Seedlings for Schools School Wildflower Garden Grant Program Wildflowers and classroom resources for Florida schools are provided through this program. Grants include 30 native wildflower seedlings, classroom resources and professional guidance on garden establishment. Grants are awarded in late May; plants are shipped in the fall in time for the new school year. Teachers who…
What We Do Our Mission The Florida Wildflower Foundation protects, connects and expands native wildflower habitats through education, research, planting and conservation. Our Vision Wildflowers are recognized as essential to Florida’s ecological health, economy and natural beauty. Our Values SustainableWe work toward lasting and long-term solutions. DiverseWe believe a diverse system, whether people or plants,…
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.
The Florida Federation of Garden Clubs recently announced its 2019 Ella P. Woods Paths of Sunshine Award winners. The program recognizes the Florida Department of Transportation’s commitment to native wildflower and plant conservation and applicants’ understanding of the department’s policy of conserving and managing naturally occurring roadside wildflowers.
Wild garlic (Allium canadense var. canadense) is a grasslike perennial with lovely clusters of flowers. It blooms primarily in late winter and spring and attracts many insects, including moths and native bees; honeybees tend to dislike it. Wild garlic has a strong, tell-tale smell of garlic or onion. All parts of the plant are edible and may be prepared the same as garlic or onions. Bulbs may be eaten raw, sautéed, pickled or roasted. Use the young leaves as you would chives.
Also known as Canadian germander, Wood sage (Teucrium canadense) flowers attract a variety of native long-tongued insects that will use the flower’s lower lip as a landing pad. Birds find the plant’s seeds appealing.
With its diminutive stature and greenish-yellow flowers, Savannah milkweed (Asclepias pedicellata) is oft overlooked in its native pineland and prairie habitats. It blooms late spring through fall, peaking in summer.
Florida tickseed (Coreopsis floridana) is one of 12 Coreopsis species native to Florida. It is endemic to the state and occurs naturally in wet pinelands and prairies, cypress swamp edges and roadside ditches. It typically blooms from late summer into early winter, but may bloom year-round. Its bright sunny flowers attract a variety of pollinators, especially butterflies.
Bees and butterflies have 3 acres of new native habitat, thanks to Lake County Parks and Trails and the Florida Wildflower Foundation, which have partnered to develop pollinator habitat along the multiuse Neighborhood Lakes Scenic Trail north of Orlando.
A stretch of shoreline along Lake May will soon be aflutter with butterflies, bees, hummingbirds and other native pollinators thanks to Lake County Parks and Trails and the Florida Wildflower Foundation.
Perennial saltmarsh aster (Symphyotrichum tenuifolium) is one of the few large-flowered species present among the grasses and rushes of the salt marsh. It plays an important ecological role for native bees!
Kelly supports the Foundation because it grows her network of native plant and ecological experts, educates her with seminars and makes it super easy to access wildflower information.
