UF Native Plant Nursery

We are thrilled to share that one of our campus projects is featured in the newly released Florida Meadow Manual! 🌿🌼🌱

This book is the ultimate resource for managed rewilding, representing years of research from industry leaders. It covers everything from design and site prep to long-term maintenance and real-world case studies.

Whether you're a professional or a homeowner looking to transform your yard, this manual is a must-have. Grab your copy here:

https://floridapress.org/9780813081557/the-florida-meadow-manual/

It’s been a chilly winter in Gainesville, but things are heating up inside the greenhouse! 🔥🌱 Our team has been busy sowing over 18,000 plug cells, representing nearly 50 different native species. These seedlings are the foundation for a massive year ahead, supporting:

🔬 Cutting-edge restoration research
🐝 Biodiversity-focused campus projects
🤝 New statewide collaborations and...
🌸 Our Extension plant sale later this summer!

We’re thrilled to see these projects literally taking root. Stay tuned for updates! 🌼

We were happy to help host the thrid Groundcover Restoration and Enhancement Workshop event at Austin Cary Forest! The recording of this year's event is linked below. Photo Credit belongs to Emily Bell with the Wildflower Foundation and Suzette Cook with SFFGS. Huge thank you to the sponsors of this year's event including:

Florida Wildflower Foundation

Sandhill Native Growers

Roundstone Native Seed

Southern Habitats

Mockernut Hill Botanical Garden

Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS)

Earth Balance

Florida Association of Native Nurseries (FANN)

Native Plant Horticulture Foundation

The Natives Inc.

F4 Tech

Groundlevel

Magnolia Environmental

Jack Dan Nursery

Recording-->

https://youtu.be/9ektMhwGdHQ?si=TGrShySZJGo8xszc

FROM THE AUSTRALIAN OUTBACK 🦘 TO UF 🐊
--A Special Talk on Ecosystem Restoration --

Join us to hear from renowned restoration practitioner Dr. Todd Erickson of the University of Western Australia.

His talk, "Scaling Native Seed Technology: Lessons from Australia," will cover innovative seed technologies and large-scale, evidence-based approaches for rehabilitating degraded ecosystems 🌱🌼.

📅 Details: Wednesday, November 12th, 2:00 PM 🌎 In-Person: UF Reitz Union Chamber Room 🖥️ Virtual Link: https://ufl.zoom.us/j/91351060807

This special seminar is brought to you by the John Gray Fund from UF/IFAS School of Forest, Fisheries, and Geomatics Sciences

Many folks seem to think there are no fall colors in Florida! 🛑 That's a myth. Our "fall" isn't about changing leaves—it's about a vibrant explosion of native wildflowers! 🌼🌻 Take a walk through a healthy, 🔥 fire-frequented pine savanna —the ecosystems that once defined this state. That's where you'll find our real fall palette!

We are thrilled to host GREW for a third time! This year there is a great line up of folks speaking, including a visiting scholar from Western Australia who works with largescale direct-seeding restoration efforts there. Register soon as spots sold out the last two years quickly (https://tinyurl.com/GREW2025).

Last year, we planted ~240 plugs of Dicerandra cornutissima (Longspurred Mint) on a conservation site. We were thrilled to see that 86% survived and many were flowering profusely! This species is considered imperiled (G2) and under high risk of extinction due to habitat loss. With what we have learned in the past year, we hope to propagate and outplant more in 2026 in an effort to help improve the status of this species. Stay tuned for more!

Summer is quickly ending.. But thanks to you, our summer sale event in June provided funding for three paid part-time positions at the nursery and supported several on-campus projects and research initiatives this fall. Thank you for helping us grow this summer! Stay tuned for more exciting news!

Our inventory of 150+ plant species is available below! The 2025 Native Plant Sale & Extension Event will take place June 21st Saturday and June 22nd Sunday from 9am to 2pm🌱☀🌼🌸

We're pleased to announce the date of our 2025 Native Plant Sale & Extension Event will take place June 21st Saturday and June 22nd Sunday from 9am to 2pm. Due to intense popularity of this event we encourage folks to arrive early as many things sell out very quickly. This year there will be increased shade, signage, carts, beverages, simplified pricing, and multiple checkout lines. To make things easier on our staff and students this year we will only accept credit/debit card for purchases, no cash - sorry if this is an inconvenience. We will finalize our inventory within the coming weeks - we expect to have over 100 species again available! Stay tuned!🌱☀🌼🌸

Eastern Gamagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides) is a robust native bunchgrass that once thrived throughout much of the US. Early settlers valued it as high-quality livestock forage, with many ranchers still referring to it as "ice cream grass." You can still find remnant populations along roadsides and in natural areas across Florida. For the past three years, we've dedicated efforts to growing eastern gamagrass from seeds collected in the wild.

More recently, we've begun propagating Sunrise Germplasm, a Florida-derived germplasm released by the USDA NRCS. This germplasm was rigorously tested against other wild populations and demonstrated superior seed yield, impressive growth, rapid spring green-up, and excellent survival, making it an outstanding choice for both forage and conservation. Currently, however, Sunrise Germplasm is virtually unavailable in the marketplace. While it won't be featured at our annual plant sale, we're actively engaged in a research project to increase seed production of Sunrise Germplasm as part of a larger initiative to improve native seed availability. Stay tuned!🌾