Bloom Report: Summer Wildflowers — Strange, Surprising and Just Plain Cool!
Florida’s wildflowers don’t always follow the rules. In this summer bloom report we’re featuring a few fun, weird and wonderful facts about some quirky native blooms!
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Bloom Report: For summer’s best wildflowers, look to wet areas
This bloom report is from summer 2018. 2018 has been great for wildflowers, and summer looks to be no exception. Unlike last summer, when many areas were dry, rain has been frequent enough to keep wildflowers blooming.
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Member profile: Peter and Kim Connolly
Kim and Peter Connolly have been active members of the Florida Wildflower Foundation and have attended various Foundation field trips and events for the past three years.
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Queen butterfly
In the same genus as Monarchs, Queen butterflies share many characteristics with their royal cousins. Queens and Monarchs are similar in appearance, rely on milkweed as a host plant and carry a toxin from milkweed in their bodies into adulthood.
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Bloom Report: Summer wildflower viewing
Spring and fall wildflowers can be spectacular with a plethora of yellow and purple flowers, but summer seems to offer a wider diversity of colorful, showy wildflowers along roadsides.
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How hurricane winds help move plants
What did Hurricane Irma’s high winds mean to the spreading of plants? Will we see more plant movement as a result? The answers depend on a variety of factors.
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Great wildflowers for your dry landscape
If you have added wildflowers to your landscape, you’ve probably learned how adaptable they are to a wide range of environmental conditions.
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Member profile: Walter and Karin Taylor
You will find Walter and Karin Taylor at most Florida Wildflower Foundation and Florida Native Plant Society events, many times volunteering their time to speak to others or sit at information tables and promote wildflowers.
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Prisoners help Monarchs while learning research, horticulture techniques
With a $21,000 grant to the University of Florida’s Museum of Natural History, the Florida Wildflower Foundation is supporting a unique research project that will train prison inmates to test and document propagation techniques for milkweed.
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Foundation awards 5 Viva Florida grants
Five grants were awarded in 2020: Cutting Horse Eco-Center, Bonita Springs (Lee County); Folly Farm Nature Preserve, Safety Harbor (Pinellas County); Orange County UF/IFAS Extension, Orlando; Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens (St. Lucie County); and Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (Lee County).
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Pipevine swallowtail
This charming swallowtail butterfly is easily distinguishable by the iridescent blue shimmer glowing from the hindwing when wings are open, and the orange spots and blue background on the hindwing when the wings are closed.
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Milkweed plants for Monarchs installed at retention basin
Almost 300 native milkweed and nectar-providing plants were installed along a highway retention basin on Alt. U.S. Highway 27 near Chiefland Tuesday.
