Bay lobelia (Lobelia feayana) is a dainty endemic perennial commonly seen on moist roadsides. It typically blooms in January through early spring, but can bloom year-round. The plant occurs naturally in moist habitats, particularly roadside ditches and depressions where, en mass, it appears as a brilliant blue haze.
Ashe’s calamint is a state-threatened perennial shrub that produces many tubular-shaped lavender flowers. It typically blooms in spring but can bloom as early as January and as late as summer or early fall. Its leaves emit a strong basil-like scent when crushed. Bees love Ashe’s calamint!
Coastal searocket (Cakile lanceolata) is a charming little wildflower found on dunes and strands in many of Florida’s coastal counties. It typically blooms in early spring and summer, but can bloom year-round. The specimen in the photo was recently spotted on St. George Island in the Panhandle. The flowers attract bees and butterflies, including the great southern white, for which it is a larval host. The stems and leaves are edible.
Pineland daisy (Chaptalia tomentosa) is an early-blooming aster found in wet flatwoods, bogs and freshwater marsh edges. It begins as nodding pinkish bud, and opens into a wheel of white disk and ray florets. It is also known as woolly sunbonnets — “woolly” because the undersides of its leaves are covered in a dense mat of hairs, and “sunbonnets” because the drooping bloom has a bonnetlike appearance.
Fanpetals (Sida spp.) bloom in dry uplands and ruderal and disturbed areas. This member of the Hibiscus family can bloom year-round and attracts bees and butterfies, including the tropical checkered skipper, for which it is a larval host. Fanpetals do well in naturalistic landscapes as they can become weedy if not maintained.
With so much attention given to the Christmas poinsettia this time of year, we thought it would be a good time to pay homage to our native poinsettia, paintedleaf (Poinsettia cyathorphora). It is smaller and far less dramatic than its Mexican cousin, but it is just as striking. The flowers, which are tiny and greenish-yellow, are surrounded by large, leaflike bracts with distinctively red bases, giving the plant its common name. The seeds are a favorite of mourning doves.