayish belly and
are much smaller than cottontails with smaller ears, legs, and tail.
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Marsh rabbits are most active at night; they spend most of their day resting in burrows and tall grasses.
Although they can hop like all rabbits, they are more agile in dense vegetation with a walking tendency. This gives them the natural ability to escape from predators.
Because Sanibel is 65% conservation land, our bunnies have a large number of predators that make them an important link in the food chain. Bobcats, hawks, eagles, owls and gators
all depend on the Marsh Rabbit for food, keeping their numbers in check naturally. |
If you see our rabbits, stay quiet or they will hippity-hop away after a quick twitch of the nose. Our rabbits are wild and we never feed or try to tame them.
We ask that you don't either. Our gardens are their home, so we welcome them to live freely and we in turn can have moments of awe and enjoyment while observing them in their natural habitat.
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Botanical Garden Tours
As a Moorings guest you are invited to our complimentary botanical garden tour with our Master
Gardener & Naturalist, Anita Marshall, every Tuesday at 9am. We meet in the butterfly garden and explore the
6 acres of gardens in approximately 2 hours.
If you are not one of our guests, you too are invited to join Master Gardener & Naturalist, Anita Marshall, for an open to the
public botanical garden 2 hour walking tour Wednesdays at 9am. RSVP required with a $5.00 fee/person........A must see for plant lovers!
Call us toll free at 1.800.237.5144 or 239.472.4119 for reservations and/or information.
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Yipes Stripes!
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Our Florida state butterfly is the Heliconius charitonius, nicknamed Zebra Longwings.
It has extra long yellow and black striped fluttering wings. Its host plant is the Passion vine, (Passiflora suberosa and Passiflora incarmata) which we have planted in many of our garden areas. To make your butterfly garden a success,
be sure to include butterfly host plants. Once you have selected the approriate plants for your area, be sure to plant more than one
as you will have more success in attracting egg laying butterflies if there is a group of plantings. |
I like to group our host plant nestled in between non-host plants. This helps hide the nibbled plants and give the
caterpillars opportunity to hide from predators. Remember, not only will you attract egg laying butterflies, you will be providing for the
next generation of butterflies.
  
Photos Above: Maypop Passionvine - Zebra eggs on Corkystem Passionvine - Zebra caterpillar eating
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Ask the Gardener
Please contact Anita Marshall, Sanibel Moorings Master Gardener at gardens@sanibelmoorings.com with
any questions or comments about our gardens. I welcome guests, garden clubs and all who love the beauty of gardens! Sanibel Moorings Resort and Sanibel Island have so many venues to enjoy
tropical plants in natural and orchestrated settings. I am in the process of developing future Garden Packages for all us who can't get enough of gardening. See you in the garden!
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