Florida Haiku and Short Verse

Tuesday nature poetry,  Fragrant water lily, Nymphaea odorata Florida Nature Haiku & Art, Fragrant Water Lily by Kevin Songer … sweeter scent none else shallow blue fishing spot blooms bugs and bass … lazy kayaking lily pads circle round and round floating two eyed log …

Florida nature poetry for Monday, Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) Florida Nature Poetry & Art, Purple Coneflower by Kevin Songer ... too many’s a crowd genetic diversity is survival’s key purple coneflower displays its finest array intently seeking long distant bee for random cross pollination ... Florida field of Echinacea purpurea, Purple Coneflower by Kevin Songer Purple coneflower depends on long distance bees to spread pollen across hectares, enhancing genetic biodiversity.  In turn, bees profit from Echinacea's nectar sustenance. 

Florida Native Plant & Wildflower Poetry, Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis Florida Nature Haiku Poetry, Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis ... slough bush quiet rustle   loud cicadas hush as wood duck leaves her nest, gliding across still pond, below bees busy with sweet buttonbush blooms ... #floridanativeplants #florida #pensacola #pensacolaart #arttherapy #haiku #buttonbush #wildflowers #poetry #natureart #cephalanthus #wetlands #waterbirds  #swamplife #pollinators #bees 

Florida Wildflower Haiku & Art, Lyre Leaf Sage, Salvia lyrata Florida Wildflower Haiku & Art, Lyre Leaf Sage, Salvia lyrata by Kevin Songer ... native purple blooms hummingbirds steal a sip and chase off butterflies … Lyre-leaf sage is a Florida native and drought tolerant wildflower I see growing across lawns, along roadsides, in fields, meadows and under the forest canopy. Lyre-leaf sage leaves are lyre-like in shape with deep purple and green colorings. Their light blue flowers provide nectar for hummers and butterflies. The over-lapping leaves of adjacent lyre leaf sage plants keep other weeds down and provide a neat, well-cropped perennial native ground cover appearance. Lyre leaf sage has been one of my favorite and most reliable green roof plants. Lyre leaf sage has also been used traditionally as a cancer cure. This healing practice was based on a theory that because the plant quickly spread, creating densely populated patches, it must be a natu...

Florida Wildflower Haiku (Senryu), Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra Florida Wildflower Haiku, Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra by Kevin Songer …  limestone rock croppings bees butterflies skipper art rose gentian drawn … Tarkiln Bayou State Park, Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra by Kevin Songer Rose gentian has about a dozen different species found throughout Florida (Sabatia spp.).  Tarkiln Bayou State Park, Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra by Kevin Songer Rose gentian’s flowers are rich in purple and pink hues. When in full summer bloom, Sabatia can fill a roadside drainage swale with incredible swaths of pink and purple.  Tarkiln Bayou State Park, Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra by Kevin Songer Some accounts may exist where early settlers dried Sabatia root and then brewed a chicory-like coffee with the plant parts. This may be a historical carry over from traditions in Europe where the same...

Florida Wildflower Haiku - Short Verse for Sunday, Wild petunia, Ruellia caroliniensis Florida Wildflower Haiku - Short Verse & Art, Wild Petunia, Ruellia caroliniensis by Kevin Songer …  purple bloom nectar attracts pollinators all, far into scrub woods … Wild petunia is always a surprise to discover growing in the woods as the plant and flower brings an aura of nice-neat cultivation to rough and ramble undergrowth. Wild petunia is a cousin of the more invasive Mexican petunia yet wild petunia is a prized Florida native wildflower and does not grow in an invasive manner. The common buckeye and white peacock butterflies seek out wild petunia as larval host plant.

Florida Nature Poetry for Sunday, Sandhill Milkweed, Asclepias humistrata Florida Wildflower Haiku, Sandhill Milkweed, Asclepias humistrata by Kevin Songer ... dunes' brilliant hot white blooms adorn blinding sands pollinators feast ...

Wednesday Florida native plant & wildflower haiku (short verse), Smilax spp. Florida Haiku, Wildflowers & Native Plant Art, Smilax spp. by Kevin Songer … wily cat brier scampers up tall long leaf pine hold tight sharp tip thorns … Catbrier provides the hungry hiker a quick energizing snack with its tender, tasty vine tips. Some sauté the green vine ends in butter and say the flavor resembles asparagus. Catbrier’s vines are loaded with thorns, making the mature, thickly vining plant a veritable evergreen barrier and providing wildlife with protected communal habitat.

Tuesday morning Florida native plant and wildflower haiku, Purple Muhly Grass Florida Wildflower Poetry & Art, Purple Muhly grass, Mulenbergia spp. by Kevin Songer … sweetgrass baskets muhly and pine needles weave art of carrying rice … Purple muhly grass lines the median of many native plant landscaped downtown streets in Florida. During late summer the blooms form a cloud-like top to the grass in brilliant white, purple and pink shades. This grass gives important communal habitat to birds and small mammals and once established is extremely drought tolerant. Muhly grass has a long history of ethnobotanical uses by native Americans and early settlers.  Woven from plant leaf blades, early plantation workers carried rice and other goods up from the fields in muhly grass baskets and satchels. Green Gardening Matters' post on muhly grass offers helpful hints on growing the grass as well as more of the interesting history of the plant.

Wildflower Haiku, Rayless sunflower, Helianthus radula Floria Wildflower Haiku Art, Rayless Sunflower, Helianthus radula by Kevin Songer … wet ditch oddity deep maroon pyres reach high swallowtails alight ... Rayless sunflower is a bit of an oddity standing erect like black eyed Susans and echinacea but lacking petals. Rayless sunflower’s head is composed of a collection of small brown florets and the plant is a member of the Helianthus (sunflower) genus. I usually see rayless sunflower growing alongside of wet drainage ditches and along the margins of shallow sloping ponds. Despite a lack of petals, rayless sunflower attracts many different pollinators. I find the plant’s stark structural appearance to be an interesting addition to a wet area landscape and an inspiration for nature art.

Florida wildflower haiku for Thursday; Butterflyweed, Asclepias tuberosa Florida wildflower haiku, Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa by Kevin Songer … milkweeds toxin sap eaten by Monarch larvae hungry birds disdain … Butterfly weed (also known as 'milkweed') provides nectar for many pollinators, including butterflies and hummingbirds. Butterfly weed likes to grow in sandy soils and is a larval host plant for the Queen and Monarch butterflies. Interestingly, milkweed contains sap substances that are sometimes toxic to birds. Some butterflies have taken advantage of this toxicity by laying eggs on milkweed in order for the hungry larvae to ingest leaves full of these toxins, which fill their body with a taste predator birds disdain ultimately providing the larvae and young butterflies with much needed protection.

Florida native plant short verse for Wednesday. Sea oats, Uniola paniculata Florida Nature Haiku, Sea Oats, Kevin Songer … mice, birds and bunnies tasty seeds eat, summer grub when no chips are around … Sea oats are a protected grass found growing along the Gulf and Atlantic seashores, primarily across the sand dunes. Sea oats provide important forage for beach mice and shorebirds as well as shelter. Their roots help stabilize dunes, preventing erosion. As a child I always possessed a strong desire to grab a handful of seeds off the plant and I’m not sure if this was because I was always told not to pick them or because it looked like a fun thing to do. Sea oats are some of the only native plants to grow in the harsh salt laden environment, close to water's edge and as such provide important communal and foraging habitat to wildlife.

Weekend Catesby Lily Short Verse Pineland lily, Lilium catesbaei, Kevin Songer ... flames in the flatwoods fire in the wiregrass wet soil quenches not ... Damp soil pine flatwoods are such a special place and this is where I usually see Catesby lily growing en masse.  Catesby lily flower is one of the largest lily flowers native to North America.  Brilliant hues of orange, yellow and red attract a number of pollinators to the top of stems reaching up above wiregrass below.  Pineland lily is truly an amazing Florida native wildflower.

Florida Wildflower Poetry, Railroad Vine, Kevin Songer Railroad Vine … bright nectar filled cups moths, wasps, ants and bees seek oceanfront diner … Railroad vine, Ipomoea pes-caprae is also known as 'beach morning glory' and 'goat's foot', the latter name deriving from goat-foot shaped leaves on the vine. Salt tolerant railroad vine is an amazing native wildflower growing in primary dunes, often straight down the beach towards the surf.  Look closely and you may see thousands of pollinators buzzing about railroad vine's luminescent purple flowers.  This vine is an important beach-side insect, butterfly, small mammal and bird food source. Railroad vine's common name probably arose from the vine's long straight reaches, with leaves and flowers jutting out to each side much like a long straight run of railroad tracks, helping stabilize primary and beachfront sand dunes.  Drought and salt tolerant, this native wildflower makes a great se...

Sea beans ... prickly liana spiny pods nest lustrous beans, wait for sea pearls' fall ... Gray Nickerbean, Caesalpina bonduc, Kevin Songer Florida Nature Artist Rare Miami Blue and Nickerbean Blue butterfly larvae feed heavily of the foliage of Gray Nickerbean whose seed pods are as outrageously beautiful as the lustrous seeds nested inside.  The maritime loving Gray Nickerbean liana aggressively grows into a rambling, impenetrable hedge before flowering and dropping its gray beans onto the seashore.  With the seasons, tides and sargassum flotsam, Gray Nickerbeans travel around the world, carried hence by La Mar.  Sea Beans, also know as Sea Pearls have been used by peoples for jewelry, medicine and artisan wood inlays for millennia. 

Wednesday Night Florida short verse is a blanketflower fantasy. ... midnight beach party gaillardia spins moonbeams for dune critter disco ... Dune Critter Midnight Disco by Kevin Gaillardia pulchella & Anole by Kevin

Florida Haiku, Short Verse and Wildflowers by Kevin ... if I were a gopher gaillardia would be my favorite home decor ... Gaillardia pulchella, limited signed prints by Kevin email fmi

Mandala aster blooms and dragonflies, Kevin Songer Nature Art ... haiku composition inspiration just outside morning aster blooms ...

Florida Wildflower Poetry and Art, Elderberry ... elderberry jam jar lips' purple goo absurd not to lick ... Elderberry has been revered as an important plant for centuries.  Hippocrates as well as many others throughout history spoke of elder's ability to feed and heal.  The purple berries and flowers have been found to be effective in combating influenza and in also making delicious jams and pies.  Elder grows well in a variety of soils and provides communal and foraging to pollinators and small mammals alike.

Climbing aster, Symphyotrichum spp. ... lilac stars climb wreathed through cypress, bag of yarn not twisted more ... Climbing aster can be reliably found in full lush bloom, even in the driest and hottest of summer droughts.  This shrubby vine produces masses amounts of highly fragrant luminous purple and mauve flowers. Once the vines start weaving through trees they form an almost impenetrable barrier.  When no other summer drought flowers can be found, climbing aster is there to feed hungry monarch butterflies.