Bees and butterflies are not our only important pollinators. Hummingbirds play an essential role in dispersing pollen as well. The ruby-throated hummingbird, the most commonly found hummingbird in the eastern United States, is attracted to orange or red tubular flowers.
Look for spring’s wildflower displays in wet areas and ditches, thanks to the heat. Dry-adapted wildflowers also may do well. Read our Bloom Report to find out more about what to expect.
Phenology, nature’s calendar for matching plant maturity and animal needs, is ideal when plants are blooming and providing vegetative habitat and food for insects, birds and other animals in the right place and at the right time. Here’s what you can do when nature’s timing is off.
Nature, like a machine, has processes that keep the system running smoothly. But when there’s a mismatch between such things as flower bloom time and insect emergence, that machine ceases to function correctly.
According to the National Phenology Network (NPN), spring arrived about three weeks early in much of the southeastern United States, with the first tiny leaves and flower buds appearing notably earlier than usual in North Florida and, to a lesser degree, Central Florida.
To everything there is a season, but what if those seasons aren’t quite as predictable as they once were? Anecdotal and scientific information increasingly show changes in when plants are blooming, fruiting and going to seed. And that can spell trouble.
Dr. Walter Taylor presents at the 2014 Florida Wildflower Symposium.