DOT limits mowing to protect wildflowers

            The Florida Department of Transportation has agreed to alter its roadside mowing regime to help protect wildflowers and the insects that they attract.

Roadside mowing was fully halted in September at the request of the Florida Wildflower Alliance, a group focused on education and conservation efforts that increase awareness of wildflowers.

Mowing is now resuming, to make sure that the high grass and flowers doesn’t create a danger for drivers, but the state is only mowing narrow safety strips along most roads – a practice that will let flowers elsewhere in the right-of-way set seed for their next bloom.

There has been a growing move to protect roadside wildflowers, not just because they attract tourists, but they also support butterflies, including tens of thousands of Monarch butterflies that migrate annually through the area.

Wildflowers also support crop pollinators that put food on our tables and provide wildlife habitat.

To learn more about Florida’s wildflowers or to request a brochure on Eastern Panhandle wildflower sites, visit www.FlaWildflowers.org/ . 

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