Bay-Friendly Landscaping

05/14/2025

NEXT WEEK, Dr. Jim Folsom will demystify botanical jargon to help us understand plant descriptions and keys in Part 5 of our Botany in Context webinar series: https://www.flawildflowers.org/event/250521-webinar-botany-in-context/

This webinar is a part of our Botany in Context series. Each webinar can be attended individually. We do encourage you to check out the full schedule for recordings of previous ones and to explore the remaining topics: https://www.flawildflowers.org/webinar-series-botany-in-context/

04/10/2025

New blog about plants on St. George Island State Park from Jim Folsom

Goldenrod flowering under sparse canopy of Slash Pine Since moving to St. George Island (just South of Apalachicola, Florida) in January, 2021, Deb and I have spent many hours, many days visiting o…

03/01/2025

Landscapes and lawns have the potential to support native pollinators during the transition into Spring. There are many industrious early blooming native wildflowers that volunteer in lawns and urban landscapes and serve as critical nectar and pollen sources for native bees and other pollinating insects. By participating in and allowing your lawn or a part of your landscape to grow naturally, you can support pollinator populations!

Follow this link to learn more about the many native wildflowers that may bloom in your yard and other urban landscapes in early spring: https://www.flawildflowers.org/spring-w**ds-for-the-bees/

02/28/2025

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Calling all native plant enthusiasts. This 6-part online program features our own Jim Folsom!

Botany in Context Webinar Series
A Six-Part Webinar Series with Jim Folsom, PhD.
Florida Wildflower Foundation
This crash course in basic botany for the beginner will take us on a journey from understanding plant anatomy and physiology to learning how plants are named and the botanical jargon that will demystify plant keys and identification. Dr. Folsom will contextualize it all in Florida native plant communities. Series schedule:
• Part 1: Basic Wildflower Botany – Watch the recording here
• Part 2: 10 BIG IDEAS Regarding Plants – Watch the recording here
• Part 3: Coming to Terms with Plant Names – Watch the recording here
• Part 4: Getting Familiar with Plant Families – Wednesday, April 16, 2pm
• Part 5: Botanical Jargon, A Concise and Precise Language for Plants – Wednesday, May 21, 2pm
• Part 6: Using Keys to Florida Plants – Wednesday, June 18, 2pm
Register at:
https://www.flawildflowers.org/event/250416-webinar-botany-in-context/

02/28/2025

Not all milkw**d is created equal! While milkw**d is typically planted to help monarchs, tropical milkw**d (Asclepias curassavica) can harm them.

Because of tropical milkw**d's extended blooming period, it more easily spreads diseases that make monarchs sick. If a monarch already has the parasite Ophryocystis elektroscirrha (OE), it can spread easily from the infected butterfly to the milkw**d and then to other butterflies. OE decreases monarchs’ survival and reproductive rates and can hinder monarch migration.

If you have tropical milkw**d, remove it and replace it with native milkw**d varieties.

📷 P. L. Tandon/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 https://flic.kr/p/2mujreE

02/28/2025

Why choose the troublesome invasive Climbing cassia (Senna pendula var. glabrata) when our native Privet senna (Senna ligustrina) is right there and ready to support native bees and host butterflies!

Learn more about Climbing cassia (Senna pendula var. glabrata): https://plant-directory.ifas.ufl.edu/plant-directory/senna-pendula/

Learn more about Privet senna (Senna ligustrina): https://www.flawildflowers.org/flower-friday-senna-ligustrina/

Invasive Species Awareness Week

02/25/2025

It's National Invasive Species Awareness Week and we can all make a big difference in our own landscapes by removing invasive plants and choosing natives! Learn more here: https://www.flawildflowers.org/invasive-plants/

Stay tuned throughout the week as we feature some native alternatives to invasive plants that are still commonly available.

05/03/2023

We have it now in Franklin County.

Have you ever spotted palms that look like this? These palms are victims of lethal bronzing disease (LBD), which starts in the lower leaves and works its way to the top “spear leaf” causing the palm’s death.

Contact your county Extension office immediately to develop an action plan if you spot signs of LBD in your palms or a neighbor’s.

Learn more about lethal bronzing symptoms and management on UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions: https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/care/pests-and-diseases/diseases/lethal-bronzing-disease.html

Photo Credit: Monica Elliott, Symptoms of Palm Diseases and Disorders, USDA APHIS PPQ, Bugwood.org

03/03/2023

Want to plant wildflowers but not sure how to start? Here's a great article, Wildflowers 101 from IFAS. https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/nat/2023/03/03/wildflowers-101/

03/02/2023

Is it a w**d or a flower?

As a boy I remember our St. Augustinegrass lawn. I fondly remember winter annual w**ds in that lawn. Many of these so called “w**ds” are native wildflowers. And a number of pollinators use these wi…

02/03/2023

It’s official: citrus is back for the home landscape! Since the introduction of citrus greening to Florida in 2005, homeowners have been discouraged from growing citrus at home. However, UF/IFAS is now recommending the planting of citrus trees again and has provided a new line of support for those who are interested.

UF/IFAS is piloting an initiative called “Citrus in the Home Landscape” this spring, and it includes a new website and an email address dedicated solely for scientists to answer your citrus care questions.

Read the full article on the initiative on UF/IFAS News: https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/news/2023/02/02/uf-ifas-launches-new-citrus-program-for-home-gardeners/