News and Events | Florida Wildflower Foundation

Know your native pollinators: Phaon crescent

The Phaon crescent butterfly is primarily attracted to frogfruit plants, utilizing them for nectar and as a larval host. Frogfruit is a small flowering groundcover that can be a great alternative to turf grass. Since frogfruits cannot withstand freezing temperatures, you will likely only find this butterfly in the southern regions of the United States. Phaon crescents can live in peninsular Florida throughout the year. These butterflies like moist open areas such as dunes, pastures, roadsides and clearings in dense forest thickets.

controlled burn at The Nature Conservancy property

2 faces of fire — the good and the bad

As massive wildfires spread across Australia, even astronauts on the International Space Station can’t miss the inferno. So, fire is very bad, right? Not necessarily. Fire, large or small, is a natural, chemical process. It’s shaped this planet’s diverse ecosystems for eons, supporting unique vegetation and the wildlife it feeds. Many of Florida’s ecosystems thrive on managed fire.

Field trip: Smyrna Dunes

Join the Florida Wildflower Foundation on Feb. 15 for a field trip to Smyrna Dunes Park. Environmental scientist and instructor David Griffis will lead us in exploring five different ecosystems in the park. You can expect to see a variety of vegetation and wildlife, including shorebirds, seabirds and songbirds. The park offers dune, scrub and saltwater marsh habitats, bordered by the Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean.

Monarch on Climbing aster, Symphyotrichum carolinianum

Grant helps expand Natives for Your Neighborhood tool

Florida Wildflower Foundation grant will expand Natives For Your Neighborhood website resources to include Central Florida.

Duke Energy grant funds pollinator pathways in Florida’s Big Bend

The Florida Wildflower Foundation (FWF) has received a $11,305 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation that will help build pollinator pathways along roadsides in Florida’s Big Bend region. A roadside survey will begin in April 2020 to locate populations of native wildflowers and grasses that can be maintained as corridors of pollinator habitat.

Member profile: P.M. and Vijaya Reddy

Podduturu M. (P.M.) and Vijaya Reddy have been active members of the Florida Wildflower Foundation (FWF) since 2017. Frequently attending field trips and other events, P.M. additionally volunteered at our 2019 Florida Wildflower Symposium in Gainesville, photographing workshops and activities during the weekend. Vijaya and P.M. use FWF resources to talk to their local community of Palm Coast about the importance of native wildflowers.

Know your native pollinators: Phaon crescent

2 faces of fire — the good and the bad

Field trip: Smyrna Dunes

Grant helps expand Natives for Your Neighborhood tool

Duke Energy grant funds pollinator pathways in Florida’s Big Bend

Member profile: P.M. and Vijaya Reddy

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