Foundation awards 11 Viva Florida grants

Grants, News

The Florida Wildflower Foundation is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s Viva Florida Landscape Demonstration Garden grants. Eleven grants were awarded for the following projects: Depot Park, Sopchoppy; Edison and Ford Winter Estates, Fort Myers; Enchanted Forest Sanctuary, Titusville; Lake David Park, Groveland; Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, Sarasota; Miami Dade College, Miami; Orange County Administration Building, Orlando; University of Florida Natural Areas Teaching Lab, Gainesville; Village Institute for Sustainable Technologies and Agriculture, Tampa; and West Oaks Library, Ocoee.

Grow Wildflowers

See how Resources Plant sources Start with 20 Easy Wildflowers With interest mounting in using wildflowers in urban landscapes, there is a huge demand for information for those new to Florida’s native plants. Enter “20 Easy-to-Grow Wildflowers.” The 24-page magazine features a selection of 20 “tried and true” wildflowers that are easy to grow and…

Chris Waltz with pollinator pots

Create a pollinator garden in a pot!

News, Planting

Chris Waltz, volunteer extraordinaire and wildflower-gardening enthusiast, was inspired by people saying they can’t grow natives because they live in an apartment, condo, or other small space. He started thinking: They grow houseplants and annuals; why can’t they grow natives the same way? The result? A “pollinator garden in a pot.”

Gopher tortoise

Gopher tortoises love wildflowers, too!

Learn

Many of us have had the pleasure of seeing gopher tortoises (or at least their burrows) on nature walks. They live in every county in Florida, and although they are associated with dry sandhills, they may also be found in many diverse areas such as pine flatwoods, oak hammocks, scrub areas and coastal dunes. Open pastures and vacant lots can also be a refuge for them. Gopher tortoises (Gopherus polyphemus) prefer sunny open land with sandy soil that is also conducive to the growth of many of our Florida wildflowers. So it is no surprise that wildflowers make up a significant portion of their diet.

Oblongleaf twinflower

Flower Friday: Oblongleaf twinflower

Flower Friday

If you are tired of mowing, watering and fertilizing the lawn, and fighting chinch bugs and other lawn pests, consider replacing your turf grass with Oblongleaf twinflower (Dyschoriste oblongifolia), an easy-to-care-for native groundcover. It occurs naturally in dry to moist sandhills, flatwoods and mixed upland forests and attracts bees and butterflies, including the malachite and white peacock. It is also a host plant for the common buckeye.