Planting Native Plants at Silver Glen Springs

Springheads are beautiful places that appear almost timeless. I am always awed by the thought of an apparently infinite supply of living water pouring forth from the earth. . .but even when the spring is emerging from a rocky cave, the immediate area is a fragile ecosystem. When faced with a beautiful pool of icy cold turquoise water on a blistering Florida summer afternoon, it is only natural to want to run to the shoreline and throw yourself into that water (until your body registers that cold, cold temperature!), but after generations of feet trampling on the plants and soil, there is a price that is paid by the spring.

Silver Glen Springs was experiencing problems with an eroding shoreline, and part of the solution is a system of rustic fencing to eliminate foot traffic and a series of planted berms to restore more natural conditions, preventing stormwater from pushing soil and sand into the spring.

The U.S.Forest Service built the berms, and then Forest Service employees were joined by volunteers from the Marion Big Scrub Chapter of Florida Native Plant Society to install native plants provided by Green Isle Gardens. These plants included a wildflowers, palmetto, wild coffee, blueberries, and a variety of others. The plants will not only provide beautiful scenery, but will help hold the berms in place and provide habitat for many creatures.

We have participated in native plant walks and tours with Florida Native Plant Society chapters, but we had never before been part of a work event with this group. It was really fun! We worked at a pleasant but productive pace and enjoyed talking with other volunteers and the event coordinators. Even though Steve and I are rapidly coming to the conclusion that we are no longer middle-aged, we felt welcome and like we added something to the morning. Eventually, though, even frequent breaks with shade and our water bottles were not enough to keep us going, and we cried, “ENOUGH!” We hated to leave but decided it was better to leave under our own steam rather than on stretchers.

NOTES:

1. The photo above shows the type of pressure that is being placed on springs that do not have large protected areas surrounding them. Silver Glen Spring swimming area is denoted by the orange floats; immediately outside those floats is a row of floats that look like large corks denoting the end of the protected Silver Glen Springs area. Just beyond those floats, there was a row of boats anchored. I understand that the situation is similar at Rainbow Springs on the other side of the state. This amount of traffic stresses the natural environment. I don’t have an answer, but I do ask that when you visit any natural area that you leave no trace. . .or at least, as small a trace as humanly possible.
2. If you have reached this blog through my personal Facebook page, you already know that Steve and I are both confident that fabric masks will help contain the spread of respiratory droplets that can contain COVID-19, and so we both wear our masks when we are around other people. Usually, we are only around other people when Steve’s clients come to the house, when we go to the grocery store, or at the occasional outing for Chamber of Commerce or campaign business. These are all indoors in cool air. Out in the heat, we quickly learned that wearing a mask in the Florida heat is not the same as wearing a mask in air conditioning. Not only were the masks hot to wear, but a sweat-soaked mask does not allow free air flow. If we volunteer for a similar event in the future, we’ll bring extra masks! The discomfort is a small price to pay for the privilege of working with like-minded folk in a beautiful setting. We hope we will be able to participate in more work events with the Florida Native Plant Society.

https://fnps.org/home/