JICAMA PLANT

Along the back fence is a jicama plant, producing bean pods above ground and hiding edible tuberous roots below. She grows the ginger from which turmeric is made.

The "banana plantation" grows robustly here as well. For a long time, Hamelik says, a couple of banana plants languished. Then someone suggested she put grass clippings around it for mulch. That was the kick start they needed, and now three banana patches shelter compost piles around their feet.

Her "bootleg" Key lime has come out of hiding now that the canker police have disappeared. Its leaves are enjoyed by the caterpillars of the giant swallowtail butterfly, and that's part of its reason for being, as Hamelik sees it.

Hamelik has not done away with her lawn, but reduced it with the tidy mulched beds around her trees. The mulch is from a friendly tree service guy who works in the area. She uses citrus and palm fertilizers on the fruit trees and uses a hand sprayer to apply liquid fertilizer to the orchids every 10 days or so.

The National Wildlife Federation began its Backyard Wildlife Habitat program in 1973 and has certified more than 74,000 habitats, 866 of them in Broward County, 215 in Miami-Dade. Hamelik wants to see a rash of them along her street in Pinecrest.

WILTON MANORS

Last week, Wilton Manors was certified as a Community Wildlife Habitat, one of only 17 in the United States. It is between the North and South forks of the Middle River in Fort Lauderdale, and its two square miles include a canoe trail, nature walks and a mangrove preserve.

Mary Burnette with NWF says Florida has 4,212 individually certified yards, trailing only California, which has 200 more.

Small or large, backyard habitats must provide wildlife with food, water, shelter and places to raise young. In Hamelik's yard, a container of water holds miniature water lilies and a few mosquito fish, while a large firebush has proved to be a suitable nesting site for a hummingbird.

"One morning, I'm out here with my coffee . . . and all of a sudden a hummingbird came out of the firebush. I think water from a sprinkler hit her nest and she was really fussing at me," Hamelik says. The hummer reappeared day after day.

In addition to benefiting the wildlife and the neighbors, creating the habitat also has benefited the gardener.

"It's a quiet meditative thing," says Hamelik, "and I get a tangible sense of accomplishment from it. When I have done a big project, I get a beer and come out here and admire my work."