by Ray Bodrey | May 13, 2020
Powderpuff mimosa (Mimosa strigillosa), also called Sunshine Mimosa or Sensitive Plant, is an increasingly popular native plant for home and commercial landscape applications that offers a very show display of puffy pink flowers this time of year!
Powderpuff Mimosa, (Mimosa strigillosa). Photo courtesy of Ray Bodrey.
This Florida native, low-growing groundcover grows no more than eight inches in height, and that would be classified as an extremely vigorous stand. Powderpuff Mimosa is technically a perennial legume, meaning it doesn’t need any nitrogen fertilizer from gardeners.
The groundcover is appealing to the eye with its dark green fern-like leaves. Not an evergreen, the plants fall into a semi-dormant to dormant state during the fall and winter seasons. Powderpuff Mimosa is a very resilient groundcover as well, needing little irrigation, spreading quickly, and co-existing well with turfgrass. Just a few pots of this species transplanted should cover up to 300 square feet in a season. Although it spreads quickly, it can easily be pruned or mowed if it moves into unwanted areas.
Powderpuff mimosa is a great plant for erosion control due to its deep roots. These deep roots also allow for good levels of drought tolerance. There are very few insect or disease problems with this plant, other than the occasional caterpillar. It is a very wildlife and pollinator friendly plant, with honeybees, butterflies, deer, and more all finding it appealing. It’s even considered a livestock forage, as cattle find it palatable.
Looking to plant powderpuff mimosa in your landscape? Any area that gets mostly full sun is just fine. This plant is adapted to a wide range of soils, but particularly flourishes in well-drained, sandy loam soils. Be sure to water regularly, especially to ensure successful establishment in your landscape. Find this wonderful little plant at Florida native plant nurseries!
For more information contact the Gulf County Extension Office at 639-3200 or email at rbodrey@ufl.edu.
Supporting information for this article can be found in the UF/IFAS Extension website: https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/ornamentals/powderpuff-mimosa.html & USDA website: https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_mist2.pdf
UF/IFAS Extension is an Equal Opportunity Institution.
by Beth Bolles | Feb 27, 2020
Landscape activities have already begun in our Panhandle counties with cleanup, mulching, raking, and pruning. Our mild temperatures and days with sunshine spur us to jump into our landscape preparations for the spring growing season.
This year before you send all your debris to the compost pile or patch up thinning turf areas, consider that some landscape imperfections may actually be good for local wildlife.
We all know how important it is to plant nectar attracting plants for bees but there are other easy practices that can help promote more native bees in local landscapes. There are some solitary native bee pollinators that will raise young in hollow stems of plants. Instead of cutting all your old perennial or small fruit stems back to the ground, let some stay as a home to a native pollinating bee. This does not have to detract from the look of the landscape but can be on plants in the background of a border garden or even hidden within the regrowth of a multi stemmed plants. Plants that are especially attractive to native bees have a pithy or hollow stems such as blackberry, elderberry, and winged sumac.
The hollow stems of upright blackberries can be home to solitary bees. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
Another favorite site for solitary bees is in the ground. These ground nesting solitary bees should not be compared to yellow jacket wasps. Solitary bees are not aggressive. Mining or digger bees need some bare soil surfaces in order to excavate small tunnels for raising a few young. Maybe you have an area that does not need a complete cover of turf but is fine with a mixture of turf and ‘wildflowers’. A few open spaces, especially in late winter and early spring will be very attractive to solitary bees.
Beneficial solitary bee mounds in the ground of a winter centipedegrass lawn area. Photo by Beth Bolles, UF IFAS Extension Escambia County
One of our fastest disappearing homes for wildlife are natural cavities. In residential sites, we often prune or remove limbs or trees that are declining or have died. If the plant or tree is not a hazard, why not leave it to be a home for cavity nesting birds and mammals. If the dying tree is large, have a professional remove hazard pieces but leave a trunk about 10-15 feet tall for the animals to make a home. You may then get to enjoy the sites and/or sounds of woodpeckers, bluebirds, owls, flying squirrels, and chickadees.
by Mark Tancig | Sep 16, 2019
Paper wasps can hide among vegetation and surprise gardeners. Credit: UF/IFAS
As summer comes to a close, many gardeners are getting their landscapes back in shape after the long, hot summer months. There are likely some large weeds and/or vines that have taken over areas where they are not wanted. As you begin to hack these back, it is wise to be on the lookout for wasps and yellow jackets. These stinging insects pack a punch and are particularly active this time of year.
Wasps and yellow jackets are closely related in the insect family Vespidae. These are social insects, similar to ants and bees, that have a division of labor with a queen and workers (both female) carrying out specific tasks for the colony. Males arise from unfertilized eggs and are only needed for reproductive purposes. Once they mate with a female from another nest, they die. Once the fertilized females emerge in late fall, they will overwinter under the bark of a log, or other safe habitat, until spring, when they start a new colony. Unlike bees, who die after a single sting, wasps, yellowjackets, and hornets can sting multiple times. Yellowjackets and hornets even emit an alarm pheromone that causes other members of the nest to aggressively defend the colony.
While there are many different species of wasp in Florida, including the paper, red, mason, potter, and mud dauber wasps, the paper and red wasps (Polistes spp.) are the ones that tend to be most aggressive when provoked and cause a harmful sting. Their nests are often found under house eaves or hidden in amongst shrubbery. These nests hidden in vegetation are the ones that gardeners typically run into when trimming or weeding.
There are three species of yellowjacket in Florida, including the eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons), southern yellowjacket (Vespula squamosa), and baldfaced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata). All three can be aggressive and sting humans, especially if they feel threatened, such as when pruning or working over or near a colony. Yellowjackets build extensive colonies underground, though can also build colonies in hay, palm fronds, and other loose debris aboveground. These underground colonies usually have a single entrance but can also have multiple entrance holes. Hornets build aerial colonies. Gardeners are most likely to have run-ins with yellowjackets since hornet nests are typically up in trees and more obvious than an underground yellowjacket colony.
Southern yellowjackets create underground colonies that can hold over 2,000 yellowjackets. Credit: UF/IFAS
While these insects can be a major pain, figuratively and literally, they actually do help out us gardeners. The main food source of wasps, yellowjackets, and hornets are caterpillars and beetle larvae, which are often garden pests. They are also native pollinators. Therefore, it’s best that we accept some in the landscape, manage colonies in high-traffic areas, and prevent encounters with them. To reduce your chance of weeding right into a wasp nest, take a stick and knock around the vegetation to see if any are hiding in the brush before getting started. Be ready to run. Yellowjackets are harder to avoid as they are stealthy in their underground bunkers.
When it comes time to remove these insects from near a structure or heavily trafficked area, you may want to consider hiring a professional pest control company. Wasps can be managed by most homeowners with a broom (if the nest is small and/or relatively inactive) or aerosol insecticides specifically formulated for wasp control. Yellowjackets and hornets are trickier to deal with and should be approached very cautiously. Spraying aerosols into a yellowjacket entrance hole is dangerous and may not be very effective as some colonies can be up to a foot wide and contain over 2,000 yellowjackets. Any attempts to control wasps, yellowjackets, and hornets should be done in the evening when they are less active and with appropriate clothing that covers the skin.
Yellowjackets are pollinators and eat caterpillar pests! Credit: Whitney Crenshaw, Colorado State University, Bugwood.org
For more information on wasps, yellowjackets, hornets, and other stinging insects, see the Biting and Stinging Insects section of the UF/IFAS EDIS site (https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/topic_biting_and_stinging_pests) or contact your local Extension Office.
by Daniel J. Leonard | Jul 3, 2018
Each time I travel to central and south Florida and observe the wonderfully flamboyant tropical flora, I am reminded of the unique and frustrating climatic characteristics of Northwest Florida. Our weather is tropical enough through the summer to sustain virtually everything our friends to the south grow, but winters north of the Big Bend are just cold enough to prevent long-term success with most tropical species. However, the genus that is maybe most synonymous with tropical color, the Hibiscus (it even has its own texting emoji!), contains several species that are hardy through our winters. The best landscape plant of these hardy Hibiscus species is creatively (sarcasm) called Hardy Hibiscus or Giant Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) and is an absolute star in the Panhandle, bringing the beauty of the tropics to your yard!
Hibiscus ‘Starry Starry Night’ – Photo courtesy Daniel Leonard
Rose Mallow is a native perennial species that occurs in sunny wetlands across the eastern U.S. This species can grow 7-8’ in height in its natural, unimproved state and possesses the largest flowers of any hardy perennial, some varieties easily eclipse 12” in diameter. Rose Mallows bloom through the heat of our long summers and return reliably each winter unfazed by frost. The flowers also happen to be a favorite of butterflies and hummingbirds and bring beneficial wildlife to the landscape. These characteristics and the trend towards the use of pollinator friendly, low-maintenance native perennials in landscapes quickly made Rose Mallow a jewel for plant breeders and now virtually all major horticultural brands have a line of Hardy Hibiscus available at garden centers, in varying sizes, flower color and leaf color/form. Recent breeding efforts have focused on introducing plants with enormous, richly colored flowers held on compact plants with attractive foliage. The results have yielded two series and three individual cultivars that I consider superior selections and are more than worthy of inclusion in your garden:
- Summerific® Series by Proven Winners. This series is comprised of four robust (up to 5’ in height) cultivars, ‘Cherry Cheesecake’ (bicolor magenta and white flowers), ‘Berry Awesome’ (purplish lavender flowers), ‘Cranberry Crush’ (a red you really have to see to believe), and ‘Perfect Storm’ (notable for its deep purple foliage).
- Luna Series by Monrovia. This series is notable for its ultra-compact (3’ in height or less) size and characteristically large flowers. It is also composed of four cultivars, ‘Luna Red’ (deep red), ‘Luna Blush’ (white, fading to pink near flower margins), ‘Luna Pink Swirl’ (pictured and my favorite, bicolor swirly flowers), and ‘Luna White’ (white with a red center).
Hibiscus ‘Luna Pink Swirl’ – Photo courtesy Daniel Leonard
- ‘Starry Starry Night’ by Walter’s Gardens. (Pictured) This cultivar combines dark purple to black leaves with swirled pale and dark pink flowers. It has performed very well in my landscape and if I could only grow one, this might be it.
- ‘Lord Baltimore.’ The classic, large growing cultivar with bright red flowers that is widely available and easily found. An oldie (introduced in 1955) but a goodie.
- ‘Midnight Marvel’ by Walter’s Gardens. A “hot off the press” new cultivar that is currently difficult to find due to popularity, though some online outlets have them available in small sizes. This one is worth your patience. Sporting deep red blooms on near black foliage, there’s nothing else like it in the landscape.
In addition to being gorgeous plants, Rose Mallows are extremely versatile in the landscape and could not be easier to grow. Because the size varies so greatly (from the diminutive 30” tall ‘Luna’ series to the 8’ tall unimproved species), there really is a place for one in every garden. I like to use the smaller cultivars in large containers to facilitate moving them around where their floral display has the greatest impact or to create a tropical effect where in ground plantings are not an option (pool decks, patios, etc). The larger cultivars make spectacular specimen plantings in perennial and shrub beds and even make a really dense, striking hedge (just know they disappear in the winter). Be sure to give them as much sun as possible, as this will enhance the number of flowers on each plant and darken the foliage on the cultivars with purplish/black leaves. Too little sun will result in fewer flowers and lighter green foliage. As wetland plants, Rose Mallows enjoy regular water, either from rainfall or irrigation; they will let you know when they need it – their large leaves readily wilt under drought stress, somewhat like Hydrangea.
For low-maintenance, native, pollinator friendly, cold-hardy tropical color, you need look no further than Rose Mallow. These perennial shrubs come in all sizes and colors and fit any landscape! Look for the above listed series and cultivars at better garden centers and online retailers and enjoy the oohs and ahhs elicited when people first get a glimpse of Hardy Hibiscus in your landscape! Happy Gardening!
by Mary Salinas | Mar 21, 2018
European honey bee. Photo credit: UF/IFAS.
Bees, butterflies and other insects play important roles as pollinators in our environment. Over 50 major crops in the United States and at least 13 crops in Florida depend on honey bees. Many native plants in natural areas also depend on insect pollinators for reproduction. In Florida, over 300 bee species play a role in pollination!
Many factors affect the health of our pollinators. One of those factors we can easily control in our own landscapes is exposures to pesticides. How are bees and other pollinators exposed to pesticides? Here are some of the major routes:
- Drift of pesticides sprayed in breezy/windy conditions
- The erosion of contaminated topsoil blowing in the wind
- Direct feeding on pollen and nectar of treated plants
- Contact with pesticides that have blown onto plant surfaces
- Contact with water transpired by leaves of treated plants
- Pesticides that move down through the soil to affect ground dwelling bees and other insects
Did you know that bees become statically charged when they fly causing particles in the air to attract to them?
What are some ways that we can reduce the risk of exposure to pollinators in our landscapes?
- Use integrated pest management principles to reduce the incidence of pests and their impacts.
- Avoid treating areas containing flowering weeds/plants with insecticides. If you must treat your lawn with an insecticide, and it contains flowering weeds, mow the lawn and remove the flowers just before applying the insecticide.
- If you must apply a systemic insecticide to your lawn, leave a buffer strip of several feet between the lawn and the border of landscape beds with flowering plants. This will prevent the flowering plants from up taking the systemic product.
- Postpone any insecticide treatment until after all blooms have fallen from flowering ornamentals. Never apply an insecticide to blooms or flowering plants.
- Avoid the use of neonicotinoids as this class of insecticides can be more toxic to bees than other classes of insecticides. There are many effective alternatives.
Bee friendly to our pollinators!
For more information:
Minimizing Honey Bee Exposure to Pesticides
Creating and Maintaining Healthy Pollinator Habitat – Xerces Society
