Category: NATURAL RESOURCES

Raising Atala Butterflies Year-Round: The Final Stretch

by Vilma Valdes
August 23, 2024

Nectar Year Round It is easier to provide butterflies nectar in the spring and summer when many plants are in bloom. Yet, pollinators need nectar in the fall and winter months too. An Atala colony is no exception. Plants that feed these butterflies ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Wildlife
Tags: Atala Butterflies, Florida Friendly Landscape, Florida Friendly Plants, Miami-Dade, UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Extension

How to Maintain Atala Butterflies in Your Garden Year-Round, Fifth Blog

by Vilma Valdes
July 24, 2024

Home Sweet Home: While preparing my garden for Atala butterflies, the garden’s ecosystem improved, benefiting other wildlife. The garden has more native nectar plant varieties and shade areas. I did not realize butterflies also seek shelter ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Wildlife
Tags: Atala Butterflies, Master Gardener, Miami-Dade, Natural Resources, South Florida, UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Extension, Wild Life

2024 Hurricane Season Outlook

by Henry Mayer
July 23, 2024

Recently, we held an amazing one-hour webinar about the Outlook of the 2024 Hurricane Season with Mr. Nick Carr, who is the Senior Forecaster at the National Weather Service (NWS), affiliated with NOAA. As you can guess, the intensity of the ... READ MORE

Category: Conservation, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Forests, Fruits & Vegetables, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, Lawn, NATURAL RESOURCES, SFYL Hot Topic
Tags: Florida, Hurricane Outlook, Hurricane Season, Hurricanes, NOAA, NWS, Outlook

How to Maintain Atala Butterflies in Your Garden Year-Round, Fourth Blog

by Vilma Valdes
June 17, 2024

In-A-Pinch Preventative Measures Transfer and Retransfer: A great help to the coonties during the Atalas’ peak munching period is to transfer the bigger caterpillars from the newer growth to older leaves or to a bigger plant that is better ... READ MORE

Category: , Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, NATURAL RESOURCES, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: #wildlife, Florida, Florida Friendly Landscape, Homestead, Miami-Dade, South Florida, UF/IFAS Miami-Dade Extension

Local anglers demonstrate best fishing practices

by Ana Zangroniz
May 24, 2024

Last month, a group of Florida Sea Grant Extension Agents and Research Scientists hosted a fishing trip for local fishers in Miami-Dade County. This trip was part of a multi-state reef fish extension project. The goal of the trip was to communicate ... READ MORE

Category: Coasts & Marine, Conservation, NATURAL RESOURCES, Recreation, Water
Tags: Barotrauma, Catch And Release, Florida Sea Grant, Grouper, Reef Fish, Reward Fleet, Snapper

How to Maintain Atala Butterflies in Your Garden Year-Round, Third Blog

by Vilma Valdes
May 17, 2024

In-A-Pinch Preventative Measures The Other Cycads: In my early years of Atala butterfly gardening I would panic during their peak caterpillar munching phase. Fearing I would run out of coonties, I planted other cycads to alleviate the ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, NATURAL RESOURCES, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Florida, Home Landscaping, Master Gardener, Miami, Miami-Dade, Miami-Dade Extension, Natural Resources, Wild Life

How to Maintain Atala Butterflies in Your Garden Year-Round, Second Blog

by Vilma Valdes
April 24, 2024

Coontie Plant Care South Florida’s Wet and Dry Seasons: Coonties start to flush out new growth with warming temperatures in March through May and continue to do so during our rainy season, which runs June through September. Each plant ... READ MORE

Category: Agriculture, Florida-Friendly Landscaping, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, NATURAL RESOURCES, UF/IFAS Extension, Wildlife
Tags: Florida, Home Landscaping, Master Gardener, Miami, Miami-Dade, Natural Resources, Wild Life

Compost could be black gold if you use it correctly

by Qingchun Liu
April 17, 2024

Compost is not something new to most plant growers using substrate (growth media) that contains organic matters. However, it has become a hot topic in recent years as we face more and more economic and environmental challenges, such as the continuous ... READ MORE

Category: , Conservation, Home Landscapes, Horticulture, UF/IFAS Extension
Tags: Compost Use, Natural Resource Conservation

Xeniid soft corals: the latest news

by Ana Zangroniz
April 15, 2024

What has happened: There have been new developments with the Xeniid soft coral invasion in the Caribbean. The inspiration for my February 2023 original blog post was the confirmation of Unomia stolonifera in northern Cuba, which is quite ... READ MORE

Category: Coasts & Marine, NATURAL RESOURCES
Tags: Citizen Science, Coastal, Coral Reefs, Florida Sea Grant, Invasive Species, Marine, Natural Resources, Pulse Corals, Soft Coral, Unomia, Xeniids

Spinning, swirling sawfish—oh my. But why?

by Ana Zangroniz
March 29, 2024

Spinning, swirling sawfish—oh my. But why? Since last fall, reports of stranded, whirling, “spinning” and even dead sawfish have been making headlines in the lower Florida Keys. These events have been observed by community members and ... READ MORE

Category: Coasts & Marine, NATURAL RESOURCES
Tags: Coasts, Florida Sea Grant, Marine, Natural Resources, Sawfish, Spinning Fish

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