The rainy season is here, sometimes it rains and sometimes it doesn't. Though the average annual rainfall in this part of Florida is about 56 inches a year, nature just won't cooperate and give us that water at an inch a week which would be just about perfect. This means that even in the rainy season, most of us have irrigation systems to supplement what water Mother Nature sends our way.

Unfortunately, these irrigation systems are the subject of much misuse. For whatever reason, it seems a lot of folks like to see their systems run everyday, so they run them for a short period of time, often. This schedule is a disaster for many reasons.

Plants need regular water just like you and me. But they have the ability to take that water from the soil through out the area of their root zone. Most plants have feeder roots in the top 12 inches of the soil, so watering the entire root zone is a good thing. This brings me to my mantra - water deeply and thoroughly and not again until plants need it.

In Florida the Water Management Districts have tried to educate and regulate irrigation. For most areas landscape irrigation is allowed only 2 days a week. It seems many people have complied with this requirement and their systems come on 2 days a week, even if it has rained every day. How about if we turn our irrigation clocks off and water only when the plants needed it?

Enough of the soapbox! I had the chance to visit a local public beach recently while my son was home from college for a short break. It was his visit that brought water to mind. As is with many public beaches, there was a shower to rinse off the salt water, always a good thing. But what happens to all of that lovely fresh water? At this particular beach some enterprising person had planted a patch of bananas and canna lilies. The planting was positioned to take advantage of the runoff from the shower. These water loving plants were flourishing and provided a sense of privacy.

I love it when waste is turned into a usable product. Water is a precious commodity and to use the excess from this shower for the landscape struck me as a very good thing. The rest of the landscape was beach appropriate and here are a few shots of the plants and textures we enjoyed along with the sun, sand and ocean.

Sea oats are the life of the dunes that protect the beach and the structures behind them. Besides, it wouldn't look like the beach without them.

The sea grapes were in bloom; the strange looking flower spikes would soon host the fruits favored by humans and wildlife alike. The grapes make great jelly.

Beautiful sea grape leaves take on striking hues in the full sun.

The lowly beach sunflower was growing among the sea oats. This pretty flower does some of the work of stabilizing the dune and is a great ground cover for the garden too.