The official start of spring is still about four weeks away. As can be expected with the panhandle’s often unpredictable weather, much can happen in the remaining days of winter and the first few weeks of spring.
Alas, there are no guarantees of pleasant warm weather when March 20, 2025 arrives. Folk wisdom decrees that cold weather is always a possibility until Easter, and that does not arrive until a month later.
The likelihood of another snow and ice storm is not very high, but anything is possible with the weather. Polar vortexes and frigid atmospheric rivers aside, there will still be white flecks on the ground and in the foliage of panhandle Florida.
Fortunately, these bleached spots will be the blooms of native plants. One of the most common weeds with white flowers is blackberries.
Blackberry and dewberry plants are producing white buds in late February. These and other native plants herald the spring soon to come, but there is always the possibility that frost, snow and ice will add to the pale pallet.
There are numerous members in the Rubus genus, which include blackberry, raspberry and dewberry species. Many of these are found in north Florida and throughout the southeastern United States.
These plants are commonly found in or close to untended fence rows, ditch banks, and pastures, and can be overlooked for extended periods of time. The lack of management can give rise to thickets which are difficult to control and produce great volumes of easily disbursed seeds.
Their rhizomatous root system is perennial, while the aboveground canes are biennial, living for two years. The first year, the canes emerge and grow rapidly; the second year, the canes bud and produce flowers and fruit, and subsequently die after fruiting.
Currently the flower buds are swelling, and white flowers will soon emerge.
Herbicide application timing is important for effective blackberry control. This plant is most sensitive to herbicides when blooming in spring.
Another plant species with masses of white flowers is wild plums which bloom before leaves develop. The mass of suddenly opening white blooms is conspicuous in the still muted earth tones of brown and gray.
The fruit will appear later in the spring and mature in summer. Their presence has benefits, but can cause a few problems too.
Their fruit can be sweet to quite tart and have been commonly used as the basis for many home jelly recipes.
Additionally, they are an important source of food for wildlife. Deer, raccoons, opossums and many other herbivores and omnivores utilize the wild plums.
Unfortunately, wild plums serve as a host to plum curculio. This insect is known to attack a variety of stone fruit cultivars in north and central Florida.
Additionally, this native plum may harbor Xylella Fastidiosa, a bacterial pathogen of significant importance to commercial and home plum and peach orchards.
Insects move the disease from plant to plant, and the only feasible control method is the removal of all wild plums in proximity of cultivated hybrids.
Lastly, tiny white blooms are present on low growing native plants in lawns and pastures. The Roundleaf Bluet (Houstonia procumbens), a species which is sometimes called “Innocence”, is peering through dead grass and pine needles.
Its tiny white flower is about the size of a dime and appears in clusters. The blooms have four evenly spaced petals and prefer filtered light and heavy mulch.
This perennial is native to the lower southeastern U.S. and gradually fades away as the days become warmer.
Whether there is warm or cool weather before Easter, it is a certainty there will be patches of white in the trees and on the ground in panhandle Florida. Whether snow and ice add to the blanched tint is anyone’s guess.
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