For a good many years, I have been growing wildflowers at my home as a licensed nursery known as Hawthorn Hill.  My goal has never been to make money but to make a greater diversity of weildflowers available to the public.  I believe that I have achieved this goal with the growth in the number of native nurseries and with my ability to grow my plants and sell them at my place of work - The USF Botanical Gardens in Tampa.  With our Plant Shop open from Tuesdays - Sundays and a larger propagation area to work with, I can grow more plants than ever and make it easier for everyone ..read more

Hairy phlox (Phlox amoena) is an uncommon native phlox in Florida - vouchered sporadically in extreme north Florida: Escambia and Jefferson Counties in the Panhandle and four counties in and around the Jacksonville area in northeastern Florida.  It is widely distributed north of Florida, however, from Georgia and Alabama north to North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky.  It is a perennial wildflower most common to upland sunny habitats such as sandhills, open woodland edges and roadsides.   This species dies back to the ground in winter and reemerges again in spring.&n ..read more

Gulf Coast lupine (Lupinus westianus) is a short-lived perennial endemic to the western Panhandle counties of Florida and listed as a state-threatened species.  Like other native members of this genus, it is found in very well-drained sandy and open sunny habitats.  Gulf Coast lupine is most common near the Gulf Coast on relic dunes though its salt toleranance is not well reported.  Most lupines, except sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis), live at most for three years, flowering sparingly during year two and forming large plants that flower expansively in year three.  ..read more

  Large-leaved jointweed (Polygonum smallianum) is a perennial sub-shrub found in scrub habitat within a very restricted range in western peninsular Florida and in one county (Baldwin) adjacent to Florida in Alabama.  It is listed as a state-threatened species and that denotation is largely due to the extensive habitat loss occurring within this region.  Large-leaved jointweed forms stiff, almost-woody stems that can stand 3 feet tall.  As its common name indicates, large, spatulate-shaped, succulent leaves alternate up these stems. At the base, these leaves can be ..read more

Photo by Steve Coleman  Two photos above by Floyd Griffith Bearded milkvetch (Astragalus villosus) is an annual member of the legume family and one of two milkvetches native to Florida.  I have written about the other (A. obcordatus) previously.  Unlike A. obcordatus which has a very limited range in Florida and the Southeast, bearded milkvetch is widespread throughout the Florida Panhandle and the northern peninsula in open well-drained habitats - often those that are somewhat disturbed such as roadsides and pastures.  This is a component of the Southeastern flo ..read more

  Florida milkvetch (Astragalus obcordatus) is a perennial legume (bean/pea family) that is nearly endemic to Florida.  Isolated populations have been vouchered in Mississippi, Alabama,  and Georgia, but it is found throughout much of the Panhandle and the northern half of peninsular Florida. Throughout its range, it is most commonly found in open mesic to xeric uplands. Although this is a widespread and common genus, Florida milkvetch is only one of two species found in Florida. The other species, bearded milkvetch (A. villosus) is an upright species with much smaller flow ..read more

  Tiny bluet (Houstonia pusilla) is a diminutive member of a genus that also includes the widespread wildflower commonly known as Innocence (Houstonia procumbens).  This species, however, is confined to the entire Panhandle region of Florida.  It also is common throughout much of the Eastern and Midwestern portions of the U.S., except the most northern tier of states.  Throughout its extensive range, it is found in a variety of mesic open habitats.  Tiny bluet is an annual that makes its appearance in winter when its tiny rosette of basal leaves become noticeable ..read more

Common leopardbane (Arnica acaulis) is a rare perennial wildflower in Florida, vouchered only from Jackson and Liberty Counties in the Panhandle, but more commonly found in the Southeast Coastal Plain north of us from Georgia to New Jersey and Pennsylvania. In Florida, it is listed as a state endangered species. Like so many wildflowers of north Florida, this plant dies back to the ground in winter and reemerges again in early spring.  Although it is reported to be common in wetland edges elsewhere, Florida populations occur in open sunny moist uplands such as pine flatwoods.&nb ..read more

Wood betony (Pedicularis canadensis) is a perennial wildflower found across the eastern half of North America from east Texas north to Minnesota and Maine in the U.S. and in the adjoining lower tier of provinces in Canada, though it has been vouchered in Florida in only 6 counties in the Panhandle with a seventh disjunct population in Clay County south of Jacksonville.  Although its common name would suggest it otherwise, wood betony is not a mint but a member of the Orobanchaceae - a family that includes the false foxgloves (Agalinus spp.), bluehearts (Buchnera spp.), and blacksennas ..read more

Yellow fumewort (Corydalis flavula) is an annual wildflower found in only three Florida counties (Jackson, Calhoun, and Liberty) in the central Panhandle.  It is widely distributed north of us, however, and is vouchered from the eastern Great Plains to the east coast north to New York and Massachusetts.  Throughout its wide distribution, it is most commonly found in open, deciduous woodlands in moist, but well-drained soil.   This is a winter annual, meaning that it sets seed in the summer and reappears in winter or very early spring.  It requires the heat of sum ..read more