It’s been a little over a year since My Florida Meadow Co. donated the design, plants and planting of the native plant garden at The Avian Reconditioning Center in Apopka, Florida. I’ve been tending to it since installation. Here’s a photo journal of this past year.
“The Avian Reconditioning Center (ARC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit conservation resource in Apopka, FL. Since 2001, ARC has realized its mission through dedication to raptor rehabilitation, education, research, and falconry, thereby increasing public awareness, knowledge, and appreciation of Florida’s magnificent raptors and the natural habitats in which they live. We raise nestlings with surrogate parents, rehabilitate injured raptors, release healthy raptors back to the wild, and provide a permanent home for those who would not survive on their own.”
Project goals
- Garden size, approximately 30’ x 33’ with 960 sq feet of that planted, in full to partial sun, upland, fast draining sandy entisols.
- Create a native plant garden to maximize the ecological value of this space, providing resources and habitat for wildlife.
- Let it be inspired by the historical botanical context of Central Florida’s natural sandy uplands.
- Use species that once established, would not need irrigation.
- Create natural beauty for people to enjoy.
Photo above: planting in May 2025 with 4” pots and plugs of perennial wildflowers and grasses spaced about 12” to 18” on center.
May - June 2025
- Site preparation. Fence repairs were completed by volunteers at ARC. Existing grass and weeds were removed by hand using a shovel. We left some of the grass, framed in metal edging, for a little work/gathering area.
- Planted with 4” pots and plugs.
- Planted in May through June 2025.
- All Florida ecotype native species.
- Hand watering by hose to establishment, no irrigation system.
- Treated for weeds* right after planting (within the first week) with a scuffle hoe. Repeated this several times over a couple weeks, to exhaust the initial flush of weeds that occurred from the planting process that disturbed the soil at planting and exposed dormant seeds in the seed bank to light and moisture. Using this scuffle hoe method was very easy to do at this small scale.
- Pine straw to mulch.
Photo above: June 2025
July 2025
- Custom engraved plant markers are installed to easily identify plants for visitors.
- Hand watering continues as needed during hot stretches with little rain. Note: when planting with small containers like we did here, during spring and summer, keep an eye out because they have a smaller root system and will dry out faster than one gallon pots.
- Hand pulling of weeds, mostly yellow nutsedge, about a half hour to one hour a week. This is when our rainy season (consistent rain usually begins at the end of June) is in full effect and weeds grow the fastest. My goal is to remove them before they go to seed. Some things that pop up are naturally occurring native species that are beneficial larval food source for insects like common toadflax or pepper grass so I make decisions as I weed and just remove what is invasive or aggressive and may take over the planting.
Photo above: Rolfs’ milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa ssp. rolfsii) is a popular source of nectar for many insects and a larval food source for the Monarch, Queen and Soldier butterflies.
August - September 2025
- Well into the rainy season. No longer watering by hand routinely for establishment, but still monitoring closely if we have intense heat (98+) without rain for a few days or more.
- We’re seeing high pollinator counts; many types of native bees and wasps.
- The volunteers at ARC create handcrafted and painted art poles to frame the entrance to the garden.
- Weeding has gone down to approximately one half hour every other week. Getting weeds out before they go to seed is key.
- Grassy area inside is mowed every other week and the grass clippings are bagged so that grass or weed seed is not blown into the plantings.
- Late summer and fall wildflowers and grasses are blooming.
Photo above: A gulf fritillary butterfly nectars at a wildflower that is endemic to Florida, Phoebanthus grandiflorus, with Pineywoods Dropseed (Sporobolus junceus) and Chapman’s goldenrod (Solidago odora var. chapmanii).
October - December 2025
- Management is very minimal at this point. The planting is filling in, a lot of the ground is not visible but I give it a look over every few weeks to check for weeds so they don’t have the opportunity to set seed. This takes about 20 minutes.
Photo above: Clusterleaf blazing star (Liatris laevigata) and Scrub goldenaster (Pityopsis aequilifolia) blooming in early November.
Photo above: Sandhill wire weed (Polygonum nesomii) and Wild buckwheat (Eriogonum tomentosum) blooming in late November.
January - February 2026
- The garden gets a new resident. Gopher tortoises call the larger surrounding area home and one has begun building a burrow!
- Gopher tortoises and their burrows are protected. It’s illegal to handle them or bother their burrows. We’re all pretty excited to see him and give him a lot of space.
- Standing cypress seedlings are emerging.
- Florida greeneyes (Berlandiera subacaulis) and Pinebarren frostweed (Crocanthemum corymbosum) are blooming.
Photo above, taken from a distance and zoomed in. A gopher tortoise created a burrow in January.
Photo above: The seeds of these native wildflowers are providing a valuable food source for the migratory birds that are frequently visiting the garden.
Photo above: Standing cypress seedlings are popping up.
Photo above: Pinebarren frostweed (Crocanthemum corymbosum) is a low growing, mounding, subshrub that blooms winter into spring.
- Florida experienced a historic multi day deep freeze this year in early February with temperatures dropping to 25 degrees in the Orlando area. We didn’t do any covering of plants. Most of what is here are reseeding perennials and annuals and a couple of shrubs. Everything made it through and came back.
- Quick check for winter weeds takes about 10 minutes twice a month. The grass is mostly dormant so no mowing is needed over the winter.
March 2026
- I did an annual cut back first week of March. I left some stems standing to about 18” for next year’s cavity nesting bees.
- The tips of the cut back material that had seeds of plants I wanted more of, I strategically scattered.
- The material that was too bulky for this small space, I emptied out on the property near a wooded edge.
Photo above: March 2026. New life! Wildflower seedlings are starting to emerge.
Photo above: Florida greeneyes (Berlandiera subacaulis) blooms on and off much of the year with chocolate scented flowers, seen here with Garberia (Garberia heterophylla), an underutilized Central Florida native shrub.
April 2026
- I am checking for weeds every other week. There’s not much but there is some, again mostly yellow nutsedge.
- The garden is starting to take off in a wide range of silvery blues and greens that are so lovely when the morning dew catches the early rays of sunlight.
Photo above: April 2026. Phoebanthus grandiflorus, Florida scrub skullcap (Scutellaria arenicola), Rolfs’ milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa ssp. rolfsii), Standing cypress (Ipomopsis rubra), Pineywoods Dropseed (Sporobolus junceus) and Maryland Goldenaster (Chrysopsis mariana).
Photo above: Looking down into the garden. Many flowered beardtongue (Penstemon multiflorus) is starting to bloom in the background.
Photo above: The gopher tortoise burrow is just off the path.
Photo above: A mass of evergreen Garberia (Garberia heterophylla) gives structure to the center of the garden.
May 2026
- Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) has seeded into the pathway. Partridge pea is the larval host plant for several butterflies, including the cloudless sulphur and gray hairstreak butterflies. It reseeds abundantly and I do edit this one, somewhat. It’s popped up in the pathway but because the gopher tortoise has moved in and started a family, we’re welcoming the partridge pea here to deter foot traffic to protect the burrow.
- No irrigation is being done.
Photo above: Partridge pea (Chamaecrista fasciculata) acts as an annual here and has reseeded into the pathway. Roundpod St. John’s Wort (Hypericum cistifolium) and Many flowered beardtongue (Penstemon multiflorus) are blooming in the background. 
Photo above: The gaps are closing! Sandhill wire weed (Polygonum nesomii), and Scrub goldenaster (Pityopsis aequilifolia), Wild buckwheat (Eriogonum tomentosum) and Coastal plain honeycomb head (Balduina angustifolia) in the front.
June - July 2026
- The rainy season which starts in Florida in late June is under way. Two weeding sessions in June of about 20 minutes spaced out over the month was enough to get what germinated from the soil disturbances (very welcome!) from the gopher tortoise building the burrow. By July when I checked there was only one or two weeds. So, diligence pays off.
Photo above: Summer in full bloom!
Photo above: Phoebanthus grandiflorus, Florida scrub skullcap (Scutellaria arenicola), Rolfs’ milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa ssp. rolfsii), Standing cypress (Ipomopsis rubra), Pineywoods Dropseed (Sporobolus junceus) and October flower (Polygonum polygamum) in the foreground.
Photo above: The mahogany colored seed heads of Many flowered beardtongue (Penstemon multiflorus) beautifully contrast the silvery blue foliage of Hairy lespedeza (Lespedeza hirta), a perennial, legume that provides a larval food source for a wide variety of insects and small animals.
Photo above: Phoebanthus grandiflorus, Florida scrub skullcap (Scutellaria arenicola), Rolfs’ milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa ssp. rolfsii), Standing cypress (Ipomopsis rubra), Pineywoods Dropseed (Sporobolus junceus).
Photo above: Standing cypress (Ipomopsis rubra).
Photo above: Sandsquares (Paronychia rugelii) a low growing annual wildflower loved by tiny native bees and wasps growing around Garberia (Garberia heterophylla).
*A note on “weeds”. I am weeding out plants that if left unchecked, will take over the planting and outcompete what I have intentionally planted. In Central Florida, we have weeds that sprout and grow year round, we don’t have long stretches of hard freezes, or snow that give us a break from weeds. Addressing them early on and seriously is important. After that, some level of stewardship will always be needed in a garden setting here but early dedicated stewardship really makes a difference in the long term.
Strategic design that provides for ample ground coverage, planting densely so that the ground is covered with enough species for vertical and horizontal layers that also span the seasons, are all methods to plan for effective weed prevention long term.
Year one of this garden has shown that with the right plants for the conditions, a thoughtful design, a little patience, and consistent early stewardship, a garden that provides habitat for wildlife can take root in even the smallest of spaces. I’m grateful to the team at the Avian Reconditioning Center for their dedication and partnership in bringing this pollinator garden to life.
- Andrea
For more information about The Avian Reconditioning Center in Apopka, Florida, including rehabilitation, falconry experiences, educational programs, visiting the center, annual events and volunteer opportunities, please visit their website.