Florida is filled with beautiful native flowers, shrubs, trees, and vines, of all shapes, colors, and sizes.
I have found that using native plants saves money, reduces the need for chemicals, reduces water use, and the time spent on landscaping maintenance.
Native plants also support our wonderful native wildlife. Hopefully you love animals as much as I do!
Please stay for a little while and learn more about our native plants and animals, and while you’re here sign up for my mailing list to get updates on my newest videos, wildlife merchandise, articles, books, and Florida ecotype seeds.
If you’re interested in Florida’s plants and animals then you will find something useful within my site.
Butterfly gardening in central Florida can be as easy as learning to identify the plants used by our butterfly species for food, shelter, courtship and egg-laying. Many plants, that most people consider weeds, are important butterfly plants and are totally free for you to use to create your own butterfly garden. Read my article Butterfly Gardening in Central Florida to find out more.
Attracting birds to your garden follows the same principles. Many plants that people have falsely labeled as weeds, or trash plants, provide the necessary food and shelter for Florida’s birds. You don’t need to spend a fortune on landscaping to attract birds. I bet you already have many native plants in your yard that the birds would love if you allowed them to grow to their potential instead of mowing them off. Look through my article on Native Plants for the Birds and see if you recognize any of them in your yard.
To begin your quest for a diverse and healthy butterfly garden, my book, Central Florida Butterflies and Their Host Plants: A Complete List of Native Host Plants, is available in both Kindle and paperback formats from Amazon.com.
I’m a native Floridian who was born and raised in Tampa, Florida. I now live near Orlando.
I used to be a wildlife rehabber but got burned out on the sadness of it all so put my efforts into learning about Florida native plants and their ecosystems.
I became a Master Gardener in Hernando County and formed the Hernando Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society.
My passion is to teach people to appreciate Florida plants, animals and the ecosystems they live in.
One of my favorite hobbies has always been seed collecting and nature photography so I began to put my efforts into selling Florida ecotype seeds for people to grow and attract native wildlife they can appreciate while reducing yard maintenance, and water and chemical usage. I am a staunch advocate for organic gardening and try to teach people that gardening with natives will provide you with plants that grow on natural rainfall, attract pollinators and predatory insects which reduce the need for excess water and chemical use.
I also use my photographs to create merchandise, for nature lovers, that I sell in my Etsy Store and I also sell Florida ecotype seeds at Etsy and on Ebay.
I am the author of Central Florida Butterflies and their Host Plants: A Complete List of Native Host Plants. My book includes commonly found butterflies in central Florida and what host plants they use. I bet you would be surprised that you may already have some butterfly host plants. Check it out if you garden for butterflies.
My second book is about to be released – Central Florida Wildlife Gardening: Turn Your Yard Into a Wildlife Oasis.
Please join me in helping to save our natural world … our natural Florida.
Enjoy your green space,
Sharon
sharonsflorida@gmail.com
Specializing in Florida Ecotype Seeds!
You can find my Etsy Store at https://sharonsflorida.etsy.com
You can find my Ebay Store at https://www.ebay.com/str/sharonsflorida
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