Florida Nature Poetry & Art, Monarch Butterfly’s migratory flight across the gulf

 Florida nature poetry for Wednesday, Monarch Butterfly’s migratory flight across the gulf.

Monarch butterfly feeds in preparation for it's winter migratory flight across the

...
one last nectar sip
as kaleidoscope gathers
over the shoreline
nature's refinement
eight hundred miles cross the gulf
waves swallow many
the strongest survive
maybe luckiest rest in
oyamel fir trees
…
#monarch #butterfly #arttherapy #pensacolaart #pensacola #biglagoonstatepark #floridastateparks #naturepoetry #haiku #poetry #floridanature #nature

Florida Nature Art & Verse (Haiku), Fragrant Water Lily

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 & Art, Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea)

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 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

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 natural cure for likewise rapidly spreading cancers. 

Lyre leaf sage is an amazing Florida native perennial, landscape or green roof plant superb in its attraction to pollinators, hummingbirds, bees and butterflies.

Florida Wildflower Haiku & Nature Art, Seaside Oxeye Daisy, Borrichia frutescens

Florida Wildflower Haiku- short verse for Tuesday, Seaside Oxeye Daisy, Borrichia frutescens

Florida Haiku & Nature Art, Seaside Ox-eye, Borrichia frutescens

…
sometimes cant tell if
sun bleached oxeye masses or
winged southern whites
…
Seaside oxeye daisy is relatively salt tolerant and often grows along brackish channels near the coast. Seaside oxeye daisy faithfully produces scores of yellow aster type flowers that attract many butterflies but especially kaleidoscopes of winged southern whites. I usually find seaside oxeye daisy grown side by side with black mangroves. Wildlife will utilize this plant’s leaves and flower heads for forage when food becomes scarce.

Florida Wildflower Art & Haiku (Senryu), Marsh Rose Gentian, Sabatia dodecandra

Florida Wildflower Art & 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 was practiced with great yellow gentian, Gentiana lutea.

Florida Native Plant Art & Poetry (Green Roof Plant too!), Shiny Blueberry, Vaccinium myrsinites

Florida Nature Haiku for Friday morning, Shiny blueberry, Vaccinium myrsinites

Florida Haiku, Shiny blueberry, Vaccinium myrsinites by Kevin Songer

...

I always wondered
bout shiny blueberry’s taste,
rabbit got there first

...

Shiny blueberry is a diminutive member of the blueberry family offering winter seasonal beauty with its namesake bright and shiny red and green leaves. During the growing season shiny blueberry is usually obscured by taller growing plants. Shiny blueberry produces large amounts of fruits sought after by small mammals, birds and other foragers. I see shiny blueberry growing along most trails hiked.

Shiny blueberry makes a good evergreen & salt tolerant green roof & landscape plant too!

Florida Nature Poetry & Art, Candyroot, Polygala nana

Florida nature senryu - haiku for mid week, Candyroot, Polygala nana.

Florida Wildflower Poetry, Haiku, Senryu, Candyroot, Polygala nana by Kevin Songer

… 
I know I shouldn’t
pull plant and sniff candyroot,
but no one’s looking
…

Candyroot calls to everyone who has ever pulled up the plant to experience the strong aromatic spicy scent of the roots. Interestingly, candyroot requires ants to collect the plant’s seeds for the food value of the seed's coating. Once underground, the seeds then germinate up through the ant's bed. Candyroot’s yellow flowers sit atop stalks rising from a basal rosette of succulent-like leaves.