Alexander "Age" Florence has transformed his residential yard into a thriving Ocean Friendly Garden full of native plants, pollinators, and vibrant blooms. Florence helped co-found a community plant swap called Rooted in Broward in South Florida to spread the joy of plants and create in-person connections and friendships. Our Broward Chapter's OFG Coordinator, Sherry Meneses, helped register Age's Garden on our Ocean Friendly Garden's map and we are stoked to have them as an ambassador for the program!
Tell us a little about yourself:
My name is Alexander Florence and I'm an elementary school Art Teacher in Ft Lauderdale. I've been teaching art over 15 years. About seven years ago I bought my first house with my wife, Grecia. We live near downtown Ft Lauderdale and have a small area for growing plants. South Florida is a pretty tricky zone to grow things I've learnt. But with plenty of trial and error I feel like I have a pretty beautiful garden going. I'm a huge animal lover and have really focused on growing native plants to attract many creatures, large and small, to my yard. These animals have evolved with our native Florida plants for millions of years, so they really need each other. You'll be surprised what wildlife might show up, in even an Urban garden, thanks to the right plants. Florida's largest butterfly, the Giant Swallowtail, is a constant visitor to my garden.
A giant swallowtail caterpillar rests on a leaf in Age's Ocean Friendly Garden.
During the height of the Covid Pandemic, when people were only allowed to meet outside, I met Pabla Ayala. She was just like myself, in that we knew we loved plants and wanted to learn more about them. Pabla also has a great love for Ft Lauderdale and wanted to get a group of people from the community together to talk and exchange plants. Rooted in Broward was soon born, and we quickly added Kathy Scott an integral member to our team. We've held Rooted in Broward [a community plant-swap] quarterly, for 4 years now. It's been an amazing journey watching it expand and add so many plant lovers and South Florida residents.
Age chats about an orchid, a FL native Scarlet Hibiscus (Hibiscus coccineus) is in bloom
My favorite native plant is the Jamaican Caper. It's not the type of caper we eat, but in that same family. The reason its my favorite native plant is because this caper's flowers are incredible. They only bloom in Spring, but the blooms look like fireworks. The flowers start as white in the morning and gradually turn pink as the day goes on. I've never seen a similar looking flower, and to make them even more amazing, pollinators love these blooms. Jamaican Caper, like other native plants, once you get it established, you won't ever have to worry about watering it again.
I wish I could say my alias, Age, had an epic tale to go with it... but no haha. My middle name is John, so I'm an A.J. My family used to call me Age to shorten AJ even more. My b-boy friends thought that was perfect for me, so I went with it. Age One was born. 😅
Florida native plant, buttonsage (Lantana involucrata), has delicate white flowers; Wild cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) is an endangered Florida native