NATIONAL WILDFLOWER WEEK

 

The first week of May is National Wildflower Week and so I’d like to share some of my favorite Florida native wildflowers that have been planted in my back garden.  Most are attractive to bees, butterflies and birds, especially hummingbirds!

 

 

 

 

Scorpion-tail (Heliotropium angiospermum) – This wildflower has white blooms nearly all year and is drought tolerant.  It self-sows freely!

 

 

 

 

Lance-leaved Tickseed (Coreopsis lanceolata) – Growing in small clumps that form colonies, it has bright yellow daisy-like flowers blooming from late spring through summer

 

 

Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella) – This wildflower has showy flower heads which are red at the base with yellow tips and blooms repeatedly from summer into early fall.  Self-sows readily.

 

 

 

 

 

Firebush (Hamelia patens) – The tubular red-orange blooms form on this showy tropical shrub in late spring/early summer.   This plant also provides dark-red berries for winter interest. 

 

 

 

 

 

Tropical Sage (Salvia coccinea) – Especially attractive to hummingbirds, this wildflower has scarlet flower spikes in summer through fall and self-sows freely. 

 

 

 

 

 

Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) – It is drought tolerant and self-sows.  It’s cheerful bright yellow flowers with dark centers bloom in mid-summer.

 

 

 

 

Dotted Horsemint (Monarda punctata) – An aromatic perennial with rosettes of purple-spotted tubular flowers and purple-tinged leaf-like bracts blooming in summer to fall, this plant self-sows freely.

 

 

 

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world and all who live in it”

Psalm 24:1