The Trailblazer

 Sunny, bright, hearty Wedelia is beloved by gardeners and homeowners- but is causing serious damage to Florida's natural areas. If you’re like me, you’ve probably been going on more walks, bike rides, or outings near your home since March. That makes this the perfect time to learn more about invasive plants that you can find in your own neighborhood! This month’s spotlight species, Sphagneticola trilobata (also known as wedelia or creeping oxeye) is extremely common in coastal and wet areas, but can be found in other spots too, especially in places where people water their lawns frequently. It’s a major groundcover plant in many neighborhoods- look for small, mostly three-lobed leaves and lots of tiny yellow flowers with bright-yellow centers. Wedelia growing through tall grass Wedelia's distinctive, three-lobed leaves Wedelia probably came to Florida to be used as a hearty ornamental groundcover. Its fast growth and lovely, bright yellow flowers made it popular all over the ...

Meet the amazing, dedicated staff who help to keep our nature preserves healthy, clean, and accessible! Even if you go hiking, riding, bird watching or kayaking in our nature preserves all the time, you may not get a chance to talk to our staff too often. Just under 50 staff manage Hillsborough County's over 63,000 acres of nature preserves, so they're pretty spread out. We want to give you this opportunity to meet and learn about the people who work hard to keep the County's nature preserves in good shape. Our staff do everything from mowing, trash pickup, and fence construction to prescribed fire, invasive species removal, ecological restoration, guided programs and more! This month, we asked Stephen Dickman to give us a little insight into his position and what conservation means to him. Here's what he had to share! "Growing up in Florida, I developed an appreciation for the region’s natural areas early on. As a kid, I was fascinated with the habitats and animal...

Apollo Beach Nature Preserve:  More than a scenic view Apollo Beach Nature Preserve will reopen to the public on Wednesday, September 9th. The Preserve was closed for several months due to construction of our brand-new observation tower in the parking area. The observation tower is wheelchair accessible and provides 360° views of the Preserve. To the west, visitors will be able to see all the way across the bay to St. Petersburg. An extensive restoration consisting of 23 acres of uplands and 33 acres of wetland can be seen to the east, pictured below: Between 2003 and 2007, the Southwest Florida Water Management District’s SWIM program funded the following projects to restore the wetland and upland habitats: 2003: dune planting adjacent to the preserve. 2004: grading and planting of wetlands and upland islands which included grading and shaping a tidal marsh with upland buffer areas. 2006: upland buffer zone planted. 2007: removal of 200 Australian pines and Brazilian pepper trees...