Florida license plate with the text WLD FLA, featuring wildflowers and a butterfly, with State Wildflower written at the bottom, set against a background of yellow flowers.

25 Years of Wildflowers on the Road!

Gary Henry and car with State Wildflower license plate
Gary Henry and the State Wildflower license plate, which he helped to establish.

In June 2025, we celebrate 25 years of the State Wildflower license plate supporting wildflowers and wildlife across Florida! Today, there are over 35,000 of these beautiful plates on the road, raising millions of dollars — all of which has been dedicated to wildflower conservation.  While the first plate — WFL 001, belonging to Gary Henry — hit the road in June 2000, the story actually begins in the 1980s with the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs (FFGC) and a dream: that Florida’s native wildflowers would be valued not only for their ecological importance but also celebrated as part of Florida’s cultural heritage. After all, we are La Florida, the land of flowers. FFGC members sought to achieve their ambitious goal by raising funds for outreach, research and planting through a state wildflower license tag. This was no easy feat — they faced many hurdles along the way, the first being that Florida needed a state wildflower!

Everything’s Coming Up Coreopsis

Inspired by the work of environmentalist and former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson, FFGC successfully lobbied the state Legislature to designate the genus Coreopsis as Florida’s official state wildflower in 1991. Commonly referred to as tickseeds, there are 12 species of Coreopsis native to Florida. From spring through fall, their abundant sunny blooms brighten everything from natural landscapes to roadsides and pollinator gardens.

Coastal plain tickseed in bloom along a roadway.
Coastal plain tickseed (Coreopsis gladiata) in bloom on the roadside. Photo by Emily Bell

With this initial victory in hand, there was still much work to be done — and plenty of naysayers who didn’t believe the plate would ever become a reality. The requirements were steep: the Legislature would only consider a bill to authorize a new tag after 12,000 registered vehicle owners signed a petition expressing interest, and $30,000 was raised to cover the cost to print the first batch of plates. In 1996, FFGC teamed up with the Florida Department of Transportation’s wildflower program, led by Gary Henry, to create a public-private team to advocate for the tag. Frank Walper at Keep Florida Beautiful was also an influential supporter.

During this time, other wildflower efforts were gaining momentum. Anne MacKay (then the wife of  Lt. Governor Buddy MacKay) was invited to a meeting at Calloway Gardens in Georgia, where Lady Bird Johnson brought together advocates to discuss wildflowers along federal highways. This was followed by a Florida delegation — including Anne, Gary Henry, Jeff Norcini and FFGC Roadside Beautification Chair Elizabeth Pate — attending and presenting at the Managing Roadsides Naturally conference at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, Texas, in 1998. They brought the inspiration and energy from that experience back to Florida and rallied volunteers across the state to collect over 12,000 signatures for the tag petition. It didn’t take long for FFGC’s wildflower enthusiasts to prove any doubters wrong. With statewide enthusiasm behind the effort, FDOT authorized the $30,000 needed, and with the signatures secured, a bill was off to the legislature! The bill, championed by Senate President Toni Jennings, Senator Daniel Webster, Representative Suzanne Kosmas and former Governor Buddy MacKay, and passed in July 1999. This led to the first plates hitting the road the following summer — June of 2020. In spring 2021, the Florida Wildflower Foundation was established to manage the funds raised.

Where the Rubber (and Wildflowers) Meets the Road

Over the last 25 years, funds from the State Wildflower license plate have driven wildflower conservation and education forward in remarkable ways. One of the Foundation’s earliest initiatives, with direction from FFGC and FDOT, was to increase the availability of native ecotype seeds and use them in state plantings. The early popularity of the plate, combined with the Foundation’s successes and support from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, helped facilitate the establishment Florida Wildflower Cooperative in 2003. To this day, the Coop supports native seed growers and makes seed available to both the public and private sectors.

The Foundation also allocated funds for research to develop wildflower seed specifications and improve wildflower farming practices. The Foundation’s commitment to increasing the availability of native wildflowers continues through partnerships with the Coop and the Florida Association of Native Nurseries. More recently, we’ve been providing leadership and support for a statewide collaborative native seed strategy.

Pine View School in Osprey, FL
Pine View School in Osprey, FL. Seedlings for Schools award winners in 2022.

Grants to get native wildflowers in the ground across Florida communities have always been a key priority for tag funds. An early native plant landscape demonstration garden grant evolved into the Viva Florida program, which has funded over 70 gardens. Similarly, the Foundation’s first grant program to establish wildflower gardens in schools began as Seeds for Schools. Starting gardens from seed proved challenging in that setting, so the program was reimagined and renamed Seedlings for Schools. It now provides a batch of healthy seedling plants to schools, and over 280 teachers have participated, creating campus gardens throughout the state. In 2024, the Foundation launched a new demonstration garden grant, Seed of Knowledge, bringing native plants to libraries!

Education and outreach are also cornerstones of the Foundation’s efforts. Over the past 25 years, numerous publications have been developed including the 20 Easy-to-Grow Wildflowers magazine, an” attracting wildlife” series with brochures for birds, butterflies and bees, and handouts to help people choose the right native plants for the right places. We distribute thousands of these resources each year, and they are now also available in Spanish.

The Foundation’s website serves as a hub of information, with all of our resources, including pollinator profiles and a searchable database of over 400 plant profiles. We also host a rich library of free webinars by the state’s leading botanical experts. The Foundation maintains an active and positive social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin — currently sharing our passion for wildflowers with over 50,000 followers. Protecting naturally occurring populations of roadside wildflowers has been fundamental to the Foundation’s mission from the beginning. We approach this from many angles, including developing a draft wildflower resolution that has been adopted by 37 counties and three municipalities. These resolutions provide a way for communities to prioritize naturally occurring wildflowers and a path forward for working with transportation and maintenance authorities. The Foundation also assists with seasonal roadside surveys and the development of management plans that include mowing guidelines and invasive species control — ensuring that native wildflowers can set seed and thrive.

Growing together

None of these efforts would be possible without our supporters — all those who have purchased the plate, made donations and become Foundation members. We are excited to continue growing these efforts for the next 25 years and beyond, keeping Florida blooming with wildflowers and abuzz with pollinators.

A more detailed history of the State Wildflower license plate and the Foundation’s first 25 years can be found here.