Volume 5, Issue 3 Summer 2012 Florida Wildflower Foundation Quarterly Newsletterwww.FlaWildflowers.org

Enriching lives with Florida’s native wildflowers

INSIDEPage 2 - All about native bees: Learn

about bee nesting habits and attracting them to your landscape.

Page 3 – Become a Florida Master Naturalist. Plus, enter our Fly Away drawing.

Page 4 - Plant profile, membership update, event calendar, and volunteer opportunities

Seven more Florida counties and a North Florida city recently adopted resolutions to conserve and preserve Florida’s native wildflowers. The resolutions passed by Alachua, Broward, Franklin, Martin, Polk, Sumter and Walton counties and the city of Live Oak increase awareness and protection of Florida roadside wildflowers while emphasizing their environmental, historical and cultural significance.

Live Oak became the first city in the state to pass a resolution. Similar pledges already are in place in Duval, St. Johns, Flagler, Putnam, Lake, Volusia, Brevard, Marion, Lee, Leon, Wakulla, Taylor and Gadsden counties. The resolutions identify roadsides as candidates for reduced-mowing programs, which allow naturally occurring wildflowers to thrive while saving public

7 counties and Live Oak pledge to preserve wildflowersresources. Some communities choose Florida-grown wildflower seed to reintroduce native species along local roadsides.

Besides being beautiful, wildflowers support crop pollinators vital to the state’s multi-billion-dollar agricultural industry while contributing to the sense of place that

is uniquely La Florida, “land of flowers.” “Wildflowers nourish pollinators that put food on our tables, including blueberries and many other fruits and vegetables,” said Foundation Board Chairman Terry L. Zinn, Alachua. “They also can help conserve water in landscapes, improve water

and air quality, and beautify communities.”With the 500th anniversary of La Florida

approaching in 2013, many of these counties will be ready with gorgeous displays of flowers similar to what Juan Ponce de Leon must have seen, said Lisa Roberts, Florida

Wildflower Foundation executive director. “In many cases, the flowers are already on our roadsides. All we have to do is mow less and at the right times.”

To learn more about the resolutions being adopted across the state, visit www.FlaWildflowers.org/resolution.php.

The Florida Wildflower Foundation’s 2012 Wildflower Symposium will be held concurrently with Lake County’s new Wings & Wildflowers Festival, which will take place Sept. 28-30 at Hickory Point Park, Tavares. The symposium – a day of wildflower presentations, workshops and field trips – will be held Sept. 29, with three presentations on Sept. 28 for early arrivals.

FWF is excited to be joining in the inaugural festival by offering wildflower content, including presentations on gardening and wildflower-viewing along roadsides and in the wild. There’ll be hands-on workshops, too, on topics such as starting

Annual Wildflower Symposium to be part of new Wings & Wildflowers Festival

a small wildflower garden or meadow with seed. Also planned are presentations on using native plants in landscapes and identifying native bees, plus two photography workshops and a session that will introduce attendees to phenology – the study of our rapidly changing natural world.

The Foundation’s annual membership

meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 29, with the “Wildflower Wing-Ding” barbecue – featuring bluegrass music – following from 6 to 8 p.m.

As an added bonus, FWF members will receive discounts to many festival and symposium activities, including birding and wildlife tours and workshops. You need not be a member to attend, however.

Watch for details and the opening of registration soon on the Foundation website (www.FlaWildflowers.org), in our e-newsletter, and on the Wings & Wildflowers web page, www.lakecountyfl.gov/bird_watching/wings_and_wildflowers.aspx.

20 countiesand the city of Live Oak now

have wildflower resolutions

in place.

Page 2 Volume 5, Issue 3

Do you enjoy juicy watermelons, local blueberries and strawberries and fresh Florida orange juice? How about carrots, broccoli, almonds and apples? If you do, please thank an insect! More than 100 crops are dependent on insect pollination, resulting in an economic value of $18 to $27 billion in the United States. Major Florida crops that benefit from bee pollination include cucumber, watermelon, specialty citrus, squash, strawberries, avocados, blueberries and eggplant.

In native plant communities, pollinators aid in the reproduction cycle from flowering to fruiting, thus ensuring productivity and good health of the ecosystem. More than 70 percent of flowering plants require an insect to move pollen. Plants evolve to attract efficient pollinators, while pollinators evolve to increase foraging success. Both must adapt also to seasonal change, disease and predation.

Pollinators also serve as a food source for birds, lizards and spiders. Ninety percent of birds digest insects at some stage of their lives. Not only that, bees and other pollinators help produce seeds that comprise 25 percent of bird and mammal diets worldwide.

When gardeners think of pollinators, they usually visualize European bees and butterflies. However, a host of other insects are important pollinators, including native bees, wasps, moths, flies, beetles, hummingbirds and even bats.

Native bees, in particular, are very important for both ecological and agricultural reasons. For instance, they are more efficient than honeybees because they work in a wider range of weather conditions and have more diverse foraging behavior and pollen-carrying techniques. That’s why researchers are focusing on habitat management and conservation to help these small but mighty winged creatures.

Female bees gather pollen — a sweet, fatty, protein-rich food — to consume and to nourish offspring. They use their tongues to gather nectar for energy. During foraging, pollen sticks to bees’ bodies and is transferred to other plants along the flight path to the nest. On each foraging trip, bees visit one particular plant species and travel from 100 feet to more than a mile (larger bees can fly farther than smaller ones). They switch to different plant species as needed on future trips to take advantage of plants in their habitat. Although some bees use a single plant family for food, most are generalists that gather from a wide range of flowers.

Pressures on native bee populations include loss of habitat and plant diversity due to development.

Enhanced habitat can bring the buzz of native bees to your landscape by Claudia Larsen

Widespread use of pesticides in landscapes and on farms also have taken their toll – so much so that semi-trailers of bees are shipped across country to agricultural areas in California, Maine,

Florida and the Carolinas each growing season to help pollinate crops.

In 2005, the The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation identified the 57 bees species at greatest risk and began compiling information on the bees’ biology, distribution and habitat needs. A companion list of 59 butterflies and moths that are in peril also has been compiled (view the “Red List” of endangered pollinators, which includes six butterflies found in Florida, at www.xerces.org/

red-lists). Urban landscapes serve as connectors between

fragmented natural habitat areas. That’s why even small habitat improvements in your yard can assist bees. Guidelines are similar to those used to attract butterflies: provide host plants, flowers for nectar and nesting sites, and eliminate pesticide use.

Nesting habitsNinety percent of native bees are solitary –

each female makes her own nest after mating with a male. The bees live about one year, with the active adult stage lasting 3 to 6 weeks. The rest of their lives are spent in the egg, larval and pupal stages.

Seventy percent of bees nest in burrows in the ground where soil is well-drained and sparsely vegetated. The other 30 percent use soft or hollow plant twigs for nesting sites or adopt tunnels in dead or dying trees.

Bumble bees, on the other hand, are social bees that live in colonies where there is one egg-laying

queen and 100 to 300 independent workers that tend the nest. Nesting sites consist of things like dry holes in trees, grass clumps or even used birdhouses.

Sweat bees are small, but their abundance makes them important pollinators. There are more than 200 species in the US. These bees, which carry pollen on back-leg hair patches, nest primarily in underground tunnels. Some sweat bees have drab colors, while others are bright metallic green.

Leafcutting bees include more than 60 species in Florida. They are important pollinators of wildflowers and commercial crops. Their name describes the process in which leaf pieces are cut and used to form nests in rotting wood cavities and plant stems, holes in concrete walls and even snail shells.

Native bees are four times more likely to be attracted to native plants, with which they evolved over thousands of years. Hybridization of many species has changed flower sizes and shapes, making them less attractive to the insects. Bees also will forage on some heirloom perennials and herbs, including basil, catnip, mint, borage, oregano, hyssop and rosemary.

When designing habitat for bees, make sure there are at least three plant species blooming in your garden each season. Blue, purple, violet, white and yellow are preferred flower colors. Choose several colors and plant flowers in large blocks of individual species to maximize visibility. Sunny, open areas 4 feet or more in diameter are the ideal size if you have space. For maximum bee diversity, plant 15 to 25 flowering species. Bees vary in size and so do their tongue lengths, so include flowers of different shapes, too.

Include flowering shrubs such as blueberries, hollies, willow, titi, swamp rose, Rhododendrons and Simpson’s stopper. Bees also utilize flowering trees, including wild plum, buttonbush, tulip tree, tupelo, sourwood, redbud, basswood and magnolia.

If you have a vegetable garden, maximize pollination by planting bee-attracting wildflowers

nearby, and let some of your radish, broccoli and basil grow to flowering stage.

If you have well-drained soil, leave open areas for ground nesting and minimize disturbance. And don’t be overzealous on cleanups – bush piles, stumps, warm-season bunch grasses and plants with hollow stems may be used for nests.

Bee on Partridge pea blossom. Photo/Jaret Daniels

Native wildflowers for beesAdd bee habitat and you’ll be amazed how alive your garden

becomes. Here are some native Florida wildflowers to try:

Spring blooming: Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium spp), Beardtongue (Penstemon spp), Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis), Wild indigo (Baptisia alba), False indigo (Amorpha fruticosa)

Summer blooming: Rosinweed (Silphium spp), Blanketflower (Gaillardia pulchella), Milkweed (Asclepias spp), Spotted beebalm (Monarda punctata); Ironweed (Vernonia spp); Crownbeard (Verbesina spp), Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), Sneezeweed (Helenium spp)

Fall blooming: Partridge pea (Chamaecrista spp), Goldenrod (Solidago spp), Blazing star (Liatris spp), Asters (Symphiotrichum spp), Sunflower (Helianthus spp); Chaffhead (Carphephorus spp); Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

A special note on native thistles, which are increasingly imperiled: Please conserve these plants when possible. They are an incredibly important pollen and nectar source for a large number of beneficial insects, and they provide seeds for songbirds. Common thistles found throughout Florida are Purple thistle (Cirsium horridulum) and Nuttall’s thistle (C. nuttallii).

References• Attracting Native Pollinators, The Xerces

Society Guide, 2011• USDA-Natural Resources Conservation

Service Insect & Pollinator web page and tip sheets for backyard conservation http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/plantsanimals/pollinate

• North American Pollinator Protection Site, www.pollinator.org

• Economic Impact of the Florida Apiculture Industry, 1999, (Hodges, Mulkey, Phillippakos and Sanford) University of Florida EDIS Publication #FE273 http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe273

Volume 5, Issue 3 Page 3

trips to nearby natural areas, and practical experience facilitated by trained instructors who use science-based information and interpretive

techniques to prepare students to share their knowledge with others. With each module, students receive a detailed course manual and upon completion, a certificate, patch and pin denoting the area of expertise (e.g., Wetlands Master Naturalist). Students who complete all three modules become Florida Master Naturalists and receive a

plaque, pin and registration in the online Master Naturalist Honor Roll Database.

According to Main, about 33 percent of program graduates are industry professionals

— environmental consultants, natural resource managers, wildlife biologists, eco-tour guides, environmental lawyers, etc. — while the other 67 percent are simply people interested in

nature. The program boasts over 1,000 graduates per year, with more than 6,000 certificates having been awarded and over 1,000 certified Master Naturalists since the program’s inception.

“Participation in the Master Naturalist program should be required of all Floridians,” said Lisa Roberts, Florida Wildflower Foundation executive director, who earned a place on the FMNP Honor Roll in 2009. “It does an incredible job of immersing participants in the workings and inhabitants of Florida’s ecosystems through studies, projects, hand’s on field trips and knowledgeable speakers.”

The benefits of the program are far-reaching. Teachers are using it in their classrooms. Civic professionals such as lawyers

and county commissioners are using it to help them make better decisions with regard to land-

Are you passionate about Florida’s natural environment? Would you like to know more about Florida’s native plants and animals and the ecosystems they inhabit? Consider becoming a Florida Master Naturalist, an adult education program designed to “promote awareness, understanding, and respect of Florida’s natural world.” The program is offered through the University of Florida/IFAS Extension offices and other organizations throughout the state, and is open to anyone age 18 or over who is interested in increasing their knowledge of Florida’s natural systems.

The Florida Master Naturalist Program (FMNP) was established in 2001 by Dr. Martin Main of the University of Florida. He created it out of a desire to build a stronger conservation network in Florida. Main recognized the need for a training program that would help people better understand Florida’s diverse flora and fauna – a program that would help build a workforce of educated naturalists. “More importantly,” Main said, “I wanted to create a program that would be meaningful to someone like myself.

“One of the most rewarding things about the program is when people tell me that they’ve gone through it and that it’s meant something to them personally,” said Main, who is passionate about the program. “Hundreds of people have told me that it’s changed their lives. It’s opened their eyes to nature in ways they’d never imagined.”

FMNP consists of three core modules: Freshwater Wetlands, Coastal Systems and Upland Habitats. Each module is 40 contact hours consisting of classroom learning, field

Florida Master Naturalist program immerses participants in natural world by Stacey Matrazzo

Master Naturalist students head out to explore Chicken Island and Callalisa Creek in New Smyrna Beach during

a Coastal module class. Photo/Lisa Roberts

use policies. Even golf course administrators have used it to make improvements to their facilities. Main also said that many eco-tourism businesses have started as a result of the program, and many will only hire Master Naturalists as guides. “So the program is even facilitating economic opportunities,” according to Main.

“The most important role of the graduates, Main said, “is to send a message to people to get engaged to the extent that they can. Volunteer at a nature center, chaperone a school field trip, talk to kids about anything you want to talk to them about. Just let people know how valuable our natural resources are.”

For more information on the Florida Master Naturalist Program including current course listings and locations, visit www.masternaturalist.org.

Fly Away with Wildflowers!Got the travel bug? Relatives to see? Just

need to get away? Enter our drawing to win two free round-trip tickets to anywhere Southwest Airlines flies!

Tickets are a $2 donation each. The drawing will be held (appropriately) on Sept. 29 at the Wings & Wildflowers Festival, Hickory Point Park, Tavares, Fla. You need not be present to win. Donations support native wildflower research, education and planting projects statewide.

Tickets may be purchased online via PayPal on our Website’s home page, www.FlaWildflowers.org and from Foundation’s staff and board members at other events and meetings (see below), and at the Wings & Wildflowers Festival.

“The master naturalist program gave me a better understanding of and greater

appreciation for all the things I love about Florida! The course materials are also a

wonderful addition to my resource library.” — Dixie Tate, FMNP Honor Roll, 2009

Students in a wetlands module head into the wilds of Longleaf Pine Preserve in Volusia County. Photo/Lisa Roberts

Volusia County instructors David Griffis and Randy ??? pause for a discussion during a field trip to Longleaf Pine Preserve, Volusia County.

Photo/Lisa Roberts

Page 4 Volume 5, Issue 3

Welcome new members (r) – renewal

General

Nona Hinkle Blant Reeves

Maria Said Chad Washburn

Gabrielle Milch Sandy Devita

George Kish Ellen Robards

JoAnne Stapleton Nancy Halbrook

Susan Hendry Patricia Halloran

Pamela Anders Rosanne Carlton

Linda Insalaco Regina Frances

Mary Ellen Frazier Annette Meginniss

Anelle Kloski Mary Lou Waitt

Jan Allyn Gail Baker

Jay Sockriter (r) Elizabeth Hale (r)

Wayne Peterson (r) Barbara Peterson (r)

Shari Vander Wiede (r) Lynda B. Strickler (r)

Travis & Karen MacClendon (r)

Garden Club of Orange Park, Inc. (r)

Student / Senior

Christine Black Jeannie Brodhead

Rhea Diamantis (r) Gene & Betty Roberts (r)

Business / Contributor

Sally Knight Raburn (r)

License Tag

Lynn Jacobs Kathryn Rexford

Marilyn Caruthers Karen Bacharach

Deborah McGarry Kay Cleary

Carolyn Saft Nadine Foley

Reconfirmed License Tag

Ann Johnson Judy Gersony

Phyllis Stopford Elizabeth Scott

Trish & Bob Egolf Carol Lucia

Andrea Finn Jackie Rolly

Robert Freese Karen Meyer

Veronica Taborsky Sondra Greenfield

Marsh-pink or Largeflower rosegentian (Sabatia grandiflora)

Sabatia grandiflora is a beautiful herbaceous plant found in moist, open areas throughout Florida. Its showy blooms are bright pink. The base of each petal is yellow with a red outline, forming a star in the center of the bloom. The stigma is also yellow and is prominent as it is twisty and protruding from the obvious green ovary. Leaves are linear to filiform and opposite.

Native range: North, Central and South Florida (Zones 8–11) in mesic pine flatwoods and wet prairies, and along the margins of freshwater marshes.

Exposure: Full sun.

Culture: Damp to wet rich soil.

Size: 1–3 feet tall.

Learn more: A Gardener’s Guide to Florida Native Plants (Rufino Osorio, University Press of Florida — purchase online: www.FlaWildflowers.org/learn.php); www.florida.plantatlas.usf.edu.) Photo/Stacey Matrazzo

Plant Profile Volunteer cornerWant to help natural Florida? Contact

Lisa Roberts at 407-353-6164 or LRoberts@FlaWildflowers.org about the following opportunities:

• Serve on the planting or education committees, which steer the Foundation’s planting and education programs and select grant recipients.

• Write articles for the blog and newsletter on Florida wildflowers, native plants, conservation efforts and other topics.

• Help grow research, planting and education programs by helping to write and edit grant applications and organize supporting documents.

• Scan, file and organize office documents.

The Florida Wildflower Foundation recently received a $10,000 grant from the Felburn Foundation, Ocala, with which to reprint the popular Florida Wildflowers & Butterflies brochure.

“This grant will help cover the cost to print 250,000 more copies of this popular brochure, which is requested by environmental groups, schools and organizations throughout the state,” said Terry L. Zinn, Foundation board chairman. The brochure was designed as part of a Florida Museum of Natural History project funded by the Florida Wildflower Foundation in 2007. With this printing, 1 million copies will have been produced for distribution at the Museum’s Butterfly Rainforest in Gainesville and at meetings and events throughout the state.

The publication groups wildflowers by color and indicates whether they are host or nectar plants. Among the butterflies featured are the Eastern black swallowtail, the sleepy orange and the long-tailed skipper.

Copies will be available after July 1. To request copies for a school activity or event, visit www.FlaWildflowers.org/learn.php if you’re located in Central or South Florida. In North Florida and the Panhandle, contact Betty Dunckle, Florida Museum of Natural History, bdunckel@flmnh.ufl.edu.

FWF receives $10,000 grant to reprint wildflower and butterfly brochure

Calendar1 p.m. June 20: Lisa Roberts, Florida Wildflower

Foundation executive director, will discuss “Gardening with Wildflowers” during a free presentation at the Agricultural Center, 3100 E. New York Ave., DeLand. Reservations are not required. Information: Volusia County Extension Office: 386-822-5778.

2 p.m. June 21: FWF board member conference call.

7 a.m.–5 p.m. Sept. 28-30: Wings & Wildflowers Festival, Hickory Point Park, Tavares, and other Lake County locations. Join in the celebration of birds, wildflowers and wildlife by attending free presentations and participating in field trips and workshops. Visit http://www.lakecountyfl.gov/bird_watching/wings_and_wildflowers.aspx to view the schedule.

8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. Sept. 29: Florida Wildflower Symposium, Hickory Point Park, Tavares. The annual event features workshops and presentations on growing wildflowers, wildflower identification walks, photography classes, planting mini-meadows and more. Save the date — registration will open soon.

5:30 p.m. Sept. 29: Florida Wildflower Foundation annual meeting, Hickory Point Park, Tavares — members and friends are invited to attend a short meeting to review accomplishments and future direction.

6-8 p.m. Sept. 29: Wildflower Wing-Ding, Hickory Point Park, Tavares — Join the Foundation for finger-lickin’ barbecue and the blazin’ bluegrass stylings of Molly and Her Musicmakers. Cost: $15.