Do you want to learn about how you can add environmentally-friendly Florida plants to your yard? You might want to check out the Native Plant Landscape Tour coming up Oct. 6 and 7.

As our wilderness areas disappear rapidly in the face of runaway development and water-guzzling lawns, a growing number of Pinellas County residents are transforming their yards into environmentally-friendly gardens landscaped with native Florida plants.

The Native Plant Landscape Tour will provide the public an opportunity to visit private and public gardens that are not only aesthetically appealing, but also conserve water and provide habitat for birds, butterflies and other wildlife.

The sixth annual two-day self-guided tour will be held on Oct. 6 and 7. It is organized by the Pinellas Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society and will showcase eight south county (St. Petersburg) yards on Saturday, Oct. 6^th, and seven north county (Clearwater, Palm Harbor and Dunedin) yards on Sunday, Oct. 7^th, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day.  

The cost of advance registration, until the day before the event, is $5 per person or $8 per person on the day of the tour. Participants can register online or at the venues listed below.  A tour booklet that includes a map, addresses and description of tour properties will be provided with registration.

The homes on the tour have eliminated or drastically reduced their lawns and use little or no supplemental irrigation, fertilizer and pesticides. That, coupled with a landscape of native wildflowers, shrubs and trees, creates a habitat appealing to wildlife and humans. The birds and pollinators drawn to food, shelter and nesting areas in these gardens provide homeowners with the immense educational and recreational benefits of watching, in their own yards, the secretive lives of wild creatures.

In addition to enjoying the sheer beauty of the gardens, tour participants can draw ideas and insights on transforming their own yards into native-plant landscapes. At every site on the tour, homeowners and knowledgeable volunteer tour guides will be present to assist participants and answer questions.

Ticket venues:

• Wilcox Nursery & Landscape, 12501 Indian Rocks Road, Largo, FL 33774. Phone (727) 595-2073 
• Painted Fish Gallery, 350 Main Street, Dunedin, FL 34698. Phone (727) 734-5060
• Twigs & Leaves Florida Garden Center, 2131 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, FL 33713. Phone (727) 822-5400
• Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, 1101 Country Club Way South, St. Petersburg, FL 33705. Phone (727) 893-7326. 

Day-of-event registration available from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. at these locations:

• South county, Oct. 6 - Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, 1101 Country Club Way S, St. Petersburg, FL 33705
• North county, Oct. 7 - Countryside Library, 2741 State Road 580, Clearwater, FL 33761

Thanks to the Pinellas Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society for passing along this information!