by Carrie Stevenson | Feb 3, 2016
Do you love the outdoors? Wish you knew more about the plants and animals native to our area?
Master Naturalist Jerry Patee leads classmates along his project: a wetland boardwalk in Perdido Key. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson
The Florida Master Naturalist Program is a course offered by Extension agents throughout the state, including the northwestern counties. Three different modules—Freshwater Wetlands, Coastal, and Uplands—are offered. They include 40 hours of instruction time on ecosystems, plant identification, animal ecology, and how humans live within the environment. Each class includes 2-3 field trips which may entail hikes, paddling, or tours of local museums and parks. Adult students are expected to produce an educational project at the end of the course, which may vary from a display or presentation to a skit or full-blown nature trail.
Proud Master Naturalist students at their graduation. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson
Several Master Naturalists have recently brought their projects to life. Several years ago, Charlie Lurton created a plan to build living shorelines in Bayou Grande behind homes in his neighborhood. The project was approved by state and federal environmental regulatory agencies and oyster reefs and planting have recently begun. Jerry Patee, also an Escambia County Master Gardener, worked with his church to create a boardwalk trail through wetlands to a pristine view of Bayou Garcon in Perdido Key.
Master Naturalist students vary in backgrounds from retired military and teachers to new residents and college students. Many Master Gardeners find the courses a helpful addition to their training, and utilize their newly gained knowledge when working with clientele. At completion, students receive an official Florida Master Naturalist certificate, pin, and patch. Several Panhandle courses will be offered this spring—check out the FMNP website to see when a class will be offered near you!
by Matt Lollar | Nov 18, 2015
Yaupon hollies (Ilex vomitoria) are evergreen, provide great fall/winter color, and can adapt to numerous landscape situations. They are also very durable and can survive extreme drought.
Characteristics
Yaupon hollies are dioecious, meaning male and female flowers are produced on separate plants and berries are only produced on female plants. Flowers are creamy white, but not showy on both male and female plants and berries can range in color from red to yellow depending on cultivar. The plants are favored by wildlife – pollinators are attracted to the flowers and birds love the berries.
Yaupon hollies are native plants with a number of different cultivars available at plant nurseries. ‘Jewel’ is a cultivar that produces an ubundance of red berries and ‘Aureo’ produces yellow berries. ‘Nana’, a dwarf, compact male cultivar is an excellent replacement for boxwoods. Large growing cultivars can grow to 15 to 25 feet tall and can be shaped as trees or left as large shrubs. ‘Folsom’s Weeping’ and ‘Pendula’ are two weeping cultivars that can be utilized as dramatic specimen trees.
Dwarf Yaupon hollies will naturally form a mound without pruning.
Credit: Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
Yaupon holly fruit and foliage. Photo courtesy UF/IFAS.
Plant Care
Yaupon hollies prefer to be planted in full to partial sun. It is important to note that they are drought tolerant and require a site with well-drained soil. Because only the female plants produce berries, it is best to purchase plant material when plants contain berries in late fall and winter. Yaupon hollies spread readily by vegetative sprouts. Sprouts should be pruned down to the soil line 2 – 3 times per year. They do not have many disease or insect problems, but scale, leaf miners, mites, and aphids can sometimes be a problem.
Fun Facts
The leaves of the yaupon holly contain a higher caffeine content than any other plant native to North America. The Seminole Indians would purposely brew a concentrated “Black Drink” tea to induce vomiting and diarrhea for believed purification. Southerners utilized the caffeine in the leaves during the Civil War. If the leaves are steeped for a short period, a black tea or coffee substitute can brewed. A related species of holly (Ilex paraguariensis) from Brazil is used to make a drink called Yerba Mate, which is as popular in South America as coffee is in North America.
For more information on yaupon hollies, please visit the publication located at this link https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/st311.
by Carrie Stevenson | Sep 23, 2015
As September rolls into October and we finally experience cooler temperatures, I always look forward to seeing one of my favorite native grasses in full bloom. Muhlenbergia capillaris, or Muhly grass, is an extremely versatile plant in the home landscape. It is both flood and drought tolerant and easy to maintain. A true local, it is typically found growing in beach dune areas, sandhills, pine flatwoods or coastal uplands. It provides nesting material and shelter for birds and small animals, and is known to attract beneficial ladybugs.
The dramatic color of Muhly grass in the fall makes it a favorite for home landscapes. Photo credit: UF IFAS Escambia Extension
Muhly grass grows in a clumping form, usually 2-3 feet in height and width, and looks great in clusters as a border along the edge of a building or lawn. It can also be used as an eye-catching centerpiece in a landscape. The plant’s most notable feature, however, appears in late September and early October. This is when hundreds of filamentous blossoms form a dramatic display of deep pinkish purple. When the wind blows the colorful blooms, it creates an appearance of a pink cloud hovering over the grass.
Muhly grass is semi-evergreen, turning more copper in color as it gets colder. The only maintenance needed is voluntary; in late winter it can be trimmed down to 6-8″ to remove older, dead blades before the growing season. This plant was chosen as the 2012 Plant of the Year by the Garden Club of America, and is a great selection for our area.
For more information on the plant, please visit UF IFAS “Gardening Solutions” or speak to your local UF IFAS Extension horticulture agent.
by Sheila Dunning | Aug 13, 2015
University of Florida researchers maintain a constant vigilance on the potential for mosquito-borne illness concerns. UF/IFAS Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory in Vero Beach tracks rainfall, groundwater levels, mosquito abundance, wild bird populations and virus transmission to animals including horses and sentinel chickens. When mosquito infection rates reach the levels that can infect humans, alerts are sent out. Through the Florida Department of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Health Alert Network issues advisories on a weekly basis to those counties at risk. Such an alert was issued for Gadsden, Polk and Walton Counties for the week of July 19-25, 2015. Unfortunately, the first 2015 confirmed human case of West Nile Virus illness in Florida occurred in Walton County shortly thereafter. It was just another reminder for people to take action to reduce their potential for mosquito development in their landscape.
With all the quick afternoon thunderstorms and frequent irrigation events, now is the time to check out where the water is collecting in your yard. The female Culex nigripalpus mosquitoes lay their eggs in temporary flood water pools; even very small ones such as pet watering bowls, bird baths and upturned Magnolia leaves. Dumping out the collection containers every couple of days can greatly reduce the population.
Becoming infected with West Nile Virus is not easy. Mosquitoes usually obtain the virus by feeding on infected wild birds, many of which have migrated from areas that have ongoing West Nile Virus outbreaks. Once the mosquito has drawn infected blood from the bird, the virus goes through a temperature-dependent incubation period within the mosquito. Then, when the infected mosquito “bites” a human or horse the virus mixed in saliva is released into the blood stream of the second host. West Nile Virus is not transmitted from one human to another. Nor is it transmitted from bird to human or from horse to human.
Thanks to a devoted set of researchers and government public health officials, here in Florida we are able to monitor mosquito-borne illnesses quickly and effectively. Additional partners, such as local veterinaries, sentinel bird stations and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) serve as reporters for virus population. Should an individual come across dead birds without an obvious cause, reporting them to the FWC at www.myfwc.com/bird/ is the best thing to do.
As for protecting yourself, here are a few pointers:
Stay indoors at dusk (peak mosquito biting time).
If you must be outside, wear long sleeves and pants and/or mosquito repellents containing the active ingredient DEET.
Repair torn door and window screens.
Remove unnecessary outside water sources.
Flush out water collected in outdoor containers every 3-4 days.
Disturb or remove leaf litter, including roof gutters and covers on outdoor equipment.
For additional information, contact your local Extension office about obtaining a free Florida Resident’s Guide to Mosquito Control.
by Carrie Stevenson | Jun 29, 2015
These fledgling doves were found out of their nest and on the ground in late May. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson
A few weeks ago, the neighbor boys came running over to show my children the baby birds they found in their front yard. We expected they would lead us to a tree and point out fledglings in a nest, but instead the young mourning doves were lying on the ground in a pile of pine straw. Their nest had fallen from a perch in a low windowsill. According to the local Wildlife Sanctuary of Northwest Florida, mourning doves are notoriously bad nest-makers.
Doves in their new nest! Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson
Close-up of young doves. Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson
So, with no regard to the (untrue) wives’ tale that human scent affects a mother bird’s willingness to return to her babies, I scooped up the birds and kept them in a box inside for the night. Our neighborhood has plenty of roving cats, raccoons, and even coyotes, so this protected the vulnerable young birds from predators.
The next morning, the kids and I made a new perch for the birds from an old basket by placing the nest inside it and hanging it from a nearby tree. At that point, we left the area alone, so as not to frighten the mother bird away. Within hours, she was back, fussing around the nest and bringing food.
Establishing a conservation ethic towards land, water, and wildlife while children are young will ensure good stewardship for generations to come! Photo credit: Carrie Stevenson
This happy ending illustrates a an important point—trust nature! Often, out of well-intended concern, people bring young (uninjured) animals to a wildlife sanctuary simply because they are afraid they’ve been abandoned. If young are moved, their parents will never find them again. While rehabilitation facilities do their best to return wildlife to their native habitat, there is no substitute for a young animal to learn to find food, hide, or fly from their own kin. In our situation, we intervened enough to keep the birds safe from predators, but didn’t completely relocate them from their home.
It was a lesson that these four budding wildlife conservationists will never forget.
by Beth Bolles | Mar 10, 2015
Although we are not able to grow edible cherry trees in more southern climates, there are a few ornamental relatives of the cherry that are worth adding to the landscape. The Bush cherry, Prunus jacquemontii, is an attractive deciduous shrub that is a highlight with pink blooms in late winter. Flowers provide an early nectar source to bees.
Bees are actively visiting flowers.
Plant the bush cherry is an area that receives sunlight and allows for the rounded shrub to grow about 5 feet by 5 feet. Plants like well-drained soil but benefit from some moisture during the growing season. Small berries serve as a food source for wildlife and can be used in jellies and jams. Leaves turn yellow in the fall before dropping. Plants are generally low maintenance and certainly brighten winter days. 
