Our gardens can be a living landscape full of varied plants and trees that act as a refuge for birds, mammals and insects. Large or small, all gardens are crucial in giving nature a helping hand. By making clever choices for your gardens, borders and herb patches and creating a safe chemical-free space for wildlife and pollinators you can contribute to the whole food chain. Besides being an unending source of beauty for all seasons, a wildlife garden can be effective as a safe haven for everything from beetles, birds, bees, to butterflies. (more…)
Firebush (Hamelia patens) is a perennial. A semi-woody shrub, native to South Florida that can grow to about 5-10 ft. tall in height. Also called scarlet bush, its bright red-orange tubular flowers bloom from late spring till the first frost and attract butterflies, including zebra longwing and gulf fritillary, as well as hummingbirds. This plant also produces black berries to draw in different species of birds such as cedar waxwings, song birds and catbirds that eat the fruit. It stays in bloom through the growing season and when the weather turns cooler, some of the fuzzy leaves also turn bright red.
Spring is here and wildflowers are popping up all over the country from the deserts of California to the North American Plains. Even in Florida the colorful blooms of spring wildflowers are already on display, buzzing with insects and alive with the sound of birds. After all, Florida boasts of many varieties of colorful blossoms in differing sizes, color and shape. In fact, Florida got its name from the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who on sighting land named it La Florida, which means “land of flowers.”
The monarch butterfly is one of the most well-known and recognized. But did you know they are becoming extinct? Learn how you can help save the monarch butterfly.
