This week in Wilcox’s blog post we’d like to shed a little bit of light on an amazing organization that we are proud to be a part of.
Native Plant Horticulture Foundation
The Native Plant Horticulture Foundation was founded as an offshoot of FANN which you may know as the Florida Association of Native Nurseries. FANN is a group that consists of growers, retail nurseries, landscape designers, landscape architects, and other horticulture industry professionals interested in native plants.
Motivated by a desire to educate and empower the next generation of native plant industry professionals, FANN board members had the idea to form a foundation to accomplish this goal. This foundation was named the Native Plant Horticulture Foundation ( NPHF) and was officially founded in the summer of 2015.
NPHF is now in full swing and has already begun educating and empowering our next generation of native plant advocates experts and professionals.
Some of the activities that NPHF has been involved in recently have been conducting a design competition and mentoring and critiquing University student landscape architect majors on their designs. Native Plant Industry veterans involved with the NPHF have been available to guide these students on how to implement and use native plants and how to get involved in the industry. Being there for the younger generation is where the NPHF really shines as an organization dedicated to the longevity of the native plant industry and laying the foundation for sustainable communities.
The Foundation is vital in developing a generation of well educated and informed industry professionals that will set the standard for the future to come.
Learn more about NPHF
To learn more about and NPHF visit the website here.
We love hearing native plant success stories from our customers!
One of our long-time patrons came in today to tell us that the Grayleaf Shrub she purchased back in March and watered in for one week is blooming and happy as ever after she recently returned after being gone for almost 6 months!
This super drought tolerant full sun shrub thrived on only rain after a very short establishment watering. But being native to dry pine rockland habitat this shrub is adapted for the harshest of conditions.
Planted in full sun in a sandy area with room to grow this native evergreen will reach 5-7′ tall and wide and blooms gorgeous pink blooms most of the year.
Hummingbirds are some of the most desired and sought out backyard
birds. These acrobatic flyers can be very entertaining to watch as hummingbirds
have many unique qualities and behaviors including hovering and flying upside
down.
Hummingbirds require nearly half their weight in food every day and with the smallest hummingbird only a quarter ounce, these busy creatures still need a large amount of food to thrive. Nimble, fast and brightly colored, they delight the eye with their high-energy antics. Hummingbirds need nectar from flowers and do not eat berries or seeds.
The hummingbird is only seen in migration during spring and fall months in Florida; however, you are likely only going to see Ruby Throated Hummingbird in our area. Many of these birds travel to and from their winter homes in Mexico and Central America. North America offers less competition for food, moving about in summer in their breeding grounds. These amazing birds can fly over 1243 miles without stopping.
Scientists believe that hummingbirds return year after year to the same food sources where they were born and will stop along the way at the same food sources in their migration. This means that they may return to the same backyard every year. In colder states, fall migration sends these birds back to Central America or Mexico, as the insects, their main source of food, dwindle with the cooler weather.
Because of the long journey, the hummingbird need the nectar of blooming flowers, as they refuel for the trip ahead. Considered “snowbirds” these migratory hummingbirds return yearly to Alabama and Florida on their trip to warm wintering locations. They have been tracked, so experts know that the same birds are returning. With this in mind, give them a reason to return to your yard.
Lots of tubular red flowers, their favorite food, attract the birds. Because they need an abundance of food, good plant choices providing natural food sources is important. Feeders are discouraged in our area since Hummingbirds are migrating here and before the bird finds the feeder, the sugar water in feeders is apt to spoil poisoning the bird. Provide the right plants for excellent results!
Many people comment on not seeing Hummingbirds in Florida, but because of their fleeting presence in the search for food, one must be diligent in observation and use of the distinct plants that attract them and their unique flight patterns. Use the historical native plants that Hummingbirds that include red, orange and pink flowers attract these little visitors. Providing nourishment for visiting hummingbirds is something that any Floridian can do.
Florida Native Plants Used to Attract Hummingbirds
Here are some of the native plants that can be used:
Coral honeysuckle is a vine that is carefree. As an evergreen vine or it can be
planted as a woody, flowering groundcover. Plant it next to a fence or trellis as a well-behaved
vine. An occasional pruning keeps it within limits. You might want to plant
this, along with other hummingbird plants, close to a window so you can observe
the comings and goings of your little friends.
The Firebush blooms prolifically and is a fast grower. Once it is established,
seasonal rains are enough to keep it thriving. Dying back after a hard freeze,
the firebush will grow back with sprouts in the early spring. Another benefit, songbirds,
butterflies and bees are attracted to it as well as hummingbirds. Be sure that
the variety of this plant that you buy is the native type.
Some wildflowers that attract hummingbirds include Prairie phlox, Phlox pilosa,
and Tropical sage, Salvia coccinea. In addition to these, other
wildflowers do the same job. There are many more species not listed here that
can be used and you can check the lists with the Florida Native Plant Society or
the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida for
more information of plant species that can be used to attract hummingbirds.
Some non-invasive non-native plants can be used as attractors too. These may include Shrimp Plant, Justicia brandegeeana, and Firespike, Odontonema cuspidatum.
Whether you plant vines, shrubs or trees, planting their favorite native plants will bring these little birds to your yard; you, with some planting know-how, get to see your visitors, while providing them with the nourishment these little hummingbirds need.
This is Natalie Henley sustainability program coordinator here with Amanda Norton and Michael Kuras today. We’re here with the Dunedin Green Scene to discuss their transition from about 2,500 square feet of heavily irrigated lawn to a hundred percent native Florida plants. So, I just want to start off, thank you, Amanda for this transition. I know it was a, a big undertaking. What really initiated this process? Why did you want to transition to native plants?
Amanda Norton:
Well, I purchased the home in October and it just had zero curb appeal and I wanted to go with something that was more environmentally friendly and easily maintainable, but a look that gave my house curb appeal.
As the landscape designer, what are the benefits of having native Florida plants in a part of your landscape?
Michael Kuras:
Well, one of the major advantages is, these plants are adapted to this area, they’re natural to the area and consequently they require very little maintenance. They are not no maintenance, that’s a myth, but they are much lower maintenance. They attract a great number of pollinators, moths, butterflies, all sorts of other wonderful things, including hummingbirds for instance. In addition, they provide food for birds. Those are not just the local birds, but also migrating species, songbirds and so on. I’d say the ones that are very impactful, for instance, are the Beautyberry and the Firebush. They’re the ones that provide kind of the most visual impact you might say, and the sense that they are very proliferate in their flowering or for instance in their fruit production with the Beautyberry, the Firebush, as an example, has a bright orange-red flower you can see and it flowers the majority of the year.
Natalie Henley:
Also here today with us is Craig Wilson, the city’s arborist. And he’s going to share some of his thoughts on this project.
Craig Wilson:
So what’s important, I guess, first and foremost with this project is we did a substantial amount of removal of exotic invasive trees and plant species for that matter. And what that does is promote, native plants to return back, which further supports our ecosystem here, native birds, wildlife, and other insects that should be here. We now have the habitat that’s appropriate for it. So, another important feature that I like is that the plant selection is appropriate for this area. It’s drought-tolerant, so we won’t have to water the plants as much. But what’s often overlooked is the plant spacing. All too often we see plants planted too close together. Whereas with this project, you’ll notice some space in between the plants and that allows them to grow to full maturity.
So on this property, we have some newly planted Dahoon Hollys. You’ll see a nice row of them. There’s four here and they’re really great for birds and other wildlife. Take natural habitat and nesting. And then there’s also a, they produce the fruit are fruit that is very beneficial as well.
Michael Kuras:
Some of the things we did in order to reduce, the use of turf on this property is we covered it in the areas that work actually planted with pine straw or pine needles as they’re sometimes called. In addition, we used a shell which is collected locally at its wash to make sure there’s no excess ceiling content.
Natalie Henley: I’m also here today with our stormwater program coordinator, Whitney Marsh.
Whitney Marsh:
Thank you, Natalie. So one of the things that helps when you have a Florida friendly yard with her stormwater is you end up having less nutrients that are applied down to your lawn. You have less fertilizers, which results in less phosphorous and nitrogen runoff that goes to our waterways. So what that does for us is it helps to reduce the loadings that go into our waterways that lead downstream into St Joseph Sound. And that also helps to prevent algae blooms that we can see here in the summertime months in Florida, especially the blue-green algae’s. That can be our toxic algae that have been found here in Dunedin.
Natalie Henley:
On behalf of the Dunedin Green Scene community spotlight with Amanda. We just want to say thank you to all of her work, Michael’s work, and everyone who came out today to really celebrate this transition to a native Florida landscape. If you want to learn more about Florida friendly landscaping, please contact myself. Go on our city website under Dunedin Green Scene or check out the UF/ IFAS extension as they have many great materials and resources for you. This is Natalie with Dunedin Green.
Gardeners in Florida are lucky to live in a climate where they can grow gorgeous plants that grow nowhere else in the continental United States, such as bougainvilleas or citrus trees that can be left outside year round. However, if the gardener wants these special plants to thrive, they need to be:
• The right plant for the climate • Planted in the right area • Cared for in the right way
Focus on rebuilding landscapes with salt-tolerant native plants to mitigate future storm risks.
