Even cat people love Dogtongue wild buckwheat (Eriogonum tomentosum)! This herbaceous perennial produces a plethora of white to pinkish flowers in late summer and fall. You’ll find it blooming in sandhills, scrub and pinelands in the Panhandle and north and central peninsula. It attracts a variety of pollinators, including the thread-waisted wasp and tiphiid wasp.
No one knows who Barbara is, but we can surely admire her buttons! A member of the aster family, Grassleaf Barbara’s buttons (Marshallia graminifolia) is a fragrant wildflower with showy, solitary blooms that have a tassled, button-like appearance. Each flower has many whitish-pink to pale lavender disk florets arranged in a concentric circle — and no ray florets. It blooms summer through fall and like most Asters, attracts a plethora of pollinators.
What’s in a name? Well, if it’s Sandbog deathcamas, everything is in the name! Sandbog deathcamas (Zigadenus glaberrimus) is a poisonous wildflower native to wet flatwoods and prairies in the Panhandle. Its many star-shaped flowers are cream-colored with greenish-gold glands at the base of their petals. It blooms summer through fall and attracts bees, butterflies and other pollinators.
Don’t forget Pineland heliotrope (Euploca polyphylla) if you’re looking for year-round blooms! This member of the forget-me-not family is a Florida endemic and is adaptable to a variety of conditions. Its small white or yellow flowers attract many pollinators.
Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) is an erect, herbaceous perennial wildflower with showy pink flowers. It occurs naturally in floodplain swamps, hydric hammocks, wet pine flatwoods and marshes. It typically blooms in summer and attracts many pollinators. It is a larval host plant for Monarch, Queen and Soldier butterfly caterpillars.
Comfortroot (Hibiscus aculeatus), also known as Pineland hibiscus, is a large perennial wildflower with showy cream-colored blooms. It occurs naturally in wet to mesic pinelands, and along the edges of savannas, bogs and roadside ditches. It typically blooms late spring through fall and attracts pollinators, specifically bees. The common name Comfortroot may allude to the belief that the plant’s mucilaginous roots has soothing properties.