Education
Our publications, events and projects give people the tools and knowledge they need to build and enjoy urban and roadside native wildflower corridors.
Publications
Download or view handouts and brochures that will guide you in building your habitat. Click here to order copies for an event or meeting.
20 Easy-to-Grow Wildflowers
This 24-page magazine features 20 “tried and true” wildflowers that are easy to grow and maintain in home and urban landscapes.
Aquatic wildflowers
Wondering what native wildflowers and plants to use along your pond or wetland edge? Use our new handout to choose diverse species that will thrive and give your landscape a “real Florida” feel.
Attracting Bees
You can help provide food and habitat for Florida’s native bees and other beneficial insects by landscaping with native wildflowers.
Attracting Birds
Bring birds into your landscape by planting Florida native wildflowers, grasses and shrubs that provide food and habitat. Learn more now.
Attracting Butterflies
You can help provide food and habitat for Florida’s butterflies by landscaping with native wildflowers. Learn more now.
Collecting Seed
One of the easiest methods of supplying new wildflowers for your yard is by growing your own from seed. Collecting seed from your plants is fun, and growing wildflowers from seed is easier than you think.
Create a Pollinator Pot
The insects that pollinate our food crops and natural areas are in steep decline. Our suburban landscapes are more important than ever in supporting them. No place for a garden? No problem! Our new video and handout can help you create a small pollinator oasis in a pot!
Dry Landscapes
Wondering what native wildflowers and plants to use in a dry landscape? Use our new handout to evaluate your landscape’s soil moisture and choose diverse species that will thrive and give your landscape a “real Florida” feel.
Monarchs and Milkweed
Learn about Monarch butterflies and the Florida native milkweed they require as host plants for their caterpillars. The publication features cautions about the use of non-native Tropical milkweed.
Plant selection guide
This guide includes over 70 Florida native wildflowers, shrubs, vines and grasses that work well in home landscapes. It will help you choose plants based on your location, soil and light conditions, color and season of bloom, and pollinator use.
Seeding Dates
Sowing seed at the appropriate time of year is one of the factors critical to successfully establishing a native wildflower/grass planting. Seed must be sown when germination, emergence and subsequent growth will occur quickly enough for wildflowers to fend off competing weed seedlings and for seedlings to tolerate adverse weather conditions.
Shady landscapes
Wondering what native wildflowers and plants to use in a shady landscape? Use our new handout to evaluate your landscape’s light conditions and choose diverse species that will thrive and give your landscape a “real Florida” feel.
Starting from seed
Follow these 12 steps to establish a small landscape planting of native wildflowers.
Webinars
Webinar: Before They Were Native — A Brief History of Florida’s Flora
Over millions of years, Florida’s geology and plant communities have undergone a myriad of changes. Join James Stevenson on July 20 at 2pm to learn about the events that lead to the Florida native plants we know today.
Webinar: Create a Pollinator Pot
Kirsten Sharp, co-owner of My Dragonfly Garden, shows you how to create an oasis for pollinators by planting pots with Florida’s native wildflowers.
Webinar: Florida’s Native Bees – Biology, Identification and Conservation
University of Florida Entomology and Nemotology PhD candidate John Ternest introduces you to some of the most common or notable Florida native bee species in this webinar.
Webinar: Underutilized Native Wildflowers with Ornamental Potential
Join the Florida Wildflower Foundation on Wednesday, April 20 at 2 pm for our next webinar. University of Florida professor and author Sandra B. Wilson will introduce some native wildflowers with ornamental potential and discuss the challenges and successes of propagation.
Webinar: Aquatic and Wetland Butterfly Gardening
Aquatic biologist Sean Patton discusses the importance of aquatic habitat and shows participants how they can help create habitat in their own backyards.
Webinar: Invasive Alternatives
FWF Executive Director Stacey Matrazzo discusses some of the invasive species commonly used in home landscapes and highlights the native plants to use in their place.
Webinar: Florida Plant Conservation Program, Jan 26
Biologist Michael Jenkins covers the work being conducted by the FPCP to conserve rare plants, current grant projects, and funding opportunities for conserving federally listed and “At-Risk” plants in Florida.
Webinar: Life, Death & Wildflowers at Heartwood Preserve
Heartwood Preserve is an environmental sanctuary where end-of-life decisions are made in harmony with nature. Learn about conservation burial, the history of the land and the importance of fire ecology.
Webinar: 20 Easy-to-Grow Wildflowers
In this webinar, Nancy Bissett will present easy-to-grow native wildflowers that attract a variety of butterflies and other pollinators essential to Florida’s natural health. Nancy will cover detailed descriptions of each plant, including its flowering, seeding and growing conditions, such as light, moisture and soil needs.
Webinar: Establishing a wildflower garden from seed
Fall is planting time if you want to establish a wildflower garden from seed. Get ready by joining us at 2 p.m. Tuesday, July 13, for a free webinar on establishing your own native wildflower garden. Dr. Jeff Norcini, our Research and Planting consultant, will go over key points you’ll need to know to tip the scales of success in your favor.
Webinar: Landscaping in Shady Areas
Here in Florida, shade is a valuable part of our landscapes, but it creates challenges. That’s because plants feed on sunlight and even the most shade-tolerant plants require it to grow and flower. In dense shade, few plants survive for long. Watch this video, where Dr. Craig Huegel introduces you to the complex concept called shade and how to work with it to achieve beautiful results.
Webinar: Save Our Roadsides
In this 90-minute workshop, we will launch the North Florida Wildflower Alliance and show participants how to help conserve roadside wildflowers and set up a wildflower program in their counties. Speakers include butterfly expert Dr. Jaret Daniels, Neil Greishaw of Alachua County’s amazing roadside wildflower program, and Cindy Tramel of the Florida Department of Transportation.
Webinar: Lawn to Wildflowers
Dr. Nash Turley of UCF will introduce his project Lawn to Wildflowers, a community science effort focused on converting lawns to pollinator-friendly wildflower habitat while engaging the public in collecting plant pollinator data.
Webinar: Using Evolutionary History as a Tool for Plant Conservation
What will Florida’s ecosystems look and feel like in the future? Using herbarium records, scientists can predict how Florida’s native plants will react to our changing climate. In this free webinar, Drs. Pamela and Douglas Soltis will discuss how an “evolutionary tree” is being built with molecular samples from herbarium collections to predict Florida’s natural future.
Webinar: Incredible edible natives
Did you know that many of Florida’s native plants are edible? Even some of those pesky “weeds” that pop up in our yards have culinary value. Watch “Incredible Edible Natives,” presented by FWF Program Manager Stacey Matrazzo, to learn about the edible, medicinal and nutritional properties of some native plants commonly found in our yards and landscapes.
Field trips
Field trip: Butterfly Rainforest
Join us for a behind-the-scenes tour of the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History with Dr. Jaret Daniels Saturday, July 9 at 10am. Take a tour of this unique and ever-changing living ecosystem, which features hundreds of free-flying butterflies. Please note: Only members may purchase tickets for this exclusive field trip.
Classroom resources
The Florida Wildflower Foundations’ Wild About Wildflowers! activity guide encourages students to learn about native wildflowers and their place in the environment through fun, engaging activities.
This rich, versatile resource will help students achieve a variety of Florida educational standards in math, science and language. When presented from start to finish, the guide gives students a comprehensive introduction to wildflowers, as well as to flowers in general.
Request a speaker
The Florida Wildflower Foundation provides speakers on a variety of topics related to Florida’s native wildflowers, pollinators and sustainable landscaping practices.
Complete our short form to request a speaker for your meeting or event.
Need publications for an upcoming event? Fill out our form to request copies.
