Florida Native Plant Society Blog

Plant Profile: Sea Oats (Uniola paniculata)

2012-02-02T01:32:00.001-05:00

Figure 1. Sea oats growing along the dunes.

This post is one of a series from Botany professor Nisse Goldberg's students at Jacksonville University. Student authors: Jennifer Scaduto and Lori Waite

If you have ever been to a sandy beach in the state of Florida then you have likely seen sea oats. This grass can grow up to 6 ft tall and the individual grass leaves can be as big as 2 ft long and 1 in wide. Like most grasses, the leaves are long and tapered.

These grasses are extraordinarily tough. Naturally growing in coastal dunes, they thrive in the hot sands, where the top layer can reach temperatures between 120⁰ and 127⁰ F. Unlike many other dune plants, sea oats are found along the dune crest and can tolerate daily exposure to sea spray. They even can withstand hurricane winds and periods of drought. The plant has a special relationship with vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fungi. The fungi bind to the roots (in a positive way!) and thereby increase access to nutrients for a plant growing in such a challenging habitat.

These plants are important in the preservation of Florida sand dunes. Once a plant is established, their roots can be very extensive (up to 30 feet in length!). The roots and rhizomes help to stabilize shifting sands along the foredune and dune crest, thereby preventing erosion.

By helping to protect the dunes, sea oats provide habitat for many plants and the seeds are food for animals such as the federally endangered beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus) and songbirds. The base of sand dunes is where the highly endangered sea turtles lay their eggs.

Sea oats therefore have a great environmental and economic value to the state of Florida. In fact, these plants are protected by state law. The plants are far from being endangered, but it is still illegal to pick wild sea oats, even the seeds. So please, take care of our sea oats!

Work Cited:

Barbour, M. (2000). North American Terrestrial Vegetation. Cambridge University Press.

Christman, Steve. (2004). www.floridata.com/ref/u/unio_pan.cfm. Tallahassee, Fl.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.(2011). www.fws.gov/panamacity/coastal.html.

Hill, K., (2001). Smithsonian Marine Station. http://www.sms.si.edu/IRLSpec/Uniola_panicu.htm .

Landscape Design: A Primer - Part 2

2012-01-29T01:00:00.000-05:00

By Laurie Sheldon

Diagram of the Design Process, adapted from Simonds,
John Ormsbee. Landscape Architecture– A Manual of
Site Planning and Design.

Introduction - Summing up Part 1

In my previous blog I listed theseries of steps, collectively known as the Design Process, whichLandscape Architects employ when designing outdoor spaces - regardless ofscale. This methodological approach to design enables the Landscape Architectto clearly identify the optimal arrangement between the elements they hope toincorporate into a landscape and its existing natural and constructed features.It includes the following:

1. Statement of Intent

2. Procurement of a Topographic Survey

3. Site Inventory and Analysis

4. Program Development

5. Conceptual Diagramming

6. Diagram Selection

7. Master/Site Plan and DesignDevelopment Documents

A brief recap of steps 1 & 2

1. Prepare of a Statement of Intent,wherein you will determine the scope of your project and identify project goalsand objectives.

2. Obtain a topographic survey of yoursite, which be the foundational layer of information upon which your design isbased, and can be obtained through various federal, state, and city/countyresources.

Now that I've caught you up to speed orrefreshed your memory, let's move on to Step 3: Site Inventory & Analysis.

A Topographic Survey of your Site (Step 2) will act as the
"Base Map" for your Inventory & Analysis (Step 3)

Site Inventory is the process of taking stock of what exists on a project site and the adjacent areas, and where those items are. Itis a quantitative means of developing a sense of place.

Site Analysis, on the other hand, is qualitative. It answers the question "So What?" as it relates to the inventory you've gathered. A comprehensive Site Analysis is an invaluable tool for determining the most and least suitable locations for the variouselements and activities that you or your client hope to incorporate into yoursite (which are also referred to collectively as your “program”).

The lists below represent the categories and specific items that you should inventory, analyze, and map - to scale - on the Topographic Survey that you obtained in Step 2. A list of resources for researching these items is provided at the end of the article. We will refer to this as your "Base Map." If you are not comfortable preparing drawings with an engineer's scale, consider enlarging or reducing your Survey with a photocopy machine until you can get its graphical scale to register at 10' = 1". At that point you can copy it onto a sheet of graph paper so that measurements you gather outside will be much easier to translate into drawings. Use a pencil, PLEASE; we all make mistakes measuring at some point. If your notes are on top of one another or your drawings seem to be getting cluttered, don't hesitate to make several base maps - you can synthesize the inventory and analyses that inform your site design later on.

Analysis of the Topo Survey shown in the previous image

The Natural Environment

Climate: light, temperature (high and low averages), wind direction and intensity, moisture, annual precipitation, humidity, solar orientation (aspect) and their effects on human comfort. Any unusually hot, cold, windy, bright and/or dark spots (microclimates) should also be noted
Topography: slope gradients, landforms, spot elevations, drainage patterns
Soil: obtain a soil survey, which will provide detailed information about your soil’s genesis, classification(s), fertility, susceptibility to erosion, moisture content, pH, aeration/compaction, texture/gradation, organic content, and load bearing capacity
Geologic features: bedrock type, depth to bedrock, underlying hazards like sinkholes and faults, visible rock outcroppings
Hydrologic features: existing flood plains, rivers, lakes, marshes, streams, bogs, wetlands, watersheds, drainage patterns, water table depth, and underground springs. Note if any features are particularly outstanding or of poor quality.
Vegetation: existing types or varieties, including data about their sizes, locations, shade patterns, aesthetic value, and importance to wildlife

Existing wildlife: species and specific forage, habitat, water, and territorial needs

The Man-made Environment

In addition to annotations, this Site Analysis uses color
and graphic symbols to enhance its readability

Structural elements: buildings, fences, hardscaped areas
Movement patterns: vehicular, pedestrian, and bicycle linkages on or near the site, major points of access and egress, mass transit
Utilities: electric, gas, sewer/septic tank, telephone, cable, water, and storm drains, including depth or height of each and their condition
Zoning and land use: current use of areas adjacent to the project site, zoning restrictions, property lines, easements, setbacks
Codes and Regulations: deed restrictions, building/landscape codes, ordinances, covenants
Historical features (if applicable): archeological sites; landmarks; building type, size, condition
Social elements: population, intensity, distribution, age composition, educational level, income level, ethnic or type; economic and political factors; social configurations of the residents; usage of the area; other social factors affecting usage of the area. Quite simply, you are planning for a particular user group or groups. Once you know who your intended users are, you can tailor your design decisions to best suit their needs and taste.
Spatial elements: views into and fromthe site; sequential relationships of existing spaces

Although this may seem like an inordinate amount of work, you must bear in mind that we cannot successfully design with nature if we negatively impact the environment. Through the process of Inventory and Analysis we justify where the most intensive development should occur, where the sensitive areas are that need protection, and what the site's outstanding features are that should probably be accentuated.

Here are an example of how Site Inventory and Analysis can guide you in the Design Process, and how omitting this critical step can be a a costly mistake:

Analysis of aspect and users is the key
to making these courts fun to play on

After calculating rise/run, you discover a large, open square area with a 1 degree slope. Your topographic analysis tells you this is just the spot for locating the two adjacent tennis courts your client has asked for, but which direction should they go? If you consider the aspect (directional) component (in the climate category), you will lay them out running north to south. Why? Because by doing so, you eliminate your users (social category) from having to look directly into the sun when playing on the court. Make sense?

You decide that it's just not worth it to hire a Landscape Architect to give your home some "curb appeal," so you head over to the local big-box home improvement store, grab some annuals, shrubs, mulch, and couple of the guys hanging out in the parking lot looking for work. Once you return home, you instruct one of the men to dig holes for the shrubs. He picks up a shovel, plunges it into the ground, hits an electrical line and is badly injured. A proper inventory of the utility lines would have prevented this scene from happening... and an injured man on your front lawn has little "curb appeal."

I hope that you've enjoyed this installment of Landscape Design: A Primer, and will join me for Part 3, which will continue with Program Development - the fourth step in the Design Process.

Resources:

Florida Climate Center Data http://coaps.fsu.edu/climate_center/data.shtml

Florida Geological Survey, Data & Maps http://www.dep.state.fl.us/geology/gisdatamaps/index.htm

Florida Online Soil Survey Manuscripts http://soils.usda.gov/survey/online_surveys/florida/

Survey-related Data http://data.labins.org/2003/

Florida Utility Location http://www.callsunshine.com/

Municipal Codes & Ordinances http://www.municode.com/library/FL

Nat'l Register of Historic Places, Florida http://nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/fl/state.html

Demographic Information http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml

This blog is dedicated to the memory of my grandmother, Emilie Shaw, who was 98 years old when she passed away three days ago. In 1958, she selected a lot for building her Miami home based upon her inventory and analysis of its vegetation...specifically, its Live Oak trees, one of which, as she was told, was already over 100 years old. After seven category 3+ hurricanes, her tree remains the focal point of the street-facing side of her home.

Plant Profile: Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis)

2012-01-26T04:51:00.000-05:00

Figure 1. Eastern redbud roots can be used to make red colored dye.
Photo credit: S.B. Johnny en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cercis_canadensis

This post is one of a series from Botany professor Nisse Goldberg's students at Jacksonville University. Student authors: Alexis Crouch, Ashley Bridell, and Christina Adams

Cercis canadensis, the eastern redbud, can be found along the eastern coast of the United States, from Florida to New Jersey, and as far west as Texas. It can handle a variety of growing conditions, and temperatures ranging from -18° F in the winter to the 90°+ F Florida summers. Redbud grows best in direct sun in the northern parts of its range, but grows happily as an understory tree in the south. It prefers moist soils and does not do particularly well in salty conditions.

The eastern redbud is an aesthetically pleasing plant, with gorgeous purple red flowers that bloom in March (Figure 1). The tree depends on bees for pollination. The fruit pod will stay on the tree when the leaves fall off in autumn. When the pea-pod shaped fruit is mature, the pod will open and the seeds can be dispersed by the wind. Songbirds such as the Caroline chickadee and the northern bobwhite enjoy the seeds. You may also see a deer visit to eat the leaves!

Unfortunately, the redbud can get dieback. Dieback is a fungus that is first seen in the leaves and branches of the plant. The fungi will slowly cause the leaves and flowers to wilt, and then the branches will start to become brittle and turn almost a black color. You can prune off dieback, but if you are not careful you can spread the fungi to other plants in your garden. Make sure to wash and sterilize your pruning shears before pruning anything else!

You can purchase this lovely tree at the following vendors: http://www.floridanativenurseries.org/plants/detail/cercis-canadensis

Works Cited:
Arbor Day Foundation. (n.d.). Redbud, eastern ceris canadensis. Retrieved from
http://www.arborday.org/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?id=6

Dickerson, James, G. (n.d.). Cercis canadensis l. eastern redbubd. Retrieved from
http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/cercis/canadensis.htm

University of Texas at Austin. (n.d.). Cercis canadensis l.. Retrieved from
http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CECA4

Evans, Erv. (n.d.). Cercis canadensis. Retrieved from
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/trees-new/cercis_canadensis.html

Mancil, Clint. (n.d.). Cercis canadensis. Retrieved from
https://fp.auburn.edu/sfws/sfnmc/class/erb.html
GrowGirl. (n.d.). Eastern redbud (cercis canadensis l.). Retrieved from
http://www.thegrowspot.com/know/f7/all-about-eastern-redbud-cercis-canadensis-9944.html

Smithsonian Zoological Park, . "Smithsonian Zoological Park Friends of the National Zoo." Backyard Biology: Plant of the Month. Smithsonian Zoological Park, n.d. Web. 15 Nov 2011.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/BackyardBiology/PlantoftheMonth/redbud.cfm .

Plant Profile: Liatris gracilis Slender gayfeather

2012-01-19T04:26:00.001-05:00

Figure 1. Liatris gracilis from Lake Louisa State Park, Florida.
Photo credit: D. Partwyka.
http://floridastateparks.org/lakelouisa/photogallery.cfm

This post is one of a series from Botany professor Nisse Goldberg's students at Jacksonville University. Student authors: Kristine Brown, Kristina Robbins, and Marc Rothe

Liatris gracilis, also known by the names slender blazing star and slender gayfeather, is a perennial herb. The specific epithet ‘gracilis’ means slender in Latin and refers to its single stem. This plant is native to the southeastern coastal region of North America, and is found in almost every county of Florida. The gayfeather is typically found in habitats such as flatwoods, sand hills, scrub, and deciduous woodlands, and especially where there is plenty of sunlight and well-drained soils. Liatris gracilis is incredibly tolerant of drought and also can survive in moist soils so long as those conditions do not persist for too long a period. It can be grown from seed and from the underground stems or corms.

Liatris gracilis is a moderately tall plant. The slender gayfeather usually grows to be 20-100 cm in height and is covered by fine hairs. The bud stalks or pedicels branch off of the single stem and each pedicel supports one flower. The flowers are small and purple and look like little stars (Figure 1).

Because of its striking appearance, Liatris gracilis is extremely popular to use in bouquets and floral arrangements. The slender gayfeather also produces nectar to attract butterflies, and for this reason they are common in butterfly gardens. Why not try growing one too?

Please visit this site for vendors of the gayfeather: http://www.floridanativenurseries.org/plants/detail/liatris-gracilis

Citation

"Performance of Native Florida Plants under North Florida." . N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov 2011. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/ep/ep34100.pdf .

"Slender Gayfeather." . N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov 2011. http://www.regionalconservation.org/beta/nfyn/plantdetail.asp?tx=Liatgrac .

Liatris gracilis Slender Blazing Star. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Nov 2011. http://www.floridawildflowers.com/products/Liatris-gracilis-Slender Blazing-Star.html .

The Danger of Moving Firewood: Florida’s Newest Tree Disease

2012-01-15T11:21:00.001-05:00

This redbay tree that has been killed by the terrible
laurel wilt disease. All the leaves turn
brown without warning.

If you have ever gone camping, you probably have moved firewood. It is a pretty natural thing to do.

However, today, Florida is rapidly loosing an important member of its forest tree and shrub diversity: members of the Lauraceae plant family are being killed by a new pathogen. The following trees and shrubs are susceptible to the laurel wilt disease: swampbay (Persea palustris), redbay (Persea borbonia), silkbay (Persea humilis), sassafras (Sassafras albidium), pondspice (Litsea aestivalis) and pondberry (Lindera melissaefolia), the last two are endangered species. Another concern is that avocado is a member of this family and it is also susceptible to the disease.

The disease is called laurel wilt and it is spread by a very small, 2 millimeter, beetle that carries a fungal pathogen. When the redbay ambrosia beetle bores into a tree of the Lauraceae it leaves behind some of the fungus and the fungus causes the death of the tree.

How does this relate to firewood?
The disease is spreading faster than it should because dead trees are being cut down and moved around the state, and into other states. The disease has now reached Alabama and Mississippi.

This is likely not the last we have heard of native forest trees being killed by exotic pests. The following pests have killed tens of millions of trees in the United States over the past few years:

The spicebush swallowtail butterfly depends upon the redbay and other
members of the laurel family for its larval food.

Emerald ash borer
Asian longhorned beetle
Dutch elm disease
Thousand cankers of walnut
Gypsy moth
Sirex woodwasp
It is possible all of these pests will end up in Florida at some point. Each one is only a car/truck trip away.
To dispose of dead trees, chip them with a tree chipper, bury the wood, or burn it.

Please do not move firewood. For more info on the "Don’t Move Firewood" movement, check out http://www.dontmovefirewood.org/
To learn more about laurel wilt go to:

http://www.extension.ufl.edu/hot_topics/environment/laurel_wilt.html
http://www.fs.fed.us/r8/foresthealth/laurelwilt/posters_presentations.shtml

Don Spence
Forest Pathologist, University of Florida
Certified Municipal Arboris
Native Florida Landscapes, LLC

Plant Profile: Opuntia stricta (Shell Mound Pricklypear)

2012-01-12T04:06:00.000-05:00

Figure 1. Opuntia stricta, Jacksonville University. Photo credit: J. Larsen.

This post is one of a series from Botany professor Nisse Goldberg's students at Jacksonville University. Student authors: Jenell Larsen, Brooke Comans, and Trey Collins.

Classification:

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Caryophyllidae
Family: Cactaceae
Genus: Opuntia
Species: Opuntia stricta

Also known as the erect pricklypear, the shell mound pricklypear is a cactus that grows on shell mounds, coastal hammocks, and dunes. The erect pricklypear is found in the southeast and coastal states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, and South Carolina. It prefers sandy, well-drained soil. A long-lived plant, the shell mound pricklypear’s first flowers appear when the plant is three years old.

The erect pricklypear can be identified by flat green segments that are not the leaves but the stems, which can measure up to 30 cm. It also has eyes that contain 0-11 spikes. The eyes of a cactus are called areola; areolas are the structures that spikes grow out of and the spikes are actually modified leaves. The areolas can grow roots when separated from their mother plant, which remain viable for months after detachment.

The bright yellow flowers bloom from February to July and are insect pollinated (Figure 1). Interestingly, ants can share a mutualistic relationship with Opuntia strica. The pricklypear provides the ants with nectar and the ants provide protection against herbivores. Mammals and birds eat the succulent, barrel-shaped fruits and are responsible for dispersing the seeds. Once deposited, the seeds can remain viable for as long as ten years.

Not only do animals find these fruits tasty, but so do humans. Pricklypear fruits, commonly called tunas, are sold fresh, canned or dried. They can be used in desserts, juices, jellies, spreads and shakes. In addition, they have many health benefits. Pricklypear fruits are used for their anti-inflammatory properties. They can also be used to lower sugar intake for type two diabetics and are found in laxatives and high cholesterol medications. The fruits may even aid in reducing the symptoms of alcohol hangovers!

Although Opuntia stricta is native to the state of Florida, it is invasive in other parts of the world, particularly in Australia. It is considered the oldest weed as it came to Australia on the first fleet. It was originally planted as a hedge to fence in cattle and also used for ornamental purposes. Used as a biological control, larvae of the Argentine cactus moth were successful in controlling populations of the cactus. In the United States, this moth is an invasive species and is threatening our erect pricklypear.

If you would like to have one in your garden, please visit the following link for vendors:
http://www.floridanativenurseries.org/plants/detail/opuntia-stricta

Bibliography

1. Plants database. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=profile&symbol=OPST2&display=31
2. Cactus. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.indoorflowers.net/cactus 3. Pickering. (n.d.). Opuntia stricta - erect pricklypear -- discover life. Retrieved from http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?act=x_ant&path=Plantae/Dicotyledoneae/Cactaceae/Opuntia/stricta&name=Opuntiastricta&authority=(Haw.)Haw.&common_name=Erectpricklypear
4. Nature notes. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.friendsofbarefootbeach.org/FOBB/NatureNotes/NatureNotes-pricklypearcactus.pdf
5. Dee. (n.d.). Common prickly pear (opuntia stricta). Retrieved from http://www.esc.nsw.gov.au/weeds/Sheets/shrubs/SPricklypear.htm
6. Opuntia stricta in flora of north america @ efloras.org. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=242415190
7. Bartomeu. (n.d.). strength of invasive plant. Retrieved from http://www.uab.es/PDF/PDF_1212962705656_en.pdf
8. Robbins, Miller EX. (1970). An error occurred setting your user cookie. Retrieved from http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.1653/024.092.0231
9. Supple. (2011, November 10). nopal : Information on uses, dosage & side effects on healthline.com. Retrieved from http://www.healthline.com/natstandardcontent/nopal
10. Opuntia stricta (shrub). (2010, June 12). Retrieved from http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?fr=1&si=104
11. Argentine cactus moth (cactoblastis cactorum). (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.desertmuseum.org/invaders/invaders_cactusmoth.php

Also see blog post Edible Native Recovers from the Frost

Landscape Design: A Primer - Part 1

2012-01-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

By LaurieSheldon, newest member of the F.N.P.S. blog team

Introduction

Asa follower of the FNPS blog, it’s a given that you’re interested and/orenthusiastic about Florida’s native flora. You can probably recall a dozen orso trips to a local nursery, where you walked between row after row of plantsin black pots and imagined how they would look in your own landscape. I workedfor several years in a sizable nursery in Miami, so I know the plant-dreamerlook all too well. Admittedly, I was not immune to becoming starry-eyed in thepresence of some outrageously beautiful plants, and frequently came home fromwork with one or two random specimens that I just had to have. Needlessto say, my spur-of-the-moment plant shopping did little to enhance the overallaesthetic of my backyard, and did even less as far as enhancing my wallet wasconcerned.

Lichtenstein at F.T.B.G., a fusion of art and science

Ileft my nursery job and became a “Garden Groomer” (volunteer weed-puller) atFairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens, where I was exposed to large-scalelandscape design for the first time, and developed an appreciation of thediverse, unusual, and brilliant world of tropical plants. After a short while,I decided that I wanted to design inspirational places like Fairchildprofessionally, so I headed to the University of Florida in pursuit of aBachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture.

Itbecame very apparent to me throughout the five-year L.A. program that, althoughour texts were housed in the Fine Arts Library, Landscape Architecture was/isas much of a science as an art form. The most loved, used and functionaloutdoor spaces are not generally arrived upon by mysterious forces or inspiredby muses, nor do they come about via organic accretion. They are thesite-specific products of thoughtful individuals who used a series of steps,collectively known as the Design Process, to arrive at a final design.

TheDesign Process

TheDesign Process is systematic,time-tested, and the only way to consistently identify the optimal arrangementbetween that which you’d like to incorporate into a landscape and its existingnatural and constructed features. It is the Landscape Architect’s answer to theScientific Method. It dictates that, whether designing a home garden or acorporate campus, your approach will, at minimum, include the following stepsPRIOR to installation:

1. Statement of Intent

2. Procurement of a Topographic Survey

3. Site Inventory and Analysis

4. Program Development

5. Conceptual Diagramming

6.DiagramSelection

7. Master/Site Plan andDesign Development Documents

Onceyour plan has been installed, it is always useful to do a Post-ConstructionEvaluation, noting whether or not your landscape accomplishes the goals youinitially set out. More often than not, however, this step is skipped inprofessional practice - sometimes because a client does not want to pay for aLandscape Architect to provide a critical analysis of their own work, sometimesbecause, well, the laws of inertia and our fast forward pace make it animpossibility. Either way, once the dust settles, if time allows, it is goodpractice to at minimum make note of any discrepancies between the masterlandscape plan and the finished work.


Intent, Goals, & Objectives are prominently noted on this student's submission for a poolside landscape

Step 1: Statement of Intent

The first part of the Design Processis ideological in nature. It involves determining the scope of yourproject, and identifying project goals and objectives.

• Scope is essentially the extent of theproject work to be done, as noted by both physical/measurable boundaries,and deliverables (what you agree to deliver to your client),which may include plans for irrigation, grading, planting, etc.

• Goals reflect what you’d like for yourlandscape plan to accomplish.

• Objectives identify thespecific tasks you need to complete in order to achieve that goal.

If you're designing your own landscape you probably won't have "deliverables," per se, but you should still determine what your project will and will not coverbefore getting started. You’ll be glad you did, as it will keep you focused and prevent you frombiting off more than you can chew.


Visualizing contours in 3-D

Step 2: Topographic Survey

Topographicmaps in the United States are organized in a grid, and are often referred to asquads or quadrangles. They typically show bodies of water and land contours,which are expressed in contiguous (contour) lines. These lines denote altitude(also called elevation). Every point on a map that a given contour line crossesis at the same elevation. Once you become familiar with reading topo maps itwill be easy for you to visualize the lay of the land three-dimensionally.

You mightbe thinking, “Topography - really?But our state is so flat - how can it matter?” Florida’s minimal elevationchanges, proximity to the ocean, and high annual rainfall volume combine tomake flooding a serious problem. Knowingyour site’s highs and lows can keep you from having to put on wading pants inorder to fetch your mail.

Another reason that your site’stopography is important is slope. Slope, the incline between twotopographic contours, is calculated by dividing their vertical difference bytheir horizontal difference (rise/run). There are certain optimal slope requirements for various land uses, including playgrounds,areas to be mowed, sidewalks, stairs, parking, etc. Anyone who has driven outof state, and had to get a stick-shift car into or out of a hillside parallelspace should appreciate Florida’s maximum and minimum slope standards. I willelaborate on this in the next blog installment.

USGS Quad Map

Topographic information is fairlyeasy to obtain online through the U.S.G.S. and your county’s Property Appraiser.The following links can be of assistance:
USGS Store
FL Property Appraisers by County

If you are fortunate enough to haveG.I.S. software on your computer, you can download the appropriate topo map(s)from the Florida Geographic Data Library, http://www.fgdl.org/download/index.html

A final resource for obtaining acopy of your project’s topographic survey is your city’s Main Library. Theseare generally not permitted to be checked out, so be ready with change for thecopy machine!

Stay tuned for the next installmentof Landscape Design - a Primer. We’ll resume with one of my favorite parts of of the Design Process, Step 3: Site Inventory andAnalysis.

A Sign of the Season: Partridge Berries

2012-01-05T04:07:00.000-05:00

A guest post by Carole Tebay
The warm Thanksgiving holiday found my family hiking the Juniper Creek Trail in the Blackwater River State Forest where I spied my favorite little greeting to the holidays, Mitchella repens. Commonly known as partridge berry, twin flower, or squaw vine, this petite, evergreen creeper sports bright red berry-like drupes which cheerfully dot the forest floor through winter.

Although not a denizen of my current garden, I have had patches in the past. Partridge berry grows in shady areas with rich, neutral to acid soil in moist to dry areas. Look for it throughout the Panhandle and as far south as central Florida. Mine was in the deep shade of a live oak in the company of shiny blueberries and ferns. I found that it grew as thick as any lawn grass when kept free of smothering oak leaves. Since the stems of partridge berry root like the runners in lawn grass, it was easy to transplant by cutting plugs or rooting cuttings.

The berries are said to be almost tasteless and low in fat, which may be why they are among the last berries eaten by wildlife. They are known to be enjoyed by grouse, bobwhite, turkey, fox, mice, raccoon and skunks. Deer enjoy browsing the leaves.

Linnaeus gave this plant its botanical name, Mitchella repens, in honor of his friend, John Mitchell. A doctor and botanist, he developed a treatment for yellow fever and created the Mitchell map which was used to define the boundaries of the colonies. Repens describes the creeping habit of the plant. The common name, partridge berry, may leave you scratching your head since the partridge isn't native to North America. The berries are enjoyed by ruffed grouse which are similar to European partridges. Europeans also gave this dainty plant the name squaw vine when they observed a tea made from the plant being used by Native Americans to aid in childbirth. Why is Mitchella repens called twin flower? Look for pairs of white, trumpet-shaped blooms in late spring to early summer. The ovaries of the twin flowers fuse to form one red drupe. If you look closely, you can spot two dimples on the drupe where the flowers were attached.

In the past, partridge berries were collected for Christmas decorations and planted in bowls and terrariums. This impacted the populations. They are available through native plant nurseries so resist the temptation to collect wild specimens. Enjoy looking for these woodland treasures during your next walk in the woods.

Crystal Springs: 2012 FNPS Conference Venue

2012-01-01T08:12:00.000-05:00

Our FNPS 2012 Conference "Saving the Heart of Florida" is well into its development phase. We have several exiting venues for our social events, but one of them, Crystal Springs, is special to me because of its beauty and history. We will have exclusive access to this site for our Saturday night social event.

Most people think of the Hillsborough River as a blackwater stream, one dark and tea colored due to tannins in the water. We say it begins in the Green Swamps. It does, as seepage and as an overflow from the Withlacoochee River. As such, it is usually a narrow creek that swells to substantial size only during periods of very high rainfall. But the upper river is also a spring-run stream. Crystal Spring, a second magnitude spring, provides most of the typical daily flow for the Upper Hillsborough River.

Crystal Spring has a long local history. Once, it existed only as a series of seepage springs, and local kids had a swimming hole on the river downstream, but not at the springs. The spring as it exists today was created in the early 1900s by blasting out the area of seeps to form a single pool. This was not unusual, the pools some of our better known springs, such as Juniper Spring in Ocala National Forest, also were also created this way. The spring then spent a long history of local use as a swimming hole and private recreation park. As you can imagine, while the spring had crystal blue water, the edges were highly disturbed.

As the owner told me, they got tired of "picking up used diapers" and otherwise cleaning up after bathers. So the owners took on restoration of the spring and converting the former recreation area into an education center. They hired an environmentally oriented manager, and set off to clean up the weeds and plant the area around the spring back to Florida native plants. They also refurbished the boardwalk that crosses the outfall into the Hillsborough River.

When I last saw the spring, it was a stellar example of restoration and of landscaping with Florida natives. People will get to stroll by the clear (135 ft wide) pool that has multiple spring vents and scattered sand boils. The bottom of the spring pool is limestone and sand that reflect turquoise light and support aquatic grasses. There are scattered cypresses with exposed knees. Once could stand on the boardwalk and watch the clear water of the spring merge with the tannic water of the upper river. The owner has dedicated a conservation area, the Crystal Springs Preserve, around this spring.

Shirely Denton

Florida Native Landscaping Class Starting 1/11/12 at Ft. Pierce

2011-12-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Mexican firebush, Gumbo-limbo tree, and stokes aster may not seem similar but all three plants are featured in either of two botanic gardens situated at the University of Florida/IFAS Indian River Research and Education Center near Fort Pierce. The plants are native to Florida, require a minimum amount of care and were carefully selected and strategically placed for high aesthetic value.

More than 100 plants will be studied in “Florida Native Landscaping,” an upper division environmental horticulture course, the plants may be used in a wide array of landscapes. Offered to degree-seeking and non-degree seeking students at the UF Fort Pierce campus, many industry professionals, nursery owners and state employees have completed the course.

Registration for “Florida Native Landscaping” is taking place now for spring semester 2012. The course will begin Wednesday, Jan. 11, 3:30 until 6:30 p.m., and will continue each Wednesday through mid-April. “Florida Native Landscaping” is offered as both an undergraduate course, as well as a graduate-level course. Graduate students who enroll will complete an additional project.

Dr. Sandy Wilson

The course is designed to introduce students with a plant science background to a wide array of native plant species used in Florida landscapes, according to Sandy Wilson, who will instruct the course. Wilson, who has garnered multiple national teaching awards, holds a doctorate in plant physiology. She devotes equal amounts of her faculty time to teaching courses and to research projects.

Each week, students will participate in lectures and laboratory work that will cover plant nomenclature and taxonomy, native plant requirements, propagation, environmental issues and native landscape design and implementation. Portions of the course will take place in the center’s 1-acre “IRREC Teaching Gardens”, and the half-mile-long “Linear Garden,” both outdoor gardens planned and implemented by students of environmental horticulture. Wilson said,

“This is a very popular course every time I teach it with direct applications as we learn how to create environmentally sound, aesthetic landscapes that benefit our wildlife.”

Dr. Sandy Wilson is a prominent environmental horticulturalist nationally recognized for her research programs and innovative teaching skills in classroom, laboratory and distance education platforms. Her research focuses on characterizing the invasive potential of ornamental plants, and native plant physiology, propagation and production.

Recently, Dr. Wilson obtained a grant with which to produce material for newly created web-based lectures by statewide native experts specifically for this course. In addition, she is co-inventor of a new multiple-key entry online key for identifying plant families.

Prospective degree and non-degree seeking students may register for courses that will be held at the Indian River Research and Education Center, located at 2199 South Rock Road in Fort Pierce.

To enroll in “Florida Native Landscaping” or for more information about University of Florida course and degree offerings at the Fort Pierce location, contact Coordinator of Student Support Services Jackie White, at (772) 468-3922, extension 148, or by e-mail at jkwhite@ufl.edu or on the web at: www.irrec.ifas.ufl.edu. For specific questions about the course or materials contact Dr. Sandra Wilson at: sbwilson@ufl.edu The course website provides information, including the course syllabus, plant list, review activities, plant images, and recommended native book references.

Man-in-the-Ground

2011-12-25T06:37:00.000-05:00

Man-in-the-ground (Ipomoea microdactyla), fantastically beautiful
morning glory for southernmost Florida.

A post by Roger L. Hammer

Most everyone is familiar with morning-glories in the genus Ipomoea, and certainly everyone reading this has even eaten Ipomoea batatas, the common sweet potato.

The Morning-Glory Family (Convolvulaceae) is well-represented in Florida, with 67 species in fourteen genera. Of those, twenty-four species are naturalized exotics, and four species are endemic to Florida, found nowhere else. The genus Ipomoea is the largest in the family, with twenty-five species and one naturally-occurring hybrid of two native species. Exactly half of the species (13) in Florida are native.

Only two species are rare enough to be listed as endangered by the state of Florida, and these are the rockland morning-glory (Ipomoea tenuissima) and man-in-the-ground (Ipomoea microdactyla). Both are on the northern extreme of their natural range in Florida, and both are restricted to pine rockland habitat in southern Miami-Dade County.

All species of morning-glories are pretty in their own right, but the most eye-catching, in my not-so-humble opinion, is man-in-the-ground. This peculiar common name refers to the large, underground root, similar to a sweet potato, that stores nutrients and helps the plant survive drought, dormancy, and fire. In fact, man-in-the-ground responds quickly after fire, sending long stems over the charred stems of other plants, and brightening the otherwise bleak landscape with cheery, pink, tubular flowers. Hummingbirds and butterflies (mostly skippers) visit the flowers for nectar.

Outside of Florida, man-in-the-ground is only known from pinelands in Cuba, especially on the Isle of Youth. In Florida you can find it in remnant pine rockland habitat of southern Miami-Dade County, and good places to look for it are in Larry & Penny Thompson Park, Camp Owaissa Bauer, Navy Wells Pineland Preserve, Florida City Pineland Preserve, and on Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park, particularly shortly after fire. It won’t be hard to find; simply look for lots of showy, brilliant pink flowers. Silent Native Nursery north of Homestead grows it if you want one for a sunny spot on a fence or arbor in your yard.

Plant Profile: Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata)

2011-12-22T05:44:00.001-05:00

Figure 1. Bignonia capreolata, note the tubular
flowers and two opposite leaves. Photo credit:
Stan Shebs http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File:Bignonia_capreolata_1.jpg

This post is one of a series from Botany professor Nisse Goldberg's students at Jacksonville University. Student author: Rebecca Clark

Common Name: Crossvine

Scientific Name: Bignonia capreloata L.

Bignonia capreolata or crossvine belongs to the Bignonia family and is found throughout the central to northern parts of the state. It is a woody, semi-evergreen vine, or liana, that can grow to be as long as 50 feet, using tendrils to attach to surfaces. Crossvine is found in forests, swamps, hammocks, fencerows, and limestone escarpments.

Crossvine is a relatively low-maintenance plant. The plant has low to medium water needs and is drought tolerant. It does do well in moist, well-drained, and acidic soil but can tolerate other soil conditions. The best flowering occurs in full sun even though the plant can grow in semi-shady conditions.

The leaves are opposite and four to six inches long with two leaflets per leaf. In summer, they are dark green and reddish purple in the winter.

The beautiful flowers are unscented and tubular in shape. They are normally red on the outside and yellow on the inside (Figure 1). The flowers are usually found in clusters of two to three. They appear in late April to early May. Pollinators such as hummingbirds and butterflies take advantage of the nectar.

If you would like to grow your own crossvine, please visit this site for vendors:
http://www.afnn.org/plants/detail/bignonia-capreolata

Bibliography:

“Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata).” Duke University. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. http://www.duke.edu/-cwcook/trees/bica.html

“Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata).” Plant Guide. United States Department of Agriculture. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. http://plants.usda.gov/java/stateSearch?searchType=Sciname&searchTxt=Bignonia+capreolata

Guides, Step. “Bignonia capreolata (Crossvine) NPIN.” Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center-The University of Texas at Austin. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=BICA

Learning About Natives

2011-12-18T08:33:00.001-05:00

Blanketflowers attract pollinators to your yard.

By Peg Lindsay, secretary FNPS

I moved to Florida about 10 years ago, from the state of Delaware. The summer climate there is much the same as in Florida – hot and humid. So I expected that the familiar garden plants I knew and loved would grow just as well here in Florida. I went through several bottles of anti-fungal chemicals before I decided that, although I could coax those zinnias to bloom, gardening with chemicals was not for me, nor good for the environment. Florida was lush and green before these chemicals could be commercially produced. In fact, the name La Florida, given to this land by Ponce de Leon in 1513, refers to the amazing abundance and diversity of the wild flowering plants he observed here. With the encouragement of my friends, I decided to try some Florida wildflowers in my garden.

The first native wildflower I added to my garden was Indian Blanketflower, Gaillardia pulchella. This has a beautiful, red-orange-yellow daisy-like flower, blooms all summer and is tolerant of a wide variety of sunny growing conditions. I found it at my favorite big box store in the garden section. It thrived in my garden.

Dune sunflowers are drought tolerant.

My next wildflower selection was a groundcover: Dune Sunflower, Helianthus debilis. As its name implies, this plant’s origins are on the eastern coastal sand dunes. It thrives in hot, dry, sandy and sunny habitats. It has a golden yellow, daisy-like flower with a brown center. It blooms all summer and through the winter, if the weather stays fairly mild. This one also thrived in my garden with its stunningly beautiful flowers.

I noticed that butterflies were now coming to my garden with the addition of a few native wildflowers. I attended lectures and workshops and picked up handouts with lists of plants to put into my garden to attract more butterflies. The speakers all said that I should include plants for the butterfly larvae – caterpillars – if I really wanted to attract the butterflies. So my next two choices were for the caterpillars. I added the non-native Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, and a native/non-native hybrid Passionvine, Passiflora incarnata hybrid. The milkweed was for the Monarchs, the Passionvine for both Gulf Fritillary and Zebra Longwing butterfly caterpillars. The Milkweed is still in my garden but the hybrid Passionvine was very invasive and I had a difficult time eradicating it from my lawn and garden. I now have the strictly native passionvine in my garden.

Passionflowers are wonderfully complex.

Every time I shopped at the big box stores, I combed through their selection of native plants for something new to add to my garden. I brought home a Gaura, which pot insert said “Florida Native.” I proudly showed my new plant to one of my gardening friends. She said it probably was a Gaura species but it wasn’t the native one. That lovely little plant lasted a few years until our first big winter freeze. I now have the native Guara angustifolia in my garden. It’s a tall, spindly, non-descript thing with tiny pink flowers at the top which are frequented by the bees and butterflies.

So you see the evolution of my gardening preferences. Our wildflower garden is in the back yard of our Highland Lakes home. We have sandy soil, and half of the yard is sunny all day, half gets shade for part of the day. My wildflower choices are now restricted to plants that originated in Florida scrub or sandhill habitats, because I’ve learned through trial-and-error what grows best for me. I gather information about any plant before I add it to my garden. I no longer plant for showy masses of color, although some of my garden wildflowers are truly spectacular. My plant selections are now based on the plant’s ability to support (feed) insects and birds and survive in xeric (dry) conditions. There is a succession of blooms all year long plus the myriad species of native bees, birds and butterflies which visit. I am enthralled every time I wander through my garden by the number and variety of buzzy insect pollinators which visit.

A wildflower garden is not for everyone. Like the choice of hairstyles, some prefer the traditional and more formal look. Me - I love the dancing butterflies.

One dune sunflower plant covers a six foot triangle garden around a mailbox.

Photos by Ginny Stibolt.

A look at Drosera

2011-12-15T05:40:00.000-05:00

Figure 1. The threatened Water Sundew (Drosera intermedia). Photo taken by:
Noah Elhardt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Drosera_intermedia_ne1.jpg

This post is one of a series from Botany professor Nisse Goldberg's students at Jacksonville University. Student author: Keenan Carpenter.

Allow me to introduce you to an odd little group of plants of the genus Drosera, otherwise known as the Sundews. The Sundews belong to larger family group Droseraceae which encompasses the rest of the carnivorous/insectivorous plants. There are five species of Sundew found here in Florida: The Pink Sundew (Drosera capillaris), the threatened Spoon-Leaved or Water Sundew (Drosera intermedia), the Dwarf Sundew (Drosera brevifolia) , the Thread-Leaved Sundew (Drosera filiformis), and Tracy’s Sundew (Drosera tracyi).

Figure 2. A common flower form seen among the members
of Drosera. Photo taken by: Denis Barthel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DroseraKenneallyiFlora.jpg

Sundews are for the most part swamp and bog plants that have managed to work their way into a niche in their environments that not many other plants have been able to inhabit. The members of Drosera make their homes in moist, acidic, and nutrient deficient soil. However, the Sundews have developed a strategy to get the nutrients they need from a different source…

If one was to examine any Sundew they would find that its leaves are covered in numerous tiny hair-like structures (Figure 1) each glistening with a drop of moisture that could easily be mistaken for dew clinging to the plant (Hence one reason for the name!). If they were to investigate further so far as touching one of the glistening hairs they may find the plant springs to life! This interesting adaptation is how the Sundews fill the nutritional gap left by their environment.

Sundews are insectivorous, meaning they feed on insects (Figure 2). That glistening dew-like substance on the leaves is actually a bead of sticky mucus packed with enzymes to digest unwary bugs lured in by the sweet smells the Sundew emits. When an insect lands on the plant the leaves immediately begin to curl around it, covering it in sticky digestive mucus, which will suffocate and eventually digest the insect into nutritious slurry which is then absorbed through the surface of the leaf.

Figure 3. An insect is digested by a Thread-Leaf Sundew.
Photo taken by: Tim Ross
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DroseraFiliformisTracyi.JPG

Like many other plants, those in the genus Drosera produce flowers (Figure 3). Sundews flower when they have gathered sufficient nutrients to produce viable flowers and then seeds. The healthier and more well “fed” the Sundew, the more flowers and seeds are produced.

Aside from hybridized and tropical Sundews, the plants typically enter a dormant phase during the colder months of the year (November-February), at which time they form a hibernaculum, a dense cluster of buds made to aid them in toughing out the winter. Other species may die back to a tuberous root called a corm when it is too cold or too dry and then spring forth again when growing conditions are favorable again in the warm and/or wet season. All of the Floridian and North American species form hibernaculum during the unfavorable months.

From early on (Early as the 15th century) the various Sundews have been used for their medicinal properties (Figure 4). It has been seen that Sundews prove effective against a number of gram-negative bacteria (a group of bacteria, among which are those like shigella and salmonella). The leaves also contain quinones which make them effective for combating several bronchial ailments, like bronchitis. The digestive mucus itself is used as a topical treatment for pain and itching and works by distracting the brain with a new sensation.

Figure 4. 15th century book detailing Drosera, perhaps
for the first time. Photo taken by: Denis Barthel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Drosera
VoynichManuscriptF56r.jpg

Sundew Facts

· Sundews seeds can remain viable for fifty years

· In some species a new Sundew can be grown from almost any part of the plant

· Larger Sundews can even take lizards and small rodents as prey items!!!

· Sundews can be fast. Snap trap Sundews can whip their arms in completely in a tenth of a second, literally flinging prey into the sticky center of the plant.

· Sundew leaves grow much like those of ferns, starting curled and gradually uncurling as the leaf matures

· There are approximately 130 species of Sundew scattered across the world

· Modification and cross-breeding has resulted in a strain of D.filiformis that turns completely red in direct sunlight. It’s been named the Florida All-Red.

Sources Cited:

Austin, D. F. 2002. Sundews . The Palmetto, 21(3) 12-13. http://www.fnps.org/palmetto/v21i3p12.pdf (6 July, 2002).
"University of Florida Herbarium Digital Image Search." Florida Museum of Natural History. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/herbarium/cat/imagesearch.asp?srchproject=CV.

Web. 10 Nov. 2011. http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq5240.html .

"The Sundew Flowering and Seed-Collecting Process- When and How Should I Harvest Drosera Seeds?" The Sundew Grow Guides. Web. 10 Nov. 2011 http://www.growsundews.com/sundews/drosera_seed_collecting_sundew_seed_harvesting.html.

"Drosera." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosera .

Wildflowers (and Persistence) in Jacksonville

2011-12-11T07:44:00.000-05:00

Barbara Jackson, environmental activist and president of
the FNPS Ixia Chapter. Photo from A Lesson in Outreach

By Barbara Jackson, President, FNPS, Ixia Chapter

“Nothing Is Ever Easy at the Shipyards”

This statement, from an environmental consultant in Jacksonville, has proven to be completely true. He should know. He has been involved in the Shipyards for over fifteen years, advising the City of Jacksonville and others about this almost forty-acre site. Luckily for our Ixia Chapter, he gave us free advice as we attempted to plant a wildflower garden at the Shipyards.

The Shipyards is in downtown Jacksonville and is situated on the St. Johns River. It was a working shipyard from the 1850’s until 1992. After its closure, two different companies purchased the land with the idea of development, only to be defeated by the economy. It was then claimed by the City of Jacksonville. The land sat idle for years, used for downtown event over-flow parking, surrounded by a chain link fence and full of weeds and debris. Just by chance last year, I saw an article in the local newspaper quoting the mayor, who wanted to tear down the fence and spread grass seed in the area. “Oh no, I thought, not grass seed!” I immediately pictured a forty acre site full of native plants, butterflies, bees, birds, paths, benches, and smiling people. I got in touch with my key contact in the mayor’s office and explained my idea. I also said our chapter would find funding, and make this happen. The proposal was actually well received!

Nothing ever happens quickly in government.
Months went by, but I kept popping up with my idea. Finally, two of us from the Ixia Chapter had a key meeting and we were granted two acres for planting. At the same time, the Florida Wildflower Foundation announced the availability of $500 grants for wildflower seed purchase to county governments that adopted a wildflower resolution, supporting the planting of wildflowers in the area. It certainly appeared planting two acres of wildflowers would be the easiest, least expensive, and best way to go for the Shipyards site. The City of Jacksonville Economic Development Commission (JEDC) would write the grant. The Ixia Chapter would handle the planting, and any other costs, which appeared minimal.

Right away, we had a soil pH test at the Duval County Extension Office. The pH tested very high, well over 8.0. This immediately limited us to only the wildflowers that could handle high pH, such as Dune Sunflower. Additionally, we discovered the soil was highly compacted. We decided to explore the purchase of good topsoil for the site, and needed 1,600 cubic yards to cover the area with four to six inches. The cost for this proved to be prohibitive, so I net worked, and immediately found a private donor of all the soil. The pH of this soil tested perfectly! We were in business.

Meanwhile, the City of Jacksonville City Council adopted the resolution required by the Florida Wildflower Foundation to apply for the grant. All was good. Except, the resolution was worded incorrectly and was not acceptable to the foundation. Back to the City Council. The resolution was re-worded correctly, and passed again. Now, on to the grant writing with a staff member from the JEDC. Whew! Everything was done just in time for the deadline of the grant submission. The City was awarded the grant! Great news, except we were required to purchase actual wildflower plants with the funding, not seeds, because of the current soil problems, which did not take into account the soil that would be donated.

Getting a Topsoil Donation
I thought I could now concentrate on finding someone to donate moving all the topsoil to the Shipyards site, another small detail. Also, I was informed by the City staff that we had to provide our own irrigation lines and pay for the water. It was also clear that $500 worth of wildflower plants would not cover two acres, so we had to purchase additional plants or seeds. “No problem,” I thought, always the optimist, “I can get donations for all of this.”

Just when I thought the path was clear, I was summoned to a meeting with key members of the JEDC. I was informed the Shipyards site was heavily contaminated, and great care had to be used in disturbing the site. I was also informed the donated topsoil had to be tested for contaminates and could not be moved to the Shipyards until the test was completed and tested clean. This test proved to be one of the most difficult hurdles because of a cost of over $1,000. It took several months, but the test was finally donated by a company that specializes in such testing. It was now clear that nothing else could be done until the soil test was complete because we could not afford to purchase soil, and believed it would be impossible to find another donation of the needed amount.

Time was Running out for the Wildflower Grant
Weeks went by, and finally, the test results came in. Unbelievably, the results indicated two prohibited contaminates. We could not move this soil to the site. We were also staring at a rapidly closing deadline to use the $500 grant. We put our heads together with our staff contact at the JEDC, and contacted the Florida Wildflower Foundation. We asked if they would approve another site, and approve the purchase of wildflower seeds instead of plants. We were approved for both! Our contact at the JEDC came up with a wonderful site at the intersection of Riverside Avenue and Forest, which has become the main through fare from that area to downtown Jacksonville. Over 10,000 cars pass by daily. The site is very large, but part of it is privately owned, and slated for development. It had also recently been seeded with grass. We were allowed to plant the ¾ acre owned by the City of Jacksonville around a newly installed retention pond.

The new Jacksonville wildflower site along Riverside Avenue in Brooklyn Park

These two "before" photos show two views of the site. The retention pond is behind the fence--on the left in the top photo and on the right in the bottom photo. You can also see the traffic signs for Rt 95 access in the bottom photo: this means a lot of people will see the wildflowers.

We sprayed the ¾ acre with glyphosate (Roundup) to kill the sprouting grass, and then waited ten days to sow the wildflower seeds. We also found we had a high pH in the new location, and were advised to use Dune sunflower and Blanket flower as primary plants. In addition to the $500 of seeds purchased by the grant, our chapter spent $291 on more seeds. We were also advised to use a roller to level the area and press the seeds into the ground, and spread pine straw over the area with 50% coverage. The area required 100 bales of pine straw. All was accomplished with volunteer labor from our chapter in a matter of three and a half hours on November 13, 2011. The ¾ acre site seemed to grow larger by the hour as we worked.

Sowing ten pounds of seeds takes many hands. The mixture of seed was designed for the soil's acidity and for maximum impact next to the road.

The pine straw bales were brought in and then spread evenly over the entire seeded area.

The whole area was rolled to ensure firm contact with the soil. Job well done, Ixia chapter!

Was all this worth the effort? Tune in next spring for another report.

Editor's note: The Florida Native Plant Society's 2013 conference will be located in Jacksonville. One of the field trips will include this project. So come see for yourself how *things* worked out.

Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans) Profile

2011-12-08T06:39:00.000-05:00

Figure 1. Trumpet vine flowers. Photo credit:
Stan Shebs taken at the Desert Demonstration
Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada, May 2003

This post is one of a series from Botany professor Nisse Goldberg's students at Jacksonville University. Student author: Tayler Massey

The trumpet vine, otherwise known as Campsis radicans, is a plant you’ve probably seen many times and don’t even realize you’ve seen it! The trumpet vine is a native plant to Florida, but can also be found in many areas throughout the eastern, southeastern, and southwestern parts of the United States.

The plant can survive at any time during the year, if it is given the right conditions to grow. The trumpet vine grows best in coarse to medium grain soils with neutral pH levels. So long as the soil remains moist, the trumpet vine does not need an abundance of water, but it does need a great deal of sunlight. It is best if planted in the open rather than in the shade.

Once established the trumpet vine is very tolerant to fluctuations in heat, cold, and rainfall. They can grow very rapidly and if not managed, can climb up and over other plants and structures such as fences. In fact, the edges of the oblong leaves have ridges to aid the plant in climbing upwards, growing up to 12 and 36 feet!

You can enjoy their brilliant red and orange flowers during the summer and autumn months (Figure 1). The flower’s nectar attracts pollinators such as hummingbirds and long tongued bees. The trumpet vine also produces little fruits of a brown color.

The only precaution to take around the trumpet vine is that their sap has been known to cause skin irritation. Otherwise, trumpet vine flowers are planted for their beauty in the summer and fall months, much loved for their deep orange and red flowers. Some people use them as ornamentation on arbors and gazebos or as cover on barrier walls and fences. Trumpet vine seeds can be purchased at local nurseries. So what are you waiting for? It’s calling your name!

To purchase this plant, please check the FANN website for vendors: http://www.floridanativenurseries.org/plants/detail/campsis-radicans

Works Cited:

"Campsis Radicans (L.) Seem Ex Bureau Trumpet Creeper." Natural Resources Conservation Service. United States Department of Agriculture. Web. 5 Nov. 2011: http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CARA2.

"Campsis Radicans (Trumpet Creeper) NPIN." Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center – The University of Texas at Austin. Web. 05 Nov. 2011: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=CARA2.

"Plant Profile: Trumpet Vine - Orlando Sentinel." Featured Articles From The Orlando Sentinel. 20 June 2010. Web. 05 Nov. 2011: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-06-20/features/os-maccubbin-plant-profile-trumpet-vi20100620_1_campsis-radicans-trumpet-vine-rampant-grower.

Orange Lake Native and Exotic Flora Activities

2011-12-04T06:12:00.001-05:00

By Buford C. Pruitt, Jr.
In the summer of 2010, I approached Florida environmental agency staff at a Little Orange Creek Working Group meeting about volunteering to cut down and poison several species of invasive exotic trees (paper mulberry, Chinaberry, and Chinese tallow) that had colonized four spoil islands within the marshland in McIntosh Cove on the west side of Orange Lake. I also wanted to transplant from my yard some volunteer seedlings of black cherry, sweetgum, live oak, sugarberry, and cabbage palm in order to provide competition to discourage the three Chinese exotics from re-invading. I also wanted to provide some forested habitat on the islands that might possibly be used for nesting by the lake’s water birds. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission staff member Bruce Jaggers responded that the spoil islands were a byproduct of FWC’s effort to scrape down muck sediments from an adjacent area of Orange Lake. This would expose sandier sediments that would provide better spawning habitat for native fishes such as crappie, bream (pronounced ‘brim’) largemouth bass, and chain pickerel. Contrary to my intentions, I learned that the islands might be used in the future for additional muck disposal, so FWC did not want me to plant native trees on them.

Disappointed at first, I let them know that, if we as a society are going to create upland habitat within the biodiverse marsh that surrounds this magnificent lake, we as a society owe it to native flora and fauna to eliminate invasive exotics that colonize the islands and threaten the natives. Bruce agreed with me, and it is to his credit and that of FWC that they agreed to remove the invasives and, furthermore, plant native wetland trees in a couple of patches within McIntosh Cove. Subsequently, he directed a spraying program on the western spoil islands, although it was limited to only two of the four due to the lateness of the season.

Sapium sebiferum Orange Lk Spoil
Is 04 Roundup Treated 03

For best results, these invasive Chinese species should be sprayed in late autumn when the trees are drawing sap and nutrients from leaves and branches down into their roots for winter storage. It concentrates the herbicide in the root system and more effectively kills the trees. This photo shows how damaging the herbicide Roundup can be to a Chinese tallow tree:

On March 1st of this year, Bruce took me on a tour of three other cypress sapling planting areas that he and FWC had created on the east side of Orange Lake. In each instance, the saplings were planted on private property with landowner permission, and which also enjoy the protection of Florida’s trespass law. This is an example of one of the three eastern shore plantings:

Taxodium distichum Planting Essen Run

Although leafless in early spring and despite stiff competition from a thick growth of maidencane (Panicum hemitomon), these cypress saplings were healthy and robust. Exotic trees are not the only concern of FWC. Two of their three spoil islands on Orange Lake’s eastern shore also are infested with balsam apple (Momordia balsamia), and obnoxious exotic herbaceous vine. In trying to eliminate balsam apple from the third eastern spoil island, FWC convinced a local hunt club to volunteer to remove the vines physically using tractors. FWC then applied herbicide to the remains of the weed. The following photograph shows how densely it can grow over and smother native plants such as this wildlife-valuable elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) on one of the other two eastern islands:

Momordia balsamia Orange Lk Spoil Island

Although initially taken aback by FWC’s reluctance to allow tree plantings on ‘my’ spoil islands, I wound up being quite mollified by their proactive program to control nuisance exotics on all the lake’s spoil islands and plant native wetland trees in nearby areas. If I remember correctly, the eastern shore plantings were exclusively bald cypress (Taxodium distichum), but the two planting areas in McIntosh Cove also got two native hardwood species, popash (Fraxinus caroliniana) and swamp tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora). This photo shows a stand of popash and bald cypress that were planted a few weeks ago within a non-persistent herbaceous marsh habitat:

Tree Plantings at McIntosh Cove

And another pic showing bald cypress planted within a persistent herbaceous wetland habitat:

Tree Plantings 5 Trees

There are five cypress planted in that last photograph. Can you see all five? Unfortunately, some local fellows have gone into the marshland planting area and mowed a small area plus created an ATV trail through it, destroying a few of the plantings. We are not happy about this development.

These native tree plantings have several important ecological benefits. First, they will eventually shade out some of the herbaceous marsh flora so that native fishes will have improved spawning grounds. Secondly, they will provide nesting birds with additional island habitat secure from non-native predators such as coyotes, cats, and dogs. Third, they will provide additional fire protection to lakeside residents by replacing herbaceous marsh with a fire-resistant forest within a band along the lakeside adjacent to an area of dense residential dwellings. Herbaceous marsh vegetation in that area dries out thoroughly in winter, forming a thicket of tinder that would create a conflagration that would doubtless endanger the homes of many people. Oh, it would be spectacular, but too hellish for enjoyment.

The following two photos show the dense, dry fuel, some of the planted seedlings, and how the mowing and an ATV trail have created a large gap within the plantings:

Tree Plantings at McIntosh Cove Mowed

I consider this unfolding story as an example of how private citizens can successfully work with a government agency towards conservation ends. Had I been an angry man, FWC may not have addressed my concerns. By cooperating with FWC, the hunt club gains additional fish and wildlife habitat for recreational use. In allowing FWC to plant wetland tree seedlings on their properties, private landowners receive visual amenities, fire protection, and enhanced fish and wildlife habitat for themselves and their customers. Importantly, by liaising with the public and do-good volunteers, FWC gets more opportunities to perform their job of enhancing fish and wildlife habitat. But most importantly, native species of flora and fauna benefit through enhanced habitat mitigation, relief from competition and predation by invasive exotic species, and opportunities for additional biodiversity.

The Green Swamp - Should Hunting Be Allowed Here?

2011-11-30T16:21:00.002-05:00

Editor's note: Thanks to the dedicated and ongoing efforts of people like Lorraine, the Hampton Tract is currently being recommended for no expanded hunting. However, there is one more public meeting where comments will be heard on Hampton and three other tracts. This post is a tribute to the fact that your voice counts. The following two links will take you to the SWFWMD's page on the hunting evaluation process and the specifics for the next meeting: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/recreation/hunt_evaluation.php

The next meeting is set for December 5th: http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/news/article/1735 /

Chipping sparrow in the Green Swamp, Hampton Tract

The Green Swamp, a huge Southwest Florida Water Management District property holding purchased over time for aquifer recharge and conservation is probably the second most important property collection in the state after the Everglades. The Hampton tract is one of the newer acquisitions, not many of you know it, but my husband Don and I got to know a bit of it and to experience the beauty and importance of this magnificent 11,000 acres recently.

We have requested a permit to perform an avian survey on the tract in January. Paul Elliot, the land manager was our expert guide to the property. Mr. Elliot is probably the most knowledgeable person that I have ever met as a land manager; his institutional knowledge and understanding of linked ecosystems and the creatures that they host is astounding and to be treasured. Some places MUST remain a refuge without undue disturbance, and the Hampton tract is one of them. It is now at risk to being opened to season-long hunting under the hunting evaluation process that Swiftmud (SFWMD) is currently engaged in.

American Robin

There were hundreds and hundreds of American Robins at the Hampton Tract today, (Nov. 19th) feeding to restore themselves after a long migration to their winter home here.

Swallow-Tailed kites and Southeastern American Kestrel nest here!

We weren’t even actively birding for real because we were trying to learn the paths and habitat in order to plan our survey. But we got some great birds without even trying.


Elliotts aster - Symphyotrichum elliottii, near the pit. A wonderful native fall wildflower. What glory...beautiful masses of lavender flowers. I’m in love with this place!

Eastern Phoebe enjoying the tranquility of Cypress Swamp

See my husband Don's eBird list (a neat electronic reporting system for tracking bird populations) below the pics, and remember, we weren't birding, we were learning.......but trust me, come January this bird list will most certainly be greatly enhanced by our survey teams!!!

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

When you look up through the Bald Cypress canopy in the Green Swamp Hampton Tract, the world is at peace. We were privileged to be shown an incredible bromeliad-laden cypress dome swamp reminiscent of visions in the Fakahatchee Strand. Sacred land where the creatures around you know they are safe.

What a beautiful place, so pristine in every way.

Let’s keep it that way!

Lorraine Margeson

Wouldn't you like to visit this beautiful place? Well, you can! It's on the field trip list for the Florida Native Plant Society's Annual Conference next May. A great, sustainable gift for someone you know? Like you? Check it out: FNPS.org/conference

sue dingwell
roving blogger

Don's e-bird list:

Hampton Tract, Polk, US-FL
Nov 19, 2011 9:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Protocol: Traveling
12.0 mile(s)
37 species

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) 3
Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) 11
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 8
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) 2
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 2
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) 1
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 6
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) 1
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) 2
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 11
White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) 1
Blue-headed Vireo (Vireo solitarius) 1
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 3
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 8
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 4
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 19
Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla) 3
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 4
House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) 5
Sedge Wren (Cistothorus platensis) 3
Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris) 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) 6
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 400
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 3
Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia) 2
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 6
Palm Warbler (Setophaga palmarum) 19
Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus) 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 24
Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor) 2
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 8
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) 5
Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) 1
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) 4
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 4
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 3

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Reflections on the "Real Florida"

2011-11-27T07:07:00.002-05:00

Family and friends at the "jumping" tree at
Fisheating Creek in Glades County.
Photo by Helen Woodmansee, ca 1975.

A letter from Steve Woodmansee, FNPS president

FNPS members recently received my letter describing childhood adventures in South Florida's outdoors – memorable experiences made possible thanks to preserved lands and my parents' initiative. I dug up some photos of these family trips to share with you. The quality of these photos is not the greatest - they were scanned from prints - but many readers probably have photos like these (maybe even older!) and can relate to a time without cell phones, the Internet or cable television.

At this time of year, we are grateful for our families, and also organizations like FNPS, which works every day, through grassroots volunteer members, to preserve, conserve and restore the native plants and native plant communities of Florida. As I said in my letter, my childhood experiences led me to being part of FNPS, because I believed in the mission before I even knew there was an FNPS.

You know FNPS, our mission and the many great things we do, described on this blog. I hope you share my gratitude and will consider donating now to the Florida Native Plant Society's Annual Fund Drive. We appreciate any contribution of any size, and donations are fully tax deductible.

Woodmansee clan just outside our Dodge Camper, which we took all over Florida. I'm the little guy on the left in the green shirt and swimsuit. Site locale is somewhere in the Florida Keys (Bahia Honda State Park?). Photo by Ralph Woodmansee (father), circa 1976

Sister Helen, Brother Marc, and a partial of my mother "Jo". The inside of the camper was a nice respite from rainy days, many good times were had, and many board and card games were played (and much teasing). Photo by Ralph Woodmansee, circa 1976.

My mother, who seemed to have a fashion all of her own.
Photo by Ralph Woodmansee, circa 1976

Me, at 8 years old, fishing in the Florida Bay, America Outdoors Campground, Key Largo. I remember witnessing in the water, not far from there, a large hermit crab using a beer can for its shell while we were netting Florida Pink Shrimp some winter night.
Photo by ???, circa 1979.

Me on my 10th Birthday at America Outdoors Campground. Yes, that is a Mr. Bill shirt.
Photo by??, 1981.

Squirrel in the subtropical trees of Key Largo. An early attempt to connect with nature with limited technology. Photo by Steve Woodmansee, 1981.

Thank you,
Steve Woodmansee, President
Florida Native Plant Society

Click to donate: https://www.fnps.org/secure/annualdonation.php

Click to read Steve's original letter: http://www.fnps.org/committees/fnps/pdfs/fnpsannfundletterfinalpress.pdf

Plant Profile: The Sensitive Fern-Bead Fern

2011-11-24T08:35:00.000-05:00

Figure 1: Vegetative and reproductive fronds of Onclea sensibilis;
note reproductive bead-like pinnacles and 8 pairs of
pinna that make up the green vegetative frond;
with photo credit to Kenneth J. Satsma at
(http://wisplants.uwsp.edu/scripts/detail.asp?Spcode=ONOSEN)

This post is one of a series from Botany professor Nisse Goldberg's students at Jacksonville University. Student authors: Jennifer Hoffman and Marie Chrest

Common name: Sensitive Fern- Bead Fern
Scientific name: Onoclea sensibilis
Classification: Kingdom Plantae
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta
Division: Pteridophyta
Class: Filicopsida
Order: Polypodiales
Family: Dryopteridaceae
Genus: Onoclea L.
Species: Onoclea sensibilis L.

Onoclea sensibilis’s name is derived from the Greek root words “ono,” meaning “vessel” and “kleio” denoting “to close,” referring to the ferns reproductive gametes present in the sealed vessel-like beaded pinnacles (Figure 1). The second half of the ferns name sensibilis which is Latin for “sensitive,” is from the plants vulnerability to quickly wither and die at the first sight of frost in the winter. Onoclea sensibilis is found in the southern states of the US such as Florida. The fern is typically associated with swamps, marshes, floodplains, and ditches where the soil is very moist and slightly acidic. The sensitive fern stores water from its surrounding environment in its’ bead-like reproductive structures which makes it better at surviving in drought. Although Onoclea sensibilis is adapted to withstand direct sunlight it prefers to be in partial or full shade.

The sensitive fern is easily identified by its medium to large fronds with wide leaves and visible reproductive fronds. Each mature vegetative frond contains exactly eight pairs of “leaves,” or pinnae (Figure 1). Vegetative are the light green and leathery fronds. The reproductive fronds are produced around August and September; they are usually shorter than the vegetative fronds and brownish in color (Figure 1). The reproductive fronds contain the bead-like pinnacles which are made up of spores. A spore is a reproductive structure that is adapted to maximize dispersal and withstand harsh environmental conditions. During the spring time pinnacle begins to dry out and eventually cracks open unveiling the spores which are dispersed away from the parent plant via wind or water current. These spores enclosed inside of the beaded structures are composed of lipids, or fats, which make them a good source of energy for other animals. Not only can the fern use the stored fats as a food source, but corn earworm and fall armyworm are examples of two organisms that eat these beaded structures for the fats that the spores contain.

Onoclea sensibilis can benefit species such as the fall armyworm, but also be disadvantageous to other organisms too. The sensitive fern has been shown to be a host for the pathogen which causes wilt in rice. Also, parts of the fern are toxic when ingested. On the other hand, there are many advantages that Onoclea sensibilis have on its surrounding environment. Herbalists have claimed that certain species of ferns, including the sensitive fern, help in treating ulcers, intestinal infections, as well as other sicknesses. Ferns are mostly garden plants, but since ferns historically were a part of the dominant terrestrial plants living on Earth, the fossils of these late plants have contributed in large amounts to the formation of our fossil fuels. These fossil fuels include coal, oils, and natural gas that are extremely important to us as humans. Now that you have read about a common Florida native fern and know how to identify it, see if you can find one at your local national parks!

Bibliography:

1. Ensiminger, Peter A. 2011. Ferns- Importance to Humans- Plants, Plant, Species, and Allies. November 1, 2011. [online]. http://science.jrank.org/pages/2689/Ferns Importance-humans.html.

2. Nelson, G. (2000). The ferns of Florida: A reference and field guide (1st ed.). Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc.

3. No Author. 23, January 2010. Onoclea sensibilis (Sensitive Fern). Northwoods. November 1, 2010. [online].https://academics.skidmore.edu/wikis/NorthWoods/index.php/Onoclea_sensib -lis_(Sensitive_Fern)

4. No Author. 2004. About Ferns- Sensitive Fern. November 1, 2010. [online]. http://www.aboutferns.com/sensitive_fern.shtml.

5. Rook, Earl. 26 February, 2004. Onoclea Sensibilis- Sensitive Fern. November 1, 2010. [online]. http://www.rook.org/earl/bwca/nature/ferns/onoclea.html

Fragrant Ladies’-Tresses

2011-11-20T06:05:00.001-05:00

Florida native orchid:
Fragrant ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes odorata)

A post by Roger L. Hammer

There are eighteen species of Spiranthes native to Florida, along with two varieties of one species, and three intergeneric, naturally-occurring hybrids involving five different species. All are known as ladies’-tresses because of the spiraling habit of the flowers up the stem, which superficially resembles braided hair.

One of my favorite members of this genus is the fragrant ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes odorata) and this past Wednesday (11/16) I encountered a flowering colony of them in the flooded prairies of Everglades National Park, where I’ve seen them each Fall over the past two decades. The species name, odorata, refers to the intensely fragrant flowers, so it’s very worthwhile to get your feet wet to get a whiff of the perfume that emanates from the flowers. It’s quite intoxicating.

Although very localized, this native orchid is frequent throughout much of Florida, except the Florida Keys. Look for it in wet prairies, along river banks, edges of ponds, and sometimes even along roadside ditches. November is the best month to look for them.

Roger Hammer's books would make a great gift set for anyone who explores south Florida: Florida Keys Wildflowers and Everglades Wildflowers. And when you make your online purchases here, you support FNPS and it doesn't cost you one extra cent.

Searching for Florida's Indian Pipes

2011-11-17T06:12:00.001-05:00

Monotropa uniflora, the pink form

John Freudenstein and Mike Broe from the Ohio State University Herbarium asked us to pass along this research request:

We will be visiting Florida in mid-December on a plant collecting fieldtrip. We are specifically looking for Indian Pipes (Monotropa uniflora), the white form and particularly the pink to dark-pink forms. This research is part of a worldwide study on the monotropoid group of plants. If any of your members could supply information on locations where we might find these we would be most grateful! We have found that local knowledge can be crucial to successfully locating monotropoids. You can contact us at broe.1@osu.edu.

Indian pipes and their close relatives (pinesap, pinedrops, pigmypipes, etc.) are fascinating because they completely lack chlorophyll: this means they depend on other plants for food. It used to be thought that they were parasites, but in fact they are part of a three-way symbiosis: an underground fungus forms a bridge between the roots of the Indian Pipes and the roots of a tree that is the ultimate source of food. The seeds also require the presence of the fungus to germinate: this is one reason they are so darn hard to find! In fact, these plants are often mistaken for fungi at first glance, and it is difficult to establish detailed family relationships by looking at the plant's morphology. We are isolating DNA from both the plant and the fungus to establish family relationships within the monotropoids.

Northern Indian Pipes are usually white, occasionally pale pink. In Mexico they can be much larger flowered, and dark-pink to salmon-colored. We are trying to establish if these southern pink forms - which have also been reported in Florida - are a distinct species, and just how closely they are related to the white forms.
Again, you can reach us at broe.1@osu.edu with locality information, or any other questions about these unusual plants!

Enticing new members with dinosaurs and smiles

2011-11-13T15:49:00.000-05:00

The Naples FNPS Chapter knows how to attract new members! This account is by Karyn Allman, membership chair, and Philip Tadman, The Coontie Man.

Earth Day special: 11 native plants when you join the Naples FNPS Chapter

Last year the Naples Chapter, with the gracious help of native plant grower and FNPS member Philip Tadman, gave away small nursery trays with 11 native seedlings as an incentive to join the plant society at an Earth Day festival. During the event, we gained three new members, and all three greatly enjoyed their new native plants.

As the new 2011-2012 season of the Naples Chapter rolled into action in September, so did Philip. This time around, Phillip had the help of Mr. K.C. Klein from Duck Lake Trees and Shrubs, and they were able to gather twenty-five 3-gallon Zamia pumila (coontie) and have them ready for the two day Collier County Yard and Garden show in Immokalee in October. Prior to the event, Harriet Heithaus of the Naples Daily News interviewed Philip and placed an informative article in the local newspaper. The article not only let everyone know they could obtain a free plant with membership, but it touted the beauty and ease of care of the Zamia and other natives. (See below for the original press release.)

The offer: A free coontie when you join FNPS

The morning of the first day of the event, the Native Plant Society booth was festooned with Zamias and other native plants, but also an eye catching sign reading

Danger - Dinosaur
Feeding Area!

A large plastic dinosaur was placed by the sign with a sprig of Zamia in its mouth. The dinosaur grabbed the attention of those who wandered by the booth, and opened the door to questions and conversations with the FNPS members at the booth. The dinosaur was, of course, the Zamia itself; a member of the cycad family – meaning living fossil that has survived through the ages as a part of the natural Florida ecosystem. In addition to the dinosaur, while selling native plants at his personal booth, Philip would send folks over to the FNPS booth, boosting our number of visitors.

The booth attracted a lot of attention.

Despite the occasional gusts of strong wind and off-and-on rain from the far offshore Hurricane Rina, the event was a great success. We far exceeded our lofty goal of 10 new members with 16 new members! The new members walked away with not only a Zamia, but a packet of information on the Naples FNPS Chapter, native plants in general, and a schedule of upcoming events with the Naples Chapter.

The Naples Chapter is looking forward to the rest of the season and hopes to find lots of new faces at meetings, field trips and other events. Thanks to everyone who helped make the Yard and Garden show such a great success.

Karyn Allman, Membership Chair

How could anyone resist?

Philip explains, "My whole idea was to attract new young blood to our chapter. The 'Danger Dinosaur Feeding Area' sign resulted from my trip to a Fire/Safety store to get my fire-extinguishers re-certified. It orginally read 'Danger Hard Hat Area.' I knew it would stop people dead in their tracks. The bouquet of native wildflowers and grasses (about 30 different species) was a member's contribution. It not only looked great, but it got people enthused and asking questions.

Humorous Observations

As Events Unfolded

I think Zamia Chapter is shell shocked, not getting much coherency from them; like the exact number of new members.

Our booths at the fair were supposed to be together, but the Society for some reason ended up in the boonies. As a repeat offender, I mean vendor, from the inauguration of the annual Yard and Garden show, eleven years ago to the present, I have a permanent and very nicely shaded spot.

When I get up on someones shoulders I can see Jean way over by the parking lot signaling me by holding up her hands. (both of them) since we are long past five new members.

Let's see, now was that five fingers on the left and three on the right, or maybe that was a double flash on the left or is she just swatting flies? Okay I'm sure it's five plus five plus three.

Good Lord, thirteen? Impossible! another finger up? The coontie are flying off the shelves. Jean has gone mad grabbing handfuls of air, fingers going in all directions.

Oh dear, the member whose back I've requisitioned has just collapsed and I with her. I keep forgetting dear Eva is 82. Fortunately we both land in my wildflower section.

Looking eyeball to eyeball with a black-eyed susan is an experience not to be forgotten. Almost as thrilling as signing up another seven members that singular sensational sunny Sunday. My apologies to that rather indignant calaminta under my chin, but what a gorgeous scent.

Someone realized that a cootie leaf fit very nicely in steggie's mouth.
Delighting the kids, including me! And of course, a rose being inappropriate
(not Mesozoic), I lunched in a similar fashion.

I expect the chapter will shortly contact FNPS with the final figure. Unless of course they haven't taken all that loot and gone to Paris.

I kind of think we made history!

Philip Tadman

P.S. Next incentive: Earth Day 2012. Top Secret!

Here's the Press Release:

At Yard and Garden Show a genuine Florida 'living fossil' offered with membership

On Saturday Oct 29 and Sunday Oct 30, the Naples Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society will be manning a booth at the SW Florida Yard & Garden Show, at the Collier County University Extension Office on Immokalee Road. Members of our Zamia chapter will be on hand to answer all your 'going native' questions with information and friendly advice on how to create a wildlife-friendly Florida yard.
The purpose of FNPS is to preserve, conserve and restore the native plants and native plant communities of Florida. The encourage you to join our society, we are making a very special offer. During these two days anyone who joins will receive (along with their membership) a beautiful 3-gal Florida coontie. This complimentary plant, officially named Zamia pumila, is an education in itself. Coontie is a cycad--a 'living fossil.' These primitive plants were a dominant form of plant life during the dinosaur age and were relished by those long-gone behemoths. Once common throughout the state, coontie is now rarely found in the wild due to intense collection in the past for starch production. The starch, called Florida arrowroot, was extracted from its underground stem or caudex.

From the article in the
Naples Paper

Coonties look like small palms or ferns and can be planted in full sun or deep shade. With its high drought and cold tolerance, it is an ecellent choice as a low-maintenance landscape plant and is quite happy living out its long uneventful life in a pot. Cycads are long-lived and at the age of an Encephalartos altensteinii, on display at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew England, is estimated at 220 years! If you've read this far, you have successfully passed Coontie (101) and haven't aged a day. You may proceed directly to our booth this weekend and pick up your very own stegosaurus munchie. Your membership will help support the preservation and restoration of wildlfie habitats and biological diversity throughout Florida and be assured that coontie will come in handy if, by chance, a hungry velociraptor crossses your beautifually landscaped wildlife-friendly path.

The cycad will be included with individual, family or student membership; the dinosaur will not be.
As a result of the above press release, we received good press coverage in the Naples News.

Wow! What a great membership drive. Has your chapter had success in gaining new members? We'd love to hear about it. Send article ideas or text and photos to fnps.online@gmail.com

Ginny Stibolt

An Eco-tour of an Estuary on Sept 24th (Estuary Day)

2011-11-06T14:39:00.000-05:00

To FNPS blog readers: from Joan Bausch (Cocoplum member, and the Native Plant Detective)

Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area (Flagler County)

Hoorahs and congratulations are in order for/to Mark Wheeler and the PawPaw Chapter for offering an eco-tour (Sept 24) to see and learn about the Salt Marsh Restoration/Reclamation Project at Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area (Flagler County) and the North Peninsula State Park (Volusia County).

Wheeler coordinated with Barbara Roberts, park manager, and Paul Haydt, St. Johns River Water Management District, the project coordinator, to pull off a great morning-- even keeping the 60% chance of thunderstorms away!

The group waiting to board.

Over forty people from as far away as Jacksonville (Ixia) and Martin County (Cocoplum) responded, filling the pontoon boat run by the International Marine Ecological Research Solutions. What a great vessel, perfect for looking, learning and keeping the sun off our heads. Paul Haydt explained the work of reclamation and restoration and then we saw it for ourselves.

The pontoon boat

The Work (in really brief summary): reduce the vegetation to smallest pieces possible; scrape off the dirt to marsh level soil (could be up to, and more than 10 feet-- this was old dredge spoil from when the intracoastal was created); haul it away (this has gotten more complex since economic downturn); plant some Spartina alterniflora (smooth cordgrass) along the edge; and let nature take its course.

The new grasses are filling in.

The Results: “Sweet” according to Paul, can be seen at Gamble Rogers south of the boat ramp, and further south below Highbridge Road, see the area just beginning the reclamation. This part looks “just awful, said Paul.” Actually, you can drive south on John Anderson Highway from High Bridge toward Ormond Beach and look in over the fences to see these newer phases.

The impacts from intracoastal dredging and mosquito impoundments are being offset, and restoration of a healthy salt marsh has begun. What do we know? The marsh is the most productive habitat in the area (baby shrimp love it); the salt marsh occurs naturally on the west side of barrier islands; the salt marsh does not harbor mosquitos; the salt marsh protects small marine animal nurseries; the marsh is a good buffer, holding nutrients and run-off, knocking down waves. A healthy marsh will have a variety of grass types, both high and low. We saw black mangroves growing along the edges. Normally a freeze event would knock these back.

Paul Wheeler (on left) organized this great FNPS field trip

Paul brought maps to show the extent of the marsh area prior to human intervention. Marshes filled the area between the barrier island and the western tree line with meandering creeks running through it.

The trip was highly rewarding to this native plant detective (not sure if PawPaw made any money, or if costs for the vessel were covered). Not only did we meet new people--society members, but we had a chance to catch up with Don Spence who had been active on the state board when I also served. Don is on a track to earn his PhD very soon, just passed his oral exam. Good News!

Thanks to FNPS for putting notice of this event on its website home page. It coincided perfectly with a trip to visit family in Flagler! Would love to hear of other eco-tours to Florida’s native plant communities. Chapters, think what you have to offer in your neighborhood that you love, and others would want to know about. Yes I know we put our calendars on the website, but when you go the extra mile to put on something like this ecotour, it creates a really special event. Thanks Mark and Paw Paw Chapter!

Joan Bausch (Cocoplum member, and the Native Plant Detective)

PS Also learned that the northern-most coastal colony of the Florida scrubjay reside in a 300 acre scrub in North Peninsula State Park….. need to plan another trip!

An osprey uses this piling as a vatage point to spot fish.

An Excellent Day at Longleaf Pine Preserve

2011-10-30T23:26:00.001-04:00

October began with great weather for a field trip to Longleaf Pine Preserve. This is a Volusia County Land Acquisition and Management property and the trip was an event of that department's outreach program.

Thirty people joined Volusia County naturalist Bonnie Cary for an eco-buggy ride into the preserve. This included 12 members of the Pawpaw Chapter of FNPS, many of which helped answer native plant and other questions from the public participants.


All of the FNPS chapters have field trips open to the public. Find a chapter near you at the FNPS.org homepage

Longleaf Pine Preserve is one of the many properties in the Volusia Conservation corridor that extends through rural parts of the county mostly between the more populated western towns - including Deltona, Orange City and Deland – and the developed coastal towns that include New Smyrna Beach, Port Orange, Daytona Beach and Ormond Beach. This preserve has been acquired in several purchases made from 2005 trough 2007 through the Volusia Forever program - a county version of the state's Florida Forever - with help from the St. Johns River Water Management District, and now totals about 12,000 acres. All of these programs are being significantly effected by the current economic and political climate. Land Acquisition and Management is currently being merged with the county's Environmental program.

Natural communities found here include both mesic and wet flatwoods, cypress domes and strands and scrub.

Delaware skipper on liatris

Two trails provide access by foot, bicycle and horseback. A six-mile loop trail extends into the preserve from the west entrance on Hwy 44. The 11 mile long blue trail provides a route through the preserve from the west entrance to the east entrance on Pioneer Trail, where this trip originated. Primitive camping is allowed in a designated campsite along the trails.
The eco-buggy provides opportunities for more of the public to experience the natural areas, and these events are almost always filled up. This is a covered trailer with four bench seats running the length of the buggy, and is usually pulled behind a pick-up truck or a tractor.

Examining a bladderwort

    After some brief stops to point out some of the grasses, our first exploratory stop was where some small ponds were beside the road, one containing many bladderworts. Here we examined one of the plants. Pawpaw member Dot Backes had done a report on carnivorous plants in her Florida Master Naturalist wetlands class, and she explained how they feed on the small organisms in the water. Another carniverous plant in the low areas near the ponds was sundew.

    The next stop exposed the group to some native Liatris and the skipper butterflies that were feeding on them. Pawpaw members Mike and Gail Duggins identified one of them as Delaware skipper. Another butterfly that I think was a Baracoa skipper was also visiting the Liatris. Then Bonnie Cary pointed out the invasive cockleburr (Xanthium strumarium) that came in with a load of fill dirt.

    At the Dahoon holly, someone new to to the state mentioned that they did not think of holly as a Florida plant. As people wandered along the dirt road in small groups, we heard the excited call “Pine Lily!”, the first of several seen that day, and one of the highlights.

Ever wonder what, exactly, went on inside a pitcher plant?

At our last stop we saw the third carniverous plant of the day, hooded pitcherplant (Sarracenia minor). Bonnie Cary opened up the specialized leaf of one of the pitchers to show the inside and there was a surprise creature – some kind of grub – among the digesting insects.

Even though this was not a Pawpaw Chapter field trip, the participation of so many of our members provided an excellent opportunity to interact with people interested to learn more about the plants and ecosystems of our state. The chapter has participated for a number of years in Volusia County outreach program field trips to various conservation lands, especially the fall wildflower events.

Paul Rebmann

http://www.wildflphoto.com/

Paul Rebmann is a Florida Master Naturalist, nature photographer, longtime FNPS & Audubon member, and FNPS Webmaster, with a day job as a network administrator. You can see more of his beautiful photos, and learn lots about them, too, on his website above. He is also exhibiting at the Halifax Art Festival on November 5/6

Occupy Your Lawn With Florida-Friendly Plants!

2011-10-23T23:42:00.001-04:00

Lu: We were sitting outside, talking about a picture we had seen on Facebook that was labeled “Occupy the Tundra,” when Forrest said he had thought about making a similar photo for “Occupy North Florida.” My mind started spinning, and I came up with “Occupy Your Lawn with Florida-Friendly Plants.”

Here are the results of a no-water, no fertilizer, no pesticides largely native yard!

Boooooring
and a resource drain!

When I bought the house, we agreed that the lawn was too big and we wanted to replace it, over time, with mostly native plants. Our primary motivation was that we didn’t want to spend all our free time mowing, but Florida’s water issues were a motivation, too.

Forrest: We do not water, fertilize, or use pesticides of any sort on the lawn, so in that respect it’s low maintenance. It does require mowing about once a week at the height of our long growing season, however. Each mowing session expends at least three hours of precious leisure time and consumes about 3 gallons of gas. For my time and expense, I would rather have more bang for my buck than a monotonous expanse of green carpet.


Planning is important; here, in order, are the plants used for this island: Stokes' aster, blue-eyed grass, scrub mint, horsemint, blazing star, rudbeckia, swamp sunflower, tickseed purple coneflower, muhley grass, beautyberry

Lu: I grew up swimming in Florida’s springs, and I’m brokenhearted about how quickly we are losing them to overpumping and algae blooms. Cynthia Barnett, in her excellent new book Blue Revolution, says that turf grass is our 51st state because lawns now occupy an area of the country that’s larger than many states! Horticultural products, including turf grass, have become Florida's #1 agricultural commodity. So we’re losing our springs in part because of our felt need to water turf grass—lawns—but do we really want an aesthetic that we borrowed from England to define our water ethic in Florida? My answer is no.

Red mulch was chosen in order
to show neighbors some structure.
An all-hardwood, no cypress mix.

Forrest: We have well over an acre of turf—a rather motley mix of Bahia, crabgrass, and various "weeds." Some of the latter are turning out to be desirable native groundcovers that provide nectar and larval food for butterflies. Since we live in a rural setting, we don't feel pressured to conform to the picture-perfect manicured lawn aesthetic prevalent in suburbia, but at the same time we don't want the yard to look like it has "gone to weeds."

Lu: I gave Forrest the book Urban and Suburban Meadows by Catherine Zimmerman for Christmas last year, and we relied on that and Florida’s Best Native Landscape Plants by Gil Nelson for guidance. We wanted to provide food for pollinators, butterflies, birds, and other wildlife.

Forrest: We had a couple of low areas in the yard where the builders burned trash when the lot was being cleared. We decided to use those spots for our first conversion to small meadows. Readying the sites was a labor-intensive process of digging out the grass, laying soaker hoses, planting, mulching. Once the plants were established by late spring, they needed only occasional watering from the soaker hoses. The photo shows the results.

Monarda punctada (aka horsemint) going to town with wonderful aroma
and lots of pollinator visits. The blue-eyed grass and scrub
mint are hidden but thriving. Maybe they like some relief
from summer heat.

Lu: Part of our motivation for the meadow plantings was aesthetic. These plants are gorgeous! I especially love how the horsemint, muhly grass, and swamp sunflowers peak in the fall, which is my favorite time of year. I’m hoping that our neighbors might even be inspired by what we’re doing.

Muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris) grass in the fall

Forrest: I've already given seeds from our purple coneflowers to one neighbor, and she has requested some from the swamp sunflowers and horsemint when they are ready.

Lu: We worried a little bit that our photo might be disrespectful to the folks who are part of the Occupy Wall Street movements, but I don’t think it is. Sustainability—of the economy, of financial institutions, of the government, of the environment—really seems to me to be a core issue here, and I think all these areas are connected. I’ve started envisioning Florida as the state with the best educational system in the country, the cleanest waters in the world, and an economy that prospers because of the first two. Florida-friendly plants are definitely part of that picture. I’d love it if all the folks in Florida who are growing turf grass would suddenly find it’s more profitable to grow native plants; that will happen when more of us start using them!

Lucinda Faulkner Merritt and Forrest Stowe
October 18, 2011

I agree with Lu! This wonderful, sustainable garden is a compliment to the folks on Wall Street, and also a fabulous example to turf owners everywhere. Lu and Forest have kindly shared a link to their Meadow Conversion Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2118523648109.2107145.1396317355&type=1&l=c13bc0704d

where you can see more photos and read details of their journey. Many thanks to both of them for their effort in sharing this with our blog.

sue dingwell

Ecosystem Gardening: Blog Action Day on Food 10/16/11

2011-10-15T20:55:00.000-04:00

Meadow garlic (Allium canadense), a Florida native,
belongs in your herb garden next to the chives.

More and more people are growing at least some of their own food. The reasons for this resurgence include food safety issues, lack of money for fresh vegetables, educating the children that carrots grow in the ground (not on the supermarket shelves), and simply the desire to replace an unused and expensive-to-maintain lawn with something more productive.

What is a post on food doing on a native plant society blog?
Native plants play an important role in sustainable edible gardens. Sometimes native plants are the crops such as meadow garlic (“A Native Herb has Earned a Spot Amongst the Mediterranean Species” ), prickly pear ("Edible Native Recovers from the Frost"), and dotted horsemint (“Dotted Horsemint: An Appreciation”), but mostly native plants play a supporting role. An edible garden with all its non-native plants, both the carefully-bred cultivars and ancient heirloom species, does not exist in isolation; it is part of the larger ecosystem—the surrounding landscape and neighborhood.

Butternut squash (Curcubita maxima). Squash flowers
need to be visited by 8 or 9 pollinators to ensure
good fruit formation.

To have a successful, poison-free edible garden, the surrounding landscape should include features that house, feed and shelter pollinators and pest predators—informally known as the "beneficials." Pollinators are essential for many of our favorite crops and it’s been estimated that every third bite of food has been pollinated by a bee. (“Every Third Bite”) For instance, crops in the squash family (summer squash, butternut squash, melons, cucumbers) need to be visited by a pollinator 8 or 9 times to ensure the formation of the fruit.

We’ve heard a lot about the honeybees and the colony collapse disorder that beekeepers have been grappling with, but if you practice ecosystem gardening, you’ll attract native bees that can do a fantastic job as pollinators for your crops and fruits, plus if the non-native honeybees find their way into your yard, you’ll be supporting them, too.

A native blue bee works a prickly pear cactus flower
(Opuntia humisfolia), an edible native.

In addition to bees, the other beneficials include birds, bats, frogs, toads, lizards (but not the larger plant-eating lizards—the iguanas found in south Florida), snakes, spiders, centipedes, predatory insects, and parasitoid insects. Encouraging them is an important part of your integrated pest management (IPM) program and overall ecosystem management. There are a number of excellent advantages for this method of control:

· Your crops will not have any pesticide residues.
· The predators do much of the work, although you will help with physical controls.
· It helps to prevent the development of pesticide resistance in target bugs.
· You are not contributing to overall environmental pollution.
· Insect predators will wax and wane in pace with pest populations.
· It's a more balanced ecosystem. A poisoned landscape requires ever vigilant, total life-support from you.

Beggar ticks (Bidens alba) may be a weed, but it attracts
a wide variety of insects including these cool
polka-dotted wasp moths.

Attracting and Keeping Pest Killers

Provide good habitat for both the insects and their predators--some have called this farmscaping. You'll want to encourage a large insect population to keep the predators supplied with plenty of food. This may seem counter-productive since you're trying to get rid of problem insects, but your goal as an ecosystem gardener is to let the populations reach a balance or equilibrium. The predator populations expand and contract in reaction to the pest populations. You can purchase ladybugs and other predatory insects, but adding too many predators at once rarely works, and of course, the ladybugs will fly away home or at least to some other place.

It's a good idea to keep a variety of flowers with different colors and structures blooming in areas in and around your edible gardens throughout the growing season—that means year round here in Florida. This way you provide nectar and pollen for both the adult predatory insects and the important pollinators. Create different layers of vegetation in the areas around your edible gardens by planting native hedgerows that have leaves from the ground to high shrubbery level to provide good shelter--hedgerows make a good windbreak, as well.
Some specific plant types attract your beneficials:

1) Low-growing creepers provide cover for ground beetles.
2) Small florets arranged in a flat flower head are good for the adult phase of those tiny parasitoid wasps. Plants from the carrot family (Apiaceae) work well. These are plants that you'd have in your herb garden anyway such as parsley, fennel, coriander, and dill.
3) Flowers in the daisy family (Asteraceae) such as asters, mist flowers, coreopsis, black-eyed Susans, marigolds, zinnias, and goldenrod.
4) Flowers of the mint family (Lamiaceae) members such as monarda, salvia, scarlet sage, and various mints to attract hummingbirds, predatory wasps, hover flies, and robber flies.

Plant a bug garden with some parsley or dill so
you'll have a place to deposit the beautiful
black swallowtail larvae. This way you can
eat your herbs and still support the butterflies.

When you look at this list, most of the flowers that attract beneficial insects are also attractive to humans. Some gardeners set aside an area with parsley and/or dill for the bugs. You can relocate those swallowtail butterfly larvae to the bug garden so they may dine in peace on your non-crop parsley or dill. And when these plants bloom, the beneficial parasitoid wasps will also enjoy the nectar and pollen and later birds will enjoy the seeds. Your bug garden will become a bird and butterfly garden.

In addition to maintaining a large insect population, attract and keep carnivorous birds and bats on your property by supplying appropriately designed bird and bat houses and other shelter such as snags and brush piles. Hummingbirds eat insects when they are raising young, so keep them coming to your property with red or orange tubular flowers and hummingbird feeders. (“One Native Plant = Three Habitat Benefits” ) Install a purple martin apartment house in an open area near a body of water. Maintain some of your property as an open meadow (rather than a closely cropped lawn) for the bluebirds and other ground-feeding birds. If you garden in a small urban plot, a balcony, or just a cinder block raised bed garden, you could plant butterfly and insect-attracting plants nearby: in containers near the front door, in a hanging basket under eaves, or at the local community center, school, or church yard. This way, your whole neighborhood becomes a functioning ecosystem.

Leave some out-of-the-way places uncultivated with no weed barrier and no mulch, but with a log or a pile of brush where critters can make their nests in the ground. Most solitary bees, which are important native pollinators, build their nests in the ground or drill into dead wood. Create permanent toad shelters in and around your gardens—toads will return the favor by dining on your slugs and bugs. A toad shelter can be as simple as a piece of a clay pot or a flat rock with a small crevice under it.

Green darner dragonflies mating and depositing their
eggs in the water. Water features should include still
water with emergent plants such as this
native spatterdock (Nuphar advena).

To provide habitat for frogs and dragonflies, you need a pond or a water feature nearby so they can complete their life cycles. It doesn't have to be large (just a half barrel or a sunken pre-formed hard plastic pond), but it should include a good variety of plant materials, fish, snails, and both shallow and deep water. If your pond has a beach, or mud flats, the butterflies and wasps will also enjoy it. If you are raising watercress, you will need a circulating water feature such as a multi-layered fountain with a solar-powered pump. This fountain can also be designed for frogs, birds and bugs, if you have a relatively still section where the over-flow collects.

Your Neighborhood Ecosystem

Many people call themselves locavores and try to use only local sources for food. What could be more local than growing edibles in our yards, school gardens, and community gardens? More native plants in and around your yard and the entire neighborhood provide the backbone for a bug-welcoming ecosystem, which provides the perfect environment for the neighborhood edible gardens.

Resources:

· My post over on the Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens blog includes an explanation of the harmful poison cycle: "A Poison is a Poison is a Poison."
· At the FNPS conference last May we learned about native bees: “What was all that Buzzz at FNPS?” and “More Buzz About Bees”
· “Why are they Dying?” From the New Internationalist Magazine
· “On Einstein, Bees, and the Survival of the Human Race” from the Entomology Department at the University of Georgia.
· U.S Fish and Wildlife Service’s “pollinators” web page with lots of resources:
http://www.fws.gov/pollinators/PollinatorPages/YourHelp.html

The post is part of the Blog Action Day October 16, 2011

The official Blog Action Day tag is #BAD11

Now is a great time to start an edible garden in Florida, where we grow the cool weather crops right through the winter. Producing your own food—now that's action.
Ginny Stibolt

Dotted Horsemint: an Appreciation

2011-10-11T15:52:00.002-04:00

A short piece about a tall mint…

The purple dots on the pale flowers are the reason for the
common and scientific names. The flowers are arranged
in a whorl above the pinkish bracts.

Dotted horsemint or spotted beebalm (Monarda punctata) is found in all but the southernmost counties in Florida and its range continues northward to include three Canadian provinces, westward to Wisconsin southward to New Mexico and jumps over to California.
(The USDA page.)

The dotted horsemint is an herbaceous perennial that dies back in the winter in north Florida and comes back from the roots. It seeds readily, so once you have some, you can collect the seed in the late fall and sow them into pots or spread on soil that has been raked to loosen the crusty layer.

It occurs along roadsides, on sand dunes, in meadows, in scrub areas, and in butterfly gardens–it is an incredible insect magnet. The height depends on the soil: in a sand dune, it will grow to about a foot tall, but in a garden with rich loamy soil, it can reach to six feet or more. When it grows tall, it tends to lean over, so if you want to maintain a neat look, trim it back in the early summer, but it’s best in a meadow area where the height or the leaning blend into the background.

A dotted horsemint flower head where the florets are in bud.
The stalk in the center supports another flower head and
there are two flower heads below this one. The cascading
flowerheads create quite a show.

The monardas belong to the mint family, Lamiaceae, as you might guess from their square stems and opposite leaves, but the monarda flowers are grouped together in a whorl to form showy flower heads. This species forms towers of flower heads and each floret is a pale yellow with purple dots surrounded by more or less pink bracts. Generally it’s much showier than the other mint family members.

Dotted horsemint: insect magnets...

Like many other members of the mint family, dotted horsemint produces a strong odor when the leaves are crushed and sometimes the odor is obvious as you approach a population. The volatile chemical produced is thymol, which is the same chemical in thyme and oregano leaves. So if you’re tired of convincing those boring-looking Mediterranean herbs to love Florida’s climate and soil, substitute the gorgeous, easy-to-grow, salt-tolerant, drought-tolerant, native dotted horsemint. The taste is the same; plus both you and the insects will be much happier.

In a garden, the six-foot tall stems tend to lean over. After a heavy rainstorm
with moderate wind, they'll all lie down. Trim them in early summer if
you'd like to manage their ranginess.

Dotted horsemint growing in the sand dunes in Anatasia State Park in
St. Augustine. In an unscientific study, the taste of the leaves from these
plants were stronger than those raised in a garden and purchased as plants from
a native plant nursery. The bracts were also much pinker, but the plants were only
about a foot tall compared to six feet tall in the garden.

A woman I know likes to crush mint leaves and freeze them in her ice cubes and use them in her mint juleps, but this savory mint would be more appropriate in a bloody Mary. Cheers!

Roadside monardas mixed with a less showy mint family member and some ferns.

Ginny Stibolt

What??! Native Plants are Not Pretty...

2011-10-07T12:14:00.006-04:00

The Sea Oats chapter's table with lots of literature,
and sample native plants including this lovely
white-flowered swamp milkweed (Asclepias perennis)

When I read last week’s post about Diane Neill's landscape transformation, “Keyhole Garden In –Lawn Out,” I was surprised at the landscape guys’ comments that native plant weren’t pretty ("The doom and gloom guys"), but last weekend I heard a grower say the exact same thing and more.

I was a vendor at the Garden and Home Show in St. Augustine October 1 & 2. While I’m not on an official book tour, it was fairly close to home and I was available with a box of books to sell. The weather was gorgeous and a fair number of folks came out to buy plants, participate in the 4-H activities, and to hear presentations. The Sea Oats FNPS chapter had a table at the entrance to the hall.

A swamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius) next to my
table with a Sleepy Orange butterfly guest. I'd also bought
a big pot of coontie and I borrowed a pot of muhly grass.
The natives attract attention and provide talking points
when trying to sell my book.

It doesn’t take long to set up my book table, so I roamed around the plants offered for sale. Two vendors had asparagus fern (Asparagus spp) to sell, although one guy said that this was a non-invasive form; one vendor was selling the invasive lantana (Lantana camera); and the master gardeners were selling the invasive golden rain trees (Koelreuteria elegans spp formosana). Not being shy I talked to all of the vendors—some argued, others did not have any comment, and the master gardeners said they would remove the golden raintrees—but they didn’t.

Then I talked to the event coordinator and politely suggested that for future events that it would be a good idea to stipulate, “No invasive plants.” He replied that they couldn’t do that unless the plants were determined to be illegal. I asked for further clarification and he said there was some other list besides FLEPPC’s (Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council) but couldn’t remember what it was. I asked again about why they couldn’t use the agreed-upon list from FLEPPC; he got mad and stalked off.

Renee Stambaugh, a member of the Sea Oats chapter and owner of
Native Plant Consulting attracted a lot of attention and she ended up
with more than 30 leads for people wishing to redo their landscapes with natives.
Renee also found a local grower to work with--good for the grower to have a
ready market and good for Renee to have a ready supply.
Events like this are great networking opportunities.

I’m on the planning committee for FNPS’s 2013 conference, which will be in Jacksonville. So during the event I talked to all the growers and asked if they’d be interested in participating in the conference plant sale. A couple of local growers said that they were interested and appreciated the lead-time so they could get started now. What other event can deliver 400+ educated and motivated consumers? But the vendor next to my table flatly refused and said, “I grow pretty plants and natives are NOT pretty. Yes, I sell some Muhly grass and a few others, but generally I can’t sell natives.” I was so surprised that I did not have an answer.

The view from my booth mid-day on Saturday including a bit of the
"I only grow pretty plants" grower's booth.

We Still Have A Lot of Work To Do!

· Don’t be shy: speak up when you see invasives for sale. If enough of us protest, it will eventually make a difference. It’s important to be polite and respectful.

· Ask for native plants wherever and whenever plants are sold. Again, don’t be shy.

· Increase your own outreach by talking to reporters, local groups, HOAs, politicians who are making decisions on vegetation installations, landscape & roadside maintenance. Be prepared with printed materials or at least provide a list of resources where folks can find plants and further information. Ask to be a guest blogger on blogs with a local audience and share photos of your beautiful native plants.

· Increase your chapter’s outreach to the general population. The Sea Oats chapter had an information table for this show and the previous weekend they held a native plant sale at the “Estuary Day” celebration on September 24th at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. If you read about Diane Neill's experience (above), you may recall that she learned about native plants at a green market and persisted in her choice of natives even though the mainstream landscapers tried to convince her otherwise—someone was doing a good job of outreach at that green market.

If we all work together to reduce sales of invasive plants, increase awareness of the problems they create, and if we promote sales and awareness of native plants, then maybe, just maybe, the grower at the next table will start to come around.

Ginny Stibolt

Michael mans the Sea Oats chapter table at the entrance to the building.

If you have a story about your work along these lines, please share with us here—your actions may inspire others who may inspire their own circles and so forth until we have even more real momentum. Contact us at fnps.online@gmail.com

Some additional photos from the St. Augustine garden show

Early Saturday when the outside vendors are ready for the crowds...

4-Hers--start them early...

And down by the pond...

Hempvine (Mikania scandens)

A great white heron belly-deep in dollarweed (Hydrocotyle spp).

FYI, this post was reposted with a new title.

FNPS Annual Report for 2010

2011-10-03T08:53:00.000-04:00

Here's your answer to "What does FNPS do anyway?" The 2010 annual report is a thorough look at the activities and the finances all beautifully put together.

The FNPS 2010 Annual Report a 4 meg pdf file to download

Please let the executive committe know of your chapter's activities this year, so you can be part of the next annual report.

Keyhole Garden In - Lawn Out

2011-09-29T23:40:00.002-04:00

"I didn't want grass anymore, and I didn't want a yard that looked just like everybody else's," says Diane Neill, explaining how she came to be the proud owner of this beautiful garden. "I was interested in conserving water, tired of mowing and feeding the turfgrass, and wanted to get more enjoyment out of my outside space."

Keyhole garden shortly after installation

Diane knew nothing about native plants, or even about garden design; but serendipitously, her son, Brandon, who just graduated with a major in Sustainable Living, came home last spring from Iowa with lots of ideas and some awe-inspiring garden design books. He had been learning about using planting beds, and suggested those as good alternative. Diane was intrigued with the pictures, and excited about combining flowers with edibles and herbs, but had some reservations: what would the neighbors think? Would the HOA allow it? She definitely wanted something that looked attractive and wouldn't upset the neighbors.

Buy a copy on Amazon

As they poured over the books, Diane was especially fascinated by the concept of a "keyhole garden" that they discovered in Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway. A keyhole garden, explains Diane, is a place you can walk into and kneel down to reach in to all parts of the planting area. As they thought more about it, this concept seemed to fulfill all their needs, and they charged ahead full steam to make it happen.

Diane had gotten just a bit of information about native plants while attending a farmers' market. She spoke with folks there who recommended natives as being easy keepers. Diane took home some brochures and began a search on the Internet to learn more. Her son drew up a sketch using the dimensions of their yard, and Diane, a graphic arts designer herself, went to town with details. She refined and elaborated the design, which had the dual purpose of making it a work of art, and also giving her the data needed to estimate costs.

Now please imagine a full orchestra, as in the movies, with a thundering chorus of doom-denoting music........because when Diane got serious and asked for quotes from the "landscape guys," gloom and doom was what she got. She was told that natives were "not pretty," and was categorically discouraged from using them. However, even though Diane had never created a garden herself, she came from a family of farmers back in Iowa, where her mother had always had a vegetable garden. So now that she had a vision, Diane knew what felt right!

She had the good fortune at this point to learn about Indian Trails Native Nursery in Lake Worth. She took her book and her drawing out there, to Jane Thompson, who immediately knew it would not only work, but it would indeed be "pretty." Jane gave her choices of a variety of plants for the differing heights needed to implement her plan, and things were really rolling.


Blanket flower turned out to be one of Diane's favorites

Coreopsis, "So cheerful!"

Diane was anxious to make use of her son's fleeting presence to get some of the structural work on the garden done, and she describes the next phase as pretty hectic. They had to decide on the type of rocks that would be in the pathways, not to mention the job of retrieving them from the source and getting them laid down. They stayed on task, though, and finally the big day came. Jane drove up to their house and delivered 900 plants, which they spent the next four days installing!

"The neighbors were lining up in the cul-de-sac to see what was going on!" says Diane. But when it was all over, the compliments just came rolling in: "It looks beautiful!" was the common refrain. Shortly after the initial install, Diane added a bench so that she could sit right in the garden and enjoy it up close. She laughs as she says that one day she went out and a stranger was sitting on it!

Diane has loved learning about the multitude of beautiful native flowers, and teaching others about them, too, along with the added benefits that natives bring. Those of you who already have native gardens will not be surprised to hear this, but Diane has been thrilled to discover that clouds of butterflies are now a part of her new landscape.

What a great success story!
Send us yours!

sue dingwell

Florida Wildflower Symposium October 15th

2011-09-26T11:06:00.000-04:00

The Florida Wildflower Foundation’s 2011 Florida Wildflower Symposium and Annual Meeting on Oct. 15 has adopted a hands-on format that lets participants choose from a variety of workshops and presentations.

The event at the Wekiwa Springs State Park Youth Camp, Apopka, begins with a 9 a.m. FWF member meeting. Morning presentations about wildflower trails and the Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants Web site (www.florida.plantatlas.usf.edu) will follow.

After a lunch break in the camp’s dining hall, participants will attend a workshop or presentation of their choosing. Sessions include:

Native Landscaping for Fall with Dr. Craig Huegel, a naturalist, author and educator who teaches about wildlife and native plant communities.
Wildflower Propagation for Home Gardeners, a workshop led by Claudia Larsen of Micanopy Wildflowers nursery.
Selecting and Preparing Herbarium Specimens, led by University of South Florida herbarium specialist Alan Franck, who will teach participants about specimen selection, drying and pressing.
Wildflower and Nature Photography, a presentation/workshop led by Vince Lamb, an experienced nature photographer and Florida Master Naturalist.
Wildflower Walk with author Dr. Walter Taylor, who will explore the woods and sandhills near the youth camp in search of wildflowers and grasses to identify.
Natural Lands Management, led by a Wekiwa Springs State Park ranger who will discuss how fire and other tools are used to maintain the park’s thousands of acres.

A social from 3-5 p.m. will feature refreshments, a silent auction and door prizes. Native plants, seeds and other items will be for sale throughout the day.

You'll be able to purchase wildflower seeds bred from Florida stock.

Admission is $20 for Foundation members and $30 for non-members, including lunch and refreshments. Day-of tickets will be $25 for members and $35 for non-members. Space is limited to 150, with most workshops limited to 25 participants; pre-registration is encouraged in order to receive your first choice of workshops. Visit the FWF Web site, www.flawildflowers.org, to register via PayPal or to download a registration form to mail with a check. (To check the status of your FWF annual membership, email Lisa Roberts at lroberts@flawildflowers.org or call 407-353-6164.)

FWF members and friends also are invited to paddle on Sunday, Oct. 16, with Lars Andersen of Adventure Outpost, who will lead a trip on Rock Springs Run near Apopka. Lars, who offers regular discounts to FWF members, is offering this trip at a reduced rate of $39, or $29 with your own canoe or kayak. Reservations only – contact Adventure Outpost: 386- 454-0611; riverguide2000@yahoo.com

National Estuaries Day Sept 24, 2011

2011-09-24T07:10:00.001-04:00

In Celebration of National Estuaries Day, here's a second look at the projects in the Lake Worth Lagoon:

Lake Worth Lagoon

What is an estuary?

An estuary is a place where freshwater rivers, streams, and canals meet and mix with salty ocean water. This mix of fresh and salt water creates the brackish water unique to coastal estuaries and makes them among the most productive ecosystems in the world.

Plants , such as this cord grass (Spartina spp), growing
at the water’s edge calm the wave action to provide important
habitat. (This is a photo from a north Florida estuary.)

Why are estuaries important?

More than 70 percent of Florida's recreationally and commercially important fishes, crustaceans, and shellfish spend part of their lives in estuaries, usually when they are young. Many of these species migrate off shore to spawn or breed. The eggs develop into larvae (immature forms) that are transported into estuaries by tides and currents. The shallow water, salt marshes, seagrasses, and mangrove roots provide excellent hiding places from larger, open-water species. Some species grow in estuaries for a short time; others remain there for life. Snook, trout, mullet, jack, grouper, redfish, silver perch, spot, catfish, sheepshead, spiny lobster, shrimp, crabs, oysters, and clams are examples of the diverse marine animals dependent upon healthy estuaries. Estuaries also provide breeding and nesting areas, or rookeries, for many coastal birds, including several endangered species, such as brown pelicans.

Lake Worth Lagoon

Lake Worth Lagoon is the largest estuary in Palm Beach County. The lagoon is about 20 miles long and a half-mile wide and stretches from the Village of North Palm Beach at its northern end to the Town of Ocean Ridge and the City of Boynton Beach at its southern end. It is separated and protected from the Atlantic Ocean by two barrier islands, Singer Island and Palm Beach Island. It has two permanent, man-made inlets, Lake Worth Inlet and South Lake Worth Inlet that connect the lagoon to the ocean.

Lake Worth Lagoon and other Florida estuaries are extremely important natural resources. Cities are built along its shores. Its waters are used for recreation and commerce. The fish and wildlife that make Florida unique depend upon estuaries for survival. As long as nutrient-rich freshwater flows and tides interact without too much human interference, estuaries remain productive. But some human activities over the past 100 years have hurt Lake Worth Lagoon. Less food and shelter is available for fish and wildlife. Water running off the land can carry pollutants into the lagoon. At times the quality of the water is poor and murky.
Many partners who care about the lagoon are working to protect, preserve and enhance the lagoon. They are planting mangroves for wildlife and cleaning up trash and debris from its waters and shoreline. Scientists are monitoring manatees, sea turtles, and seagrass. The lagoon is making a comeback from its earlier years, but it is still a body of water that needs continued protection and restoration. To learn more about this local treasure and what you can do to help save Lake Worth Lagoon, go to www.LWLI.org.

References:

(1) www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/habitats/estuaries.htm. Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection website.
(2) “Lake Worth Lagoon: Discover a Local Treasure Newspaper in Education Project.” Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners.
(3) "Snook Island Project in Lake Woth is Taking Shape" Channel 5 News WPTV
This post provided by an anonymous FNPS member.
Here are some FNPS Blog posts on similar topics"

Shoreline Habitat in the Intracoastal Waterway
We All Live in a Watershed!
Florida's Marvelous Mangroves

Shoreline Habitat in the Intracoastal Waterway

2011-09-19T05:36:00.000-04:00

New islands and pennisulas have been constructed and planted with mangroves and cord grass
in Lake Worth (Palm Beach County, FL). The foliage in the foreground is the mangroves that were
planted several years ago. On the right side, the curvy island has been added and planted this year.
On the left side note the shoreline vegetation next to the golf course. West Palm Beach is in the background.

Up until a few years ago, the wakes of passing boats in the Intracoastal Waterway lapped up against the bare shoreline and seawall of the public golf course and the adjacent Bryant Park without any interferance. Now in several areas, where new living shorelines* have been installed, the wakes don't hit the seawall at all, but are absorbed by the new mangrove-covered extenstions to the seawall and new islands. Several areas of cord grass (Spartina spp) have also been planted. There are 10 acres of mangrove and nearly 3 acreas of cord grass.

In this phase of the project, a public walkway, a kayak lanching dock, an artificial reef, and a new fishing pier are all being constructed along the new mangrove habitat.

These photos were taken from the Lake Avenue bridge over to the barrier island. This new bridge replaced the old draw bridge. Years ago part of the old cement bridge was left as a fishing pier, but it had become unsafe so now the rubble from the old bridge has been used as the artificial reef and the new islands. This Palm Beach County project includes not only these visible barrier islands, but aggressive action to treat storm water so that the sediments and muck-producing runoff are greatly reduced.

With all these efforts to improve the water quality, residents and guests alike will want to paddle their kayaks in Lake Worth Lagoon and even eat the fish that they catch there. Bird watchers will have much more to view now that a wide variety of water and shoreline birds have places to roost and fish.

This photo is one of two panorama shots of the project. This one is closest to the Lake Avenue bridge
and you can see a little of the golf course on the left.

This is the second of the two panorama shots where you can see some of the islands that were created in the
first phase of this project and the mangroves are well underway while others are freshly planted.

"Four mangrove islands and three shoreline mangrove planters were constructed resulting in 10.1 acres of red mangrove habitat. Additionally, 2.8 acres of Spartina marsh and 2.3 acres of oyster reefs were created. Oysters are already growing on the reefs. Threatened seagrass Halophila johnsonii has already begun to recruit to the newly placed fill. Approximately 57 acres of submerged habitat that may be suitable for seagrass recruitment has been created. Fish and wildlife have begun regular use of the new habitat.

"The Spartina marsh will help stabilize sediments and filter nutrients out of the system, contributing to increased water quality. The rock revetment will serve to protect the planted areas and also act as a shallow water reef that is conducive as a substratum for oysters and other attaching organisms. Funding partners include PBC, FIND, USACOE, SFWMD, FDEP & FWC." Quoted from Lake Worth Lagoon Habitat Restoration and Stormwater Projects. Impressive!

This is a fantastic project supported by the cooperation of various public, private, and volunteer organizations. Does your community have a sinilar project where habitat has been created and water quality has been improved?

For more information:

SunSentenial article: "Mangrove project is bringing Lake Worth Lagoon back to health"
Palm Beach County: "The Snook Islands Natural Area" includes several fact sheets including this summary of all the related Palm Beach County Projects: Lake Worth Lagoon Habitat Restoration and Stormwater Projects.

*Living Shorelines

Too much of Florida's original shoreline vegetation has been replaced with bulkheads, seawalls and rock riprap, which create a hard shoreline with little habitat for fish, birds, shellfish, and other wildlife. The water-side plants create a buffer that acts like a sponge that will blunt the exposure to wave action (from storms and boats) and water flows. These waterside plants also absorb nutrients from the water and create habitat for oysters and other filter feeders that will further clean the water.

While this Palm Beach County project is huge, even small projects or installations of appropriate shoreline plants outside of a bulkhead or riprap can make a difference. A little bit of habitat will build into more as your plants will trap more sediment and as birds and other wildlife start to visit or live in the newly created habitat and deposit their fertilizer and new seeds. You can add to your shoreline habitat over the years and when you have the time and energy.

For the first few years, you'll need to monitor the area for invasive species like Australian pine and Brazilian pepper, but eventually the mangroves and cord grass will become so thick that those invasives will be less of a problem. Be sure to check with your local authorities before you start a living shoreline project.

Ginny Stibolt

Invasive Exotic Plants

2011-09-15T07:42:00.000-04:00

What defines an invasive exotic plant? Taking one word at a time:

Wild taro (Colocasia esculenta) with its heart-shaped
leaves and wedelia (Sphagneticola trilobata) with its cute
yellow daisy-like flower heads are both invasive exotics.

· Exotic – the plant was not found in Florida before the first Europeans arrived.

· Invasive – the plant takes over the landscape.

So the definition becomes a plant that is not native to Florida that grows and reproduces aggressively.

Examples of invasive exotic animal species are the python, which is taking over in the Florida Everglades, and the fire ant, which we all know and respect. An example of an invasive exotic plant species is the Chinese tallow tree, brought here because of its high oil content. Its cultivation spread because of its natural beauty and spectacular fall color and is now extremely invasive in Southern forests and wet prairies. A common garden flower, the Mexican Petunia, is also an invasive exotic. It’s hard to comprehend how something so beautiful could be so treacherous. Here in Highland Lakes, we have been working to eradicate invasive exotic Cogon Grass and Primrose Willow from our lakes and marshes.

Many of the introduced, exotic plant species were selected because of their beauty and their resistance to the chewing and sucking insects found here. This resistance gives the exotic species a selective advantage over the native plants. Most of the time, individuals, organizations and even local governments who contribute to the problem are ignorant of the facts that surround invasive plants.

Additionally confusing, is that invasive plants that are not in a certain extremely invasive category are not illegal to sell or to plant, example: Mexican Petunia. Invasive plants may have beautiful blooms and provide limited food for some wildlife, but they can be destructive to Florida’s native ecosystems.

Growing coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)
attracts hummingbirds, which also eat lots of bugs.

We all love to feed the birds. A little-known fact is that all birds, even the seed-eating Cardinals and the nectar-sipping Hummingbirds require insects as a source of protein to feed their growing chicks. Without protein from insects, the chicks will not grow nor thrive. Without insects there will be no birds.

Florida-native trees and wildflowers support a whole host of chewing and sucking insects. And it is a good thing they do. The insects which native plants support are, in turn, eaten by other, larger creatures such as spiders, frogs, anoles and birds. Without the insects at the bottom of the food chain, the charismatic wildlife at the top of the food chain would have nothing to eat. Consider adding at least one Florida native wildflower to your Highland Lakes landscape to help our local bird and wildlife population.

So, to summarize, invasive exotics alter native plant communities by displacing native species, providing little or no food for native wildlife and changing plant community structures and ecological functions.

For an excellent article about the history of invasive plants in the Southeast, go to the American Nurseryman magazine, October 2010 issue, page 20. www.amerinursery.com.

Peg Lindsay

Join the Blog Team

2011-09-11T23:35:00.000-04:00


Cypress head at Grassy Waters Preserve

Shock and awe would just about describe the feeling I had yesterday as I came across a brand new shopping center here in Virginia which had to cover, in a conservative estimate, about 30 acres. Imagine

it - 30 acres completely covered by parking and buildings without a single plant or pervious surface of any kind. I mean not one! With all we know now about best practices. And I had to wonder: why are people surprised that heavy rains have made rivers here overflow, causing massive damage to property and life. Homes are flooded, cars have been swept away, waste water treatment plant overflows have caused campgrounds on rivers to be closed.

Stormwater runoff. I think we talk about it more in Florida than some other states do. But it’s a concept that everybody needs to understand. We can’t always have what we want! We have to pay attention to the changes we are making to our environment, changes that cancel the ecosystem services that we absolutely depend on. Those would be fresh water, oxygen, carbon sequestration, erosion and flood control, small details like that.

Are you wondering what all this has got to do with Florida native plants? Well, it’s like this. Nothing in life is certain but change, and change has lead me to a new address here in the Old Dominion State.

The thing I am going to miss the very most is the Florida Native Plant Society, where I have met so many wonderful people, and from them, learned so much about the natural world we live in.

My interest when I first joined the Society, was in native plants. But the Society’s mission extends beyond plants to include “native plant communities.” As my knowledge expanded, I began to appreciate the complexity and wealth of native plant communities, and to understand their value in supporting ecosystem services such as those above. I also began to want to share with others these new-to-me ideas, and to teach others about the contributions they could make to a greener world by using and conserving native plants.

Both the learning and the sharing have been great joys.

In February of 2010, a blog seemed to me like a great way to share information about native plants, and the FNPSblog was born. A Facebook page and Twitter account were naturals at that point, so web-genius Cindy Liberton set all that up for us. Ginny Stibolt quickly evolved into a real workhorse of a partner, and now, here we are 176 posts later. Do you see where this is leading? Well, you are right. I am now extending an invitation to you, to partake of the special joys of writing about the native plant world, and to become part of the blogging team.

We need help with writing articles, interviewing people, and getting the word out about all the neat things people and groups are doing these days. Many hands make light work, and it truly, truly is an enjoyable and satisfying activity. If you'd like to join the blog team, or have suggestions about others who might be able to help, please send us an email at:

fnps.online@gmail.com

Write to us, write for us, and help us spread the word: native plants add LIFE to your landscape, wherever it may be!

sue dingwell

Erythrina herbacea Coralbean or Cherokee bean

More Buzz About Bees

2011-09-05T23:07:00.000-04:00

Personally, I'm buzzing with irritation tonight at the park manager in Pohick Bay, Virginia, who has put out a flier for campers here with instructions on how to "re-purpose" water bottles by making them into bee traps. Can you believe it? And then waiting till they are full of bees and throwing them away. Egads!! Oh yes, he will be hearing from me (Sue Dingwell, your roving blog reporter) tomorrow. And guess what? I will be directing him here to our very own blog, where by incredible good fortune, Peg Lindsay has come to my assistance - read on!

Peg says in a report to her HOA:
I was at a meeting and one of the attendees said that our very lives and the survival of our species depend on preserving native plants and native plant ecosystems. I thought he was a little over the top – one of those wild-eyed, proselytizing environmentalists. Now, I’m not so sure.

Last May I attended the annual Florida Native Plant Society Conference. Two of the speakers presented topics about native bees. Both speakers were from different universities and engaged in very different types of research on native bees. And although off-topic, as the European Honey Bee is not native, both speakers said that unless scientists discover the cause of “colony collapse disorder”, that the European Honey Bee is doomed. Both speakers said that the cause is not one single agent but an unknown combination of agents (e.g. pathogens, nutrition, stress, pesticides) which causes the colony to collapse.

I had first heard about colony collapse disorder on the TV program “60 Minutes.” They interviewed principals from a major bee-keeping agri-business who said the honey bees are disappearing from his hives from an unknown cause. This may drive up the price of honey, but if all the European Honey Bees die off, what will pollinate our crops? Our food supply depends on pollination. For some crops, farmers are now being encouraged to plant a hedgerow of wildflowers around their fields to encourage native bees and other pollinators to visit.

One of the speakers at the Florida Native Plant Society Conference, Steve Buchanan, co-authored a publication “Bee Basics, An Introduction to Our Native Bees.” This is a free booklet co-published by the USDA, the US Forest Service and the Pollinator Partnership. It’s a short, easy read. (Type the title into Google and it will take you to PDF) I learned some bee facts. There are over 4,000 species of native bees in North America and over 600 species of native bees in Florida.

Click to read about this sleeping bee

Some of the bee behaviors described in this booklet sounded bizarre. Like the fact that bees are more active in the mornings and sometimes sleep the afternoons away, tucked inside a flower. So I checked out the bees in my wildflower garden and sure enough, there were bees “sleeping” in my flowers!
While I was looking for sleeping bees, I spied a dragonfly munching on a bee. Bad for the bee, good for the dragonfly. Dragonflies are amazing insecting-eating machines and consume large quantities of mosquitos. And everyone knows dragonflies are one of the favorite snacks of swallowtail kites. I am happy that my little garden contributes to snacks for the kites.

But back to the bee story - not every bee can pollinate every flower. Flower sizes vary, and so do the head sizes and tongue lengths of the different species of bees. Blueberries, for example, have tiny flowers, and the head of the honey bee is too large to fit.

Sparkeberry,
Vaccinium arboreum
Paul Rebman

Shiny Blueberry
Vaccinium myrsinites
Shirley Denton

Blueberries are pollinated by blueberry bees. In Florida, we have 3 species of wild blueberries plus the closely-related deerberry and sparkleberry, all pollinated by the blueberry bee, Habropoda laboriosa. These wild bees also pollinate the Florida blueberry crops

The honey bee does poorly when compared with native bees in pollinating food crops derived from native, north-American plants, including pumpkins, watermelons, blueberries and cranberries. The honey bee cannot pollinate eggplant or tomato flowers – these crops also require other pollinators.

Like our migratory songbirds, bee populations are being decimated by habitat loss and fragmentation, as well as from direct effects of pesticides. A program to control the spruce worm in our northern forests wiped out native bees from the forests. Blueberry farmers in Canada could not produce blueberries although their plants were healthy. These farmers initiated litigation that led eventually to Canadian government restrictions on the use of pesticides. The blueberry bee population rebounded. In Guelph, Ontario, Canada the citizens created the first-ever Pollinator Park inspired, in part, by their experience with the blueberry pollination disaster.

Rather than bore you with more bee facts, you can read up for yourself on-line (see the link, below) And be the first in YOUR neighborhood to have a bee house in their garden!

For more information:
“Bee Basics, An Introduction to Our Native Bees”, Moissett and Buchmann, 2010, also available on-line at http://www.pollinator.org/PDFs/BeeBasicsBook.pdf
The Forgotten Pollinators, Buchmann and Nabhan, 1996
http://www.pollinator.org

The St. John's-Worts: Under-Rated Landscape Plants

2011-09-02T12:45:00.001-04:00

A St. John's-wort shrub planted itself in front of the palmettos, but which Hypericum is it?

We have several species of St. John's-wort that have planted themselves on our property from groundcovers in our lawn to this shrub with its small yellow flowers, gracefully arching stems and reddish peeling bark. Recently, I decided that it was time to identify which Hypericum it is. So I carefully observed the flowers:

4 petals in a flattened X-shape and
2 large sepals

Turning the flower upside-down, the 2 large sepals are
subtended by 2 narrow bracts

If you're serious about identifying Florida's plants, "Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida" by Richard Wunderlin and Bruce Hansen, is THE authoritative text. These plant taxonomists are also the experts that provide data for the online Atlas of Florida's Vascular Plants, which we often cite as our authority for mapping which counties plants occur and when identifying whether a plant is native or not.

Here is their list of Hypericum for Florida. Without the book, you could link to all 31 of the species, look at the photos, and try to decide, but the photos may or may not provide enough detail to correctly ID the plant. The book and its keys make the job of figuring out the species or subspecies more certain.

Here is the key in the Wunderlin and Hansen book where I knew I could figure out our shrub.

A good key provides a series of clear either/or choices.

#1 is easy to figure out the number of petals and sepals. There are obviously 4 petals, but I only saw two sepals without my magnifying glass, but still I had to choose the first #1 with 4 petals--not 5.

#2: Styles 2 or styles 3 or 4. I can see that there are 2 styles, so I pick the first #2.

#3: The pedicels (flower stems) are short the the 2 bracts are right under the sepals (calyx). So my shrub is Hypericum hypericoides or St. Andrew's cross. When I look it up on the online plant Atlas, the range covers the whole state and the photos match my shrub perfectly. So now I know what to call my beautiful shrubs.

Flower diagram from wiki-commons

In order to successfully use a key, you'll need to learn (or re-learn) the parts of the flower and some other botantical terms. But once you get started, it's rewarding to know exactly what you have.

When you purchase "Guide to the Vascular Plants of Florida" or any of the other books listed in the right-hand column, by clicking our links, FNPS earns a small amount of money. Thanks for your support.

Ginny Stibolt

FNPS Seeks Executive Director

2011-08-29T20:11:00.000-04:00

The Society is seeking an innovative dynamic individual, self motivated with strong leadership skills to fill the position of Executive Director (ED). The responsibilities of this position include: furthering the Society’s mission, goals and objectives; fundraising; and organizing and coordinating the FNPS annual conference. Applications will be accepted by the Society’s Vice President for Administration, via email to: vpadmin@fnps.org. Submit your resume and cover letter of no more than 7 total pages no later than October 5, 2011. Position starts January 2012.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT

The Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS), is a 3,000+ member, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit organization founded in 1980. The mission of the FNPS is the preservation, conservation and restoration of native plants and native plant communities. The Society is seeking an innovative dynamic individual, who is self motivated with strong leadership skills to fill the position of Executive Director (ED). The responsibilities of this position include: furthering the Society’s mission, goals and objectives; fundraising; and organizing and coordinating the FNPS annual conference. Knowledge of environmental issues and/or environmental organizations is preferred. This individual must be able to work effectively in a team environment, have experience with event planning, event management, and contract negotiation, and have worked in, or with, an association or other non-profit or membership-based organization. Experience will include the preparation and writing of state, federal, and private foundation grant applications, with demonstrated success in procuring grant and sponsorship funding. Strong written/verbal communication skills and the ability to make presentations to groups of varying sizes and backgrounds groups are essential. Requisite skills include experience in MS Office suite, social media, and internet applications. Evening/weekend hours are required.

The Executive Director (ED) is accountable to the Executive Committee (ExComm) and the Board of Directors (BOD) but reports directly to the FNPS President. The ED provides guidance on the organization’s achievement of its mission and provides strategic and operational support of the Society.

Individuals, partnerships, or companies may submit applications to perform all three tasks: 1) Society Outreach, 2) Fundraising and Membership, and 3) Conference Planning. Applicants may apply solely for tasks 1 and 2, or solely for task 3, Conference Planning. Upon accepting the terms of the contract, the ED must reside in Florida within one month of date of signed contract. No relocation expenses are available. Applicant must also have a current driver’s license, a reliable vehicle for travel throughout the state, and be (or become) a member of the Florida Native Plant Society. Position requires a Bachelor’s Degree and five (5) years of relevant experience, preferably in the non-profit sector, or any equivalent combination of related education, training, and experience which provides the required knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the essential job functions. Applicant will perform as a contractor with compensation not to exceed $40,000 per year for all three responsibilities (exclusive of approved contract-related expenses). Applications will be accepted by the Society’s Vice President for Administration, via email to: vpadmin@fnps.org. Submit your resume and cover letter of no more than 7 total pages no later than 5 October 2011. Position to start January 2012, with possible December overlap.

DETAILED JOB DESCRIPTION

I. SOCIETY OUTREACH AND COORDINATION: The Executive Director (ED) executes outreach efforts of the FNPS to further its mission and goals, and serves as the contact for federal, state and local officials and other State and national level environmental organizations, and other duties.
Incumbent identifies actions, resources and timelines necessary to carry out the strategic plan and mission of the FNPS. Carries out actions and coordinates Society-level presence at key city, county and state conservation and public education events. Contacts and interacts with federal, state, and local officials for identification of relevant Society resources. With guidance from the President, Executive Committee, and Board of Directors, interprets the function and position of the FNPS to the community through direct involvement, public relations programs, personal contact, program literature, and interaction with the media. Attends official FNPS meetings and provides coordination or consultation on persons and materials to represent and promote the Society’s message. Maintains appropriate relations with other professional, environmental and social groups in the state and serves on relevant committees. ED maintains up-to-date information on key contacts including partner agencies and organizations for use by Committees and the Society.

II. FUNDRAISING AND MEMBERSHIP: The ED works with the Board of Directors and others to develop resources to achieve the FNPS mission, membership and fundraising goals. The ED provides leadership while facilitating resource development activities for the Society, to include grant writing and management, fundraising, and membership development.

1) Identifies and executes external funding opportunities, including partnerships, grants, sponsorships, etc., to promote the mission of the Society, and leverages the expertise of the Society to construct successful proposals. Incumbent serves as manager for Society’s fund raising initiatives, such as Earthshare, Good Shop/Good Search, endowments, charitable gift annuity plans, monthly donations, and periodic targeted campaigns, etc. This includes management responsibility for (a) fiscal management for externally funded initiatives; (b) maintaining required documentation as outlined in proposals; (c) ensuring timely completion/submission of deliverables; and (d) facilitating subsequent dissemination of products to Chapters and the public.

2) The ED implements strategies for the cultivation and solicitation of a portfolio of major gift prospects, including corporate, foundation, institutions, and /or individual donors. Develops and implements membership growth efforts through legacy, estate planning, corporate benefit programs. Coordinates fundraising activities through membership development, writing letters and proposals, making presentations and participating directly in requests for money and soliciting sponsorship of Society activities, and continual acknowledgement of donors.

III. CONFERENCE PLANNING: The ED will provide expert direction and consultation to the hosting chapter(s) on the management, planning, development, and execution of the annual, multi-day, multi-track conference held at a different hosting chapter(s) site in Florida. The ED ensures that the conference events and content reflects the mission and goals and objectives of the FNPS Board of Directors. These activities include but are not limited to coordinating execution of all conference events, timelines, deadlines, scripts, financials, administrative, volunteer staff, entertainment, audio visual and production, catering, hotel, guest rooms, sponsorship, promotion and could include all registration arrangements. In conjunction with Chapter Conference Committee members, develops a draft conference budget at least two years in advance and obtains FNPS Executive Committee approval of the draft budget. Coordinates final budget, obtains Board approval as part of that year’s FNPS budget. Holds hosting Chapter Conference Committee to approved budget. Maintains event support resource toolkit based on current best practices. Sponsorship registry has been maintained, updated and communicated to Executive Committee.

Eat Clean, Green, and Sustainably!

2011-08-26T08:04:00.000-04:00

Elderberries, one of our native fruits

A guest post and a request for recipes by Kari Ruder of Naturewise:

This past May during the FNPS state conference, I went on the very interesting and informative native yards tour around Orange County. One of the things I noticed then and at other native yards is that owners of native yards are also very interested in growing herb and vegetable gardens. We grow native plants in our yards to preserve our natural communities and wildlife without the use of pesticides, and we grow vegetable gardens to feed ourselves healthy food, also free of pesticides. It was my interest in both native and edible plants that led me to start my native and edible plant nursery Naturewise, and partner with other local farmers to create our farm and garden co-op, The Green Marketplace, located in Cocoa, FL.

Meadow garlic, a florida native.
See our post on FNPS blog: A Native Herb ...

One of the really fun things about my job is sharing recipes with customers for using various fruits and vegetables as well as recipes that use native plants. We've been able to experiment making food from native plants like salads with edible native flowers, tea from leaves of dotted horsemint, pennyroyal, and Brown's savory, and even root beer from the root of those weedy smilax vines. This year I even tried making wine from beautyberries and it smells like it's going to be really good! I just have to wait for it to age a bit again before I can try it!

Catbriar tubers were the basis for Sasparilla and root beer.

Given the growing number of people wanting and supporting local food and native plants and incorporate edible landscaping in their yards, we decided we would publish a cookbook with recipes that are made at least in part from locally grown and native ingredients. We concluded that if people had more ideas on how to use traditional as well as lesser known ingredients that we grow here, such as calalloo, roselle, muscadine grapes, etc., more people would eat healthier and more sustainably. The goal is to encourage people to "eat clean" or make the switch from processed food to making more food from scratch, with simple, locally available and diverse ingredients.

Do you have a recipe that utilizes one or more ingredients that can be grown in central Florida? Then please submit your recipe for our cookbook!
Anyone can submit recipes, and every time you do (up to 5 recipes), you will be entered into our drawing for prizes from The Green Marketplace. You will enter your recipes online. Read the submission details on our website at: www.naturewiseplants.com/cookbook.html

Elderberry flowers are edible, too.

Just make sure you submit your recipes by Saturday, August 27th!

Once published, our cookbook will also be for sale on the FNPS shop website, helping to raise money for the society too!
Here is an example of a recipe that will appear in our cookbook:

Mixed Berry Crumble
Ingredients:
5 cups mixed berries, such as blackberries, red mulberries, strawberries, blueberries, or elderberries
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup butter
vanilla ice cream
Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. If fruit is frozen, thaw and drain. If fresh, chop strawberries if using those, otherwise place all fruit in an ungreased 2-quart baking dish. Stir in the sugar. In a mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles crumbs. Sprinkle topping mix over the fruit. Bake at 375 degrees until fruit is tender and topping is lightly browned. Serve warm with ice cream or fresh cream from your local dairy!

Kari Ruder, M.S.
Owner/Operator
Naturewise
(321) 536-1410
kari@naturewiseplants.com
http://www.naturewiseplants.com/

Garden Design Round Table: Sunshine Mimosa, a Lawn Alternative for Florida

2011-08-22T21:07:00.003-04:00

Sunshine mimosa makes a great groundcover.

Florida native, sunshine mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa), which is a legume and vining groundcover, makes a great lawn alternative. While it does take a while to get it started, it will grow in lousy soil and stays low enough so it can be mowed several times per year to keep the other plants cut back while it's growing in. After it's established an annual mowing is all that is needed.

Mimosa takes moderate foot traffic and it lives up to its other common name, the sensitive plant, because the leaves fold up when touched.

Members of the bean family, the legumes, have the ability to work with Rhizobium bateria in their roots to capture nitrogren from the air and turn it into useable fertilizer for the plants. In soil where other legumes such as clover the bacteria will already be in the soil, but if you plant it on a sterile subsoil, it will take several months to a year before nitrogen-fixing root nodules will form.

This mimosa plant is starting to spread. You can let it go
it's own way or you can trim back the runners and root
them to make new plants.

It's best to start sunshine mimosa with plants spaced out over the area where you want to populate. You can also start mimosa with seeds, but they take a long time to sprout and to become established as I related when I wrote about a meadow project in St. Augustine, FL.

"To increase the germination rate, the volunteers covered part of the meadow with black plastic for six weeks before sowing the seeds to kill off the competition. Now they have a good stand of this wonderful native groundcover..." where it plays well with other Florida natives.

Mimosa in a meadow with scarlet sage & tickseed coreopsis.

This meadow is mowed once a year and receives no fertilization or irrigation above the normal 50" annual rainfall.

See more details on this meadow see my article onThe Lawn Reform Coalition: A St. Augustine Meadow Project.

The Florida Association of Native Nurseries (FANN) provides a list of their members who carry sunshine mimosa.

University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Science (IFAS) article: Native Wildflowers: Mimosa strigillosa
The Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants provides the native range and additional photos for Mimosa strigillosa

A lovely, easy-to-grow groundcover. Don't you want some?

This post on a lawn alternative is part of a blog roundtable hosted by Garden Designers Roundtable and The Lawn Reform Coalition. Read about other lawn alternatives and ideas posted in blogs across the Internet today:

Susan Harris : Garden Rant and Gardener Susan’s Blog : Takoma Park, MD
Billy Goodnick : Cool Green Gardens : Santa Barbara, CA
Evelyn Hadden : Lawn Reform.Org : Saint Paul, MN
Saxon Holt : Gardening Gone Wild : Novato, CA
Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA
Shirley Bovshow : Eden Makers : Los Angeles, CA
Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT
Rochelle Greayer : Studio G : Boston, MA
Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA
Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX
Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK
Laura Livengood Schaub : Interleafings : San Jose, CA
Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO
Ivette Soler : The Germinatrix : Los Angeles, CA
Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA
Douglas Owens-Pike : Energyscapes : Minneapolis, MN
Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT
Tara Dillard : Vanishing Threshold: Garden, Life, Home : Atlanta, GA

Sunshine Mimosa for the Sunshine State!
Ginny Stibolt

Landscape Award Winners Gain Publicity

2011-08-19T14:22:00.000-04:00

Richard Stauffer and Julie Wert, who live just south of the Hernando-Pasco line in Aripeka, won the Florida Native Plant Society’s second-place award for amateur residential landscaping at the 2011 annual conference in May.

Julie Wert states, "This article was in the St. Petersburg Times recently about our yard. The columnist, Dan Dewitt, was concerned that the Hernando County Commission had allowed twice a week watering rules again. He heard about our award from FNPS and came out to use it as contrast to typical suburban yards. I sent him home with a copy of Doug Tallamy’s article in American Forester and “Bringing Nature Home”. I just heard the article was picked up by newspapers in Indiana and South Carolina."

Read the article online at:
www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/florida-yards-can-be-natural-habitats-too/1178553

From the article: "Their yard, 1½ acres of coastal uplands just south of the Hernando-Pasco line in Aripeka, recently won the society's second-place award for amateur residential landscaping.

"It didn't win because it fits the definition of that tiresome word "sustainable," though of course it does. It won because it's beautiful — paths of hardy volunteer turf grass wrapping around dense gatherings of yellow-fringed Indian blanket blooms. ...

"Wert has strung a hammock in the yard, and I can see how lounging there could be somebody's highly acceptable vision of heaven."

This is a great example of getting "the word" out about native plants. Great that this article has gone viral to a degree. Julie's smart interaction with the reporter by providing a copy of Doug Tallamy's article and book lays the foundation for his next piece on native plants and the enviromnet. We all need to speak up for Florida's environment. If you have a story you'd like to share on your Florida native plant/environment action or publicity, please let us know. fnps.online@gmail.com

Do you have a great looking yard, a fantastic business landscape? If so, you should apply for next year's award. The 32nd Annual FNPS conference will be at Plant City May 17-20, 2012. It will be hosted by the Hernando and Suncoast Chapters. Hope to see you there!

sue dingwell
Ginny Stibolt

FNPS Position State on Park Development

2011-08-15T07:32:00.000-04:00

Letter outlining the official position of the Florida Native Plant Society regarding the development of campgrounds in state parks.

July 18, 2010

Bob Ballard., Chairman
Environmental and Restoration Council
Douglas Building, Room 1021D
3900 Commonwealth Boulevard, M.S. 44
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3000

SUBJECT: ARC Review of Proposal to Develop Campgrounds at 56 State Parks

Dear Chairman Ballard:

The Florida Native Plant Society (Society) was pleased by the recent decision to forgo development of a family campground at Honeymoon Island State Park. Although camping is a compatible recreational activity in many of our State Parks and provides an outstanding way for the public to enjoy these special lands, any decisions about the expansion of public uses or development of additional facilities must be carefully weighed against the potential for such uses or development to degrade the natural resources the State Parks are mandated to protect.

The Society believes the combination of relatively small size (less than 500 acres of upland habitat), extremely high public visitation rates, and presence of rare and sensitive natural habitats render Honeymoon Island unsuitable for campground development. We are also concerned about the ability of the other 3 parks currently under consideration to withstand the impacts that would result from campground development.

The decision by Governor Scott and Secretary Vinyard to end the expedited review of these proposals was an important step towards ensuring that a comprehensive assessment of potential environmental impacts and public concerns will precede any final decisions. The facilities required to accommodate family camping, as described by your staff’s site-specific proposals, are extensive and reflect the intensity of this form of camping activity. We ask the Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC) to adopt a posture on this issue that places resource protection concerns above acquiescence to pressure to open any parks to campground development that would compromise protection of either the natural resources or the recreational experience of current users.

We are also concerned by ARC’s apparent position that any such facilities could be developed and managed by private interests who will certainly place a higher priority on profits than on resource protection. During these difficult economic times, the state might well be looking for ways to generate revenue; however, our State Parks are a public treasure held in trust by DEP for the future enjoyment of all Floridians. They should not be perceived as cash cows, nor be expected to earn a profit. It is difficult to conceive of an approach to allowing private development and management of campgrounds in our State Parks that would be supported by the Society. Who better to develop and manage such facilities than the DEP staff who share our love of these magnificent parks and have demonstrated a superlative ability to be good stewards?

We would also like to document some of our concerns specific to the proposed development of family campgrounds at Fanning Springs, De Leon Springs and Wakulla Springs. The spring and spring run systems that serve as the centerpieces of those State Parks have already been seriously degraded by declines in water quality. Nitrate levels exceeding 1mg/liter have been documented in the spring discharge emanating from all three parks. These nutrient levels exceed historic background levels by 100-fold and more, and are responsible for declining conditions in the plant communities and habitat conditions of the spring runs and downstream waterbodies.   Although Fanning Springs and Wakulla Springs are served by sewage treatment systems, De Leon Springs is not. Non-point inputs from campgrounds would serve as another potential input of pollutants. We ask that ARC show a greater interest in the implementation of actions that would improve water quality within these systems than in recreational development that could lead to further degradation.

Like Honeymoon Island, Fanning Springs (198 acres) and De Leon Springs (606 acres) are relatively small parks. The campgrounds proposed for those sites would require conversion of approximately 10 percent of the total park land area in order to accommodate one of the most intensive recreational uses that can be accommodated by a State Park. The scale of the campgrounds, relative to the land area of the parks, would certainly overwhelm their natural character and degrade the recreational experience of other users.

Most of the proposed development appears directed towards sections of the parks that were altered by previous human activities, e.g., logging at Wakulla Springs that pre-dated establishment of the park, and we concede that altered sites are preferable to undisturbed sites for the development of park facilities. However, we also assert that a higher priority should be placed on restoring, rather than developing, altered sites within State Parks. If the State of Florida won’t pursue a management strategy in our State Parks that places resource protection and restoration above recreational development, then where will such conservation take place?

Again, the Society appreciates the recent decision to end the expedited review of campground proposals for the State Parks and we hope that decision reflects a more circumspect attitude towards the development of family campgrounds. We ask you to consider the concerns we have enumerated above and look forward to reviewing any additional proposals for such facilities. Please let me know if the Society can be of any additional assistance.

Respectfully,

Steven Woodmansee, President
Florida Native Plant Society

Cc:    Governor Rick Scott
     Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard, Jr, FDEP
    Jim Farr, Staff Director and Environmental Manager, FDEP ARC
    Al Gregory, Office of Park Planning, FDEP

Florida Native Plant Society
Post Office Box 278, Melbourne, FL 32902
Telephone: 786.488.3101

The Not Bored Board: FNPS Directors Meet in Orlando

2011-08-15T07:18:00.001-04:00

The FNPS Board of Directors meetings are anything but boring! As the Committee chairs, chapter representatives and elected officials from all over the state converge in one small space - and any space is small when this group gets together! - the air is absolutely electrified with ideas, news, reports, and passionate speeches on an astonishing variety of topics. Saturday's meeting at the beautiful public library in downtown Orlando was no exception.

This blog post is no way meant to take the place of minutes, which, by the way, are accessible to the whole wide world on our website. Peg Lindsay, a recent guest blogger here, is our secretary, and she took very complete notes, as always. But since I'm just a blogger, I get to tell this story!

One thing I was very anxious to hear about was the report from our Policy and Legislation Chair,
Gene Kelly, who had recently returned from the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference. You may remember that last year, native plant societies from the southeastern states were invited to attend the FNPS Annual Conference and discuss common interests and possible future collaboration. The group met, decided to continue the alliance, and to convene again at Cullowhee this year, calling themselves the Summit of Southeastern Native Plant Societies.

Gene reported that representatives from Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia attended the three-hour Summit at Cullowhee in 2011. Mississippi and Louisiana were at the Conference but unable to attend, but Mississippi confirmed their Society's interest in participating in the continuing activities of the coalition.

Sawtoothed oak Quercus acutissima

It turned out that one of the hot-button topics for this group was invasives. The Kentucky Native Plant Society (KNPS) asked for assistance in opposing an ongoing project by the Kentucky state government to promote widespread planting of the sawtooth oak, Quercus acutissima. This is an oak that is native to East Asia. It has gotten a reputation for producing more mast, (heavy crop of acorns) than some of our native oaks. Interstingly, when I went to look for some pictures of this tree, I found one I was allowed to use from the St. Louis Botanical Garden, but they listed the mast as being of "low" food value.

The Global Invasive Species Programme includes sawtooth oak in a list of species demonstrated to be invasive, but still included in lists of plants being considered for biofuel crops. Well, in Kentucky they are thinking that great amounts of mast will support more deer which will in turn support sport for hunters. It's hard to imagine that anybody wants more deer, isn't it? Other Summit participants note that their states had also promoted the sawtooth oak, going so far as to provide free seedlings to landowners. I know. Good grief.

The coalition representatives agreed to research occurrence of the species in their states and also evidence of invasiveness, so that all could be better prepared to form a joint-state opposition to the promotion of this tree, as it appears likely that other states may follow Kentucky's example. In addition, they decided to meet regularly throughout the year by teleconference, and to work on getting a website up to explain who they are and document actions taken. They all agreed that Gene really ought to continue as their unofficial leader. Thanks, Gene!

Several committees were involved with the issues that surround the placement of new, privately funded campgrounds in state parks, and with opening new lands to hunting: see blog posts of July 29, hunting, and July 6 , parks. I am going to share the letter that states FNPS's position in a separate post today, it has already been sent. The letter with FNPS's position on hunting will be posted when available, soon.

Progress is being made on the new FNPS website which is going to have an awesome searchable plant database among other things...

Esmeralda Marsh Conservation Area

Checks have been cut for this years' Conservation grant awards, one for the Esmeralda Marsh Conservation Area Hardwood Restoration project, and one for the Reintroduction of the Fragrant Prickly Apple-Cactus project. Esmeralda is an amazingly beautiful spot, and it's wonderful that hardwood restoration will be happening there, thanks to donations from FNPS donors.


Rainlilies blooming at Esmeralda Marsh

There was lots more, of course, but to conclude here, think about this. The theme for next years'
conference (2012 - yes, we're thinking about that already) is going to be

Preserving the Heart of Florida

Which is, after all, what FNPS is all about. Have you joined yet?

sue dingwell

communications chair

ddd

Paradise Tree: Beautiful and Useful

2011-08-08T11:58:00.002-04:00

"The native Paradise tree is more useful than Google, and easy to grow."

And how could any blogger resist leading off with this intriguing quote from the Key West Garden Club? I am a Master Gardener and a Master Naturalist, but I only know so much; so I always check out statistics from experts before posting information about plants. I have a beautiful Paradise tree in my yard, it came from the raffle table at my chapter's program night about six years ago.

Paradise tree Simarouba glauca

For the first six years the little tree had a perfect, closed, cone shape; but just this summer I was astounded one morning to walk out and notice that my tree had changed. The canopy had begun to open up, there were open spaces between the layers of branches. It seemed to happen overnight. Proving again that a garden is constantly in motion, which is one of the fascinating things about observing them.

Pinnate leaves of the paradise tree

The leaves of the paradise are glossy green and have a roughly textured look that makes it stand out from plants nearby. They are pinnate in form. Pinna is latin for 'feather.' Just as the strands of material that form a feather are joined together on two sides of the shaft, so the pinnate leaves are joined side by side on a common stem, called the rachis.

Plant Creations in Homestead had some fun with this declaration that "Pinnate compound leaves are a sign that this is a intelligent tree."
I think so, too!

The new growth is a completely different color when it first appears. The pinnate structure is very apparent here.

"New growth emerges as flames of red and gold."
says Plant Creations

Last night Palm Beach County got a big blast of wind that had the leaves and branches dancing outside. And my Paradise tree had another surprise in store for me. As the wind lifted the branches upwards, the mass of the lime-colored undersides formed a marked contrast with the deep green of the leaf topsides, reminding me of snowfall on evergreens up north! I had never noticed the undersides before. The effect was very dramatic.

"Snow effect" of wind exposing undersides of leaves

My husband thought so too - as the thunder and lightening began, "Sue, what are you DOING out there?!"

I have heard complaints that the paradise tree, like the gumbo limbo, drops its branches in high winds. Our local native growers, though, point out that this is the tree's adaptation to storms; and because it can shed branches when it needs to, it also doesn't fall over.

Which brings us to the next commonly heard statement that the paradise and the gumbo limbo will blow down during hurricanes. I know personally of several examples of both kinds of tree that are hugely mature and have indeed survived all hurricanes to date. On the bicycle trail in Palm Beach, right on the edge of the Lake Worth Lagoon, which the old days we called the Intracoastal, there is a gigantic gumbo limbo with a trunk too big to get your arms around. It has been there at the very least since the early sixties when I first saw it. Several of our FNPS chapter members have huge paradise trees in their gardens.

I think the lesson is that placement is a key factor for ANY tree in a hurricane. As these urban legends are passed around, we have to look to for facts, which are not always on the surface. I found no corroborating support for labeling the paradise as an especially hurricane damage-prone tree.

Berries deepen to dark purple when ripe

Speaking of facts brings me back to the opening statement about the paradise being useful. It turns out that when my tree gets a little older it will have flowers and bear fruit. Paradise trees are dioecious, meaning "it takes two." All paradise trees bear flowers, but some have male flowers and some have female flowers. This is the opposite of a plant which is monoecious, where both sexes of flower appear together. The female flowers are followed by fruits that "are sweet and eagerly sought by birds and other wildlife," says Craig Hugel in Native Plant Landscaping for Florida Wildlife. The falling fruits can be a liability if the tree is placed near a driveway or sidewalk.

According the research done by the Key West Garden club, the Paradise seed produces 65% edible oil which is used in baking in Central America and India, and its oil does not contain bad cholesterol. They also claim the fruit pulp is sweet and is used to make beverages when the birds don't eat them, the oilseed cake (what's left after the oil is squeezed out) is full of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash and makes a good fertilizer. Futhermore the shells can be used to make particle board and the termite resistant wood makes furniture, toys, matches and paper. Now that's pretty darn useful! Maybe even more useful than Google!!

I did discover that as the tree matures its roots, which are close to the surface, can become a hazard to paved surfaces, causing upheaval. Although the University of Florida says that these are great trees for median strips. I am fortunate in that my tree is not near either of these things.

The paradise tree is denizen of coastal habitats, preferring moist, well-drained situations in full sun or light shade. It reaches 40 to 50 feet in height if it is happy. Some organic content in the sand will help it feel happy. It may have a crown as much as 30 feet across. That would be in an unrestricted space of course. It can be grown from seed, but de-pulp these and plant quickly, they don't stay viable for long periods of storage. This is a tree for south Florida, although along the coastal borders, it grows as far north as Cape Canaveral.

The research journey for the Paradise tree was so entertaining. I have to end with two quotes I came across. The first from the U. of Florida: "Not particularly outstanding." And the second from our south Florida horticultural bible, A Gardener's Guide to Florida's Native Plants, by Rufino Osorio: "The visual effect as the leaves rustle in the wind, first flashing glossy green and then pale, milky green, is extremely attractive and makes this one of the most visually striking trees native to the United States. It is widely used as specimen or accent tree in parts of southern Florida, even by gardeners who otherwise have little interest in native plants."

Can you guess what I think?

sue dingwell

AFTERNOTE: In reply to several inquiries, the photos are all mine - use at will for any project you deem noble.

Links:

Plant Creations: http://www.plantcreations.com

U of Florida Tree Fact Sheets: http://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/database/trees/trees_scientific.shtml#S

Key West Garden Club: ttp://www.keywestgardenclub.com/

Southeastern Native Plant Confernce in Cullowhee

2011-08-05T00:28:00.000-04:00


Southeast Native Plant Conference Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC

It had been 19 years since I last attended the Southeast Native Plant Conference (SNPC) in Cullowhee North Carolina, so I jumped at the chance to return as a speaker. For one, who wouldn't want to spend a few days in the Appalachians in July while the rest of the Southeast is baking in mid-90 degree temperatures? And, could there be a better place to see plants and be around plant people than this conference?

The conference in Cullowhee has a long history. Based at the campus of Western Carolina University, it has attracted native plant enthusiasts from throughout the Southeast for more than 30 years. This year, the conference committee invited me to speak on a topic suggested by last year's attendees - Gardening with Native St. John's-worts. I came armed with potted plants I had assembled over the past months and a powerpoint based on images I have been taking for what seems like forever.


Hypericum cistifolium Roundpod St. John'swort

{Editor's note: following are excerpts and photos from Dr. Huegel's blog http://hawthornhillwildflowers.blogspot.com/}

Roundpod St. John's-wort (Hypericum cistifolium) is one of the five-petal St. John's-worts and it occurs statewide in Florida in the edges of wetlands and in moist pine flatwoods and savannas. In these habitats, it can be abundant. Outside of Florida, this species occurs throughout the Southeastern Coastal Plain from Texas to North Carolina.

Roundpod St. John's-wort is distinctive. It generally grows as a single stem and reaches a mature height between 2 and 3 feet. The leaves are deep green, linear and the edges fold inwards. These traits make it easy to identify, but because of its narrow growth form , individual plants tend to disappear into the background when they are not in bloom. Look for this distinctive St. John's-wort in flatwoods and open savannas in summer and enjoy its simple beauty.

Hypericum myrtifolium Myrtle-leaved St. John's-wort

Myrtle-leaved St. John's-wort (Hypericum myrtifolium) has foliage that looks somewhat similar to that of four-petal St. John's-wort (H. tetrapetalum), but the flowers of this species have five petals. Myrtle-leaved St. John's-wort is a wetland species; found in a variety of locations nearly statewide. It is confined to the Deep South and occurs only in nearby states -Alabama to South Carolina. Regrettably, it is only rarely offered by commercial nurseries for the home landscape. Should you locate a source, use it at the edge of ponds or shallow wetlands. Plant it in mass as individual plants are rather thin and to take advantage of its showy blooms.

The SNPC is both similar and very different from the annual conferences hosted by the Florida Native Plant Society. The similarities are based on the general structure of the conference. SNPC has wonderful field trips the day before the paper sessions, keynote speakers, and concurrent talks for several days following the field trips. The talks are varied and the speakers are top notch. Of course, I like the vendors as much as anything. Walking through the various aisles of native plants is like being a child in a candy store for me and each aisle is overflowing with plants native to the forested mountains and pinelands of areas I truly love. Most would never grow in west-central Florida, but I could dream. And, there was the largest collection of nature-oriented books I have ever seen in one place...

The SNPC also is a great time for social events. Everything is well planned and well organized. It culminates at the Saturday night social when, after dinner, there is an attendee talent show judged by the crowd. Serious performers and wacky wannabees take turns on the stage for more than an hour and its just plain fun.

What is most different to me between SNPC and the FNPS Annual Meeting is the focus of the talks. There is less focus on using native plants in home landscapes and more attention on ecological topics. That may be due to the more regional nature of the SNPC and the difficulty of making home landscape talks fit the varied types of landscape conditions found among the regional audience that attends, but I suspect it's more of a cultural difference between the two groups.


Plumleaf azalea "You can look but you can't bring it home!" says Dr. Huegel

I would encourage anyone who has never attended the SNPC to give it a try. The setting is absolutely beautiful, the conference is interesting and expertly run and there are a great many fascinating botanists to talk plants with. Fight the urge to buy native azaleas and wildflowers we can only dream about and bring a vehicle large enough to carry home the stuff you will purchase regardless. I know that I will be back next time much sooner than 19 years from now.

Dr. Craig Huegel
Native Plant Landscaping for Florida Wildlife
HawthornHillWildflowers.blogspot.com

Snakes and Flying Squirrels

2011-08-01T11:20:00.000-04:00

FNPS Secretary Peg Lindsay reminds us that our native plants are providing some of the most basic needs of other inhabitants of an ecosystem...

Red touch yellow - Coral snake

Two extraordinary things happened at our Highland Lakes home.

The first was the appearance of a snake. A snake in Florida is not so unusual; we’ve found quite a few in many colors and sizes over the years here. Snakes are generally benign and benevolent creatures, whose diet is any creature smaller than they are. We’ve seen them in our garage, gardens and patio. Most of the time we let them be. Occasionally we relocate them where they can live peacefully without having to encounter any lawn mowers.

With the coming of the summer rainy season, my husband was cleaning out the gutters. I had the job of turning the water off and on while he was up the ladder removing the leaves. One obstruction in the downspout would not wash out. I told him he would have to take the downspout apart, and I went into the house to fix dinner. A few minutes later he came in. “Get your camera and come outside quick! Is it red-on-yellow or red-on-black?” He was telling me he had either a coral snake (venomous) or a king snake (harmless).

For those of you who haven’t heard the poem about the coral snake:

Red on yellow kill a fellow.

Red on black friend of Jack.

Outside, I photographed the largest coral snake I had ever seen. It was in the 30-to-36-inch size range. I really didn’t want to get close enough to measure it. My husband put on his leather gloves, picked up a small rake, and proceeded to put the snake in a bucket with a lid. He then relocated the snake to a place safe from any further human encounters.

Kissimmee prairie Shirley Denton

We looked up the Eastern Coral Snake in our field guide and learned the following facts. The record length is 47½ inches. They prefer a dry habitat, such as dry scrub or pine flatwoods. Their primary diet is small lizards and other small snakes. They have a very small (compared to other snakes) head and mouth, so although they are venomous, it would be extremely difficult for them to bite a human. They can bite the webbing between your fingers or toes. So, when cleaning your gutters, wear gloves!

Note the webbing stretching between front
and back legs.

The other extraordinary thing that happened at our home was some new tenants in our bird house. My husband put up a standard bluebird house in our back yard in hopes of attracting a family of bluebirds. Instead we have flying squirrels!

Away we go!

Again, we went to the field guide for more information. The Southern Flying Squirrel is strictly nocturnal. It feeds on a variety of seeds, nuts, insects and bird eggs. Nests are normally found in abandoned woodpecker holes but they will build nests of leaves, twigs and bark in the crotch of large trees. Our field guide notes they like to spend winters in your attic.

Until they moved into our bird house, I had never seen one. I’ve heard them at night, in the large oak trees near the clubhouse. If you have large oak trees in your yard, go outside at night and listen. If you hear what sounds like birds chirping, you are hearing flying squirrels.


Florida has over 21 species of oaks, and all of them provide acorns. Oaks are one of THE most important trees for wildlife according to Doug Tallamy in "Bringing Nature Home."

One of the threats to flying squirrels (and other cavity-nesting birds) is the absence of nest cavities. We humans tend to cut down and trim back any dead trees or dead limbs, thus eliminating many nest cavities which would otherwise make homes for the birds and squirrels.

Red cockaded woodpecker building nest in tree caity

The Environmental Committee has purchased a selection of bird houses which will be installed in the fall, when some of our handier members return to Florida and Highland Lakes. Consider adding a birdhouse to your back yard, and tell me what moves in. I would love to hear from you.

Editor's note: And we would love to hear from you, too! Peg wrote this article in her capacity as Chair of her HOA's Environmental Committee, a job she does in addition to her work as our Society's secretary. Do write in and let us know what you are doing for the benefit of plants and wildlife!
fnps.online@gmail.com

FNPS Members Show Committment

2011-07-29T23:38:00.002-04:00

Florida Native Plant Society members right up
front, prepared to speak at public hearing

For the second time this summer, officials had to move the venue to a larger place when public response to their proposals exceeded expectations.

And who do you think is sitting in the very front of this hall? Well, I'll tell you. FNPS members. I can see at least three members of the Florida Native Plant Society who sacrificed personal plans to make the trip over to Plant City for the hearing this afternoon. You can bet they were there early and had their comment cards filled out.

Front row, on the left, is Annie Schmidt, the Society's Conservation Chair, Daphne Lambright, Treasurer, Anne Cox, Chair of the Land Management Partners Committee, and to Anne's left, Katy Roberts, from the FNPS Pinellas Chapter. I have just learned now, (Saturday night) that FNPS member Brooke Martin, not in photo, was present and spoke on conservation considerations at the hearing. Kudos to all for putting your beliefs into action.

The Southwest Florida Management District, commonly known as Swiftmud, had put 8 additional lands on the table to be considered for opening to hunting. Which 8 it would be was a piece of information that was revealed late in the game. However, Anne, who had records through her work on the Land Management Partnership, an FNPS group that works to help the state keep public lands cared for, rounded up bodies, got documents into their hands, and said, "Read now," ensuring that comments they made would reflect the Society's stance of "science-based" decision making.

There are many issues involved in the hunting question, certainly too many to go into this late at night. But when this picture made the email rounds; it was taken by Audubon, it deserved to go on record right now.

I am proud to be a member of the Florida Native Plant Society. I invite you join us. Preserving and protecting Florida's native plants and native plant communities with wonderful people.

sue dingwell