Florida Native Plant Society Blog

Going Natural: The Importance of Home Composting for Native Plants By Jackie Edwards Native plants aren’t by any means demanding...all they require in order to flourish is a natural environment. No need for chemical fertilizers, irrigation systems or complex programs of management. That’s great news if you’ve planted native species of Central Florida in your yard. The local climate will serve your plants well, and the soil will be matched to their requirements. However, to ensure you maintain optimum soil conditions, especially important with sandy soils typical of the Florida region, it’s a good idea to use home compost. This is the natural, environmentally-friendly way to replenish nutrients. Making environmental sense According to the EPA, 20 to 30 per cent of our waste is  organic material that should be composted . This would keep these materials out of landfills where they release methane into the atmosphere, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming

Nature in Broward:  The Silent Crisis of Local Rare Species Extinction by Richard Brownscombe A recent review of vegetation maps and firsthand knowledge of Broward natural areas reveals that less than 3.5% of metropolitan land remains for nature. Some ecosystems, such as Scrub, Pine Flatwoods, and Wet Prairie, are now 1% of their size in 1943. Late conservation efforts enabled by Preservation 2000 and Forever Florida gave us a patchwork of small, isolated preserves. Each is important and valuable as a last remnant of a unique subtropical ecosystem. Some have an evolutionary history tens of thousands of years old. Five hundred plant species are living in these metropolitan parks and preserves. By comparison, two hundred plant species live in the large western wetlands, the Everglades Wildlife Management Areas. Therefore, our greatest biodiversity is within metropolitan Broward. Largeflower false-rosemary,  Conradina grandiflora , is endemic to scrub habitat in Flor