Goldenaster

Bloom Report: Fall color, Florida style

Fall is the time to be looking for wildflowers throughout the state. Fall wildflowers are in full bloom, with the best places to find them being open areas without homes or businesses.

Elliott's aster flowers

Bloom Report: Fall is Aster Time!

In cooler climates, fall is when “leaf peepers” hit the road to view red-, yellow- and orange-leaved trees. Here in Florida, fall color means wildflowers.

Board member profile: Anne MacKay

Board member profile: Anne MacKay

Instrumental in getting the Florida Wildflower Foundation off the ground, Anne Mackay continues to serve on the Foundation’s board, first serving on the Florida Wildflower Council board, then as board chair for the Florida Wildflower Foundation.

hand lens

Add a hand lens to your field backpack

If you have ever walked a trail with a botanist to discover and name each flower you pass, you realize the importance of plant morphology in the taxonomic routine of plant identification.

Wildflower garden in bloom

Pinellas garden demonstrates beauty, variety of natives

More than 38,000 visitors have had the opportunity to become better acquainted with the beauty and benefit of Florida’s native wildflowers since the establishment of a wildflower demonstration garden at the Pinellas County UF/IFAS Extension in Largo.

Eastern carpenter bee on Spotted beebalm flower

Carpenter bees

Many Floridians become familiar with carpenter bees by accident. They may notice a hole that appears to have been drilled into unpainted wood around their homes with a sawdust pile beneath it.

Common eastern bumble bee on Thistle flower

Bumble bees

Bumble bees are very efficient pollinators because they “buzz pollinate.” The bee grabs onto a flower and vibrates its flight muscles but not its wings. This causes the flower to release its pollen.

Dr. Loran Anderson

Member profile: Dr. Loran Anderson

Dr. Loran Anderson is a professor emeritus in the department of biological science at Florida State University in Tallahassee. His research has focused on plant taxonomy and systematics in the Florida Panhandle and elsewhere.

Roadside wildflowers

Award-winning roadside wildflowers

In a first for Florida, a project to manage naturally occurring wildflowers – versus displays that have been planted – has been recognized for its success.

Meadow at PEAR Park

Layering is key in Orange County meadow design

Central Florida gardeners have another location to see and explore native wildflowers and grasses. In 2017, a no-mow wildflower meadow was installed at the Orange County UF/IFAS Extension’s Exploration Gardens in Orlando, funded by the Viva Florida Landscape Demonstration Garden grant.