by Sheila Dunning | Apr 21, 2016
Mountain laurel. Photo credit: Sheila Dunning, UF/IFAS Extension.
If you are lucky enough to live on the southern Alabama edge of northwest Florida, you may want to see if you can find mountain laurel blooming now near the wooded creeks. Its native range stretches from southern Maine south to northern Florida, just dipping into our area. The plant is naturally found on rocky slopes and mountainous forest areas. Both are nearly impossible to find in Florida. However, it thrives in acidic soil, preferring a soil pH of 4.5 to 5.5 and oak-healthy forests. That is something we do have. The challenge is to find a cool slope near spring-fed water.
Mountain laurel blooms. Photo credit: Sheila Dunning, UF/IFAS Extension.
Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) was first recorded in America in 1624, but it was named after Pehr Kalm, who had collected and submitted samples to Linnaeus in the 18th century. The wood of mountain laurel was popular for small household items. It is heavy and strong with a close, straight grain. However, as it grow larger it becomes brittle. Native Americans used the leaves as an analgesic. But, all parts of the plant are toxic to horses, goats, cattle, deer, monkeys and humans. In fact, food products made from it, including honey, can produce neurotoxic and gastrointestinal symptoms in people consuming more than a modest amount. Luckily, the honey is usually so bitter that most will avoid eating it.
Mountain laurel in its native habitat. Photo credit: Sheila Dunning, UF/IFAS Extension.
One of the most unusual characteristics of mountain laurel is its unique method of dispersing pollen. As the flower grows, the filaments of its stamens are bent, creating tension. When an insect lands on the flower, the tension is released, catapulting the pollen forcefully onto the insect. Scientific experiments on the flower have demonstrated it ability to fling the pollen over 1/2 inch. I guess if you don’t taste that good, you have to find a way to force the bees to take pollen with them.
The mountain laurel in these pictures is from Poverty Creek, a small creek near our office in Crestview. This is their best bloom in 10 years. Maybe you can find some too.
Native range of mountain laurel.
by Gary Knox | Apr 20, 2016
The huge flowers and leaves of Ashe magnolia make it one of my favorite native flowering trees. Individual flowers may be 6 – 12 inches in diameter and are white with purple blotches at the bases of the 3 inner petal-like tepals. When in flower, as they are now in April, the huge white blooms are impossible to miss because of their size and color.
Ashe magnolia. Photo credit: Gary Knox, UF/IFAS.
The leaves are similarly huge, growing 1 – 2 feet long and up to 1 foot across. These large, banana-like leaves offer interest and coarse texture to any landscape.
Ashe magnolia grows as a small tree with a loose, open branching habit up to a height of about 25 feet. The large, light green leaves have whitish undersides and emerge in mid spring prior to flowering. Leaves turn yellowish and fall in autumn, usually without any dramatic color change. Pollinated flowers are followed by reddish, cylindrical, 3-inch fruits producing bright red fleshy seeds in early August.
Native to the Panhandle. This small tree is relatively unknown because of its rarity. Ashe magnolia, Magnolia macrophylla var. ashei, is native in only a few counties in the Florida panhandle and is endangered because of this limited distribution. It is primarily found on the slopes of ravines, growing in the understory of mixed hardwood forest. While it is now illegal to remove this plant or its seeds from the wild, nurseries can grow this plant using seeds from long-cultivated landscape trees.
Garden cultivation. Ashe magnolia makes a lovely small flowering tree if planted in the right location. It grows best in rich, well-drained soil under partial shade, although full sun is tolerated if plants are irrigated during drought. Sheltered sites are best since strong winds can shred the papery leaves and break the brittle branches. You won’t have to wait long for this plant to flower; a unique aspect of Ashe magnolia is that it flowers when young, reportedly when as small as 1 foot tall! Another unusual characteristic is that this Florida native plant is hardy north into USDA plant hardiness zone 6.
Given this species’ beauty, rarity and nativity to the Panhandle, I think it is almost an obligation for panhandle Floridians to cultivate and showcase this plant in our gardens while preserving it in our forests! Seek out specialty nurseries to obtain one of these rare beauties for your garden.
For more information:
Atlas of Florida Plants: Ashe Magnolia
Ashe Magnolia at the United States Botanic Garden
USDA Ashe Magnolia Plant Profile
by Judy Biss | Apr 14, 2016
A stand of purple flowers called “False Dragon-Heads (Physostegia spp.) growing along the St. Marks River. They are behind a stand of pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata) that has not yet bloomed. Photo by Judy Biss
This is the time of year when gardens burst forth with lush green growth and colorful flowers. With a little planning and management, your backyard pond can also put on the same show each year and fight unwanted pond weeds at the same time!
Fish and farm ponds are abundant in the Florida panhandle. Most are two acres or less and are used for producing catfish, bass, and bream; for recreation and wildlife viewing; for fishing and swimming; and for irrigation and livestock watering. Ponds play an important role in various aspects of agricultural production and rural life, and for that reason, maintaining their ecological health is critical to their many uses.
Managing aquatic plants is one important component of pond ownership. If you are a pond owner, you have probably seen and read many articles related to controlling and removing aquatic weeds. Just as in terrestrial gardens, there are a number of non-native (and sometimes native) plants that can become quite weedy and problematic in and around your pond. Hydrilla, water hyacinth, torpedograss, Chinese tallow, alligator weed, and the tiny water spangles (common Salvinia) are just a few examples that plague our waterways and shorelines. But, controlling and removing weeds is only part of the bigger picture of pond management. Planting native wetland plants is another ecologically important and aesthetically enriching management tool as well.
By establishing beds of healthy native plants, you are also fighting against weedy non-native invasive plants through competition for space. Some other benefits of native aquatic plants are they act as a barrier, filtering fertilizers such as nitrogen and phosphorus from runoff, and they help control erosion. Also, because native plants are adapted to our local environments, they are generally easy to grow, and most require little or no extra water or fertilizer.
Below are a few guidelines to follow if you are considering the use of native aquatic plants in your pond.
Know Your Plants:
Depending on the type, aquatic plants generally grow in three forms. Emerged, like maidencane or bulrush, submerged like coontail and southern naiad, and floating, like the tiny free floating duckweed, and spatterdock and fragrant water lily which are rooted with floating leaves and flowers at the water’s surface. There are many good UF/IFAS publications and online resources for aquatic plant identification. Some are listed at the end of this article.
Plan Ahead:
Some questions to ask are, what is the primary use of your pond? Is it wildlife viewing, swimming, fishing, irrigation, etc.? The answers to these questions will help you determine how much of your pond and shoreline will be planted, and what types of plants to use. For example, if you use your pond for fishing and irrigation, you should leave some areas of the shore unplanted and mowed to allow for access, and you should not plant submerged plants that may clog irrigation intakes. On the other hand, if your pond is primarily for attracting wildlife, you can plant most of the shoreline including some types of submerged aquatic plants.
Right Plant Right Place:
You may have heard this Florida Friendly Landscaping term before, as it holds true for any garden including aquatic gardens. Choose plants that grow best in the water depth and planting “shelves” you have in and around your pond. By “shelf” we are referring to the slope of your shoreline. Is it a gradual, gentle slope into deeper water, or is it steep and abrupt? Also, become familiar with seasonal changes in your pond’s water depth, as it may affect the plants you select.
Prepare For Maintenance:
Just like a vegetable garden, your newly planted aquatic plants (especially those that are emerged) will need attention in the first year or so of establishment. Remove dead plants and weed out unwanted plants.
Where to Purchase the Plants:
For a list of Florida native plant suppliers, visit the Association of Florida Native Nurseries (AFNN) Please Note: collecting wild plants in Florida is subject to various regulations and may require permits! Visit this website for details on wild collection – Florida Plant Collecting and Transport, Regulations and Permitting, University of Florida Herbarium
Here are some helpful resources used for this article with more detail on establishing aquatic plants around your pond:
by Carrie Stevenson | Mar 29, 2016
Among the most fascinating natural phenomena in our area are the presence of dozens of species of carnivorous, or meat-eating, plants. Found in bogs, meadows, and seepage slopes with mucky, acidic soils and low levels of nutrients, these plants have adapted to their difficult conditions by developing ways to digest insects.These carnivores are best known by their common names; sundew, butterwort, bladderwort, and pitcher plants.
Sundew plants ready to feast
A meadow of white-topped pitcher plants in full spring bloom.
While there are six species of pitcher plants found in the panhandle and throughout the Gulf Coastal Plain, the “world’s largest concentration” can be found at Escambia County’s Tarkiln Bayou Preserve State Park. The “pitcher” part of the plant is actually a modified leaf, which is rounded into a hollow tube open at the top and partially covered by a hood. This hood is colorfully patterned, attracting insects also drawn to nectar inside the tubes. As insects crawl in, downward-facing hairs prevent them from escaping. They drown in the collected water within the tubes, then decompose via acids and enyzymes secreted by the plant into a “liquid fertilizer.” A handful of commensal animals, including flies, spiders, and small frogs, take advantage of the pitcher plants’ insect-trapping expertise and manage to avoid capture.
A guide to identifying all six of these pitcher plant species–white-top, parrot, trumpet-leaf, hooded, sweet, and yellow–can be found at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s wetland plant site. Now is the perfect time to see pitcher plants beginning to blossom.
While many people are familiar with pitcher plants, fewer notice the low-growing sundew. These plants may be smaller than a dime in circumference, and grow flat along very mucky soil in full sun. If shaded out even by relatively short grasses, sundew disappear. Their characteristic pinwheel-like appearance and deep red coloring help draw the eye if you look very closely. Sundews also excrete a sticky nectar, on which small insects get stuck and digested to provide nutrients to the plants.The leaves of butterwort plants work very similarly to sundews; they are typically bright green and succulent with sticky hairs that attract nutrients.
Bladderworts, also found in similar environments, use a different mechanism to trap insects. They actually have a bladder-like formation within their root system that opens and closes, siphoning water and unlucky insects in and out.
Regardless of their location, appearance, or method of trapping, carnivorous plants remain one of the most unusual, and interesting groups within the plant kingdom. Be sure to take the opportunity this spring to seek out a park or natural area populated with carnivorous plants–such as Tarkiln, Blackwater River State Park, or the public areas of Eglin Air Force Base and see them for yourself!
by Sheila Dunning | Mar 22, 2016
According to the Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants, there are more than 4,200 plant species naturally occurring in the state. Nearly 3,000 are considered native. The Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS) defines native plants as “those species occurring within the state boundaries prior to European contact, according to the best available scientific and historical documentation.” In other words, the plants that grew in natural habitats that existed prior to development.
Native plants evolved in their own ecological niches. They are suited to the local climate and can survive without fertilization, irrigation or cold protection. Because a single native plant species usually does not dominate an area, there is biodiversity. Native plants and wildlife evolved together in communities, so they complement each other’s needs. Florida ranks 7th among all 50 states in biodiversity for number of species of vertebrates and plants. Deer browse on native vines like Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata), Trumpet Creeper (Campsis 
radicans), Yellow Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) and Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens). The seeds and berries of Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida), Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida) and Dahoon holly (Ilex cassine) provide vital food for songbirds, both local and migratory. Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) provides cover for numerous birds and small mammals, as well as, reptiles.
Non-native plants become “naturalized” if they establish self-sustaining populations. Nearly one-third of the plants currently growing wild in Florida are not native. 
While these plant species from other parts of the world may provide some of the resources needed by native wildlife, it comes at a cost to the habitat. These exotic plants can become “invasive”, meaning they displace native plants and change the diverse population into a monoculture of one species. Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense), Popcorn trees (Triadica sebifera) and Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) have 
changed the landscape of Florida over the past decade. While Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and Hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata) have change water flow in many rivers and lakes. These invasive species cost millions of taxpayer dollars to control.
By choosing to use native plants and removing non-native invasive plants, individuals can reduce the disruptions to natural areas, improve wildlife habitat and maintain Florida’s biodiversity.
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!
