What's in Bloom?
(at the Florida Friendly Learning Landscape)

Article By:
Audrey Durr
Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program Coordinator

The steady summer rains have really refreshed the Florida-Friendly Learning Landscape, and colorful blooms and butterflies abound. If you haven't yet visited the garden (located behind the Extension Office at 3650 W. Sovereign Path, Lecanto), it's the perfect place to learn about the basics of Florida-friendly landscaping and to see, touch and smell Florida-friendly plants.

The Learning Landscape is open to the public from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week; guided tours are offered upon request, Monday through Friday from 8:00AM to 5:00PM. An "Intro to Florida-Friendly Landscaping" class, including a tour of the garden, will be offered on Wednesday, September 10 from 2:30 pm to 5:00 pm; call 527-5700 to pre-register.

Several types of groundcovers can be found throughout the garden. Groundcovers can be used to maintain an "open" look while reducing maintenance (such as from mowing grass). Perennial peanut is a drought-tolerant, pest-resistant groundcover that only grows to six inches tall. The plant produces yellow flowers, deep green foliage and it can be walked on. Sunshine mimosa is another excellent, low-growing groundcover that produces "feathery" foliage and pink "powderpuff" flowers that attract butterflies. Varieties of ornamental sweet potato vine offer interesting foliage colors to add accent (deep purple, spring green and tricolor) but its growth can be aggressive if not contained.

The garden is continuously visited by butterflies, songbirds, hummingbirds and other wildlife because of the wide selection of flowering and fruiting plants. Salvia, agastache, pentas, golden dewdrop and bulbine flower almost non-stop throughout the year. The bulbine is one of my favorites; this easy to grow, clumping succulent offers continuous orange and yellow flowers. The cat's whiskers plant is a favorite with butterflies as well as humans for its unique white flowers.

Partridge pea and larra flower (shrubby false buttonweed) are not overly showy, but they are extremely useful for attracting the larra bicolor wasp to your yard. The larra bicolor wasp offers powerful, natural control of mole crickets. The wasp's young feed on mole crickets, while the adult wasps feed on the nectar of partridge pea and larra flower.

The Learning Landscape contains numerous labeled plant species (trees, shrubs and groundcovers), an operational irrigation display, a mulch display and other exhibits. At each of the nine stations, you can collect a tip card that explains how to apply that principle of Florida Friendly Landscaping in your own yard.

The Florida Friendly Learning Landscape was developed by the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods (FYN) program with the support of the Citrus County Board of County Commissioners and the Coastal Rivers and Withlacoochee River Basin Boards of the Southwest Florida Water Management District. FYN is a University of Florida program that educates citizens about landscaping techniques that save time and money, conserve water and reduce pollution.

For more information on Florida-friendly landscaping, visit the University of Florida's website www.solutionsforyourlife.org or contact the Florida Yards & Neighborhoods (FYN) program staff at your local Extension Office. FYN Program Coordinator Audrey Durr can be reached at 352-527-5708 or audrey.durr@bocc.citrus.fl.us. FYN Program Assistant Debbe Hooper can be reached at 352-527-5707 or debbe.hooper@bocc.citrus.fl.us.

The Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program of the Citrus County Extension Service is a public education and outreach program of the University of Florida, funded jointly by the Citrus County Board of County Commissioners and the Coastal Rivers and Withlacoochee River Basin Boards of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

All programs and related activities sponsored for, or assisted by, the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are open to all persons with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, political opinions, or affiliations.

For persons with disabilities requiring special accommodations, please contact our office at least five working days prior to the program so that proper consideration may be given to the request. For hearing impaired, please contact the Florida Relay Center at 1-800-955-8770 (voice) or 1-800 –955-8771 (TDD).

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