Monthly Meeting & Program
Florida Wildflowers and the Florida Wildflower Foundation

Brightman Logan, Boardmember, FWF and Owner, All Natives LLC
Monday June 7, 2010

The Florida Wildflower Foundation was formed to promote planting, protection and appreciation of our state's native wildflowers. Funds from the familiar wildflower license plate, featuring our state wildflower, support the Foundation's grants and programs. The Foundation has many partners, all involved in conserving and managing wildflowers in their natural habitats, as well as replacing turf with wildflowers where ever feasible. The Foundation has a strategic plan crafted to increase the citizen's exposure to wildflowers in many settings.

Brightman Logan, a board member of the Foundation, will explain how the organization's programs help citizens encounter wildflowers on the roadsides, in the classroom, landscaping and events. He will also showcase a selection of wildflower species, and provide tips on including wildflowers in the home landscape.

 

A university trained biologist and native Floridian, Brightman Logan started in environmental consulting and later founded his own native nursery (All Native, formerly Central Florida Native Flora) in 1981, providing restoration and ornamental landscape consulting and design services as well as the state’s largest container-grown native nursery.

Logan has been an innovator in the introduction of native tree and shrub cultivars and the production of large, landscape quality container-grown natives. He has received national, state and local awards for commercial and residential landscape projects and is a state-registered provider of landscape architect CEUs. An active member of several industry and environmental groups, Logan serves on the board for AFNN and the Florida Wildflower Foundation.

Monthly meetings and programs of the Hernando Chapter are held on the first Monday of the month, except November and when holidays occur. They are open to the public, free of charge. We will meet at the Hernando County Cooperative Extension Office – 19490 Oliver Street (next to the County Fairgrounds) in Brooksville. We gather for delicious food and fellowship at 6:30pm, meeting and program starts at 7:00pm. For more information about this program or the Florida Native Plant Society, contact the Hernando Chapter Board at hcfnps@gmail.com.

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FNPS Holds 30th Annual Conference,
Governor signs FNPS Anniversary Proclamation

At least a half-dozen Hernando Chapter members had a great time at the Society's 30th Anniversary Conference! The weather was spectacular, we walked past the Capital on the way to the convention center, and saw the tree-filled horizons of Tallahassee from the Capital building's 22nd floor. Bailey White wrote some essays just for us and read them in her gentle and ironic style. (Your editor cried.)

Gene Kelly ends his FNPS Presidency in triumph; due to his foresight and efforts, the conference hosted the first ever summit for native plant societies from neighboring states. Representatives from the Lady Bird Johnson Center, Texas, Virginia, Georgia and other states attended our conference and put their heads together to see how collaboration can create change in policy and attitudes about native plants in America. Congratulations Mr. Kelly! Cindy Liberton was awarded a Silver Palmetto Award for being helpful on the board.

You can read about Bruce Vanderveen's conference experience at the new Hernando Chapter blog: http://hcfnps.blogspot.com/
And as usual, the indomitable Sid Taylor deployed tape recorders and listed favorite lessons learned. Here's a few:

Bullets of knowledge from our Mentors @ FNPS Conf., Tallahassee, May 20-23-2010 or What I learned on my Summer Vacation by Sid Taylor

 

Sandhill milkweed - Asclepias humistrata

by Mark Hutchinson

Sandhill milkweed, also called Pinewoods milkweed thrives in Hernando County in the well drained, sandy soil of open fields, disturbed areas, and scrub habitat abutting Oak and Pine wooded areas. This perennial emerges and starts blooming in early May in West Hernando and a little later in East Hernando. Pinewoods milkweed can be quickly recognized by the unique mauve to pink colored, egg shaped to lance-like opposing leaves with prominent veins.

Once pollination has occurred a seed pod will form. A good method for harvesting the seeds is to use the type of mesh bag that you can buy multiple garlic bulbs. By using this device both air circulation and moisture drainage are allowed while the pod and seeds are contained. Once the pod splits and dries up it will fall loose from the plant, allowing seed collection.

Pinewoods milkweed has a monolithic nearly cylindrical primary root system with a length to width ratio of about eight to ten that extends down into the soil from the above ground foliage The older the plant the longer and thicker the primary root, so if the opportunity to rescue a plant in harm's way presents itself – bring a full size shovel.

When transplanting Sandhill milkweed shading the plant temporarily will help keep the foliage alive for a while, but more than likely everything above ground will probably wither and die. Hang in there, with a bit of luck you will soon discover some delicate mauve leaves pushing themselves back out of the ground ready to start the cycle again.