In 2020, a native plant garden was installed adjacent to the Prairie Creek Banding Lab at the Alachua Conservation Trust (ACT) Prairie Creek property. Our vision was to enhance both the habitat and the educational opportunities for visitors and future AAS college interns.
Grant funds were secured from Florida Power and Light and Audubon Florida to purchase regionally appropriate native plants, tools, mulch and other necessities. Members of the local Florida Native Plant Society chapter, The Paynes Prairie Chapter, provided advice on plant selection and garden design, and ACT staff was very helpful with site preparation and subsequent mowing to maintain what grew to become a dozen large plant circles. Many volunteers, primarily Sherri and Eric Amundson and Lee Bloomcamp, helped with the labor-intensive tasks of ridding the beds of bahia grass and other weeds, preparing the beds and establishing the new plants. These and other volunteers continue to maintain the garden with weeding, watering, mowing, mulching and more. Many plants at the garden have successfully established and are re-seeding. Some have not survived due to predation by deer and other factors.
In 2022, Paul Lyrene, UF Emeritus Professor of Horticultural Sciences, installed several plantings of various native blueberry species to enhance food sources for birds and other wildlife. He is also comparing their ability to survive with minimum irrigation.
In 2024, Danny Rohan of ACT agreed to assume maintenance of the garden in addition to the frequent mowing they had already been providing. With interns and volunteers on site, ACT is better able to manage the garden. A few AAS volunteers will continue to assist as time allows. ACT recently purchased an all-terrain wheelchair to enable mobility-challenged visitors to go on trails. Please contact ACT for details on using the chair.
To visit the garden during the week, park at the Prairie Creek Lodge and follow the Lodge Trail (green). On weekends, follow the Conservation Burial Cemetery sign and take the Lodge Trail from the opposite end.
In September 2024, informational signs were created and installed for well-established species to provide an educational element for visitors to the garden. These are listed below. Click on the links for complete plant information and photos from the Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS) and others (as indicated).
Bigflower Pawpaw (Asimina obovata)2
Blueberries (Native) (Vaccinium spp.)
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- Darrow’s Blueberry (Vaccinium darrowii)
- Sparkleberry (Vaccinium arboretum)4
- Deerberry, Highbush huckleberry (Vaccinium stamineum)4
Britton’s Beargrass, Scrub beargrass (Nolina brittoniana)5
Broomsedge Bluestem (Andropogon virginicus)1
Button Snakeroot, Rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium)
False Indigo (Amorpha fruticosa)2
False-rosemary (Conradina canescens)2
Florida Gamagrass (Tripsacum floridanum)1
Forked Bluecurls (Trichostema dichotomum)
Frostweed (Verbesina virginica)2
Garberia (Garberia heterophylla)3,5
Goldenrod spp. (Solidago sempervirens)2
Grassleaf Goldenaster (Pityopsis oligantha)1
Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris)
Lovegrass (Eragrostis spp.)1
Manyflower Beardtongue (Penstemon multiflorus)
Pinebarren Frostweed (Helianthemum corymbosum)2
Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale)2
Spiderwort, Ohio Spiderwort (Tradescantia ohiensis)6
Standing Cypress (Ipomopsis rubra)
Tickseed (Coreopsis spp.)
For a link to all Florida native plants on the FNPS website, click here. The mission of the Florida Native Plant Society is to promote the preservation, conservation, and restoration of the native plants and native plant communities of Florida.
Other images are from:
1-Atlas of Florida Plants
2-Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
3-Florida Wildflower Foundation
4-Paul Lyrene, UF Emeritus Professor of Horticultural Sciences
5-Coastal Plain Plants
6-UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic & Invasive Plants