Also known as St. John’s mint and Creeping Charlie, Browne’s savory (Clinopodium browneii) is a long-lived aquatic perennial wildflower with a sprawling growth habit. It is a highly aromatic plant, particularly when its leaves or stems are crushed. It can be used to make a tea or to add mint flavor to a salad or other dish.
Rain lily (Zephyranthes atamasca) is a short-lived perennial wildflower. Its showy, solitary flowers are white (although sometimes tinged with pink) and, as the name suggests, typically bloom after a rain shower. Flowering can occur in late winter through early summer, but their tendency to bloom around Easter has earned them another common name — Easter lily.
Also known as Dixie iris, Prairie iris (Iris hexagona) is a rhizomatous perennial wildflower with showy purple flowers. They bloom in spring in swamps, wet prairies and marshes, and along the edges of rivers and ditches.
Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) is known by many names: turkey tangle fogfruit, capeweed, matchhead, creeping Charlie… Regardless of what you call it, frogfruit is both a versatile and vital wildflower. This evergreen perennial is low-growing and creeping, often forming dense mats of green foliage.
Also known as Woodland phlox, Wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata) is a delicate perennial wildflower. Its beautiful blooms appear from spring into early summer in slope forests, bluffs and calcareous hammocks. It is limited to four Panhandle counties in Florida, but is widespread throughout the United States. Many pollinators are attracted to the blooms, especially butterflies. Its roots are eaten by rabbits and other small mammals.
Lewton’s milkwort (Polygala lewtonii) is a state-endangered wildflower endemic to only six counties in Central Florida. It occurs in scrub, sandhill and pine barren habitats where maintenance includes a regular fire regime. It blooms in late winter and spring, attracting a variety of pollinators, especially leafcutter bees, hover flies and bee flies.