Floridians are in love with exotic plants. Many yards are planted to resemble a tropical island, a rainforest or an African jungle. While there are many tropical plants native to Florida, more often than not, the plants in these landscapes are not natives. Some are even harming our environment.
So why are so many people trying to make Florida something it is not?
City and county governments throughout Florida are recognizing October 2015 as Florida Native Plant Month.
Why is this important to you, and how does it benefit Florida?
ABOUT NATIVES
A Florida native plant is a plant that occurred in the state before the arrival of Europeans.
A non-native plant was introduced by humans. They can be introduced intentionally or unintentionally, such as in ship cargo.
Some of these plants have become naturalized, meaning they are growing on their own in nature.
A naturalized non-native plant that takes over a habitat and displaces native plants is an invasive or invasive exotic. Not all non-native naturalized plants are invasive.
NATIVES BELONG
They are part of our history, our heritage and our unique character. But they are not just a part of our past. They are the key to our future.
“A Land Remembered,” the historical novel by the late Patrick Smith, describes Central Florida as a landscape of endless saw palmettos and grasses, rich in plant and wildlife.
While we cannot resurrect the vast unspoiled lands of the past, we can restore the “real” Florida to our remaining lands.
By planting native plants in our gardens and protecting the natural plant communities we can take back Florida, and go into the future with a more stable and sustainable environment.
NATIVES PROTECT
By planting natives we retain a high variety of plants and animals in our state.
When we plant an exotic, it may escape to our natural environment and push out the natives.
This can cause a decrease in the number of individual species in our state.
Protecting biodiversity is important because it supports a variety of insects, plants and wildlife that are essential to our production of food and medicine. Every time a species goes extinct we lose a potential source for a new food or vaccine.
NATIVES SUPPORT
Our pollinators, insects, birds and bats, pollinate over 75% of our crops. Without these pollinators many of our crops will vanish. This can impact our economy and health.
Native plants attract more pollinators than non-natives, and because native plants and native wildlife have evolved together, their survival is often dependent each other.
NATIVES CLEAN WATER
Native plants keep our water clean. Native wetland plants filter pollutants, that can end up in our homes, out of the water.
They also provide food and habitat for natural fish nurseries and many bird species.
Many exotics tend to clog our waterways, rob our lakes of oxygen, and provide little food or habitat for wildlife.
Donna Bollenbach is the vice president of both the Suncoast chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society and the Friends of Kissimmee Prarie Preserve State Park. She loves to photograph nature, especially Florida native plants and animals. Join the Suncoast chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society at SuncoastNPS.org. The chapter meets every third Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the Seffner Extension Services office, 5339 County Road 579.