Discover Florida’s native treasures this month
The Sanibel Vegetation Committee invites you to celebrate Florida Native Plant Month throughout October, one of the best times of year to appreciate — and plant — Florida’s native trees, shrubs, groundcovers, and wildflowers. October is peak blooming season for many wildflowers, and fall planting gives roots time to establish before the spring growing season.
As part of the celebration, the Vegetation Committee will have a booth at the Farmer’s Market with examples of native plants, free literature, and committee members available to answer questions.
Native plants are the backbone of our barrier-island environment. Once established, they are well adapted to Florida’s wet and dry seasons and can flourish without fertilizer or pesticides. Sanibel wildlife depends on them for habitat, food, protection, and nesting material. They also add unique foliage, texture, and flowers to our yards.
Finding reliable plant information for Sanibel is easy. Go to MySanibel.com, then click on departments, natural resources, vegetation information and native vegetation. There, you will find why native vegetation is important to our Sanctuary Island, why native plants are protected, and links to the Sanibel Horticulturally Available Plant List, City Plant Lists, the Florida Native Plant Atlas, and the Native Plant Walk Packet.
During season, the Vegetation Committee conducts guided tours of the City Hall grounds. These tours offer an excellent opportunity to see groundcovers, shrubs, and trees that require little maintenance and are well adapted to Sanibel’s unique environmental conditions. A committee guide will be available to answer vegetation questions during the tour.
To stay informed visit MySanibel.com.
The Sanibel Vegetation Committee wrote this article in cooperation with the city of Sanibel’s Natural Resources Department. For more information, including to read other articles in the series, visit https://www.mysanibel.com/491/Vegetation-Committee-Articles.