Florida Wildflower Foundation

Nature’s salad bar: Deer have a taste for wildflowers

2012-01-20T14:27:00.001-05:00

By Dr. Jeff Norcini

Have you ever had a deer wander into your yard to dine on your landscape plants? Well, that’s what happened several years ago at a wildflower demonstration garden established as part of my extension program at the University of Florida/IFAS research center in Quincy.

This nighttime shot caught one of the culprits in the act.
Photo:UF/IFAS, NFREC

We observed that deer, which can be quite abundant in northern Gadsden County (Quality Deer Management Association), found Florida Tickseed (Coreopsis floridana) and Swamp Tickseed (Coreopsis nudata) quite to their liking amongst 14 native wildflowers and one native grass. They liked Stokes Aster (Stokesia laevis), too. How did we know it was deer and not rabbits eating the plants? To prevent browsing, we had to surround each plant with chicken wire. Deer tracks helped identify the culprits, too!

These observations led to a full-blown scientific study in 2008 and 2009 about deer wildflower-browsing preferences. The study, which was recently published, was a team effort at the Quincy research center involving the departments of Wildlife Ecology (Holly Ober, Luke DeGroote) and Environmental Horticulture (Jim Aldrich, Gary Knox, and myself). Deer browsing plots were established each year using containerized plants of 11 wildflower species, all Asteraceae: Goldenmane Tickseed (Coreopsis basalis), Florida Tickseed (Coreopsis floridana), Coastalplain Tickseed (Coreopsis gladiata), Fringeleaf or Chipola Tickseed (Coreopsis integrifolia), Lanceleaf Tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata), Leavenworth’s Tickseed (Coreopsis leavenworthii), Blanketflower (Gaillardia pulchella), Pinnate Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida pinnata), Orange Coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida), Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), and Softhair Coneflower (Rudbeckia mollis). (Swamp Tickseed was not included in the study because no seed or plants were available.) A tall fence around each plot protected 38 percent of the plants from deer. Deer damage was assessed every two weeks both years from April to November.

A portion of the site was fenced to keep deer at bay.
Photo: UF/IFAS, NFREC

The heaviest deer-browsing occurred from mid-summer to fall, although the intensity of browsing over time varied between years and amongst wildflower species. Deer clearly preferred Florida Tickseed, Coastalplain Tickseed, Fringeleaf Tickseed and Orange Coneflower (the percentage of plants browsed was 67, 60, 48, and 42 percent, respectively). Browsing reduced flowering of Florida and Fringeleaf Tickseed by at least 50 percent, and eventually killed a significant number of these plants. Interestingly, deer-browsing did not affect flowering of Coastalplain Tickseed, which flowers at the same time as Florida Tickseed, strongly resembles Florida Tickseed, and is much more common than Florida Tickseed in the Panhandle. Orange Coneflower, despite heavy browsing by deer, showed no ill effects in terms of growth or flowering.

The other seven species were browsed to some degree, with the percentage of browsed plants ranging from 27 percent (Leavenworth’s Tickseed) to 5 percent or less (Blanketflower, Pinnate Prairie Coneflower, Lanceleaf Tickseed, Goldenmane Tickseed). Lack of preference for Goldenmane Tickseed was a bit surprising as cattle like to graze on it (Terry Zinn, personal communication).

It was evident some plants were preferred by deer visiting the plot.
Photo: UF/IFAS, NFREC

So, what’s this mean to you? First, because none of the wildflowers was immune to browsing, if you live in an area with a lot of deer, don’t be surprised if any of these wildflowers are nibbled. Second, if you have one of the heavily browsed species in your landscape and deer find it, expect repeat visits, because deer have good memories about food sources. Moreover, you'll need to protect those plants in some manner, except for Orange Coneflower. If you are a hunter and want to include wildflowers to attract deer to a food plot, use Orange Coneflower. Of the four most heavily browsed wildflowers, it’s the only one that’s clearly sustainable.

Details of this study are published in the Volume 4, 2011 issue of the journal Southeastern Naturalist: DeGroote, L.W., H.K. Ober, J.H. Aldrich, J.G. Norcini, and G.W. Knox. 2011. Susceptibility of cultivated native wildflowers to deer damage. Southeastern Naturalist 10(4):761-771. The senior author, Luke DeGroote, can be contacted at degroote.1@gmail.com.

Are non-native milkweeds killing monarch butterflies?

2012-01-12T14:18:00.000-05:00


A monarch nectars on native milkweed. Photo/Jaret Daniels

The monarch butterfly is arguably the most well-known and beloved insect in North America. Besides its almost commonplace presence in gardens, it’s the star of one of the world’s greatest migratory events. Each fall, hundreds of millions of monarch butterflies make their long-distance journey south from the United States and Canada to overwintering sites in Mexico and California.

Sadly, these overwintering populations have experienced a steady decline in numbers during the past three decades. Monarchs are threatened by the loss and degradation of habitat, natural disease and predation, adverse weather, and the ongoing decline of both nectar and larval host plants.

Florida’s native milkweeds play a particularly critical role in the migratory lifecycle by providing essential early-spring host resources for returning butterflies. The showy flowers of milkweeds also offer abundant, high-quality nectar to a wide range of other pollinators including hummingbirds and bees.

Despite their attractiveness and wildlife value, only a very small number of the 21 milkweeds native to Florida are available in nurseries or sold from seed.

Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) is by far the most commonly obtainable. Although serving as a fantastic nectar source, it is a suboptimal host and only infrequently used by monarch larvae. As a result, most gardeners purchase the non-native Tropical Milkweed (Asclepias currasavica) – a seemingly ubiquitous plant in the marketplace that is sometimes misidentified or misinterpreted as a native.

Because Tropical Milkweed remains green until frost throughout the Deep South, it can enable monarchs to continue breeding well into fall and winter, causing populations to persist longer in certain areas than they naturally would.

Unfortunately, prolonged breeding can foster higher than normal infection rates by a lethal protozoan parasite, Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE). It can also increase the risk of organism exposure to freezing temperatures, resulting in the potential death of adult butterflies or immature stage.

An added danger is that some commercially grown plants may have been treated with systemic pesticides during cultivation. The application of such pesticides will make the plants toxic to monarch larvae – exasperating most butterfly gardeners.

The simple answer to this potential problem is to ask for native milkweeds at your garden center - be sure to ask for native ecotypes by their scientific names.

Together we can help provide critical host resources for monarch butterflies and increase the market for native plants at the same time.

Dr. Daniels recommends the following milkweeds for monarchs:

Aquatic Milkweed (Asclepias perennis)
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata)
Pinewoods Milkweed (Asclepias humistrata)
Redring Milkweed (Asclepias variegata)

For plant availability at a native nursery near you, visit PlantRealFlorida.org and click on Retail Nurseries/Garden Centers. Select your county, then check each nursery's plant list.

Dr. Jaret Daniels is Assistant Director of Exhibits and Public Programs and Assistant Curator of Lepidoptera at the Florida Museum of Natural History. He is also a University of Florida-IFAS entomology professor.

Drawn to nature: Botanical art treasures stand test of time

2012-01-12T14:17:00.000-05:00

By Claudia Larsen

When it’s time to identify a wildflower, most of us head for our favorite field guide and look through beautiful close-up photographs until we find our subject. Some versions are even color-coded to aid the process. I must own all the popular Florida books by now, but alongside those on my bookshelf are also several special volumes I have collected just for their beautiful hand-drawn reproductions of wildflowers.

My favorite is Caroline Dorman’s Flowers Native to the Deep South (Claitor’s Bookstore, Baton Rouge, La.; 1958). In the forward, the author writes, “It is hoped that this book will help arouse renewed interest in the preservation of our rapidly vanishing wild flowers [sic]. From too frequent picking, misdirected efforts to move them to gardens, forest fires and onslaughts of rabbits and insects, some species are becoming very rare.” Doesn’t her message sound familiar even after all these years? She states that all but two illustrations were drawn from a living flower (some provided by renowned botanist Dr. J.K. Small). These include 33 color plates and 102 black and white drawings. The most stunning flowers, including the white Swamp Lily (Crinum americanum) and the Fringed Orchid (Habenariaciliaris), are set against black backgrounds that contrast beautifully and create a dramatic effect.

Flowers have been the inspiration for many artists throughout history. Early books of botanical illustrations were popularized by the infatuation with the language of flowers in which certain flowers symbolized sentiments of hope, friendship, love and, of course, secret love. In the 17^th and 18^th centuries “florilegiums,” or flower books, became popular. They held accurate drawings of flower parts, stems and roots. Early printing processes included original illustrations transferred to stone or copper for printing. After the design was transferred to paper, it was hand-colored by artists.

As gardening and plant-collecting increased in popularity, so did the ownership of herbarium albums, botanical magazines and books. Privileged women hired art teachers and used instructional drawing books to aid their favorite pastime of drawing and painting with watercolors. Examples of these include “Easy Introduction to Drawing Flowers According to Nature” (James Sowerby; 1788) and “Sketches of Flowers from Nature” (Mary Lawrence; 1801). Many of these albums, which included poetry and gardening advice, were never published. Today they are anonymous works of art stored in various libraries and private collections.

Interest in nature continued to flourish in the 19^th and 20^th centuries, and illustrations depicted collections of regional plants, birds and animals. In 1850, Susan Fenimore Cooper’s artwork in her Rural Hours by a Lady reflected the natural world in upstate New York. Her contemporary, Mrs. Clarissa W. Munger Badger, published Wildflowers of America in 1859.

I can only imagine the beautiful landscapes experienced by Emma Homan Thayer when she created Wildflowers of Colorado in 1885, followed by Wildflowers of the Pacific Coast in 1887. She states in her book, “In the places most difficult to access, I found the most beautiful flowers. It would seem as if they wished to hide the delicate members of their family from the rude gaze of the world, sheltered in some nook of the rocks, like a miniature conservatory tenderly cared for by the fairies of the mountains.”

Women who were paid for their illustrations were often criticized and generally unrecognized for their contributions to important botanical manuscripts, but botanical illustration encouraged personal observation and self-education in the new science of botany, as well as other sciences.

Today, illustrators are prominent in many fields of science and engineering. Government publications also fortified illustrated collections of wildflowers and native plants in manuals such as the annual Yearbook for the US Department of Agriculture.

More recent illustrated manuals on wildflowers are both artistic and instructional. The Illustrated Plants of Florida and the Coastal Plain, (Dr. David Hall; 1993) boasts 1,200 illustrations by Edward H. Stehman from specimens that were collected between 1966 through 1989. Black and white drawings were chosen to represent the plants “since photographs frequently do not show accurate details.”

For exquisitely detailed and accurate botanical line drawings, there are few better than Wendy B. Zomlefer’s collection in Flowering Plants of Florida – A Guide to Common Families (1989). Wendy’s taxonomic renditions include amazing cross-sections of flower heads and seed structures that can be used to distinguish plant species. She makes great use of the stippling technique to create a three-dimensional affect.

Another regional favorite that includes wildflowers is Gil Nelson’s Florida’s Best Native Landscape Plants (2003). Each species represented has color photos, and many also include meticulously beautiful watercolor portraits by illustrators Jean Hancock and Susan Trammell, which gives this book a unique artistic touch.

If you’re looking for inspiration for your own drawings, check out Southern Wildflowers by Georgia magazine garden editor Laura Martin (1989). She describes 70 common wildflowers and gives cultivation advice and historical backgrounds. Full-color illustrations by Mauro Magellan accompany the text. The drawings are quite ethereal (I was startled to read the artist is also the drummer for the rock group Georgia Satellites.)

Claudia Larsen owns and operates Micanopy Wildflowers, a native-plant nursery in Micanopy, Fla.

Bibliography

Women of Flowers – A Tribute to Victorian Women Illustrators by Jack Kramer

Don't be bugged by the good guys - insects can be beneficial

2011-12-16T10:26:00.000-05:00

By Lisa Roberts

I live in a typical Central Florida neighborhood, where St. Augustine lawns and alien plants are the norm. I'm happy to say that one of the exceptions to that rule is my landscape, which is increasingly segueing to native drought-tolerate groundcover. Sadly, I can't get rid of all my sod - my homeowner-association dictates each front yard must have 20 percent.


Big-eyed bug. Photo: Lyle J. Buss-UF-IFAS

One recent day, I rolled up to find two phone-company workers digging in the St. Augustine grass between the curb and sidewalk - my 20 percent. Curious, I walked out and asked them what they were doing. They explained they were trying to find a buried phone box. They had been poking around with a shovel for about 15 minutes.

After chatting a minute, one of them turned to me and said, "Lady, you have a lot of bugs in your yard. You need to spray it!" He picked off a big-eyed bug that had crawled up his shirt and started to pinch it between his fingers. "I've killed four of these already."

My yelp of protest stopped him. "Don't kill my bugs! Haven't you ever heard of beneficial insects?" He stared at me like I was nuts. Clearly, he'd never heard of the concept.

"Beneficial insects like this one prey on other bugs - like chinch bugs that damage St. Augustine lawns. Spraying isn't discriminatory - it kills pretty much everything, beneficial and not. By using sustainable gardening and lawn-care methods, I don't have to use pesticides. Instead, I'm supporting a nice little food web that takes care of things."

I doubt he was going to go home to cancel his lawn-spraying service, but maybe he'll think about what I said and want to learn more.

The Sarasota County extension office offers a good primer on Florida's beneficial insects. Here's to hoping you'll treat your bugs better, starting today.

Lisa Roberts is the Florida Wildflower Foundation's executive director.

Persistence is everything in this wildflower project

2011-12-14T10:36:00.000-05:00

The following is excerpted from a story about a Florida Wildflower Foundation grant project in Jacksonville that originally appeared on the Florida Native Plant Society's blog. The project was one of 15 La Florida, "Land of Flowers," Community Grants given throughout the state in 2011. Read the full story.

By Barbara Jackson, President, FNPS, Ixia Chapter

“Nothing is ever easy at the shipyards”

The site before planting.

This statement, from an environmental consultant in Jacksonville, has proven to be completely true. He should know. He has been involved in the Shipyards for over 15 years, advising the City of Jacksonville and others about this almost 40-acre site.

The Shipyards is in downtown Jacksonville on the St. Johns River. It was a working shipyard from the 1850’s until 1992. After it closed, the land sat idle for years, surrounded by a chain link fence and full of weeds and debris. Last year, I saw an article in the local newspaper quoting the mayor, who wanted to spread grass seed in the area. “Oh no, I thought, not grass seed!” I immediately pictured a 40-acre site full of native plants, butterflies, bees, birds, paths, benches and smiling people. I contacted the mayor’s office and explained my idea. I also said our FNPS chapter would find funding, Months went by before we were granted two acres for planting.

Ixia chapter volunteers spread pine straw after sowing seeds.

At the same time, the Florida Wildflower Foundation announced the availability of $500 grants for wildflower seed purchase to county governments that had a wildflower resolution. It certainly appeared planting two acres of wildflowers would be the easiest, least expensive, and best way to go for the Shipyards site. The City of Jacksonville Economic Development Commission (JEDC) would write the grant. The Ixia Chapter would handle the planting and any other costs, which appeared minimal.

Right away, we had a soil pH test done. The results were very high, well over 8.0. This immediately limited us to only wildflowers that could handle high pH, such as Dune Sunflower (Helianthus debilis). Additionally, we discovered the soil was highly compacted. We decided to explore the purchase of good topsoil, and I found a private donor of all the soil. The pH of this soil tested perfectly!

Meanwhile, the City of Jacksonville City Council adopted the resolution required by the Florida Wildflower Foundation to apply for the grant. Unfortunately, the resolution was worded incorrectly and was not acceptable to the foundation. Back to the City Council. The resolution was re-worded and passed again. Now, on to the grant writing with a staff member from the JEDC. Everything was done just in time for the proposal submission deadline. The City was awarded the grant! Great news, except we were required to purchase actual wildflower plants with the funding, not seeds, because of the current soil problems, which did not take into account the soil that would be donated.

I thought I could now concentrate on finding someone to donate moving all the topsoil to the Shipyards site, another small detail. Also, I was informed by the City staff that we had to provide our own irrigation lines and pay for the water. It was also clear that $500 worth of wildflower plants would not cover two acres, so we had to purchase additional plants or seeds. “No problem,” I thought, always the optimist, “I can get donations for all of this.”

Just when I thought the path was clear, I was informed the Shipyards site was heavily contaminated and that the site should not be disturbed. I was also informed the donated topsoil had to be tested for contaminates before being moved to the site. It took several months to get the $1,000 test donated.

Unbelievably, the results indicated two prohibited contaminates, meaning we could not use the soil. We were also staring at a rapidly closing deadline to use the $500 grant. We put our heads together with our staff contact at the JEDC and contacted the Florida Wildflower Foundation, which approved another site and a switch from plants to seeds. A wonderful site at the intersection of Riverside Avenue and Forest was selected. It is a main through fare from that area to downtown Jacksonville, with more than 10,000 cars passing daily.

In addition to the $500 of seeds purchased by the grant, our chapter spent $291 on more seeds. The planting was accomplished by chapter members in 3 1/2 hours on Nov. 13, 2011.

Postscript: Seedlings began to pop up in December. Read details of site preparation and planting on the FNPS blog. Look for photos of the project in bloom in May.

Speaking native tongue - you never know who's listening

2011-11-01T12:01:00.003-04:00

By Lisa Roberts, Executive Director

The front bed of my parents' landscape in October after the re-do in August.

Early last summer, my father, who lives in the Orlando area, announced he wanted to redo his home's traditional 50-year-old landscape. "Great," I thought, "maybe I can sneak in some native plants." But then he stunned me by announcing, "I want only natives."

Sure, my parents are members of the Florida Wildflower Foundation -- they've supported me in everything I've endeavored. But this was different: When I spoke in "native tongue," they were actually listening.

When my father asked me to lead the project, I contacted a native nursery, which came up with a plan that eliminated beds of struggling ligustrum shrubs and replaced them with extended plantings that took out St. Augustine sod and introduced an impressive slate of diverse species.

As I presented the plan and its plants to my parents, Dad's only question was, "Is it native?" Because if it wasn't, he didn't want it.

Planting took place in August. Into the front yard went mass plantings of Mulhy grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris), climbing aster (Symphyotrichum carolinianum), sunflower (Helianthus debilis), wild petunias (Ruellia caroliniensis), blanketflower (Gaillardia pulchella), rosinweed (Silphium asteriscus), coonties (Zamia pumila) and sunshine mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa). Fringe ( Chionanthus sp.) and magnolia (Magnolia sp.) trees were planted like accent points.

Wild coffee (Psychotria nervosa) and coonties took the place of withered azaleas in the side yards, and masses of wild petunia, sunshine mimosa, tropical sage (Salvia coccinea) and anise (Illicium sp.) took the place of African iris. Several Simpson's stoppers (Myrcianthes fragrans) were planted in the corners of the back yard. Canna (Canna flaccida), blue flag iris (Iris virginica) and climbing aster were added to a bed under an in-ground fountain. For good measure, gama grass (T ripsacum dactyloides) and coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) was sprinkled here and there.

My parents have commented many times about the increase in wildlife they see. Native and honey bees gather nectar, butterflies fly crazy patterns from flower to flower, and birds hop among the flowers in search of insects and seeds.

Now I have yard envy. My own landscape is gradually segueing to the native side because I can't yet afford to wipe the slate clean to start over. In fact, maybe this was just a parental ploy to see me more often, because I now visit regularly to spend time in my parents' yard, preening plants and enjoying my parents enjoy their yard's new look.

The moral of this story is: Keep speaking in native tongue - you never know who's really listening.

A walk in the woods in South Florida

2011-10-26T11:50:00.003-04:00

Click here to see a nice report in the Palm Beach Post on a wildflower walk in South Florida, complete with photos of some of the native flowers seen. Visit our online Bloom Report (www.flawildflowers.org/bloom.php) to learn of more locations that wildflowers are being seen. - Lisa Roberts, FWF executive director

Photography workshop helps participants get the picture

2011-10-25T17:15:00.005-04:00

Patricia Pope takes a shot in the field. Photo by Vince Lamb

About 25 wildflower enthusiasts enjoyed the Wildflower Photography workshop at the 2011 Florida Wildflower Symposium at Wekiwa Springs State Park on Oct. 15. The workshop was one of six offered during a fun-filled afternoon.

After a brief presentation that included tips for creating high impact images, workshop leaders Vince Lamb and Charlie Corbeil took the group to a nearby sandhill community covered with wildflowers for some hands-on photography. Summer farewell (Dalea pinnata) was blooming abundantly, accented by the graceful lavender spikes of blazing star (Liatris spicata) and at least 15 other wildflower species. The weather was ideal – mostly sunny with a few clouds to diffuse the sunlight.

Participants learned that details can make or break a photo. For instance: Because wildflower images often lose impact due to distracting backgrounds, examine the background before clicking the shutter. Often, moving the camera even a small distance can provide a better background. Sometime the sky can provide a great background. When the background is relatively distant, the camera will focus on the flower and yield a pleasing blur of the background.

After an hour of exploring the beautiful park, the group returned inside, where participants were urged to share their images with the group via a projector. Vince provided a card small enough to keep in a camera bag that provided simple tips for taking good wildflower photos. Download a PDF copy of the card.

Here are some shots shared by participants. Click here to see more photos from the Symposium.

A butterfly comes in for a landing. Photo by Patricia Pope.

Long-tailed skipper on coastalplain honeycombhead (Balduina augustifolia). Photo by Barb Messimer

Dainty sulphur on coastalpain honeycomb. Photo by Barb Messimer

Bee on summer farewell (Dalea pinnata). Photo by Barb Messimer

Photographers in the field. Photo by Wayne Matchett

Lopsided Indiangrass (Sorghastrum secundum). Photo by Wayne Matchett

Coastalplain honeycomb (Balduina angustifolia). Photo by Wayne Matchett

Fall in the Wildflower Garden

2011-09-07T12:52:00.000-04:00

By Claudia Larsen

In your wildflower garden this fall, the butterflies, bees and wasps are still busy gathering nectar and preparing for migration or dormancy. Goldenrods, asters, dotted horsemint, liatris, meadow beauty and Indian paintbrush are in their glory now.

Dotted horsemint (Monarda punctata) Photo/Tom Drake

Native grasses also peak this time of year, exploding with displays of white to pink seed heads. At different times of day the sunlight makes these grasses take on a special glow, and a gentle breeze is all it takes to create a dancing, swaying motion in the garden.

Ironweed blooms early in fall with its bright purple flower heads. Later, the flowers form seed heads that expand into white puffs. Look closely to see the feathery white pappus that will carry small, dark seeds to new homes in the dirt.

There are many such interesting seeds dispersal mechanisms to be seen in the fall – exploding capsules, interesting pea-like pods, papery husks and spiny seed globes. Think about what the flower looked like prior to forming its seed, and you will truly marvel at nature.

To collect seed from your wildflower garden, check the flower stalk for seed development. Seeds are mature when they become dark brown and hard or are easily removed from their seed vessel. Dry seeds for several days in paper bags before sowing or storing.

Here are some other fall garden jobs to get done as summer heat begins to wane:

Remove unwanted grasses, vines or plants that invaded or colonized during summer.
Remove dead stems and foliage. (Remember, however, there may be beneficial larva or eggs overwintering there and that small birds eat from seed heads.)
Some areas of your wildflower garden may benefit from a light layer of pine needles or composted or chopped leaves to deter unwanted weeds. However, it’s fine to have bare soil in your garden.
If needed, cut herbaceous shrubs and sprawling wildflower forms to 1/3 their size.
Collect mature wildflower seeds from garden plants.
Sow wildflower seed in bare areas for flowers next spring.

Claudia Larsen’s wildflower garden is in Micanopy, where she grows many North-Central Florida wildflowers.

A tribute to a true friend of Florida's wildflowers

2011-08-18T16:46:00.001-04:00

Trenna Elizabeth Pate was born April 21, 1922 in Dayton, Ohio, daughter of a Presbyterian minister and wife who had been missionaries in China. Elizabeth grew up in Columbus, OH where she became a music major at the Capital Conservatory of Music and a lifelong fan of Ohio State University sports and its band. Elizabeth had a lasting passion for flowers, butterflies, puppies and children. She had a smile and a word for everyone, no matter how high or low in life they might be. She was an active Christian believer who once served as the National President of Presbyterian Women, and at the Christ Episcopal Church of Ponte Vedra where she was awarded its Service Cross for her ministerial works. She was a life member of the Ribault Garden Club and a Hall of Fame member of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs. Elizabeth served for many years as the Roadside Beautification Chairman for the State of Florida and was actively involved in the successful quest for a Florida Wildflower license plate. Recently she was selected to receive from the Florida Wildflower Foundation its prestigious 2011 Friend of Florida's Wildflowers award. She is survived by her loving and devoted husband, retired Navy Captain Jack A. Pate of Atlantic Beach, FL, her children, sons David and Robert Stevens and daughter Pamela Tuggle, all from the Atlanta, Georgia area. She is proud of her grandchildren and great grandchildren, all of whom she adored. Elizabeth will make herself welcome in heaven. A Memorial Service celebrating her life will be held at Christ Episcopal Church, Ponte Vedra on Friday, August 19 at 3:00 p.m. A reception will follow immediately after at the church.

In lieu of flowers it is requested that donations be sent to the Florida Federation of Garden Club: Elizabeth Pate Memorial Fund, c/o Rachel Wilson, 39 Fox Valley Drive, Orange Park, FL 32073 or to Greenscape of Jacksonville, Inc., ATTN: Anna Dooley Elizabeth Pate Tree Circle 1468 Hendricks Avenue Jacksonville, FL 32207.

Photos we love - too good to keep to ourselves

2011-08-18T11:27:00.000-04:00

We love it when folks send their photos to us. There are so many people out there doing wonderful things for our wildflowers! Here's one from the home wildflower meadow of Tina and Tom Drake. The garden will be featured during an upcoming fall garden tour.

Beebalm and Partridge pea. Photo/Tom Drake

We also recently received spectacular photos of PEAR Park in Lake County from Peg Urban. The pollinator activity she captured was an awesome reminder of the service our wildflowers provide in the support of pollinators that put food on our tables.

Standing cypress. Photo/Peg Urban

Starry rosinweed, Photo/Peg Urban

Standing cypress. Photo/Peg Urban

Looking over the meadow restoration. Photo/Peg Urban

Flower Power Helpline: A reader asks, How can I find South Florida wildflowers for light shade?

2011-07-14T11:09:00.000-04:00

QUESTION: We are redoing our front yard in Coral Springs to a "naturescape" with a focus on butterflies. We want to use a lot of native wildflowers but don't know which will do well (or at least OK) in shaded areas. The area we're thinking of gets some direct sun for a couple of hours but otherwise is shaded until late in the day.Is there a guide that will help determine what native flowers will work?

ANSWER: Your project sounds great. There are several sources that can help you choose plants:

Native Florida Plants (Haehle and Brookwell), Florida’s Best Native Landscape Plants (Nelson), and A Gardener’s Guide to Florida’s Native Plants (Osorio) are good books that can help you select appropriate wildflowers and plants that are host or nectar plants.
www.Plantrealflorida.org – the Florida Association of Native Nurseries’ consumer Web site – has a page for Broward County. The nurseries and professionals listed there can help you select the best plants for your light situation and location. Or you can click on the nursery, click on a plant it has to see a profile (though some don’t specify light conditions).
Also check the Florida Native Plant Society's Web site. In this chart, clicking on the Institute for Regional Conservation links will give you info on light and soil requirements, plant form, etc.

Bee-a-thon - Bee there or bee square!

2011-07-14T09:57:00.000-04:00

Here's a message from our friends at the California Native Garden Foundation. This looks like it'll be a lot of phone. Please tune in and learn about our bees and the challenges they face.

On Saturday, July 16, from 9 am - 9 pm, we are taking the nation by swarm!

BEE-A-THON 2011 is the first-ever free, global online web-streaming edutainment marathon to raise awareness of honeybee/pollinator topics. Produced and hosted by YourGardenShow.com Citizen Science, in partnership with the Great Sunflower Project and the Insect News Network, we have invited experts in science, activism, naturalism, art-science fusion, and education to share their insights about the bees.

It's an interactive 12-hour live town-hall meeting where people tune in from anywhere in the world to learn about pollinator issues and to ask questions. It's the Jerry Lewis Telethon for bees, created for the Facebook generation -- all about advocating for healthy communities and a healthy planet. You can tune in to the Bee-a-Thon from the comfort of your own home, ask questions, share the buzz -- all you need is a computer with an Internet connection.Tune in for 12 minutes or 12 hours -- it's up to you! Maybe you can throw a Backyard Honey Bee B-B-Q?

Alrie Middlebrook will be one of the featured guest experts during the event, speaking about the ELSEE Living Laboratory Project and the importance of native plant gardening to honeybee health and all the many species of pollinators. The topics covered will show CNGF.org in a very special spotlight - so tell your friends and familiies to join us online!

1 - Endorse the Bee-a-Thon by placing a bee-counting widget on your blog. The "bee-o-meter" tracks the populations of bees across the country. You can click on it to find the number of bees in your zip code. Our goal for 2011 is to have one bee counter in each of the 43,000 U.S. zip codes. Supporting blogs and organizations will have their logo, name and a link back to their site placed on the YourGardenShow.com website. To get your "bee-o-meter," visit: http://www.yourgardenshow.com/news51.

2 - Build a "swarm of influence" by forwarding this email to your network of readers, friends, and family. Invite them to RSVP for the Bee-a-Thon here:

http://www.yourgardenshow.com/bee-a-thon

3 - Host a "backyard bee party" or other "rooftop" event on July 16. Rally your friends and join Bee-a-Thon for a day of engagement and celebration. Downloads and other resources are available here:

http://www.yourgardenshow.com/bee-a-thon

4 - Sign up to The Great Sunflower Project to start counting bees today:

http://www.yourgardenshow.com/citizen-science/great-sunflower-project

Visit www.yourgardenshow.com/bee-a-thon for more details and for updates on when Alrie and the rest of the speaker guests will be featured.

Help supply photos for a new Florida wildflower/butterfly/bird app!

2011-07-07T17:33:00.007-04:00

Shari Ellis of the Florida Natural History Museum, Gainesville, is looking for good photos of wildflowers to round out a selection for a new app, funded in part by the Florida Wildflower Foundation.

Good, close-up photos of most of the flowers listed below have been collected, but photos showing more of the plant's form and leaves are needed. Shots also are needed of showy wildflowers en mass, such as phlox or blanket flower. Send shots to Shari at sellis@ufl.edu.

Here's a list of what's needed.

COMMON NAMES FOR SEARCH	SCIENTIFIC NAME	Photo Needed
Sweet Acacia, Needle Bush	Acacia farnesiana	size
Shyleaf, American Joint Vetch	Aeschynomene americana	size
Red Buckeye	Aesculus pavia	size
Beach False Foxglove	Agalinis fasciculata	leaves, size
Hammock Snakeroot	Ageratina jucunda	leaves, size
Bastard False Indigo, Desert False Indigo	Amorpha fruticosa	size
Devil's Walkingstick, Prickly Elder, Angelica Tree, Hercules' Club, Toothache Bush	Aralia spinosa	everything
Bluestem Pricklypoppy, White Pricklypoppy	Argemone albiflora	size
Mexican Pricklypoppy, Yellow Pricklypoppy, Goatweed, Mexican Thistle	Argemone mexicana	size
Sea Rosemary, Sea Lavender	Argusia gnaphalodes	size
Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Indian Turnip	Arisaema triphyllum	whole plant
Butterflyweed, Butterfly Milkweed	Asclepias tuberosa	whole plant
Whorled Milkweed, Horsetail Milkweed	Asclepias verticillata	whole plant
Slimleaf Pawpaw	Asimina angustifolia	whole plant
Smallflower Pawpaw	Asimina parviflora	leaves, size
Black Mangrove	Avicennia germinans	size
Groundsel Tree, Sea Myrtle	Baccharis halimifolia	flower
Coastalplain Honeycombhead	Balduina angustifolia	whole plant
Gopherweed	Baptisia lanceolata	whole plant, size
Tarflower, Flyweed, Flypaper	Bejaria racemosa	leaves, whole plant
Grassleaf Roseling	Callisia graminea	whole plant
Eastern Sweetshrub, Carolina Allspice, Strawberry-bush	Calycanthus floridus	whole plant
Trumpet Vine, Cow's Itch, Hellvine, Devil's Shoestring	Campsis radicans	whole plant
Bayleaf Capertree, Limber Caper, Falseteeth	Capparis flexuosa	whole plant
Coastalplan Chaffhead, Florida Paintbrush	Carphephorus corymbosus	whole plant
Vanillaleaf, Deertongue	Carphephorus odoratissimus	whole plant
Common Buttonbush	Cephalanthus occidentalis	whole plant
Eastern Redbud	Cercis canadensis	flower
Coastal Sweetpepperbush	Clethra alnifolia	whole plant
Atlantic Pigeonwings, Butterfly Pea	Clitoria mariana	whole plant
American Squareroot, Cancerroot	Conopholis americana	whole plant
Goldenmane Tickseed, Dyeflower	Coreopsis basalis	whole plant
Leavensworth's Tickseed	Coreopsis leavenworthii	flower
Slender Scratchdaisy, Goldenweed	Croptilon divaricatum	flower
Rabbitbells	Crotalaria rotundifolia	whole plant
Silver Croton, Healing Croton	Croton argyranthemus	flower
Summer Farewell	Dalea pinnata	whole plant
Oblongleaf Twinflower, Oblongleaf Snakeherb	Dyschoriste oblongifolia	whole plant
Dogtongue, Wild Buckwheat, Sandhill Wild Buckwheat	Eriogonum tomentosum	whole plant
Queen-of-the-Meadow, Joepyeweed	Eupatoriadelphus fistulosus	whole plant
Yankeeweed	Eupatorium compositifolium	whole plant
Slender Flattop Goldenrod	Euthamia tenuifolia	flower
Firewheel, Indian Blanket	Gaillardia pulchella	bed, massed
Southern Beeblossom, Morning Honeysuckle	Gaura angustifolia	whole plant
South American Mock Vervain, Moss Verbena	Glandularia pulchella	whole plant
Scorpion's Tail	Heliotropium angiospermum	whole plant
Seaside Heliotrope, Salt Heliotrope	Heliotropium curassavicum	whole plant
Scarlet Rosemallow, Swamp Hibiscus	Hibiscus coccineus	massed or multiple blooms
Swamp Rosemallow	Hibiscus grandiflorus	whole plant
Carolina Woollywhite	Hymenopappus scabiosaeus	whole plant
St. Andrew's-Cross	Hypericum hypericoides	whole plant
Clustered Bushmint, Musky Mint	Hyptis alata	patch
Inkberry, Gallberry	Ilex glabra	whole plant
Hairy Indigo	Indigofera hirsuta	whole plant
Trailing Indigo	Indigofera spicata	whole plant
Tuliptree, Yellow Poplar	Liriodendron tulipifera	whole plant
Peruvian Primrosewillow	Ludwigia peruviana	whole plant
Wild Bushbean, Phasey Bean, Quail Bean	Macroptilium lathyroides	whole plant
Snow Squarestem	Melanthera nivea	whole plant
Noyau Vine, Alamo Vine	Merremia dissecta	whole plant
Twinberry, Simpson's Stopper, Nakedwood	Myrcianthes fragrans	flower, whole plant
Wood Betony, Canadian Lousewort	Pedicularis canadensis	whole plant
Wild Blue Phlox, Wood Phlox, Blue Phlox	Phlox divaricata	massed
Turkey Tangle Fogfruit, Capeweed	Phyla nodiflora	massed
Florida Keys Blackbead, Cat Claw?	Pithecellobium keyense	whole plant
Narrowleaf Silkgrass	Pityopsis graminifolia	flower
English Plaintain, Narrowleaf Plantain	Plantago lanceolata	whole plant
Paintedleaf, Fire-on-the-Mountain, Wild Poinsettia	Poinsettia cyathophora	whole plant
Yellow Milkwort, Yellow Bachelor's Button	Polygala rugelii	flower
Carolina Laurelcherry, Cherry Laurel	Prunus caroliniana	whole plant
Flatwoods Plum, Hog Plum	Prunus umbellata	whole plant
Downy Rose Myrtle, Downy Myrtle, Hill Gooseberry, Hill Guava	Rhodomyrtus tomentosa	flower
Bulltongue Arrowhead, Duck Potato	Sagittaria lancifolia	whole plant
Carolina Willow, Coastalplain Willow	Salix caroliniana	whole plant
Lyre-leaf Sage	Salvia lyrata	whole plant
Bloodroot	Sanguinaria canadensis	flower, whole plant
Lizard's Tail	Saururus cernuus	whole plant
Brazilian Pepper, Florida Holly, Christmas Berry, Pepper Tree	Schinus terebinthifolius	whole plant
Danglepod, Tall Indigo, Coffee Bean, Pea Tree	Sesbania emerus	flower, leaves
Chapman's Goldenrod	Solidago odora var. chapmanii	flower, whole plant
Sparkleberry, Farkleberry	Vaccinium arboreum	whole plant
Deerberry	Vaccinium stamineum	whole plant
Common Mullein, Wooly Mullein	Verbascum thapsus	whole plant
Brazillian Vervain	Verbena brasiliensis	whole plant
Hercules-Club, Pepperwood, Southern Prickly Ash, Toothache Tree	Zanthoxylum clava-herculis	flower

Summer in the wildflower garden - some like it hot!

2011-06-22T13:53:00.000-04:00

By Claudia Larsen

Although summer’s heat keeps many of us inside, it’s a busy time for wildflowers. Thousands of butterflies, bees, wasps and other insects visit flowers to obtain nectar. It’s also the changing of the guard, when lovely delicate spring bloomers such as coral bean, Coreopsis and skullcap are replaced by sturdier heat-loving species.

Don’t forget to collect seeds from early-blooming wildflowers. These can be refrigerated in plastic bags and saved for fall planting. Or, simply sow them directly in other areas of your garden where they’ll naturally acclimate to temperature and rain patterns. Common wildflowers that seed in the summer include Coreopsis, false petunia, Stokes aster, phlox, blanketflower, beach sunflower and salvias.

Photo/Claudia Larsen

Seeds develop and mature in an interesting variety of structures. Milkweed flower clusters form long cylindrical green pods (right). These contain brown seeds attached to a feathery white papas that carry them on the breeze. This amazing adaptation is similar to the winged seeds of maple trees. I have also seen these soft white pieces entwined in bird nests – very comfy for the babies.

Now is also a good time to root cuttings of wildflowers with sturdy stems. Make 4- to 6- inch cuttings that have three nodes (where leaves attach). Remove leaves on the stems’ lower third and place the stems in a pot of wet dirt. Keep cuttings in shade and mist daily until rooted. Roots should form in three to six weeks. Be sure roots are large enough to support the plant before moving it into the garden. Plants that root easily include those in the mint family, such as dotted horsemint, as well as salvias, blue curls, wild petunia, wild ageratum and twin flower.

Cocoa nursery offers free wildflowers, moving sale

2011-06-01T10:18:00.000-04:00

The Florida Native Plant Society Conradina chapter reports that Naturewise native plant nursery in Cocoa will be moving at the end of June (just up the road). At 8 a.m. June 25, the nursery will offer FNPS members the chance to salvage native plants that are growing in the ground cover and along the fence. Species include tickseed, climbing aster, horsemint, wild petunia, blanket flower, coral honeysuckle, goldenrod, blue curls and several others. You must be an FNPS member to participate. Bring your own buckets, spades, bags, labels, etc., and contact Kari (kari@naturewiseplants.comor 321-536-1410) to let her know you'll be coming. During the month of June, Naturewise will also be offering a plant moving sale, with a special buy-5-get-1-free sale. You can mix or match plants, but the free plant must be of equal or lesser value. This sale applies to in-stock plants only. For more information on our location and retail hours, visit www.naturewiseplants.com.

The buzz about bees - what you can do?

2011-05-31T12:37:00.000-04:00

Photo/UF-IFAS

Did you know that most of the 4,000 native bee species in the U.S. nest in the ground? Or that four common bumblebees have become “very rare”?

"Habitat loss, invasive plants and animals, pollution, pesticides and climate change all are bearing down on them," writes Georgia Tasker of Fairchild Gardens, who offers facts about non-native honey bees and native Florida bees gleaned from presentations given at the recent Florida Native Plant Society conference in Maitland. Read her informative blog post at

www.gableshomepage.com/conversations/2011/05/25/floral-gables-helping-pollinators and think about incorporating native flowering species in your own yard in order to support bees, which pollinate about 35 percent of our food crops and all of Florida's flowering native plants and trees. To learn about wildflower species, visit www.flawildflowers.org/planting.php.

Learn more about bees at entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/honeybee/research.shtml

White Wild Indigo (Baptisia alba)

2011-04-25T12:24:00.001-04:00

Meet White Wild Indigo (Baptisia alba), a beautiful perennial that is finding its way into Florida landscapes. It flowers in late spring/early summer. Look for it in pine flatwoods and mixed upland forests. Get yours: www.afnn.org (plants) or www.floridawildflowers.com (seeds).

A new book from Richard Louv

2011-04-20T14:12:00.001-04:00

Here’s a great book to add to your reading list: Richard Louv’s The Nature Principle, which delves into how adding nature to a lifestyle enhances health and wellbeing. Read more about it: http://www.naturalawakeningsmag.com/Natural-Awakenings/April-2011/Richard-Louv-rsquos-Well-Being-Rx-Reconnect-with-Nature

Corporate license tags likely to have detrimental effect on Florida

2011-03-29T10:34:00.001-04:00

Since 2000, the State Wildflower Specialty License Plate has generated more than $2.5 million for native wildflower research, planting and education. In 2010, the tag - which generates about $250,000 annually - ranked No. 33 in sales among the 123 Specialty License Plates in Florida.

Through the purchase of such Specialty License Plates, 1.6 million motorists annually donate millions of dollars to charities throughout the state. When an environmental, social, health, sports or collegiate plate is purchased, the price includes an "annual use fee" - a donation that supports important work for Florida and its residents. Since Florida's Specialty License Plate program began, more than $450 million has been raised for worthy causes and programs. The state also benefits, taking in revenue through fees.

Florida's Senate and House now are considering a bill that would authorize a corporate plate program that would allow businesses to put their brand on license tags. Corporations would make their tags attractive to consumers by offsetting about 50 percent of the cost of motor vehicle registration. Where Specialty Plate organizations had to file a marketing plan and financial analysis, pre-sell 1,000 plates and pay up to $60,000 to offset the cost of the application process, the bill asks corporations to pay $5,000 and provide evidence of the ability to pay $75 per vehicle owner for 5,000 vehicle owners.

A Senate interim report estimates that more than 49 percent of existing Specialty Plate owners are likely to switch to corporate plates if the bill is passed. The move would cost the state an estimated $17 million, with an additional loss of $4 million in processing fees. It also would cost Floridians millions of dollars as a result of the loss of beneficial services and programs.

A key hearing on the Corporate License Plate bill is being held today at 1 p.m. in Tallahassee. If you would like to educate your elected representatives about the detrimental effects that a corporate plate program - as described in Senate Bill 716 and House Bill 473 - would have on social, health, educational and environmental services and programs in Florida, you can use this link to send an email directly to lawmakers.

Lisa Roberts
Executive Director
Florida Wildflower Foundation

Spring wildflowers - send your shots!

2011-03-24T13:19:00.002-04:00

Our spring gallery of wildflowers is mapped out and ready for viewing - see flawildflowers.org/bloom.php. We need your help pinpointing more flowers. Send your shots to photos@flawildflowers.org.

Bloom report

2011-03-23T11:36:00.003-04:00

Sky Blue Lupine (Lupinus diffusus) is in bloom at Crooked River Preserve, 11121 Lake Louisa Road, Clermont, in Lake County. See more at www.flickr.com/flawildflowers.

March e-Newsletter

2011-03-21T17:32:00.002-04:00

The Florida Wildflower Foundation’s March e-Newsletter is now available! View it at http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/710494/1f8c1b62d3/286661755/b167b21e3e/.

Winter in the wildflower garden

2011-02-11T08:46:00.001-05:00

By Claudia Larsen

Winter is a wonderful time for garden evaluation. Questions to ponder:

How did my garden change from spring to fall?
How do I envision my garden in all seasons?
Is garden maintenance suited to my time and strengths?
Do I want my garden larger or smaller?
Do I need more plant diversity?
Do I want to add more pollinator host and nectar plants?

If your garden is too large:

Widen pathways or mulch an area for a garden bench.
Convert garden areas by using larger size plants that require less maintenance – there are many native herbaceous or evergreen shrubs to fit a variety of sites.

Look for signs of wildlife in your garden

If your garden is too small:

Add a trellis or an arbor for vines – great vines are passionvine, coral honeysuckle, Carolina jessamine, trumpet vine.
Use large containers and plant a mixture of grasses and flowers.
Use large hanging baskets to display short or trailing plants.
Add a raised bed: Garden supply stores and Internet retailers carry plastic or metal corner posts that conveniently convert 6- or 8-inch boards into a planting bed.

Winter garden jobs

Mulch borders and pathways.
If you sowed wildflower seeds this fall, be sure and water every seven to 10 days during periods without rain.
Check for and control invasive plants. For a primer on Florida invasives, visit www.fleppc.org.
Observe birds that may forage in your garden on dry seed heads or seeds that have fallen. What flower seeds do they prefer?
Check vines for birds nests, and watch the eggs to check their hatching process.
Fix irrigation leaks, and consider changing any overhead irrigation to micro irrigation lines or spray stakes.
Buy a 2011 calendar and dedicate it to documenting wildflowers in bloom.

Thinking about adding plants to the mix? Visit www.afnn.org for a list of what's available from a native nursery near you. For more on wildflower gardening, visit the Foundation’s planting Web page, flawildflowers.org/planting.php.

Claudia Larsen’s wildflower garden is at her Micanopy home, where she grows many Central Florida wildflowers.

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center adds Florida plant list

2011-02-02T09:31:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the Association of Florida Native Nurseries, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has added recommended plants for Florida landscapes to its resources. On the map, click on your region of Florida to see readily available wildflowers, shrubs and trees.

Study shows plants moved downhill - not up - in warming world

2011-01-21T08:22:00.001-05:00

In a paper published today in the journal Science, a University of California, Davis, researcher and his co-authors challenge a widely held assumption that plants will move uphill in response to warmer temperatures.

Between 1930 and 2000, instead of colonizing higher elevations to maintain a constant temperature, many California plant species instead moved downhill an average of 260 feet, said Jonathan Greenberg, an assistant project scientist at the UC Davis Center for Spatial Technologies and Remote Sensing.

"While the climate warmed significantly in this period, there was also more precipitation. These wetter conditions are allowing plants to exist in warmer locations than they were previously capable of,"
Greenberg said.

Many forecasts say climate change will cause a number of plants and animals to migrate to new ranges or become extinct. That research has largely been based on the assumption that temperature is the dominant driver of species distributions. However, Greenberg said the new study reveals that other factors, such as precipitation, may be more important than temperature in defining the habitable range of these species.

The findings could have global relevance, because many locations north of 45 degrees latitude (which includes the northernmost United States, virtually all of Canada and Russia, and most of Europe) have had increased precipitation in the past century, and global climate models generally predict that trend will continue, the authors said.

"As we continue to improve our understanding of climate-change impacts on species, we will help land managers and policymakers to make more informed decisions on, for instance, conservation efforts for threatened and endangered species," Greenberg said.

He added that the study underlines the importance of an investment in basic science, as the results are based on historical data collected by the U.S. Forest Service in the 1930s, a program that was supported by New Deal spending after the Great Depression.

The study is titled "Changes in climatic water balance drive downhill shifts in plant species' optimum elevations." Greenberg's co-authors
are: graduate student Shawn Crimmins (the lead author), assistant professor Solomon Dobrowski (a UC Davis alumnus) and research analyst Alison Mynsberge, all of the University of Montana; and assistant professor John Abatzoglou of the University of Idaho.

Funding was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Forest Service.

News to note

2011-01-07T10:25:00.005-05:00

Maryland making little progress with Smart Growth

Thirteen years after Maryland embarked on a nationally recognized effort to promote Smart Growth, the state's laws and policies have had little discernible impact on sprawl or traffic congestion, a new study says, and farms and forests are still threatened by development. Read the Baltimore Sun story.

A new use for 200 year old pressed plants

Ecologists are looking to herbaria - libraries of preserved plants - to see how plants are reacting to climate change. Read the story on Scienceline.

2010 successes – We owe it all to you

2010-12-20T11:43:00.017-05:00

As year's end approaches, we at the Florida Wildflower Foundation are reflecting on the many wonderful things 2010 brought. And we owe it all to you.

Here’s what you made possible in 2010:

Our research program produced data that will expand native plant offerings for landscape and conservation use. And, in an effort to protect roadside wildflowers and develop wildflower-viewing routes, scientists documented the presence of native species along hundreds of miles of Florida roads. Meanwhile, the inaugural Seeds for Schools program awarded 80 grants for school wildflower gardens, and a pilot program began teaching county workers to plant and maintain roadside wildflowers. Work to put wildflower curriculum in elementary school classrooms began, and the launch of our new Web site is imminent.

The Foundation also is working with partners in the Panhandle and Big Bend regions to launch wildflower tourism in time for the 2013 quincentennial of Spain in Florida. And, on the conservation side, Marion, Lake, Volusia, Gadsden, Leon, Wakulla and Brevard counties adopted resolutions that pledge to preserve wildflowers.

With your ongoing support, we can continue these efforts and begin new ones. If you will be making a tax-deductible donation by Dec. 31, please consider investing in Florida’s wildflowers. Make your donation now, or donate through the Community Foundation of Central Florida’s Donor Edge program, which has fully examined our organization. If you prefer, you can support Florida’s wildflowers as a Foundation member. With your help, Florida’s wildflowers will thrive in 2011 and beyond.

Wishing you a joyful holiday season,
Terry L. Zinn, Chair Jeff Caster, Immediate Past Chair

The Florida Wildflower Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Please consult a tax professional in relation to your gift. Send checks to Florida Wildflower Foundation, PO Box 941066, Maitland, FL 32794-1066.

Wanted: Passiflora incarnata

2010-12-06T17:57:00.002-05:00

Aline Waguespack, a Duke University graduate student, is interested in studying the defenses of Florida native Passiflora incarnata (Passionvine or Maypop) and would like to collect individuals from across Florida.

The plant grows in disturbed areas (roadsides, forest edges and abandoned fields) throughout the state, and is recognizable by its distinctive purple flowers.

Any tips on specific locations where she can find the plant would be appreciated. "I'm interested in wild plants, not those planted in gardens - even if your garden is a great native wildflower garden." Sampling would involve taking a few plant clippings to root and collecting insects associated with the plant. If you've sighted the wild plant, please Aline at amw42@duke.edu.

Lend a helping hand to plant Scrub lupine

2010-11-30T09:22:00.002-05:00

Put off your holiday shopping and enjoy a day outdoors for a good cause - volunteers are needed to help plant 400 Scrub Lupine seedlings at the Tibet Butler Preserve near Orlando. Scrub Lupine (Lupinus aridorum) is one of Florida's most endangered and beautiful spring bloomer. Volunteers will meet at the preserve at 9 a.m. Interested? Contact Juliet Rynear of Bok Tower Garden's Rare Plant Conservation Program at 863-676-1408, ext. 2241 or email rynear@boktower.org.

Read more about this beautiful native wildflower on Craig Huegel's wonderful Hawthorne Hill Natives blog, hawthornhillwildflowers.blogspot.com.

GoodShop for wildflowers this holiday season

2010-11-24T09:57:00.000-05:00

Are you tired of year-end donation pitches? Here's an easy way to earn donations for Florida's wildflowers without digging into your pocket. As you're doing your holiday shopping online, use GoodShop.com and designate the Florida Wildflower Foundation in the "who do you support" box.

GoodShop has its own gift for you - hundreds of coupons at more than 1,600 top stores (including Amazon, Macy's, J.Crew, Toys R Us, Best Buy, Gap and more). While you save, a percentage of virtually every sale is donated to the Florida Wildflower Foundation to support research, education and planting projects.

Just go to GoodShop.com, designate us as the cause you support, then click over to your favorite store and shop away!

Or, add our toolbar to your browser (download it at www.goodsearch.com/toolbar) and your purchases will earn a donation for us even if you forget to go to GoodShop first! There's no easier way to support us this holiday season. Please spread the word that you're spreading wildflowers with GoodShop!

Plant Profile: Partridge Pea

2010-11-16T11:39:00.000-05:00

Partridge Pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata)

This plant sparkles in late summer and early fall when yellow flowers adorn its upright V-shaped branches. Partridge pea can form large colonies in open fields, where it attracts many bees, wasps and butterflies. It is found throughout the state in many habitats. This wildflower is a larval host plant for Cloudless Sulphur and Little Yellow butterflies.

The showy flowers have 10 long curved stamens, and petals often have reddish spots at their base. Leaves are typical of the pea family, with a linear shape and compound arrangement; and flowers are followed by a narrow “pea” pod containing seeds for the next season.

Hardiness: Drought tolerant, salt tolerant

Growth Habit: 1 to 4 feet tall in varied forms from upright V-shaped to spreading.

Soil: Sandy, well-drained

Exposure: Full sun to light shade

Uses: An easy to grow annual or short-lived perennial. It may bloom year-round in South Florida. In North and Central Florida, it emerges in summer, flowers in fall and dies to the ground after frost.

Fall in the Wildflower Garden

2010-11-16T11:30:00.000-05:00

By Claudia Larsen

All Florida gardeners look forward to fall and its invigorating cool breezes and bright skies. It’s also one of the best times to observe our beautiful Florida wildflowers. Take time to enjoy your garden up close and watch the changes of fall.

In your wildflower garden, the butterflies, bees and wasps are still busy gathering nectar and preparing for migration or dormancy. Goldenrods, asters, dotted horsemint, liatris, meadow beauty and Indian paintbrush are in their glory now.

Native grasses also peak this time of year, exploding with displays of white to pink seed heads. At different times of day the sunlight makes these grasses take on a special glow, and a gentle breeze is all it takes to create a dancing, swaying motion in the garden.
Ironweed blooms early in fall with its bright purple flower heads. Later, the flowers form seed heads (above right) that expand into white puffs. Look closely to see the feathery white pappus that will carry small, dark seeds to new homes in the dirt.

There are many such interesting seeds dispersal mechanisms to be seen in the fall – exploding capsules, interesting pea-like pods, papery husks and spiny seed globes. Think about what the flower looked like prior to forming its seed, and you will truly marvel at nature.

To collect seed from your wildflower garden (below right), check the flower stalk for seed development. Seeds are mature when they become dark brown and hard or are easily removed from their seed vessel. Dry seeds for several days in paper bags before sowing or storing.

Claudia’s wildflower garden is in Micanopy, where she grows many North-Central Florida wildflowers.

A glimpse of North Carolina's wildflower program

2010-11-09T11:06:00.010-05:00

Here is a news report on North Carolina's wonderful wildflower program. It shows gorgeous, innovative roadside plantings. You can help Florida surpass North Carolina's program by contacting the Florida Department of Transportation. Its wildflower program is consumer-driven, and you can keep it going strong by asking that wildflowers be planted along roadsides in your area.

Contact Jeff Caster, head of the FDOT wildflower program, to ask for more roadside wildflowers: Jeff.Caster@dot.state.fl.us.

Landscape for Life

2010-11-02T16:21:00.001-04:00

The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and United States Botanical Garden recently launched a Web site called Landscape For Life, based on the principles of The Sustainable Sites InitiativeT (SITEST), the nation's first rating system for sustainable landscapes. It's a great resource for understanding how what we do in our gardens at home can help or hinder our natural world. Take a look: www.landscapeforlife.org.

What is a Florida native wildflower? Our definition

2010-08-11T15:23:00.001-04:00

Recently the Foundation asked a panel of Florida wildflower experts to define, "What is a Florida native wildflower?" The definition below, adopted in July, will help steer the Foundation's direction and decisions.

The Florida Wildflower Foundation defines “Florida native wildflower” as any flowering herbaceous species, or woody species with ornamental flowers, which grew wild within the state’s natural ecosystems in the 1560s when Florida’s first botanical records were created. The Foundation also recognizes as a “Florida native wildflower”:

Species that may have been introduced prior to the 1560s by Native Americans through trade and travel.
Species introduced to Florida without the aid of human intervention (for example, via tropical storms, floods, animals, insects, etc.), regardless of when these species were first officially documented.
Any cultivated selection or horticultural variety that: 1) meets the criteria described in this document, 2) was collected in a natural Florida ecosystem, and 2) was not intentionally manipulated to alter any characteristic.

However, in considering a plant’s nativity to Florida, the Foundation allows ample room for the vast gray area that lies between what is believed to be botanically and historically correct and what we do not – and may never – know. Hence, while the Foundation uses the “Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida,” Second Edition (2003, R.P. Wunderlin and B.F. Hansen; University Press of Florida, Gainesville) as a guide regarding a species’ native status, it does not automatically exclude wildflowers as being native to Florida simply because they lie within this gray area.

Furthermore, the Foundation fully recognizes that change is inevitable. We may be positive of a plant’s native or non-native status until modern-day research brings forth new facts. For this reason, the Foundation welcomes open discussion based on substantiated scientific or historic evidence.

“What is a Native Wildflower” Task Force, 2010

Nancy Bissett, Dr. David Hall, Ray Jarret, Brightman Logan, Dr. Jeff Norcini, Dr. Walter K. Taylor, Terry L. Zinn

Share your wildflower photos through our Flickr group

2010-07-28T13:24:00.003-04:00

Now you can share your photos with other Florida wildflower enthusiasts. Just join the Florida Wildflower Foundation's Flickr group: www.flickr.com/groups/fla_wildflowers We're looking for roadside shots of beautiful wildflowers, wildflowers found during hikes and paddles, and native flowers in Florida gardens and yards. Let's show the world how La Florida, "land of flowers," lives up to its name!

Scrub lupine class offered

2010-07-13T09:12:00.002-04:00

Here's a great free opportunity to learn about preservation of scrub lupine at Bok Tower Gardens on Aug. 21. Free admission to the gardens is included. http://ping.fm/gM4yF

Wildflower sampler: Mimosa strigillosa

2010-07-12T17:25:00.002-04:00

Here's a pretty photo from Jeff Norcini. This is Sunshine Mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa), which is being used in places instead of grass. From spring to early fall it produces pink pom-pom flowers that pollinators love. It's very drought tolerant. Find some at a native nursery near you - check www.afnn.org.

Seeds for Schools volunteers needed

2010-07-09T13:37:00.002-04:00

Can you help a teacher plan, plant or maintain a wildflower garden at a school near you? We are looking for Florida Wildflower Foundation, Master Gardeners, FNPS and Garden Club members to volunteer in the Foundation's Seeds for Schools program in the following counties: Alachua, Bradford, Brevard, Broward, Citrus, Clay, Collier, Duval, Escambia, Flagler, Hillsborough, Indian River, Jefferson, Lake, Lee, Leon, Levy, Manatee, Martin, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Santa Rosa, Seminole, St. Johns and Volusia.

To volunteer, email Seeds for Schools at SFS@flawildflowers.org. Wildflower garden projects will begin in September, so please consider volunteering now. Your time will enrich the lives of Florida's future generations!

2010-07-09T11:07:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to the Marion County Commission, which Wednesday adopted a resolution to preserve and conserve its wildflowers! The resolution also has been adopted by Lake, Volusia, Gadsden, Leon and Wakulla counties.
Volunteers in Brevard are working hard to get the resolution passed. Want your county be next? Email Lisa Roberts at flawildflowers @ gmail.com to learn how to get your county moving in the right direction.

2010-07-09T10:59:00.001-04:00

The Foundation is just back from a road trip and board meeting in South Central Florida at Crystal Springs Preserve. It was wonderful to see the work for natural Florida being done at the top-notch education center there. As we were meeting, a group of children were in the woods learning survival techniques and experiencing the real Florida. All of our children should have such a chance to experience "La Florida" up-close and personal.www.crystalspringspreserve.com

Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival field trips - preregister now for March 27!

2010-03-08T17:59:00.000-05:00

A trio of educational field trips are available to Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival attendees who preregister to participate on March 27. Call 386-822-5778 for details or to register. For more info on the festival, see www.floridawildflowerfestival.com.

1-3 p.m., Native Plants of Longleaf Pine Preserve, East Volusia County: Native plant enthusiast Ray Jarrett will give visitors an up-close glimpse of one of Volusia County's finest preserves and its beautiful collection of wildflowers - from carnivorous pitcher plants to the elegant Glade lobelia.
2-4 p.m., Forest Groves Wildflower Farm, Crescent City: Visitors will get a fascinating overview of what it takes to operate a wildflower farm and harvest seed.
2-4 p.m., Vera Lea Rinker Garden at Stetson University, DeLand (above): Take a leisurely tour of Stetson's beautiful garden and get ideas for your own yard. Learn about invasive plants and the university's environmental stewardship along the way.

Worth the drive: Wildflower Walk in the Woods with Dr. Loran Anderson @ St. Marks Refuge

2010-03-08T08:53:00.000-05:00

Dr. Loran Anderson will lead a “Wildflower Walk in the Woods” Tuesday,March 16, from3-5 PM. This is a St. Marks Refuge event during the "Wild about Wakulla Week." Meet at Otter Lake picnic area west of Panacea for a moderate hike through pine flatwoods and around depression ponds to view early spring flowers and shrubs.

Also mark your calendars for another St. Marks wildflower walk scheduled for Saturday, April 24th at 10 AM. Meeting place is tentatively set at the Visitors Center parking lot but more details will follow.

Keep donations coming for native wildflowers - tell the Legislature to repeal the new specialty tag fees!

2010-03-04T15:18:00.000-05:00

Dear Friends,

The State Wildflower license plate – which funds native wildflower research, education and planting – is in trouble.

Since September 2009, sales of new license plates have fallen dramatically. In January alone, our new tag sales were down 76 percent, with 66 new plates sold. In contrast, 272 new plates were sold in January 2009.

The downturn can be blamed on the state’s increasing of the specialty plate fee from $14 to $33, which began Sept. 1. Buyers pay that on top of the $15 donation made to the Florida Wildflower Foundation. Though State Wildflower plate sales were holding their own in this economy, the price motorists must pay to have one is now more than the market can bear.

More than $2.2 million in donations has been collected via the State Wildflower plate since 2001. The money underwrites many important projects, including native wildflower seed germination research, the Real Florida Gardener retail guide, native schoolyard gardens and the immensely popular wildflower/butterfly brochure designed by the Florida Natural History Museum.

The Foundation had taken in an average of $260,000 in tag donations annually. With the decrease in plate sales, it will collect up to $100,000 less in 2010 if the trend continues.

Ironically, the Legislature increased tag fees to generate revenue to help fill a gaping budget deficit. However, because of lagging sales of all specialty plates, the state of Florida stands to take in about $1 million less this year from the program if the sale trend continues.

The Florida Wildflower Foundation needs your help to keep this important funding source in place for Florida’s native wildflowers and grasses. Please contact your state House representative and Senator and ask them to repeal the increase in specialty license plate fees during the present legislative session.

Thank you!

The Florida Wildflower Foundation

Wekiva Riverfest this Saturday @ Wekiwa Springs State Park in Apopka

2010-03-04T13:53:00.000-05:00

Join the Florida Wildflower Foundation and its volunteers at the Wekiva Riverfest at Wekiwa Springs State Park, Apopka, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday.

The Foundation will pass out native wildflower seeds and literature, along with other environmental groups that will host exhibits. There will be activities of all kinds, from a plein air paintout to guided hikes. Click here for the schedule.

Wekiwa Springs State Park is about 20 minutes north of Orlando. Take Interstate 4 to exit 94, and head west on SR 434. Turn right on Wekiwa Springs Road and go about 3.5 miles to Wekiwa Springs Baptist Church, 584 N. Wekiwa Springs Road, where a shuttle bus will take visitors to the park. An entrance fee of $2 per person is required; children under age 12 are admitted free.

Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival in downtown DeLand March 27 - Don't miss it!

2010-03-04T13:16:00.000-05:00

Even the bees are abuzz about the Florida Wildflower and Garden Festival, set for 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, March 27, on downtown DeLand’s West Indiana Avenue. Here’s why:

• A full slate of wildflower and gardening experts will speak on a variety of topics at the historic Athens Theatre, 124 Florida Ave. Among the speakers will be the always popular Tom MacCubbin, a former University of Florida/IFAS extension agent and the radio and TV host of “Better Lawns and Gardens,” as well as Dr. Walter Taylor, aka “Mr. Florida Wildflower,” a UCF professor emeritus of biology who literally wrote the books on Florida wildflowers. Author Ginny Stibolt will talk about sustainable gardening, and Chere Clark, owner of Clark Butterfly Farm, will pass along butterfly gardening tips. Authors will sign and sell books after their talks at the Florida Wildflower Foundation booth.

• Organizations such as the Florida Wildflower Foundation will offer information on native wildflowers and plants.

• Vendors will sell wildflowers and plants, garden utensils and more.

• Festival attendees will cast their votes for their favorite painting in the Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival Art Contest. Photos of finalists' artwork will be on display at the Athens Theatre.

• Field trips include tours of Longleaf Pine Preserve, a Putnam County wildflower farm and Stetson University’s native plant garden, plus a wildflower photography workshop. Pre-registration is required; call Volusia County extension office at 386-822-5778.

• Plus, there will be crafts for kids and a butterfly release at 4 p.m.!

After the festival, West Indiana Avenue will be taken over by the free Peace, Love and Wildflowers Concert from 6-9 p.m., hosted by Bike Florida and the Florida Wildflower Foundation. The Groovers & Shakers will provide tunes for dancing, and costume contests to find the Best Hippie Dude and Best Hippie Chick will be held.

The festival is being sponsored by MainStreet DeLand, the City of Deltona, the Florida Wildflower Foundation, River of Lakes Heritage Corridor Scenic Highway, the Museum of Florida Art, University of Florida IFAS Extension and DeLand Garden Club.

For details on the free events, visit www.floridawildflowerfestival.com or call 386-738-0649.

The survey says ...

2010-02-12T17:24:00.000-05:00

Well, we really don't know what the survey says yet - that depends on you!

Please take a moment to complete our 10-question survey by clicking here. The Florida Wildflower Foundation would like to know what you'd like to learn about, what kind of activities you'd like to participate in in the future, and what kind of services you're interested in.

Your views are important to us. Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts.

- Lisa Roberts

FWF Executive Director

Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival - March 27

2010-02-12T17:00:00.001-05:00

Even the bees are abuzz about the fourth annual Florida Wildflower and Garden Festival, to be held March 27 in downtown DeLand. Here’s why:

A full slate of wildflower and gardening experts will be featured at downtown DeLand’s beautifully restored Athens Theatre, 124 Florida Ave. Among the speakers will be the always popular Tom MaCubbin, former UF/IFAS extension agent, and Dr. Walter Taylor, aka “Mr. Florida Wildflower,” a UCF professor emeritus who literally wrote the books on Florida wildflowers. Author Ginny Stibolt will talk about sustainable gardening, and Chere Clark, owner of Clark Butterfly Farm, will talk about butterfly gardening.
Festival attendees will be casting their votes for their favorite painting in the Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival Art Contest. The winning artist will receive a cash prize of $200; second place, $100; and third-place, $50.
Organizations like the Florida Wildflower Foundation will offer information on native wildflowers and plants. Vendors will be selling potted wildflowers and plants, garden utensils and more.
Plus, there will be field trips to Volusia County natural areas and a wildflower farm (pre-registration required), crafts for kids, and a butterfly release at 4 p.m.!

For details on the free festival, visit www.floridawildflowerfestival.com/wildflower/index.htm.

Calling all wildflower artists

2010-02-12T16:23:00.000-05:00

If you're an artist or you know one, check out the Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival Art Contest, sponsored by the Florida Wildflower Foundation. Art must depict Florida native wildflowers and must be submitted by March 1. For details and to download a entry form, click here.

Show your Flower Power!

2010-02-12T16:16:00.001-05:00

Peace, Love and Wildflowers is the theme for dinner and festivities following the Florida Wildflower and Garden Festival in downtown DeLand on March 27. Cyclists and members and friends of the Florida Wildflower Foundation will take over Indiana Avenue for dinner and, yes, dancing.

The Groovers & Shakers will churn out groovy tunes from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Bring your tie-died shirts and granny glasses – the Florida Wildflower Foundation will award prizes for the Best Hippie Dude and Best Hippie Chick costumes.

Don’t forget your love beads! Buy them at the Foundation’s booth during the Festival or from a Foundation flower child at dinner for $1 a strand – or 5 for $3 – with proceeds going to the Foundation … to plant more wildflowers, man!

New course in sustainable landscaping with native plants and wildflowers

2010-02-12T15:44:00.000-05:00

WHAT: Sustainable Landscaping with Florida Native Plants & Wildflowers, a 3-hour course for horticulture/landscape professionals and serious native plant & wildflower enthusiasts
offered by the Association of Florida Native Nurseries (AFNN), www.afnn.org

WHEN: 12:30-5:00pm, Friday, March 26, 2010 at Mainstreet Grill in DeLand

COST: $45 by March 5 -- includes lunch, break, FNGLA & ISA CEUs, and all handouts

Class limited to 30 attendees. The first 12 people who register will receive a free copy of Xeric Landscaping with Florida Native Plants, AFNN's very popular landscape guide.

FULL DETAILS: www.afnn.org/other/wildflower_ceu.htmlwww.afnn.org/other/wildflower_ceu.html

REGISTER ONLINE: justcause.wufoo.com/forms/sustainable-landscaping-with-native-plants/

This course is being offered in conjunction with the 2010 Florida Wildflower & Garden Festival, a day-long public education event with talks, exhibits, plant sales and more, Saturday, March 27, in downtown DeLand, organized by the Mainstreet DeLand Association and many other organizations, including the Florida Wildflower Foundation and Volusia County Extension Service. FESTIVAL INFO: www.floridawildflowerfestival.com

MORE INFO: Cammie Donaldson, info@afnn.org or (321) 917-1960

Plant $1 on me!

2010-01-05T13:08:00.000-05:00

Now you can help support the Florida Wildflower Foundation's efforts year-round by giving just $1 or so at a time. Your donation will support our ongoing efforts to preserve and conserve Florida's wildflowers through research, education and planting projects!

Our 2010 goal is $10,000. Can you help? Please visit our FirstGiving.com page and share it with your friends. You can even raise money for Florida's native wildflowers through creating your own campaign. Learn how by clicking the Donate button below, which will take you to our FirstGiving.com page.

Thank you for your support!

2009-12-08T22:02:00.000-05:00

As we near 2013 - the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon's naming of "La Florida" for its wildflowers - the Florida Wildflower Foundation is working hard to preserve our native wildflowers for future generations.

We are pursuing many exciting initiatives for 2010, including the development of school curriculum, research that will lead to better knowledge of propogation methods, and a manual that will help landscape architects and other professionals to establish and maintain successful wildflower plantings.

As 2013 nears, we also are working diligently to identify wildflower-profuse routes upon which Florida's communities can build "green" tourism opportunities.

Thank you for all you have done to support the Foundation's work in 2009. As you make your charitable gifts this holiday season, we hope you'll consider sending a contribution to the Foundation. It is through the generosity of people like you that Florida's wildflowers will be preserved for generations to come.

Warm wishes for a happy holiday season,

Lisa Roberts
Executive Director
Florida Wildflower Foundation
PO Box 941066
Maitland, FL 32794-1066

Welcome to a New Marketplace

2009-12-08T11:21:00.000-05:00

As we emerge from this recession, we want the world to know what the Florida Wildflower Foundation does and how to measure the importance of our work.

The Community Foundation of Central Florida has awarded us Reviewed Status in its new knowledge base, allowing the community to make online contributions to us through a unique new community resource available to everybody.

Visit our Portrait by clicking here. You'll be asked to establish a login, and then you'll be able to see our portrait by entering our organization's name in the Find Nonprofits Search Field. To search the knowledge base or share it with others, visit www.mycfcf.org.

Do your holiday shopping online and earn money for Florida's wildflowers

2009-12-08T10:40:00.000-05:00

Now you can help Florida's wildflowers while shopping online. Just go to GoodShop.com and enter "Florida Wildflower Foundation" in the Who Do You Support bubble. Check out the menu of stores that will donate a percentage of your purchase to support the Florida Wildflower Foundation's work when you use their coupons. Included are retailers such as 1-800-Flowers, Amazon.com, Ann Taylor, LL Bean, Expedia, Sears, WalMart,Target and just about every other major retailer you can think of. You can also build cash donations for the Foundation by using GoodSearch.com (powered by Yahoo.com) as your search engine. Each search earns at least 1 cent for Florida's wildflowers when you designate Florida Wildflower Foundation as your benefactor. Happy surfing and shopping!

This holiday season, give the gift that says "I'm doing something for Florida!"

2009-12-08T10:21:00.000-05:00

The State Wildflower license tag is now available as gift! Here's how to give the gift that gives back to Florida's environment: Go to your local Florida license tag office to purchase the gift certificate. Upon payment of the statutorily authorized annual use fee, a receipt will be provided and a credit will be issued in the name of the gift recipient. The recipient can then redeem the certificate at their tag office. You do not have to purchase and redeem the certificate at the same office. The gift certificate is not required to be presented to redeem the credit, but your recipient will need proper identification (i.e. Florida driver’s license or ID card). With each gift certificate purchased, a $15 donation is made to the Florida Wildflower Foundation, which uses the money for native wildflower research, education and planting programs statewide. Holders of the State Wildflower license tag are automatically members of the Florida Wildflower Foundation. To see membership benefits, click here.

FWF executive director earns Rollins certificate in proposal writing

2009-12-08T10:02:00.000-05:00

Lisa Roberts, the Florida Wildflower Foundation's executive director, has earned a Certificate of Proposal Writing from the Rollins College Philanthropy & Nonprofit Leadership Center. Lisa completed 39 hours (not including homework!) of professional education during the course. She is also completing coursework for a Certificate of Nonprofit Management. Lisa's education will be put to good use as the Foundation works to diversify its revenue stream for future programs. Please join us in congratulating her!

Special offers for our members!

2009-12-08T09:37:00.000-05:00

River guide Lars Andersen of High Springs has the following discounts for Florida Wildflower Foundation members, who are automatically members of his "wanna-go" crew: * Gift Certificates for Guided Tours - Give the gift of the outdoors! The $35 certificates are good for any guided river trip offered by Adventure Outpost. This is a good way to introduce your friends to tours at "wanna-go" rates (most trips range from $39 to $45 for non-members). No need to come to the store for these. Order certificates by calling Lars at (386) 454-0611. * "Wanna-go" members get 10% off everything in stock (except boats, which are all discounted at varying rates)at Adventure Outpost, High Springs. Adventure Outpost is a dealer for Old Town and Ocean Kayak brand kayaks, of which we have several models in stock - new and used. Some of the boats in stock include a used Perception "Pirouette" for $290, a new Old Town "Jolt" for $480 (MSRP is $520), a new Old Town "Loon 120" for $580, an Ocean kayak "Venus 11" for $625, Ocean Kayak Malibu XL tandem and more - about 14 kayaks and canoes in all. The store has lots of other goodies on the shelves, including paddles, pfd's, kayak/canoe carts, seats, compasses, water shoes, kayak-fishing accessories, anchors, dry bags, dry boxes, cameras and just about anything else you can think of for paddling. There are discounted books and DVDs too. Lars Andersen leads river trips in North and Central Florida. Adventure Outpost is at 18238 NW Highway 441, High Springs; 386-454-0611. FWF members, please mention your membership number to receive your discount.

DeLand's Florida Wildflower and Garden Festival set for March 27 - Save the date!

2009-11-25T09:50:00.000-05:00

Circle March 27 on your calendar and plan to attend the Florida Wildflower and Garden Festival in downtown DeLand. This year's festival will be bigger and better than ever, with a wildflower art contest, educational wildflower presentations,field trips, scavenger hunts, wildflower and native plant sales, children's activities and more! The Florida Wildflower Foundation has designated the festival as the site of a new bi-annual members meeting. Hotel packages for our members are in the works. Details on the meeting and events surrounding it to come! FWF members who are bicycling enthusiasts can devote the entire weekend to wildflowers and fun by signing up for Bike Florida's two-day DeLand package (March 27 and 28) - $125 buys participation in local rides, indoor or outdoor camping at Stetson University, events and all meals. Bike Florida also is beginning its cross-state ride in DeLand on March 29. Visit bikeflorida.org for details on this great 300-mile spring event, which include portions of the five-county St. Johns River to the Sea Loop, soon to be Florida's first wildflower trail. The five-day event will include a "Challenge of the Charities," in which cyclists will make pledges to support an area non-profit. The Foundation urges all cyclists to join "Team Wildflower" to pedal for petals! For more information on the Florida Wildflower Foundation, visit www.floridawildflowerfoundation.org.

Florida Wildflower Foundation donates $100,000 for native wildflower research

2009-11-24T16:05:00.000-05:00

The Florida Wildflower Foundation (FWF), Maitland, recently donated $100,000 to the Gary Henry Endowment for the Study of Florida Native Wildflowers at the University of Florida/IFAS. The donation marks the organization’s third $100,000 donation since the fund was established in 2007. The endowment is made possible by the $15 donation made with the purchase of each State Wildflower license tag. “This is the only endowment supporting the study of Florida native wildflowers,” said FWF Board Chair Jeff Caster. “It assures that each individual investment in the State Wildflower license plate will pay lasting dividends.” Florida’s native wildflowers contribute to the state’s beauty and environmental health while creating the sense of place that is La Florida, “land of flowers.” “As we near 2013 – the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon’s naming of our state for its flowers – communities statewide are starting to realize the economic potential of wildflowers as ‘green tourism,’ ” said FWF executive director Lisa Roberts. “The endowment will supports research into such things as seed germination and propagation methods that are essential to the success of wildflower plantings.” The Foundation uses funds collected through the State Wildflower license tag for native wildflower research, education and planting projects statewide. For more information on the its work, visit the FWF Web site, www.floridawildflowerfoundation.org.

Florida's Operation Cleansweep gets rid of outdated pesticides, hazardous material

2009-11-24T16:03:00.000-05:00

Farmers, businesses and other commercial sites will have an opportunity next month to safely and legally dispose of outdated pesticides or pesticides packed in deteriorating containers under a 10-year-old state program called Operation Cleansweep. The state will make an appointment for a state vendor to come to the farm or other site in December to package and haul away the hazardous material. The program protects agricultural workers, emergency responders, the public and the environment from potential health and environmental risks from stored pesticides. To participate in Operation Cleansweep, agricultural interests and commercial pesticide applicators can call toll-free (877) 851-5285 or download the sign-up form at www.flaes.org/pdf/Flyer.pdf. This week in Agriculture: http://www.florida-agriculture.com/theweek/index.htm Visit the new Blog: freshfromflorida.wordpress.com Agricultural Emergency Report: http://ag-er.blogspot.com/

Florida Wildflower Foundation Request for Proposal: Web site redesign

2009-11-19T13:48:00.002-05:00

Florida Wildflower Foundation Request for Proposal: Web site redesign Deadline for submittals: 5 p.m. Dec. 11 Submit to: flawildflowers@gmail.com Questions: Lisa Roberts, executivedirector@floridawildflowerfoundation.org; 407-353-6164 The Florida Wildflower Foundation is requesting proposals for a redesign of its Web site as the premier source of native wildflower information. Specifically, this contractor will work with the Foundation’s executive director to design a Web site that provides an attractive, logical framework for the deployment of educational information while allowing for easy growth, news postings and visitor interaction. The proposal package should: • Introduce the contractor and provide a resume(s) or similar work history. • Provide examples of prior work in Web design. • Fully describe the project along with software used, descriptions of deliverables, and a deliverables timeline. • Provide a full cost breakdown of the proposed project (i.e., labor, software, travel, etc.). The successful proposal also will illustrate the applicant’s: • Superior knowledge of Florida’s unique native flora, fauna and ecosystems. • Knowledge the Florida Wildflower Foundation’s mission, vision and strategic plan goals (all available on its present Web site, www.floridawildflowerfoundation.org). • Knowledge of cutting-edge Web-design tools and software, social media interface and search engine optimization technique. • Plan and ability to: o Assess the present Web site to determine improvements and existing usable material. o Create page templates based on the elegance and beauty of Florida’s native wildflowers, and the Foundation’s mission, vision and strategic plan. o Design a logical hierarchy of pages based on program areas. o Design and integrate forms for visitor interaction, including donations, grant applications and electronic-newsletter signup, as well as purchases of membership, goods and services. o Integrate software that measures visitor interaction and interest. o Provide written project progress reports and design examples as needed. o Train Foundation personnel and/or representatives to update the site. o Provide Webmaster services for one year after site redesign launch.

Florida Wildflower Foundation Request for Proposals: Curriculum Project

2009-11-19T08:26:00.000-05:00

Deadline for submittals: 5 p.m. Dec. 11 Electronic submissions preferred Submit to: Lisa Roberts, Executive Director Florida Wildflower Foundation PO Box 941066 Maitland, FL executivedirector@floridawildflowerfoundation.org 407-353-6164 The Florida Wildflower Foundation is requesting proposals for an independent contractor to assist its education committee in achieving the Foundation’s education goals. Specifically, this contractor will research the feasibility and opportunities for the introduction or insertion of native wildflower education curriculum, with accompanying wildflower gardens, into Florida schools at elementary, middle school and/or high school levels. The proposal package should: • Introduce the contractor and provide a resume(s) or similar work history. • Provide examples of prior work in the area of curriculum research and development for public schools and/or informal education settings in Florida. • Fully describe the proposed research project along with methodology to be used, descriptions of deliverables, and a deliverables timeline. • Provide a full cost breakdown of the proposed research project (i.e., labor, travel, mileage, etc.). The successful proposal also will illustrate the applicant’s: • Superior knowledge of Florida’s unique native flora, fauna and ecosystems. • Knowledge the Florida Wildflower Foundation’s mission and vision. • Familiarity with new Sunshine State Standards. • Familiarity with the design of public school and informal education curricula in Florida. • Familiarity with the requirements of FCAT and other standardized testing in Florida. SCOPE OF SERVICES The contractor will: • Identify and evaluate the use of current (if any) native plant and wildflower curriculum at the Florida elementary, middle and high-school levels. • Identify specific academic areas in which native wildflower curriculum could be developed. • Assess school system and teacher interest in obtaining and using native wildflower curriculum, and recommend delivery forms (audiovisual, workbooks, downloads, etc.). • Identify three test markets (i.e., school districts) and establish appropriate relationships in order to achieve buy-in from district officials for pilot projects that would pair wildflower curriculum and on-site native wildflower gardens. • Communicate frequently with the Foundation’s executive director, who, under the guidance of the Foundation’s executive committee, will provide oversight of the project. • Provide written progress reports as needed. • Identify possible partnerships with businesses and other non-profit organizations. • Identify at least three possible sources of funding for the resulting curricula project(s). • Provide a detailed final report of investigation findings and recommendations. • Assist the Education Committee in forming specific recommendations to take to the Foundation’s board of directors.

Call for scientific papers and poster presentations Florida native plant society 2010 conference

2009-11-09T08:24:00.000-05:00

The Florida Native Plant Society annual conference will be held at the Leon County Civic Center, Tallahassee, Florida, May 20-23, 2010. The Science Track of the Conference will include presented papers on Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22. Posters will be on display on Friday and Saturday and the poster session will be on Saturday afternoon. Researchers are invited to submit abstracts on research related to native plants and plant communities of Florida including preservation, conservation, and restoration. Presentations are planned to be 20 minutes in total length (15 min. presentation, 5 min. questions). Abstracts of not more than 200 words should be submitted as a MS Word file by email to Paul A. Schmalzer paul.a.schmalzer@nasa.gov by February 1, 2010. Include title, affiliation, and address. Indicate whether you will be presenting a paper or poster.

Click on the image below to help us find Florida's wildflowers - send us your sightings by Dec. 1

2009-11-06T16:11:00.001-05:00

Martinez calls for renewed funding of Florida Forever program

2009-10-14T16:18:00.000-04:00

TAMPA, October 14, 2009 - Speaking at a beautiful bayside park created in part with state funding, long-term champion of land conservation and former Governor Bob Martinez today called for renewed funding for Florida Forever and applauded those members of the Florida Legislature working to fund Florida's premier land protection program in the 2010 Session of the Florida Legislature. "Florida's natural systems must be preserved or our unique and wonderful state will be endangered," said Governor Martinez, who as governor established the landmark Preservation 2000 Program, the predecessor to Florida Forever. "That is why in 1990 I proposed Preservation 2000 and supported its successor, Florida Forever, in 1998 and 2008. As a native of Florida, I enjoyed the beauty of Florida's waters, wildlife and open space growing up and want my grandchildren to have the same experience." Funding for Florida Forever was eliminated by the Florida Legislature this year (the fiscal year that began July 1, 2009). Any funding that remains is residual from past years. The Florida Forever Coalition believes that the interruption in funding undermines Florida's ability to save for current and future citizens many of Florida's most important state and local parks, wildlife habitat, rivers, water supplies and other natural treasures. In turn, members of the Legislature are signing the Coalition's "Florida Forever Endorsement" that backs the appropriation of at least $15 million for FY 2010-11. This step by the Legislature would enable the issuance of $300 million in Florida Forever bonds - just as the Legislature authorized unanimously in 2008 with the renewal of the program. "The time to invest in Florida's conservation future is now, when prices and landowner willingness are both very favorable," said Jeff Danter, The Nature Conservancy's Florida director. "A relatively small investment in Florida Forever today will benefit Floridians today and forever." Laurie Macdonald, Florida director of Defenders of Wildlife, said: "Florida Forever is essential to the protection of wildlife habitat for our state's incredibly diverse array of animal and plant species, including rare and imperiled species such as the Florida black bear and Florida panther. Florida Forever saves sizable tracts of wetlands and uplands and the connections that are increasingly important in the face of climate change." Manley Fuller, president of the Florida Wildlife Federation, stated: "The Florida Forever Coalition sincerely appreciates the ongoing commitment to Florida's premier conservation lands program demonstrated by Governor Martinez and by the united support of our other co-chairs, Governors Askew, Graham, and Bush." David Anderson, president of Audubon of Florida, said: "The great goal of saving the places that make Florida special means that we must make sure that land conservation is a priority in the state budget." Also today, the Coalition unveiled for the public a brand new publication entitled "Florida Forever: Conservation at a Crossroads Florida Green Book 2009." This document explores many of the conservation achievements of Florida Forever over the past decade and explains the diverse land acquisition challenges that demand future Florida Forever funding. Governor of Florida (1987-1991) and Mayor of Tampa (1979-1986), Martinez was the creator of Preservation 2000, the outstanding land conservation program that, from 1990-1999, preceded Florida Forever. He is currently an honorary co-chair of the Florida Forever Coalition. Former governors Jeb Bush, Bob Graham, and Reubin Askew are also Coalition honorary co-chairs. Cypress Point Park - a 32-acre treasure that features a beautiful beach, nature trails, a boardwalk, canoe launch, picnic pavilions, and more - was acquired through Hillsborough County's Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP) with partial funding from the Florida Communities Trust (FCT) Program grant to the county and the City of Tampa. FCT is funded by Florida Forever. The city manages the park. The Florida Forever Coalition is composed of more than 125 groups that support Florida Forever's diverse environmental, wildlife, recreational, water supply, hunting, fishing, and agricultural purposes. Florida Forever Quick Links Florida Forever Coalition on the Web: www.supportfloridaforever.org E-mail: info@supportfloridaforever.org

Nature Crafts Workshop

2009-09-28T09:29:00.001-04:00

Monday, October 5, 10:00am to 12:00 Trout Lake Nature Center and area crafters are offering an opportunity to learn and make crafts using natural materials. Each craft activity will give you a finished product to take home. The crafters will demonstrate and provide the materials to make: recycled mini-gift boxes, painted flower pots, corn shuck flowers, shell craft, nature note cards, candle holders, and Christmas ornament. To register for this activity on October 5th, 10:00am to 12:00 please call 352-357-7536. A $4.00 donation for materials is suggested for this activity. You will also need scissors, gardening snips, your imagination, and a sense of fun. To reach Trout Lake Nature Center proceed north of Eustis on Rt. 19 to C.R. 44. Turn East between the CVS and Walgreens and continue .3 miles to the entrance on the right.

ETHNOBOTANICAL DAY

2009-09-23T18:29:00.000-04:00

Saturday, October 17, 2009, 9am – 4pm Heathcote Botanical Gardens 210 Savannah Road, Fort Pierce, FL 34982 Sponsored by Heathcote Botanical Gardens and the Florida Native Plant Society Lakela’s Mint St. Lucie Chapter For more information contact AnnMarie Loveridge at (772) 323-7982 $6 donation requested for general admission; free for kids under 12 FREE for Heathcote and Florida Native Plant Society Members visit www.reclamationproject.net or www.heathcotebotanicalgardens.org  Children’s Activities – make eco-art or earn a Junior Ranger Badge!  Butterfly and wildlife presentations  Hourly raffles of plants and great prizes  Extensive program of presentations and lectures  Native plants for sale – hard to find species available!  Horticultural experts to answer all your gardening questions!  Good Eats Booth – sample native culinary delights and feast on Good Foods!  Demonstrations of historical uses of native plants presented by St. Lucie Regional History Center  Eco-friendly products and merchandise including organic fertilizers, mulch, eco-art, books, T-shirts & more!  Join this coalition of Botanists, Land Managers, Scientists, Educators, Naturalist Landscapers and Home Gardeners in a variety of free lectures teaching us HOW TO PUT LIFE IN OUR LANDSCAPES! Sponsored by Heathcote Botanical Gardens and the Florida Native Plant Society Lakela’s Mint St. Lucie Chapter For more information contact AnnMarie Loveridge at (772) 323-7982 $6 donation requested for general admission; free for kids under 12 FREE for Heathcote and Florida Native Plant Society Members

Henry Nehrling’s Garden Grove, a Music and Arts Festival, Promises Full Day of FUN for the Entire Family

2009-09-15T09:23:00.000-04:00

Ocoee, Florida - The Henry Nehrling’s Garden Groove, a music and arts festival, headlines Apollo Sunshine and Mumpsy (voted Orlando’s best rock/pop group), and features activities for the whole family, art exhibits, and delicious food vendors. The event begins at 10 A.M. and continues to 6 P.M. on Saturday, September 19, 2009, at Vignetti Park, 1910 Adair St, Ocoee. All proceeds will benefit The Henry Nehrling Society for the acquisition of Nehrling’s Palm Cottage Gardens, one of Florida’s 11 most endangered historical sites. This is the last year to save this important piece of history. Tickets are $20 (donation); kids under 10 are Free. The fun starts with Mr. Richard’s delightful rock-n-roll tunes for kids of all ages. Kids can also enjoy face painting, Astro jump, and playground. The day continues with a wide variety of music from reggae and acoustic, to Southern rock, bluegrass, soul, funk, and even a sampling of psychedelic rock. Bands to perform these sounds include Apollo Sunshine, Mumpsy, K.G. & the Band, Savi Fernandez Band, The Highway 50 Band, Token Gamblers, and Andrew Buchwald. Tickets are available at Yellow Dog Eats, 1236 Hempel Ave, Windermere (Gotha), and Rock N’ Roll Heaven; 1814 N Orange Ave, Orlando; Park Ave CD's, 2916 Corrine Drive, Orlando, The Book Worm, 2400 E Washington St, Orlando. For more information visit: http://nehrlinggardens.org or http://gardengroove.org. Palm Cottage Gardens is the former home of internationally known horticulturalist Dr. Henry Nehrling, who introduced more than 300 new plants to Florida's landscape. He purchased the property in 1885 to establish a garden where he could experiment with tropical and subtropical plants. It is located in Gotha, Florida, a small community near Orlando that was founded by German Americans in 1885. Palm Cottage Gardens was Florida’s first USDA experimental botanical garden where Dr. Nehrling tested over 3,000 new and rare plants. Many prominent people of the era, such as Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, Liberty Hyde Bailey, Theordore Mead and Dr. David Fairchild, visited Nehrling’s home and gardens, marveling at Nehrling’s extraordinary work. Some collaborated with him on special scientific research. Thomas Edison worked with Nehrling for an alternative source for rubber.

State parks offer free weekend admission with library card, library book or book donation

2009-09-10T13:13:00.000-04:00

Free entry to Florida’s state parks September 11-13 celebrates Literacy Month TALLAHASSEE –To celebrate September as State Park Literacy Month, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Florida Park Service is offering free entrance to Florida’s 160 state parks September 11-13 for visitors who bring a library card, library book, or who donate a new or gently used family book. The park service encourages Florida’s residents and guests to take advantage of this opportunity to combine the joy of reading with the beauty of the outdoors. With more than 160 state parks in Florida, a myriad of enjoyable and affordable activities are available for all ages. To learn more about Florida’s state parks, visit www.floridastateparks.org.

Great news for the St. Johns River to the Sea Loop Trail

2009-08-26T17:36:00.000-04:00

GOVERNOR AND CABINET APPROVE PURCHASE OF MUSSALLEM TRAILHEAD FLORIDA FOREVER PROJECT ~Project calls for development of trailhead in St. Johns County~ TALLAHASSEE – Governor Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet today approved the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) proposal to purchase, using Florida Forever funding from DEP’s Office of Greenways and Trails, a 24-acre parcel in St. Johns County known as the Mussallem Trailhead. The property, to be developed and managed by St. Johns County, will serve as a major trailhead in the region providing direct access to the State Road 207 Rail Trail and the “St. Johns River to Sea Loop” trail and preserving a significant amount of open greenspace. “Acquisition of this land will significantly enhance the State Road 207 Rail Trail and the St. Johns River to Sea Loop trail by providing an additional trail access point,” said Bob Ballard, DEP Deputy Secretary for Land and Recreation. “This project was made possible through collaboration with other state and local agencies and we are thankful to all the parties involved for enabling this project to move forward and benefit the area’s natural resources, local communities and trails.” The Mussallem Trailhead parcel was identified in 2007 as a priority Florida Forever acquisition within DEP’s Office of Greenways and Trails. Once developed, the Mussallem Trailhead, located west of Interstate 95 near St. Augustine, will provide a nature trail, picnic pavilion, restrooms, parking and interpretive signage. The trailhead will also provide direct access to the State Road 207 Rail Trail, a 19.4-mile abandoned rail corridor currently owned and being developed as a multi-use trail by the Florida Department of Transportation. The Rail Trail also connects to the “St. Johns River to the Sea Loop” trail. "Residents and tourists will enjoy the beauty of North Florida from this trailhead which will connect St. Augustine to Florida’s award winning statewide trail system,” said Cyndi Stevenson, St. Johns County Commissioner, District 1. “It will promote healthy lifestyles, invigorate local economies and encourage small business as part of the St. Johns River to Sea Loop." In September 2008, U.S. Representative John Mica and State Representative Bill Proctor joined delegates from Putnam, St. Johns, Flagler, Volusia and Brevard counties as they signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the more than 260 mile “St. Johns River to the Sea Loop” to be completely connected and paved by 2013, to commemorate the 500th anniversary celebration of Ponce de Leon's landing in Florida. “The Loop trail is quickly becoming a very popular attraction for bike tours and other recreational opportunities, underscoring the value of nature-based tourism,” said Jena Brooks, Director of the DEP Office of Greenways & Trails. “Projects such as these are complex and take time to come to fruition, but the investment is returned ten-fold in the ripple effect of economic benefits to so many communities and the added attractions for visitors.” Florida has been named by American Trails as “Best Trails State in America,” recognizing DEP’s Office of Greenways & Trails for its vision and leadership, which includes community assistance, land acquisition, public outreach and the management of eight state trails and the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. The Greenway is Florida’s longest green corridor stretching 110 miles from the St. Johns River near Palatka to the Gulf of Mexico near Inglis. Of the eight state trails, six are rail-trails, which are railroad corridors converted to recreational trails for hiking, biking, skating, equestrian activities and alternative transportation. For more information about Florida’s trails, visit www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt.

Fall Garden Tour in Central Florida Features Florida Native Plants

2009-08-24T16:29:00.000-04:00

Orange County: The Fall Tour of Gardens, hosted by the Central Florida Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., offers an excellent opportunity to learn how to enhance the natural beauty of your landscape and neighborhood with native plants. Florida’s natives can help you save water, energy, and money. They require less fertilizers and pesticides and benefit local wildlife. Over a dozen gardens are available to tour. Come be inspired. Tickets are $5, which includes a brochure with garden descriptions, highlights and locations. Tickets will be available, beginning September 2, at Green Images Native Landscape Plants (E. Orlando), Biosphere Consulting, Inc. (W. Orlando), South Seminole Farm and Nursery (Casselberry), and Blodgett Gardens (College Park). Hurry, tickets are limited. Any unsold tickets will be available the day of the tour at the Florida Friendly Landscaping Demonstration Garden at the Orange County Administration Center (downtown Orlando) and the Seminole County Environmental Studies Center (near the intersection of US 17-92 and SR 419). For more information, visit: http://www.fnps.org/pages/chapters/chapterpg.php?keyword=Tarflower.

Florida’s state park attendance reaches new heights

2009-07-22T12:08:00.000-04:00

Fanning Springs State Park (above) More than 21.4 million people visited Florida’s state parks last year- TALLAHASSEE — The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Florida Park Service today announced a new record for state park attendance during the 2008-09 fiscal year. More than 21.4 million people visited a state park last fiscal year, an increase of approximately 700,000 people, or 3.5 percent, from the previous fiscal year. “We are pleased to see Florida’s 160 state parks continue to grow in popularity and are thankful for the support of Governor Crist and the Florida Legislature that has enabled us to keep all parks open and fully operational despite difficult economic times,” said DEP’s Deputy Secretary for Land and Recreation Bob Ballard. “These record setting visitor numbers illustrate the demand for recreational and educational experiences that are affordable, close to home and protective of Florida’s valuable natural resources.” Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin welcomed more visitors than any other state park in Florida for the second year in a row, with more than 1.2 million visitors. Other highly visited parks include: St. Andrews State Park, Panama City Beach — 910,000 visitors. Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, Key Biscayne — 909,000 visitors. Gasparilla Island State Park, Boca Grande — 846,000 visitors. Sebastian Inlet State Park, Melbourne Beach — 796,000 visitors. “This is the third year in a row that attendance has increased at Florida’s state parks,” said DEP’s Florida Park Service Director Mike Bullock. “The growth in visitor numbers proves that residents and visitors alike value state parks and enjoy nature-based recreation.” The Florida Park Service, established by the Florida Legislature in 1935, will celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2010. Special events will be hosted statewide beginning in January and throughout 2010 to commemorate the diamond anniversary. Since 1985, the National Recreation and Park Association has designated July as Parks and Recreation Month. This year, the Florida Park Service continues its Family. Friends. Fun. campaign which aims to reconnect children and families with nature by engaging them in outdoor activity. Florida’s state parks provide many opportunities for friends and families to explore museums, forts, gardens, lakes, rivers, crystal clear springs and white sandy beaches. Visitors can hike, bicycle, paddle, dive fish, swim, ride horseback and view an abundance of wildlife; and more than 50 parks provide overnight accommodations via tent camping, RV camping or cabin rentals. The first two-time Gold Medal winner honoring the nation’s best state park service, Florida’s state park system is one of the largest in the country with 160 parks, most of which are open 365 days a year. Florida’s state parks, which span more than 700,000 acres and include more than 100 miles of sandy white beach, provide an affordable outing for people of all ages. To learn more about Florida’s state parks, visit www.floridastateparks.org.

'Green' yards get a break: Florida offers protection

2009-07-14T14:07:00.000-04:00

By Kevin Spear Orlando Sentinel July 6, 2009 When state Sen. Carey Baker proposed a law encouraging Florida homeowners to get rid of thirsty grass, he had Dorothy Bombera in mind. The Venice retiree has steadily ripped out her lawn, making room for daisies, perennial peanuts, palms and other drought-resistant plants. But not all of her neighbors found the new scenery attractive, and her homeowners association threatened to fine Bombera if she didn't re-create the old, conventional yard. Last week, Baker's legislation was signed into law by Gov. Charlie Crist, and Bombera is now off the hook."They were up to a $480 fine," Bombera said of the homeowners association. "I think that passing this was the most wonderful thing." Amid mounting anxiety about Florida's shrinking supply of water, residential yards — especially those featuring St. Augustine grass — are getting a lot of the blame. Water authorities calculate that, on average, about half of the approximately 150 gallons used every day by a typical Florida resident goes to keeping the yard green. Those water authorities have increasingly resorted to restricting the days and hours during which homeowners are allowed to turn on their lawn sprinklers. Another strategy is to encourage homeowners to adopt landscapes that thrive on nature's irrigation: rain. Getting in the way of that solution are homeowners associations that require residents' yards to feature fence-to-fence grass. "That has been a problem," said Baker, a Republican from Eustis. "Homeowner associations have demanded picture-perfect lawns that frequently are environmentally unfriendly." His legislation calls for "Florida-friendly landscaping," which speaks to both the type of plants and their care. In general, that means going easy on irrigation, light on chemicals and heavy on mulch. The prime keeper of wisdom on what qualifies as Florida-friendly landscaping is the state's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. The agency offers much guidance on the concept through its county offices and its Web site, fyn.ifas.ufl.edu/home owners/nine_principles.htm. "It doesn't matter so much what it looks like," IFAS horticulture specialist Sidney Park Brown said of the Florida-friendly yard. "It's more important how it's maintained." Carey's landscaping provision became part of a controversial water-management bill that, with Crist's signature, also restricts public access to government decisions on permits for water consumption and wetlands destruction. Eco-activists are split The Florida Native Plant Society initially supported the Florida-friendly landscape legislation but then changed its stance after the provision was attached to the bigger, and widely opposed, water bill. "We feel that Florida-friendly provision is tainted because of the ecological damage that will come from the rest of the law," said the group's executive director, Karina Veaudry of Orlando. Still, Veaudry expects to see sweeping change in landscape preferences among Florida homeowners worried about water shortages, pesticides and diminishing habitat for birds, butterflies and other wildlife. "We've been waiting for years for this kind of law to give people the freedom to plant landscapes that aren't so thirsty," she said. "We think we are going to see an explosion of change." Legal permission to plant a Florida-friendly landscape in a grass-preferred subdivision isn't entirely new. Previous laws allow homeowners to ignore association rules established in the past seven years. That's how Catherine Stoccardo and her husband were to able gradually clear away the grass at their Hampton Park home near downtown Orlando. Stoccardo was put on notice at one point that her yard needed tamer trees and a better lawn. She put the matter to rest with a quick reminder of the law protecting certain Florida-friendly landscapes. Today, she tends everything from saw palmetto to wild coffee, along with small rose and vegetable gardens. One payoff: "We really don't have to fertilize at all," she said. More rules coming? The new Florida-friendly landscape provision applies to all residential yards. It also orders cities and counties to accommodate eco-conscious efforts by local homeowners. Next up is a proposal that would require new homes to come with environmentally kinder yards. The St. Johns River Water Management District, which takes in much of Central Florida, is drafting a provision that would require residential developers to finish new homes with Florida-friendly landscapes. Such a measure isn't expected to ban grass; instead, it would likely require carving out much more space for less-thirsty greenery. Kevin Spear can be reached at kspear@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5062. Copyright © 2009, Orlando Sentinel

Make a Date with Florida’s State Parks

2009-06-25T14:09:00.000-04:00

State parks offer opportunities for original, affordable and eco-friendly dates TALLAHASSEE – Summertime is a perfect occasion to explore the outdoors with family, friends or even a date, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Florida Park Service is offering a list of inexpensive ways to make a date at a Florida state park. “Not only are parks great for family getaways, but they can also be unique date getaways,” said DEP Florida Park Service Director Mike Bullock. “With 160 state parks in Florida, there are hundreds of opportunities for affordable recreation –from picnicking at a beach to stargazing at night.” DEP’s Rediscover Florida: 100 Ways in 100 Days campaign provides 100 money saving ideas for close-to-home entertainment at a state park, trail or other natural recreation area. The upcoming Fourth of July weekend is an excellent time for family, friends or dates to explore some of the 100 activities on the Rediscover Florida list. Date ideas include: · Picnic in the park. Most of Florida’s 160 state parks offer picnic areas with covered pavilions, picnic tables and BBQ grills. o The Barnacle Historic State Park in Coconut Grove will host an old fashioned picnic over the Fourth of July weekend on the grounds of the 19th century pioneer home site. Hosted by The Barnacle Society, this event will feature lawn games, kite-making and knot-tying demonstrations. The public is invited to join the staff and volunteers by wearing a period costume. This celebration is $5.00 for adults 12 years and over and $2.00 for children ages six to 12. For more information, call (305) 442-6866. · Attend a stargazing party. Several state parks host star gazing events throughout the year. o Silver River State Park located east of Ocala will host a stargazing party with the Ocala Astronomy Club on Saturday, June 27th. Guests should bring a lawn chair or blanket and bug spray is suggested. Event is weather permitting. Regular park admission fees of $4.00 per vehicle with up to eight passengers will apply. For more information, call 352-236-7148. · Experience a Park Festival. Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park hosts First Saturday events on the first Saturday of each month. On Saturday, July 4th, guests can enjoy arts and crafts from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and at 7:00 p.m., enjoy songs, stories, music and poetry performed during open stage night held in the park auditorium. Coffee and desserts will be available for sale. This event is free. For more information, call 386-397-2733. · Relive History. At Fort Clinch State Park east of Jacksonville living historians recreate life during the Civil War. Activities include artillery demonstrations, medical demonstrations and soldier drills. Soldiers and civilians also take up duty in the laundry, infirmary, kitchen, barracks, quartermaster and carpenter shop. Candlelight viewings of the fort take place Saturday evenings the first weekend of every month except December. The next event will take place on July 4th and 5th. Regular park admission fees of $5.00 per vehicle with up to eight passengers will apply, plus $2.00 per person Fort admission. For more information, call 904-277-7274. · Take a boat tour. Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park south of Tallahassee offers daily guided riverboat tours to provide a closer view of wildlife. Rangers share stories of local folklore and passengers will see prehistoric Mastodon bones on the bottom of the spring basin. For more information, visit www.floridastateparks.org/wakullasprings. · Relax on one of America’s best beaches. Caladesi Island State Park (above), just off the coast of Clearwater was voted America’s Best Beach by Dr. Beach in 2008. The island is accessible only by private boat or via the Caladesi Connection ferry service. Cost for the ferry is $10.00 for adults and $6.00 for children age’s four to 12. Trips depart hourly beginning at 10:00 a.m. Contact the ferry office at 727-734-1501 for more information. For further information about Caladesi Island State Park, call 727-469-5918. · Take a Tour Under the Sea. The first underwater park in the U.S., John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park in Key Largo (southeast) encompasses approximately 70 nautical square miles. While the mangrove swamps and tropical hammocks in the park’s upland areas offer visitors a unique experience, it is the coral reefs and their associated marine life that bring most visitors to the park. Most enjoy the view from a glass bottom boat tour, but visitors can get a closer look by snorkeling through the reefs. Boat tours are available daily at 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. and costs $24.00 for adults and $17.00 for children under 12. For more information, call 305-451-1202. The Rediscover Florida campaign aims to increase awareness of all the activities Florida’s public lands offer – from the traditional activities like hiking, bicycling, picnicking or camping to popular festivals, historic reenactments, museums and education centers. Opportunities extend beyond the state’s 160 state parks – there are also eight state trails, three National Estuarine Research Reserves, plus many aquatic preserves and education centers. With all of these options, opportunities for fun and educational recreation are vast, affordable and close to home. Visitors to the Rediscover Florida Web site can explore an interactive list of 100 activities and track how many of the activities they complete. To view the Web site, visit www.dep.state.fl.us and click Rediscover Florida. The first two-time Gold Medal winner honoring the nation’s best state park service, Florida’s state park system is one of the largest in the country with 160 parks, most of which are open 365 days a year. Florida’s state parks, which span more than 700,000 acres and include more than 100 miles of sandy white beach, provide an affordable outing for people of all ages. Caladesi Island State Park, just off the coast of Pinellas County, was honored with the coveted Best Beach in the Nation award in 2008. To learn more about Florida’s state parks, visit www.floridastateparks.org.

DEP announces changes to state park fee schedule

2009-06-15T17:28:00.000-04:00

-Day-use, annual pass and overnight accommodation fees updated- Tallahassee – In order to continue to provide high quality visitor services and affordable nature-based recreation, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Florida Park Service will implement a modest fee increase beginning Wednesday, July 1, 2009, in conjunction with the state’s fiscal calendar. “Florida’s award-winning state parks provide inexpensive, high quality recreation in an unmatched natural setting,” said DEP Deputy Secretary of Land and Recreation Bob Ballard. “This fee increase will help keep Florida’s state parks open for residents and visitors to experience while still proving to be one of the most affordable activities in the state.” As the first fee update in five years, additional state park user fees will supplement current revenue sources used to maintain the state’s valuable natural and cultural resources within Florida’s 160 state parks. Nearly half of the $81 million used to operate the state park system is raised from entrance and usage fees. Some of the most common fees that will change include: · Day-use entrance fee for vehicles with up to eight people: average increase of $1.00 - $3.00. · Camping fees: average increase of $4.00 per night. · Cabin rental fees: average increase of $10.00 per night. · Annual Pass: $60.00 for individuals and $120.00 for families up to eight people. o The Florida Park Service Annual Pass is good for day-use entrance into Florida’s state parks and a 33 percent discount for individual admission to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park, Skyway Fishing Pier State Park and Weeki Wachee Springs State Park. “With state park attendance breaking records and still on the rise, we have heard overwhelming support to keep all state parks open and available to the public,” said Florida Park Service Director Mike Bullock. "Even with this fee increase, it is comforting to know a trip to a state park still remains affordable. Last year, more than 20 million visitors enjoyed Florida’s state parks for just a few dollars, contributing more than one billion dollars to Florida’s economy and creating more than 20,000 jobs.” In addition to these increases, the Florida Park Service will lower the cost of admission at Weeki Wachee Springs State Park in Spring Hill to bring the cost of admission down to rates more consistent with Florida’s other state parks. The cost of admission for an adult will decrease from $26.57 to $13.00 and from $18.05 to $5.00 for children. The first two-time Gold Medal winner honoring the nation’s best state park service, Florida’s state park system is one of the largest in the country with 160 parks, which are open 365 days a year. Florida’s state parks, which span more than 700,000 acres and include more than 100 miles of sandy white beach, provide an affordable outing for people of all ages. Caladesi Island State Park, just off the coast of Pinellas County, was honored with the coveted Best Beach in the Nation award in 2008. View a complete list of Florida State Park entry fees. All additional fees will be posted on the Florida State Parks Web site at www.floridastateparks.org on July 1, 2009.

Flower power is poised for a showy comeback along Florida roads

2009-06-15T14:04:00.000-04:00

Chris Grossenbacher, a Florida's Turnpike consultant, is surrounded by black-eyed Susans growing wild near the Canoe Creek Plaza rest stop in Osceola County. (George Skene, Orlando Sentinel/June 10, 2009) By Kevin Spear Orlando Sentinel June 13, 2009 – For decades, the state has had a fondness for nurturing wildflowers at the edges of big byways and rural routes. It was motivated by appreciation for scenic beauty in dreary places and, to a degree, jealousy over hordes of tourists lured to the famed and dazzling floral displays that border Texas blacktops. But now there are new and pressing reasons to dapple the shoulders of Florida roads with black-eyed Susans, phlox, tickseed, which is the state wildflower, and even rare orchids that are sprouting near Orlando. Governments are strapped for cash. Road managers say one way to cut costs is to reduce roadside mowing, which often means showtime for wild blossoms. Worries about soaring fuel prices and shrinking green spaces also are good reasons to embrace the lower maintenance and natural qualities of roadside flowers, said wildflower grower Terry Zinn of Alachua County. And don't forget safety, he said. "People aren't aware of their environment after driving on the interstate for a while. Troopers call it the zone," said Zinn, a former attorney with the state Department of Transportation. "Wildflowers break that up. Studies show that people slow down and are more attentive." The direct cost of mowing state roads is nearly $10 million, with millions more in costs built into large maintenance contracts. The result of mowing up to 10 times a year is an endless and monochromatic carpet of Bahia grass, the top choice of road builders. "I'm not sure the state of Florida can live up to that expectation any longer," said Jeff Caster, DOT landscape architect in Tallahassee. Agency officials are starting to experiment with cutting back on mowing to bring on a bloom. Although the agency regularly plants wildflower seeds — 3,500 pounds in 24 varieties last year — DOT officials don't have much expertise in how to best nurture what grows, Caster said. The DOT has carved out test tracts along North Florida roads where mowers will be kept at bay to see what happens with road safety, maintenance and wildflower growth. Results could help state transportation officials calculate mowing reductions elsewhere. A downside with wildflowers is that after they bloom and go to seed, they can look like weeds. "It's a very different aesthetic," Caster said. "But I think people are ready for it." Also to be figured out is what plants grow best in different parts of the state. Wildflowers and north Lake County roads, for example, make for a botanical garden. In Brevard County "we can hardly get even grass to grow over there," said Mike Wright, a DOT roadway administrator. One promising flower bed is 312 miles long — Florida's Turnpike — where gardening efforts began three years ago at the north end of the toll road and are expanding south. Contract manager Chris Grossenbacher, a consultant to the DOT, said that not mowing during spring and fall blooms and especially not during the seeding phase has resulted in an explosion of naturally occurring wildflowers. "It's just the right thing to do rather than perpetuate Bahia turf grass," Grossenbacher said. Kevin Spear can be reached at 407-420-5062 or kspear@orlandosentinel.com.

Congrats to Apopka Elementary students!

2009-05-27T14:38:00.000-04:00

ORLANDO –The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) joined The Walt Disney Company to honor this year’s winners of Disney’s Environmentality™ Challenge. Fifth grade students from Mr. Scott Ralph’s class at Apopka Elementary School in Apopka were honored as the 2009 statewide Environmentality™ Challenge winners during a ceremony earlier this month at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. “DEP is proud of our partnership with The Walt Disney Company to promote the annual Environmentality™ Challenge,” said DEP Central District Director Vivian Garfein. “This challenge is an interactive learning tool designed to help students educate themselves and others about what they can do to ensure a healthier environment.” The statewide challenge, conducted annually by Walt Disney World and DEP, encourages fifth graders to actively participate in the protection of their local environment by completing and documenting an environmental project in their school or community. Each year, state fifth graders are invited to take the challenge. To date more than 130,000 students have participated in Disney’s Environmentality™ Challenge. More than 78,000 students have pledged to help protect their environment and more than 24,000 students have completed a community or schoolyard environmental project. This year’s statewide winners educated fellow students and the Apopka community about recycling through their project, “Mission: Eliminate Plastic Bags.” Mr. Ralph’s class researched the effect plastic bags have on the environment, and set out to collect plastic bags from their community for recycling. The students raised funds to purchase reusable shopping bags to help spread the word about alternatives to plastic bags. The students also presented their project to the Apopka City Council, and distributed reusable shopping bags to each council member. In addition, the class designed packages to send to other fifth grade classes in the area in order to teach local schools about the negative impact of plastic bags. The class has supplied more than 800 reusable shopping bags to the Apopka community since the project started. “Our students provided solutions to a problem and gave people an alternative that was both easy to accomplish and useful in the long term,” said Mr. Ralph. “That’s really the strongest part of the project.” The state champion, in addition to five regional winners, was chosen from among 36 submissions from Florida fifth graders. For more information on Disney’s Environmentality™ Challenge and how to participate in next year’s program, visit http://www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/ed/, or www.deckids.org.

Orienteering - The Way to Go!

2009-04-01T14:44:00.001-04:00

Come One! Come All! Bring your friends! Bring your Moms! Bring your long lost buddies! Bring all those folks you've been telling about orienteering but have not yet managed to haul into the woods! This one you will not want to miss! Exclamation Points abound!!!!! If you've been to Rock Springs Run State Reserve (RSRSR) before, then you know about the huge fields along the north edge of the park, where the dog fennel can grow as high as an elephant's eye and running through the open fields so mapped can be nigh unto impossible because its so tiring to push through the fennel. Well, not this time! (see that exclamation point?) This time the John Deere Factory Training course students in the Big Giant Mower category have gone hog-wild and mowed everything in sight within RSRSR right down to the stubble. Now it's beautifully clear open running through all those fields, and also in a few fields you may never have visited until this event. So, despite the fact that my older daughter would scowl at me and refuse to run through such open fields because she gets "field-sick", I've designed the advanced courses so that those competitors may bask to the fullest possible degree in those fields - plus a good deal of real forest too, I might add. I think I'll just hope for a little scattered could cover the day of the event, to take the edge off the Florida sunshine. All other courses, White, Yellow and Orange, will be treated to new varieties of RSRSR adventures, since we are staging out of the Horse Barn area for only the second time in umpteen-many years. RSRSR is fairly beginner-friendly for White and Yellow, so even grandma can come along on a first orienteering outing and have fun here. The Orange course will have a few little watch-outs that will require close attention to the Safety-Bearing-Due-North rule that is always in effect at RSRSR. JROTC Units who find themselves free that weekend will find it to be an excellent learning opportunity and a good warm-up to the following month's JROTC Florida Championships at Ocala Forest near Paisley. In fact, even though at this writing the April 11 event will not be a formal JROTC competition, please call ahead if your unit plans to attend, so we can pre-print the correct number of maps. NOTE ON PARKING - Last time we used this Horse Barn area we got in a little trouble with the Rangers due to willy-nilly parking along roadway shoulders. We promised NEVER TO LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN. We promised to PARK IN DESIGNATED ORIENTEERING FIELD PARKING ONLY. The attached figure shows were to park. Please do not park along the main dirt roadway. Park well into the field. Make the rangers happy. SECOND NOTE - Horses have the right of way - ALWAYS. Please be very respectful and very solicitous of horse and riders. DO NOT RUN PAST HORSES if you encounter them. Be doubly sure that whatever you are doing does not spook the horse. No shouting, no sudden moves, no arm waving as they pass. You know... NOTE ON FEES: RSRSR Day use fee is $2 per person in addition to FLO map fees. Limit of 8 per vehicle. We think that means max fee is $16 per vehicle. Honor system fee scheme at the kiosk at the entrance gate. Please take an envelope, pay your fee and DISPLAY THE FEE RECEIPT ON YOUR WINDSHIELD. In the past some people apparently thought they can get away without paying, and they seem to, but only because FLO pays your fee to keep the rangers at bay! (exclamation point). Go to the web page www.floridaorienteering.org for Directions. By the way: HELP. Yup, need helpers like always. Email me, please. And don't be shy. Let me know when you can help and for how long; whether you can help retrieve controls; and don't worry if you've never worked a registration table or a start/finish table before, we gladly teach first timers these skills as readily as we teach first time orienteers the skills of orienteering. The Fluegels have volunteered to set controls, but we still need a full crew for all other duties. What else? Oh, yeah: The beauty of RSRSR in the Spring. Those freshly mown fields I told you about are just coming back with those short blue violet-like flowers in profusion. I mean beds of them in the north fields hundreds of feet across. What a sight. And meadowlarks are finding the short-grass fields attractive as never before. The bears are still there of course, but good luck at seeing one. Deer skeletons will be seen. Bring your cameras. I'm betting Lisa Roberts of Florida Wildflower Foundation can tell us what those vast beds of blue flowers are, because she and Bill Belleville visit RSRSR often. When I was gowing up we called them snake violets, but I know that's wrong. RAIN AND WATER LEVELS. Unless we get some unusual deluges in the next 10 days (Yahoo weather long range shows sunny all next week after a few days of scattered rain this week) the lakes and ponds and marshes will remain dry-dry-dry. The Red and Blue course folks might have to wade ankle deep or -muddy-shoe here, and there, but nothing much. I got barely muddy vetting, so it'll take more rain to make anything sloppy. It would be a welcome dilemma in fact. 'Nuff Said. See you there. And don't forget to HELP! Bob Putnam Environmental Engineering Phone: 407-736-5747 Fax: 407-736-6200 email: bob.putnam@siemens.com

Volusia County outdoors opportunities announced

2009-02-16T17:19:00.000-05:00

RESCEDULED DATE: Star Tour of the Night Sky Wiregrass Prairie Preserve Lopez Rd., off of Pell Rd., Osteen Friday, February 27, 2009 7:00-9:00 pm Dr. Hugh Ward, Astronomy teacher at Seabreeze High School, will lead a celestial tour of the night sky above Wiregrass Prairie Preserve and answer questions. Adults and families will observe via eyes and telescopes: constellations, bright stars, planets, star clusters, and Messier objects and learn to move from one celestial object to another. No charge. Bring: Folding chair, insect spray, flashlight and your own telescope, if you have one. Arrive before sunset. Road conditions are rough. Please register. Nature Photography—Naturally Digital Longleaf Pine Preserve East Entrance Pioneer Trail, New Smyrna March 7, 2009 9:00-12:00 This workshop will offer tips on how to take better photographs of landscapes, animals, and plants in their natural setting. If you are shooting digital photographs with any level camera, you can improve your chances of getting that “perfect” shot with some practical shooting techniques and “technical” adjustments to your camera. This workshop is suitable for amateur photographers from novice to advanced. Please bring along your cameras and favorite shots to share with the class. David Baker, retired Environmental Educator, will conduct this class in the field, so please dress accordingly. Suggested techniques will be put into practice as we discuss them, so make sure you have plenty of memory (in the camera, that is) and an extra battery. Please register, space is limited. Beginning Birding Beresford Park Fatio Rd., DeLand March 21, 2009 9:00 am -12:00 pm Learn from the experts as West Volusia Audubon birders explain and demonstrate birding techniques and equipment. They’ll also teach tips for bird identification. Then we’ll hike the trails at Beresford Park and practice our budding birding skills. Bring binoculars and bird identification books if you have them. Wear hiking or walking shoes, bring water to drink. Plant Communities—Neighborhoods of Plants Hickory Bluff Preserve End of Guise Rd., off Maytown Rd., Osteen Saturday, March 28, 2009 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Does the natural landscape of Volusia County look all the same to you? Natural areas are made up of many plant communities—neighborhoods of plants that depend on different habitat conditions. Take a hands-on learning hike lead by Randall Sleister, Volusia County Land Management Manager, David Griffis, University of Florida IFAS Extension Agent, and Dr. Cindy Bennington, Stetson University Plant Ecology Professor and learn about these communities and their resident plants and trees. These soil, plant and ecology experts will help us examine and discover the reasons why plants live in specific communities. Turkey Hike Wiregrass Prairie Preserve Off Pell Rd., off Maytown Rd., Osteen Saturday, April 18 8:00-? ---More details to come--- Insects—Good or Bad? Longleaf Pine Preserve-East Entrance Pioneer Trail, west of SR 415 Saturday, April 25, 2009 9:00 am -12:00 pm What are the true bad bugs? Explore the world of insects on a hike lead by Ray Jarrett, Florida Department of Agriculture DPI and native plant expert. This insect adventure will include inspecting insect traps and netting specimens to learn about the diverse insects in the habitats around us. We’ll also learn about the exotic insects that are invading Florida and the problems that they cause. I'm working on dates for guided hikes and will send them to you next week. If any of these tickle your fancy let me know. Bonnie Cary Naturalist Land Acquisition and Management County of Volusia 1078 N. Ridgewood Ave. DeLand, FL 32720 (386) 736-5276 cell (386) 804-0437 www.volusia.org/growth/outreach.htm

DEP CELEBRATES FEBRUARY AS FLORIDA HIKING TRAILS MONTH

2009-02-04T16:17:00.000-05:00

Greenways and trails offer affordable, fun and healthy opportunities to explore the outdoors TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Florida Trail Association are encouraging Floridians to lace up their walking shoes and hike a trail throughout the month of February to celebrate Florida Hiking Trails Month. In addition, Governor Charlie Crist recently signed a proclamation inviting residents and visitors alike to explore Florida’s outstanding system of greenways and trails by taking advantage of the free fitness benefits, recreational activities and alternative transportation options the system has to offer. “February is a great time to enjoy the state’s natural beauty through a quiet walk or an invigorating hike,” said Jena Brooks, Director of the DEP Office of Greenways & Trails (OGT). “Florida has long been committed to preserving its natural lands and creating a system of greenways and trails that make it easy and affordable for people to access the beautifully wild and green spaces that entice us outdoors this time of year.” From the longleaf pine forests of north Florida to the island paradise of the Florida Keys, hikers have the opportunity to explore the state’s diverse environment on foot, through what will eventually be a continuous wilderness corridor. The Florida Trail, one of eight federally designated National Scenic Trails, now includes loop and linear trails on public lands throughout Florida and will ultimately extend 1,560 miles from the Gulf Islands National Seashore in the Panhandle to Big Cypress National Preserve in south Florida. “The Florida Trail System is an incredible network of hiking trails that exist within an hour's drive of most major population areas and tourist destinations in Florida,” said Deborah R. Stewart-Kent, Executive Director of the Florida Trail Association. “This extensive system offers a myriad of places for people to connect to natural Florida for a walk in the woods. Wonders abound along the Florida Trail for people of all ages to experience and enjoy in Florida's great outdoors.” Florida Hiking Trails Month celebrates the more than 1,800-miles of hiking trails throughout Florida and the volunteers and public and private partners who make this trail system possible. Florida Hiking Trails Month emphasizes fun and fitness along all of the state's scenic and diverse trails, including paved rail-trails, urban trails through cityscapes and wilderness trails. Florida Hiking Trails Month 2009 events are being held statewide and can be found at the Florida Trail Association website at: www.floridatrail.org/component/option,com_events. Events taking place on OGT managed lands include: Third Annual Walk Across Marion County Santos Trailhead on the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway, Marion County Wednesdays, February 11, 18 and 25, 8:30 a.m. Participate in the Third Annual Walk Across Marion County and walk a different section of the Florida Trail on the Cross Florida Greenway in Marion County each Wednesday in February. The event is free, open to the public and an excellent opportunity to learn where the various trailheads are located in the area. The hikes featured include: February 11: Land Bridge trailhead to 49th Avenue trailhead via Blue Loop, 4.5 miles. February 18: 49th Avenue trailhead to Ross Prairie trailhead via the Eastern Blue-Blaze, 7 miles. February 25: Ross Prairie trailhead to Pruitt trailhead via the Western Blue-Blaze, 5.9 miles. Please meet Wednesday mornings at Santos Campground at 8:30 AM to carpool to the various trailheads. Alternative meeting places can be arranged. For more information, contact Bob Jones, a volunteer with the Florida Trail Association at (352) 347-5716. Children’s Mardi Gras Walk Blackwater Heritage State Trail, Milton Saturday, February 21, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Hosted by the Blackwater Heritage Trail Citizen Support Organization, this event features a costume contest and family walk along the trail. The event is free and open to the public. For more information contact Gerard Greco, (850) 983-5338. Florida’s greenways and trails offer countless activities that are inexpensive and can be found close to home. But beyond the health and environmental benefits, outdoor recreation at both greenways and trails also pays off in economic benefits. According to a report by the Outdoor Industry Foundation, three out of every four Americans participate in active outdoor recreation each year. The study states that outdoor recreation contributes $730 billion annually to the U.S. economy, supports nearly 6.5 million jobs across the U.S. and provides sustainable growth in communities. To view the Foundation’s report, visit www.outdoorindustryfoundation.org. DEP’s OGT has taken a lead role in working to establish a statewide system of greenways and trails and entered into partnerships of many forms to accomplish its legislative mandate. The DEP’s Office of Greenways & Trails manages eight state trails, in addition to the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway. The Greenway is Florida’s longest green corridor stretching 110 miles from the St. Johns River near Palatka to the Gulf of Mexico near Inglis. Of the eight state trails, six are rail-trails, which are railroad corridors converted to recreational trails for hiking, biking, skating, equestrian activities and alternative transportation. Through Florida Forever, the state’s premier land acquisition program, $4.5 million is allocated annually to purchase and preserve land for Florida’s greenways and trails. Florida recently garnered national recognition for its commitment to facilitating an outstanding statewide system of trails. Honored for its vision, initiatives and management of trails throughout the state, Florida was the first-ever recipient of the Best Trails State Award presented by American Trails, the only national, nonprofit organization working on behalf of all trail interests. For more information about Florida’s trails, visit FloridaGreenwaysAndTrails.com. For information about hiking the Florida Trail and volunteering with the Florida Trail Association, visit www.floridatrail.org or call toll free 877-HIKE-FLA. To view the Governor’s Florida Hiking Trails Month proclamation, please visit http://www.dep.state.fl.us/secretary/news/2009/02/files/trails_month.pdf.

Orange County Celebrates Florida Centennial Arbor Day - January is Best Time to Plant A Tree

2009-01-26T14:51:00.000-05:00

Orange County, Florida - Join Mayor Richard T. Crotty and the Board of Orange County Commissioners on Tuesday, January 27, 2009, at 8:30 a.m., for a tree planting ceremony to commemorate Florida Arbor Day. The tree will be planted outside the Orange County Administration Center at 201 South Rosalind Avenue, in beautiful downtown Orlando. Mayor Crotty reminds citizens that January is the best time to plant a tree in Florida, proclaiming January 27, 2009 as Arbor Day in Orange County. An exhibit offering tree and landscaping information will be set up in the Florida Friendly Landscaping Demonstration Garden from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with Orange County/University of Florida Extension Master Gardeners on hand to answer landscaping questions. The garden is located outside the Administration Center on the corner of Rosalind and Jackson. At 9:00 a.m., following the tree planting, the Board of County Commissioners will convene inside for the commission chambers. Orange County will again be recognized as a Tree City USA community, earning this honor for its commitment to the health and value of its urban tree canopy. Evidence of the county’s dedication is its support for the care and planting of trees, a tree ordinance to ensure tree protection, and programs designed to give citizens free trees for residential planting. For more information on Arbor Day in Orange County, please contact Nancy Rodlun, Community Outreach Coordinator, Orange County Environmental Protection Division, at 407-836-1400.

Volusia County announces February outdoors events

2009-01-19T10:59:00.000-05:00

Guided Hike of Hickory Bluff Preserve Guise Rd., off Maytown Rd, Osteen Friday, February 6, 2009 9:00-11:00 Explore this jewel of Volusia County Conservation Lands. Hikers will experience diverse Florida habitats including pine flatwoods, xeric oak hammock, cypress dome and swamp, plus walk the shoreline of a natural piece of the St. Johns River. Wear comfortable clothes that match the weather and hiking or walking shoes. Bring water to drink. Eco-buggy Tour of Lake George Wildlife Management Area, north end off Lake George Rd., Seville Saturday, February 14 1:00-3:00 pm Take a short eco-buggy tour of the north side of Lake George Wildlife Management Area. (This is the first tour we've done on this side.) This tour is in cooperation with the Seville Village Improvement Association "Benefit Trail Ride and Bar-B-Que" to raise funds to acquire and maintain the old Seville Public School building for community use. The event includes: Trail ride (bring your own horse) (10:00 am) -- $10.00 Hearty bar-b-Que/southern cooking lunch (12:00 pm) --$12.00 Guided Eco-buggy Tour after lunch (1:00 pm) -- Free For more info, contact Bonnie Cary, Volusia naturalist, (386) 736-5276, (386) 804-0437 (cell), bcary@co.volusia.fl.us.

Wildflower Festival looking for vendors

2009-01-16T15:46:00.000-05:00

The third annual Florida Wildflower Festival will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2009 in Downtown DeLand on West Indiana Avenue. Originally having a Volusia County focus, the festival is gradually expanding into a statewide celebration and a forum to encourage wildflower propagation both commercially and residentially. The atmosphere is lively with family-friendly programs, hands-on demonstrations, children's activities, entertainment, an art contest and field trips. The event is free and open to the public. In addition to wildflower education, the festival features vendors who provide information, wildflower-themed products, and arts and crafts related to native plant gardening, gardening for birds, butterflies and wildlife, habitat creation, environmental conservation, recycling and "Green" living. Vendor spaces are $30.00 each. Applications with detailed vendor requirements may be downloaded at our website www.FloridaWildflowerFestival.com or requested by calling or emailing our office at 386-734-0162; jessi@river-of-lakes.com. Products must correspond to the festival theme and categories described above. No food vendors are requested at this time.

WILDFLOWER ART CONTEST – CALL FOR ARTISTS

2009-01-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

Show off your best image of Florida’s colorful native blooms in the Florida Wildflower Festival Art Contest presented by the River of Lakes Heritage Corridor. The art contest is held in conjunction with the third annual Florida Wildflower Festival, which will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2009 on West Indiana Avenue in Downtown DeLand. Originally having a Volusia County focus, the festival is gradually expanding into a statewide celebration and a forum to encourage wildflower propagation both commercially and residentially. The atmosphere is lively with family-friendly programs, hands-on demonstrations, children's activities, entertainment, field trips and wildflower products for sale. The festival is free and open to the public. The first-place contestant will receive a cash prize of $500, and will be featured on this year’s festival poster, t-shirt and note cards. The second- and third-place winners will also receive cash prizes and be featured on event merchandise. Applications with detailed artwork specifications and submission requirements may be downloaded at our website www.FloridaWildflowerFestival.com or requested by calling or emailing our office at 386-734-0162; jessi@river-of-lakes.com. Submission deadline: January 23rd See Contest Rules for complete submission requirements

Act Now to Prevent Costly Cuts in Funding for Public Lands

2009-01-13T17:35:00.000-05:00

On Jan. 8th, the state legislature announced that they would withdraw funding for land purchase and management in Florida immediately. The final legislative vote is Wednesday, January 14. The legislation will then go to Governor Crist for his signature. Please e-mail or fax Governor Crist TODAY to make the following requests. Make sure to copy the house and senate leadership and your local legislators on your correspondence. Numbers are critical to influence current and future decision-making. Commit to appropriation of adequate funding for Florida Forever, consistent with legislative intent reflected in passage of its extension during the 2008 session. Provide funds for Florida Forever land purchases that have been negotiated in good faith with land owners, and are ready to be executed. Delay will result in higher costs to taxpayers--land that now can be acquired at a reasonable cost will soon be much more costly or unavailable. Funding for land management must be continued for all state conservation lands, including any state lands proposed for temporary closure as a cost cutting measure, such as the 19 properties in the Florida State Park system. Interruption of management practices–including control of non-native nuisance species and prescribed burning–means increased future management costs for minimal current savings. Neglect of such lands can also result in uncontrolled fire events, and open properties to vandalism and citizen injury. Contact information for Legislators can be found at http://www.flsenate.gov/Welcome/ Towards the bottom of the left-side menu, go to “Find your Legislators” and type in your zip code. Governor Crist’s contact information is at http://www.flgov.com/contact_governor Visit SupportFloridaForever.org for up-to-date information on these issues

Wildflower auto tag sales pay for butterfly gardens, science projects

2009-01-12T15:59:00.000-05:00

BY GEORGIA TASKER Miami Herald Bright red spikes of salvia flowers swayed in the winter breeze next to blue-flowering porterweed. Yellowtops, with flattish clusters of flowers, were forming a little colony, while the black-eyed Susans and the red-yellow Indian blankets formed sweeps of color in the wildflower beds at Broward College's north campus in Coconut Creek. Several beds, with their charming handmade signs, ''Florida Native Wildflowers Planted Here,'' are now found around the grounds, thanks to a grant from the sale of wildflower auto tags, willing students and a growing environmental consciousness. Those Florida wildflower auto license tags have been working harder than bees at blossoms. They are financing low-maintenance, butterfly-attracting gardens around the state and boosting science education by adding another $100,000 to a research endowment established at the University of Florida. Broward College has just finished an 18-month wildflower project on its three campuses with a $25,000 grant that produced gardens, science projects, a wildflower art contest and an interactive website. Elementary school butterfly gardens and a wildflower teaching meadow at the University of Florida also are the result of car tag sales. Tags went on sale in 2000, and the Florida Wildflower Foundation began funding gardens and research in 2004. So far, the $15 car tags have earned $2 million to advance the wildflower cause, said Lisa Roberts, executive director. In the last two years, the foundation has funded 30 planting projects. At Broward College North, the curriculum for arts and sciences has been tied into the five wildflower ''pods'' on the Coconut Creek campus. At the Davie main campus, students created an interactive Web page (http://ucl.broward.edu/Wildflowers/) showing the location of the wildflower gardens and linking individual flowers to the Florida Museum of Natural History's wildflower and butterfly pages. ''Dr. Peggy Green spearheaded sustainability 20 years ago,'' said north campus provost Barbara Bryan. ``She saw the possibility of a wildflower grant, and worked it into the curriculum.'' Green, who is on medical leave, is chairwoman of the college's Environmental Sustainability Committee and a senior professor of environmental science on the north campus. She worked with faculty of the three Broward campuses. Via e-mail, Green said sustainability ''is living in a way that does not jeopardize the prospects of future generations.'' It's a critical concept to instill in students, she said, and can inspire projects across many disciplines. ''Another great aspect of the wildflower project is that students can plant and maintain the wildflower beds, and leave a legacy to the campus through their stewardship efforts,'' she wrote. ``It is a way to help connect the curriculum through the beauty of nature.'' At the north campus, home to 11,000 students, Green and the physical plant staff sited and dug the flower beds, which students then planted. Students in environmental studies watched the plants for growth and interaction with insects -- especially butterflies -- and recorded their observations in journals. More than 60 students were involved in planting and maintaining 28 species of Florida wildflowers on the campuses. The wildflower project nicely dovetailed with other environmental efforts on the campus, including a wetlands and a native hammock planted by Green, faculty, students and volunteers after Hurricane Wilma in 2005. Wildflower week brought college president David Armstrong to the north campus, along with David McLean, former professor of horticulture at the Davie campus, to teach a workshop about landscaping with wildflowers. Students gave presentations at elementary schools, handing out wildflower seeds in packets of their own design, said Monica Ramirez, north campus academic dean. A college-wide art and photography competition was held, with winners receiving a three-credit college scholarship and bookstore vouchers. ''We've gone the extra mile,'' said Bryan. A $100,000 grant to the University of Florida is the second one given the school and will go toward a graduate position, said Roberts. ''The goal is to get a total endowment of $500,000 and get a state match,'' said Terril Nell, chair of environmental horticulture at UF in Gainesville. Many of the wildflower seeds now sold in the state are not from Florida native plants, Nell said, and grow poorly here, if at all. What is needed are wildflowers, called Florida ecotypes, that have adapted to local heat, light and soils. Using Florida seeds also preserves important native genes, he said. He hopes that genetic markers can be developed so seeds can be quickly tested for ecotype. Not much is known about what environmental conditions are most conducive to the germination of wildflower seeds, he said, with the exception of a single one, coreopsis. Nell said he'd also like to see wildflowers produced in plant labs by tissue culture. ''We all want to preserve the beauty of Florida,'' he said. ``There is a reason to plant [roadsides] for erosion. Instead of having some invasive species on the roadsides taking over, why not have native wildflowers to minimize erosion and runoff? Beautification and conservation are what we need more of in Florida.''

Equinox Documentaries announces national release of "In Marjorie's Wake"

2009-01-12T15:41:00.000-05:00

Orlando, FL — Equinox Documentaries, Inc. announces the national release of In Marjorie's Wake. On January 31, 2009, In Marjorie’s Wake will be released to PBS stations throughout the United States. The release, which will be in both Standard and High-Definition (HDTV) formats, is good for 2 years, making IMW available for broadcast across the country until 2011. In Marjorie’s Wake is a documentary recreating Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ 1933 journey down the St. John’s River, as chronicled in the “Hyacinth Drift” chapter of Rawlings’ book, Cross Creek. Equinox is most excited to now offer the HD version; the higher quality of digital broadcasting will really bring the beautiful imagery of the St. Johns River to life. The film stars Florida native Leslie Poole, a writer and professor of Environmental Studies at Rollins College and PhD student in environmental history at the University of Florida, and Jacksonville resident Jennifer Chase, a musician, playwright and educator with Florida Community College. The film was scripted and co-produced by nature writer Bill Belleville; it was directed and co-produced by PBS veteran Bob Giguere. To make sure In Marjorie’s Wake is broadcast in your area, contact your local PBS station. Tell them you want to see In Marjorie’s Wake and let them know it will be available on January 31, 2009. About Equinox Documentaries: Equinox Documentaries, Inc. is a non-profit, 501(c)3 corporation chartered with the Florida Department of State in Tallahassee on January 31, 2001. Equinox Documentaries was created by veteran producers and writers who care deeply about our natural world — particularly Florida and the wider region in which we live. We feel the best way to protect a wild place is to forge a connection with it, and to build an ethic from that connection. It's our goal to bring viewers engaging images and thoughtful stories that inspire that connection. For more information on Equinox and its mission, and for bibliographical research info on In Marjories' Wake, please visit www.EquinoxDocumentaries.org.

Orange County offers Florida Master Naturalist courses

2009-01-12T15:29:00.000-05:00

Orange County is offering its first Master Naturalist course in February. The Uplands module is one of three offered by the UF/IFAS program. It will be held Mondays and Thursdays from Feb. 23 to March 12 at the Orange County Cooperative Extension Office, Magnolia Room, 6021 S. Conway Road, Orlando, FL 32812. Instructors are Jennifer Ramos (IFAS, Florida Yards and Neighborhoods) and author Peg Lantz. For more information, go to http://conference.ifas.ufl.edu/fmnp/uh9-06.htm or call 407-254-9224.