Bumble bees are very efficient pollinators because they “buzz pollinate.” The bee grabs onto a flower and vibrates its flight muscles but not its wings. This causes the flower to release its pollen. It also creates an audible buzz at the frequency of a middle C note. The genus name Bombus comes from the Greek bombos, which means “buzzing sound.”
Cuckoo bees are often mistaken for wasps because their body shape resembles a wasp, and they are nearly hairless. They also lack the pollen baskets that most bees have on their legs because they do not collect pollen for their young.
Welcome Baker’s tickseed, a new Florida wildflower species! by Claudia Larsen. Photo by Dr. Edward Schilling, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Follow this plant’s journey from discovery to naming Recently discovered in North Florida’s Jackson County, Coreopsis bakeri has gone undetected for years because of its resemblance to our common…
Many Floridians become familiar with carpenter bees by accident. They may notice a hole that appears to have been drilled into unpainted wood around their homes with a sawdust pile beneath it. Or they might hear a buzzing sound coming from within the hole. Both are telltale signs of carpenter bees.
Chris Waltz, volunteer extraordinaire and wildflower-gardening enthusiast, was inspired by people saying they can’t grow natives because they live in an apartment, condo, or other small space. He started thinking: They grow houseplants and annuals; why can’t they grow natives the same way? The result? A “pollinator garden in a pot.”
More than 38,000 visitors have had the opportunity to become better acquainted with the beauty and benefit of Florida’s native wildflowers since the establishment of a wildflower demonstration garden at the Pinellas County UF/IFAS Extension in Largo. The garden was funded by a $3,000 grant from the Florida Wildflower Foundation.
Want to learn about Florida’s native wildflowers and the butterflies, bees and wildlife depending on them? Join us at the Florida Wildflower Symposium on April 27 and 28 in Orlando to learn from expert speakers and workshop leaders. Visit the symposium page to learn more. Online registration is closed, but you can register onsite Friday and Saturday. Cost is $45 for Florida Wildflower Foundation members and $60 for nonmembers.
Registration is now open for the Florida Wildflower Symposium (rescheduled from September due to Hurricane Irma). Join us on April 27–28, 2018 at the Orange County UF/IFAS Extension on South Conway Road in Orlando for two days of field trips, hands-on workshops, educational presentations and more!
The North Florida Wildflower Festival will take place on Saturday, April 28 from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Magnolia Square in downtown Blountstown.
If you love Brevard’s wildflowers, plan to join us at 10 a.m. Friday, March 9, for an informative session on preserving native vegetation on county roadsides.
Join us — rain or shine — for the Florida Wildflower and Garden Festival, Saturday, March 24, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. This free, family-friendly event offers speakers, demonstrations, plant and gardening supply vendors, a Kids Art Zone, music and more.
Click here to see a full list of events including past events.
Dr. Walter Taylor presents at the 2014 Florida Wildflower Symposium.