25 Years of Education

Part of our $25 for 25 Anniversary Series — explore more stories here. 

Since the very beginning, education has been a cornerstone of the Florida Wildflower Foundation, shaping and informing everything we do. Over the past 25 years, we’ve built a robust program to increase awareness and understanding of Florida’s native wildflowers and their importance to our ecology, economy and overall well-being.

Developing resources to keep Florida in bloom

One of the greatest challenges in protecting Florida’s native plants and pollinators is a lack of education and awareness. The Foundation is immensely proud of the strides we’ve made in creating accessible resources and programs that help move this needle forward.

Our website currently features 14 publications, including our 20 Easy-to-Grow Wildflowers magazine, Attracting Wildlife brochures, and planting guides — all of which are free to download in English and Spanish. Beyond digital access, we distribute hundreds of thousands of printed copies each year to individuals and organizations across the state.

We’ve also built a growing library of over 400 native plant profiles and 42 pollinator profiles, along with hundreds of articles on topics ranging from gardening to wildflower conservation and more.

We recently launched a newly updated and expanded edition of our Wild About Wildflowers! activity guide — an essential resource supporting hands-on, interdisciplinary learning through native plants. The guide includes classroom-ready activities that connect native wildflowers, pollinators and ecosystems to science, math, language arts, art and other subjects, helping students explore topics such as flower anatomy, plant adaptations, seed dispersal, pollinators, plant identification, ethnobotany and more. Together, these activities bring Florida’s native wildflowers into everyday learning in meaningful and engaging ways.

From 2008 to 2019, we hosted the Florida Wildflower Symposium, an annual in-person event featuring research and planting education, and field trips to natural areas. When the pandemic began in 2020, we pivoted to monthly webinars — and continue to offer regular opportunities to learn and connect. Today, we also host monthly field trips, getting people out into Florida’s wonderful natural areas.

In addition to our website and in-person programming, the Foundation has built a positive and growing presence on social media. Primarily through Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, we currently reach around 50,000 followers. In online spaces that can so easily become negative and divisive, we focus on creating connection, sharing accurate information, and building curiosity and learning opportunities around native wildflowers.

Bringing native plants to a community near you

Through our planting programs, we provide hands-on experience with incorporating native plants into urban landscapes — creating living examples of how those plants support local ecology.

Our first grant program, Seeds for Schools, now known as Seedlings for Schools, launched in 2009. Paired with our Wild About Wildflowers! activity guide, it has brought native wildflowers to school campuses across the state. This program has introduced tens of thousands of young people to native wildflowers and pollinators.

In 2011, the Viva Florida Landscape Demonstration Garden grant began, bringing native plant gardens to community spaces. These gardens showcase the beauty of natural Florida while providing a blueprint for sustainable native landscaping in neighborhoods across the state.

Our newest grant program, Seeds of Knowledge, began in 2024 and partners with public libraries. By enhancing library landscapes, providing educational resources and supporting seed libraries, this program connects people with native plants in their most trusted community spaces.

In addition to these annual grants, we’ve also supported special community projects throughout the years.

Securing the future of Florida’s wildflowers through education

In addition to direct public outreach, we are committed to supporting the next generation of native plant researchers and protectors.

In 2007, the Gary Henry Endowment for the Study of Native Wildflowers was established to fund graduate student research at the University of Florida, addressing critical topics from seed production to restoration of rare species. For many years, we also supported graduate students at the University of South Florida in expanding herbarium collections for the Atlas of Florida Plants.

In 2022, we partnered with the Florida Native Plant Society to launch a conservation internship for students and emerging professionals working on native plant conservation and education. This program celebrates the legacy of  influential women leaders — Nancy Bissett, Carolyn Schaag and Anne MacKay — who helped shape this field and the Foundation.

Teamwork makes the dream work

We know we can achieve so much more through collaboration, and we’ve built a strong legacy of supporting and working alongside partners.

One of our longest and most impactful partnerships is with the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity at the Florida Museum of Natural History. In 2006, we provided a grant to support a pollinator garden and educational displays and publications. Since then, we’ve continued working together to advance research and education on Florida’s pollinators. Today, we support their Planting for Pollinators initiative, helping bring native plants into more landscapes through community giveaways.    

We’ve also been proud to support programs such as the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs’ annual summer environmental education camp for high school students; the Institute for Regional Conservation’s Natives for Your Neighborhood online resource; ongoing work with Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden to advance native plant conservation, restoration and education; and more recently, the University of Florida School of Forest, Fisheries and Geomatics Sciences’ Groundcover Restoration Workshops, which helped lay the groundwork for our newest initiative, the Florida Native Seed Partnership.

Let’s keep it growing

For 25 years, our educational efforts have helped people discover, understand and care for Florida’s native wildflowers. From in-depth guides and plant profiles to hands-on field trips and community learning opportunities, these resources meet people wherever they are — turning curiosity into confidence and interest into lasting connection.

If this work has meant something to you, we invite you to support the next chapter through our $25 for 25 campaign and help carry this impact forward for the next 25 years and beyond.