
- A non native honeybee on a native seaside goldenrod
- A monarch caterpillar feeds on a giant African milkweed
- A barred sulphur butterfly finds nectar on a non native Mexican clover
- This lakeside shows a dramatic decline water level
- The Asian hibiscus is beautiful but useless to our pollinating insects
- The S American Turk’s cap hibiscus supplies nectar to birds
- The native sweet acacia is in full bloom
- Some red mangroves have both flowers and fruit
- The sea grape is just finishing blooming due to the hurricane
- The necklace pod is a pretty yellow color
- The yellow cassia flowers attract sulphur butterflies in season
- The coral honeysuckle flowers await hummingbird in April
- The procession flowers bloom after fires
- The yellow butterwort has sticky leaves to catch insects
- The wild petunia or Ruellia flower is uncommon now
- Black root flowers are inconspicuous
- The star grass is not a grass
- The rein orchid is not for bouquets
- The snowy egret is a vision of beauty
You might think that winter would be brown and bleak but such is not the case in SW Florida. Aside from the coastal damage to many plants caused by hurricane Milton on Oct. 9, 2024, and the generally dry weather in winter, plants continue to thrive. Not many are in bloom and insect pollinators are hardly seen, but there are a surprising number of flowers on non-native and native plants.
In my yard very few bees and butterflies have been seen recently. This honeybee on a seaside goldenrod is actually not a welcome sight since these common insects are non-native and very destructive to native pollinators. There have been a number of monarch caterpillars on the giant milkweed but these are pupating and disappearing. This large monarch caterpillar was quite sluggish on a cool day but still eating when it warmed up in midday. This barred yellow butterfly on a non-native Mexican “clover” was one of very few butterflies observed in late January.
Low temperatures and cold northerly winds are not the only stresses that impact animals and plants here in winter. There is very little rain this time of year; April is our driest month. A local pond illustrates this effect with a lowered water level; a cypress tree is out of the water and there are distinct “lichen lines” on the lower trunk showing where previously higher lake levels were.
In my yard there are about a dozen plants in bloom. The Asian hibiscus flowers are beautiful but virtually useless to pollinators. These flowers have no nectar and seem to be unattractive to our pollinators. The large native wetland hibiscus are primarily pollinated by bumblebees seeking pollen as a food source for larvae. A non-native but beneficial Turk’s cap hibiscus from S America is very attractive to birds because of copious nectar obtained by piercing the base of the flower. Sweet acacia flowers have been in bloom for some time as have sea grapes likely due to stimulation by leaf regrowth after the hurricane. Red mangroves have both flowers and fruit now; the fruits will sprout on the tree before being dropped into the sea water. Necklace pod, cassia and coral honeysuckles are all in bloom but there are no pollinators in evidence.
I decided to examine a native area in Myakka State Forest to se what might be blooming in pine flatwoods. This area had been burned several months ago which often stimulates flower production. Indeed there were a number of flowers evident but again no pollinators flying on a warm late morning survey. The procession flowers were small but widespread. I found only one of the rare carnivorous butterworts, Pinguicula lutea, in this nutrient poor soil. There were a few wild petunias (Ruellia) , black root and star “grass”, Hypoxis, in bloom. I found one rein orchid also in bloom. An adjacent area that had not been recently burned had far fewer flowers as expected.
Perhaps even more spectacular than any flower is this snowy egret foraging along a bayside beach on the eastern side of my yard. The famous “golden slippers” are very evident.. These bright yellow feet are used in the “snowy shuffle” when the bird moves it’s feet around in the bottom debris to scare up potential prey fish.
So even in winter one can find an abundance of natural beauty among the flowers. Sunny and mild winter days low in humidity can be glorious and beckon us to go outside and enjoy nature to its fullest.