by Sheila Dunning | May 22, 2015
Everyone with a landscape can make a difference for pollinators. Simply Having Areas Reserved for the Environment enables homeowners, land managers, farmers, individuals, corporations, schools, roadside managers, and golf courses to increase the number of pollinators in the area by making conscious choices to include plants that provide essential habitat for bees, bats, birds, butterflies, moths, beetles, and hummingbirds. What better time than during National Pollinator Week, June 15-21, 2015.
Initiated and managed by the North American Pollinator Protection Campaign, National Pollinator Week was unanimously approved and designated by the U.S. Senate in 2007. Each year since, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture has signed the proclamation in an effort to address the urgent issue of declining pollinator populations.
Worldwide there is evidence that pollinating animals have suffered from loss of habitat, pesticide misuse, competition from invasive species, disease, and parasites. Many pollinators are federally “listed species”, meaning that there is documented information confirming the disappearance and/or significant population reduction in natural areas. The United States has lost over 50% of its managed honeybee colonies over the past ten years. The European Union has been so concerned that they invested over $20 million investigating the status of pollinators in Europe.
Pollinator health affects everyone. Worldwide, roughly 1,000 plants grown for food, beverages, fibers, spices, and medicines need to be pollinated by animals in order to produce the goods on which we depend. Food and beverages produced with the help of pollinators include: apples, blueberries, chocolate, coffee, melons, peaches, potatoes, pumpkins, vanilla, almonds, and tequila. In the U.S., pollination by honey bees, native bees, and other insects produces $40 billion worth of products annually.
The native plants that can be identified and preserved or introduced include trees, shrubs, vines and perennials. Some of them include: Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis), Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), Passionflower (Passiflora spp.), Coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.), Goldenrod (Solidago spp.), Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), and Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). Simply identifying and avoiding damaging many of the existing native plants will allow anyone to provide important homes and food for many different pollinating animals. During National Pollinator Week S.H.A.R.E. your space.
For additional information:
UF Native Buzz
Gardening for Pollinators
Minimizing Honey Bee Exposure to Pesticides
The Xerces Society
by Beth Bolles | May 6, 2015
Everyone is interested in growing an easy plant that offers interest all throughout the warm season. Look no further than an old favorite, the purple hyacinth bean, Lablab purpurea.
Purple flowers are held above foliage.
An warm season annual vine that grows easily from seeds plants directly in the ground or started in small pots, purple hyacinth bean will quickly cover a trellis, fence, or other sturdy support that you provide. One of the features will be beautiful purple flowers that form on purple stems during the summer. Purple pods will form after the flowers fade and persist until a frost. Mature seeds can be collected and saved for planting the following spring. Seeds that fall to the ground are likely to sprout on their own when soils warm again the following year.
Even though purple hyacinth bean is an edible plant in many parts of the world, it is mostly considered an ornamental in our area. One of the reasons is that raw beans are poisonous and must be properly cooked before eaten. Because of the toxicity of the beans, it is best to plant in the ornamental garden rather than the edible garden.
Additional features of this easy vine are that it is low maintenance, requiring little fertilization and it attracts bees and butterflies. Install seeds or transplants in well drained soil in full sun and you are ensured a plant that will attract attention.
by Mary Salinas | Nov 18, 2014
Blue Mistflower – Image Credit Mary Derrick, UF / IFAS
Here’s a beautiful native perennial wildflower that is easy to grow and generally available in the independent nursery trade. In the wild, you can encounter them at the edges of woodlands and ponds as they prefer moist areas. Blue mistflower, Conoclinium coelestinum, performs well as a perennial in the home landscape but does spread easily by seed and will spread in the garden. It also spreads through underground rhizomes which allow it to form large clumps. This is an advantage for the informal garden, however, the gardener who prefers a more formal look will have a bit more maintenance in controlling that spread.
The abundant flowers look like bluish-purple puffballs on the top of the stems. The color is unusual and adds a striking touch in the garden. The bloom season is mid-summer to mid-fall. Butterflies are frequent visitors, making this an excellent addition to your butterfly garden.
Blue mistflower has a full rounded form and will grow to 3 feet under optimum conditions. Leaves are opposite and have a triangular shape. Growth and blooming is best in full sun to part sun conditions.
Give it a try!
by Mary Salinas | Sep 23, 2014
In the midst of your September strolls through natural Florida, you may come across this native beauty, the narrowleaf sunflower, Helianthus angustifolius. Another common name is swamp sunflower. I found this gorgeous patch in the photo close to the shore of Apalachicola Bay. It occurs throughout Florida and north throughout much of the eastern United States. Florida is fortunate to be home to over 20 native species of sunflower.
Narrowleaf Sunflower. Photo credit: Mary Derrick, UF/IFAS Extension.
This perennial starts blooming in late summer and dazzles admirers throughout autumn. The 2 to 3 inch flowers with bright yellow petals and brown centers are attractive to butterflies and other pollinators. What a great addition to your butterfly garden!
Plants generally grow to about 2 foot tall but they can grow a bit leggy to 6 foot. If desired, keep them more compact through pruning in late spring. Clumps can be divided every few years to spread them out or to share with friends and neighbors.
Like all sunflowers, it loves full sun but can tolerate some light shade. Narrowleaf sunflower is salt and flood tolerant and will do well in most soil types, however it does best in consistently moist conditions.
Narrowleaf sunflower plants may be difficult to find in the nursery trade but they can be readily started from seed.
For more information and seed sources:
Florida Wildflower Foundation
Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants: Helianthus species
Common Native Wildflowers of North Florida
by Taylor Vandiver | Aug 4, 2014
Attracting Butterflies into Your Landscape
Have you been itching to add some life and color into your landscape? Why not plant a butterfly garden?! Butterfly gardens are a great way to add movement and life to an otherwise stagnant landscape. Most butterfly gardens are not only an attractant for our Florida butterflies, but are also a magnet for hummingbirds and beneficial insects. To start your garden all you need are a few key plants.
Gulf Fritillary. Photo Courtesy Scott Jackson.
Incorporate at least one host plant and one nectar plant into your garden. The host plant provides a suitable habitat for the female butterfly to lay her eggs. These eggs will hatch and the baby caterpillars will eat the leaves of the host plant. Host plants are often not as showy as nectar plants, nor are they even necessary to attract adult butterflies. However, while nectar plants invite butterflies into your garden to feed, host plants offer them a reason to stay and reproduce. And you can watch this entire cycle unfold in your own garden!
Most of your butterfly attractant plants will do best in full sun to partial shade. Try not to apply pesticides in areas where you want to maintain healthy caterpillar/butterfly populations. Providing water for butterflies is very important and easily done. One option is to fill a clay tray with sand and then place a rock in the center, where the butterfly can perch. Keep the sand wet, but avoid standing water. Feel free to contact your local extension office for more information on our winged friends!
Zebra Longwing, our state butterfly! Photo courtesy Scott Jackson.
Here are a few examples of butterflies and their preferred host plants:
o Host Plants – Fennel, Parsley, Bishopsweed
o Host Plants – Pawpaw
o Host Plants – Wild Lime, Hercules-club, Citrus spp.
o Host Plants – Ash, Black Cherry, Tulip tree, Sweetbay Magnolia
o Host Plants – Partridge Pea, Cassia
o Host Plants – Passion Vines
- Zebra Longwing (State Butterfly of Florida)
o Host Plants – Passion Vines
o Host Plants – Milkweed, Butterfly Weed
Here are nectar plants that will have the butterflies swarming to your garden:
- Firebush
- Milkweed
- Blanket Flower
- Sage (Salvia spp.)
- Butterfly Bush
- Blazing Star
- Yarrow
- Pentas
- Stoke’s Aster
The native plants that can be identified and preserved or introduced include trees, shrubs, vines and perennials. Some of them include: Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis), Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium spp.), Passionflower (Passiflora spp.), Coreopsis (Coreopsis spp.), Goldenrod (Solidago spp.), Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta), and Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa). Simply identifying and avoiding damaging many of the existing native plants will allow anyone to provide important homes and food for many different pollinating animals. During National Pollinator Week S.H.A.R.E. your space.