Marta & Mike Kendrick have a five-acre property with a landscaped pond and mature native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. Mature huge coonties (Zamia floridana) grace the back of the house ... A red mangrove (Rhizohora mangle), lovingly cared for Mike,…
ircnativeplants
Carol is President of the Eugenia Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society.
Wild Coffees
Florida is home to four species of "wild coffee", three of which we have seen on Chapter visits to members' yards. The Bahama coffee (Psychotria ligustrifolia) pictured above and below in the yard of Fran Robinson generated lots of interest.…
Yard of Kei Andrews & Marc Speiss 2021
Ronan, Kei Andrews & Marc Speiss have transformed their small yard in a gated community into a haven habitat for native plants and wildlife. The diversity in their yard is inspirational and contrasts strikingly with that of their neighbor's yard…
Lovely Limber Caper
(The early bird doesn't always get the worm (or ID) ... When we visited the yard of Tom Brown on June 18, 2021, a plant was mis-identified initially. The late-birds, who hung around, learned them name of this late-bloomer ...…
Bahama Wild Coffee
Thank you to Marc Spiess for leading a yard visit at the Environmental Learning Center on Thursday, May 18. The Bahama wild coffee (Psychotria ligustifolia) planted last year along Live Oak Drive was full of flowers and was abuzz with…
Showy Standing Cypress
Standing cypress (Ipomopsis rubra) is.a biennial wildflower with striking spikes of red tubular flowers. Marc Speiss & Kei Andrews grew it from seed and planted it in different locations in their yard to find out where it would grow best.…
Lovely Lignum Vitae
Jim Dryby shared photos of his flowering lignum vitae (Guaiacum sanctum). This endangered plant is native to the Florida Keys. It is slow-growing and spectacular. Check out the beautiful blue flowers.
Atalas Abound
The atala butterfly (Eumaeus atala), once thought to be extinct, has expanded its range likely due the increased use/transport of its larval host plant, coontie (Zamia integrifolia), in landscaping, rearing/releases at Disney Wabasso Beach, and warming temperatures. The photo above…
Terrific teabush
Teabush (Melochia tomentosa) also is called woolly pyramidflowerand broomweed. It caught the attention of everyone who visited the yard of Tom Brown on June 18, 2021. Tom reported that it attracts a bevy of bees, butterflies, and other pollinators including…
Yard of Tom Brown 2021
Not long before we visited the yard of Tom Brown on June 18, 2021, a gopher tortoise had built a burrow in the sandy soil among the native wildflowers in this un-irrigated yard. Plant it, and they will come. Tom…
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