Wild Florida – Events are Back and the Woods are in Bloom

It’s March in Northeast Florida and for the first time in a year, events are back! We’ve compiled a few that’ll get you outdoors and socially-distanced – but within sight of other humans for maybe the first time in a while. There are also blooms in our woods, both wild and cultivated. We’ll tell you where to find them.

• Concert on the St. Johns River, Thursdays, April 8, 15, 22 and 29, 2021, 5 – 9:30 p.m.. Jax River Jams is a concert series sponsored by Downtown Vision, Inc., Honey Hounds and VyStar Credit Union. It will be held at 2 Independent Drive, the site of the former Landing. There will be food trucks and artist booths. Bring a folding chair and a blanket if you need one, and enjoy live music as the stars glisten off the river.

• Blue Angels Air Show, CANCELLED. Still showing on Facebook as April 10 – 11, but the Jacksonville event has been cancelled.

• Scavenger Hunt, now through April 10, Bogey Creek Park, sponsored by North Florida Land Trust. Hunting for and photographing 12 items is a way to experience the newly purchased conservation land. You don’t have to find all the items in one trip as long as you’re done by April 10. There are photos of the items at the kiosk at the park entry.

• Kayak and canoe clean-up of McCoy’s Creek, Sunday, April 18, with Rising Tides, the young professionals group of the St. Johns Riverkeeper.

Spring flowers are in bloom in gardens and the woods. You’ve probably noticed a profusion of azaleas. After several mediocre blooming years due to winter temperature swings, they’re on fire this year. They’re blooming in at least two parks right now, but better be quick if you want to see them.

Washington Oaks State Park is about an hour south of Jacksonville in Palm Coast, nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Matanzas River. It’s the former winter home of the Young family from Van Hornsville, New York, who helped found RCA Corporation. In the 1960s, they donated the property to the state. There is beach access (no driving) and paths that wind through a part of Florida that’s never been developed, except for s small family home and 23 acres of cultivated gardens.

The park is named for an oak tree at it’s center that’s between 200 and 300 years old. The house sits on the Matanzas River and visitors can walk, picnic or fish there. Bottlenose dolphin and West Indian manatees can be sometimes seen. Mangrove snapper, blue crab and red drum are among the species that can be caught in the river. Watch for the return of saltwater fishing clinics.

In the gardens, azaleas, camellias and bromeliads bloom under old, canopied live oaks. The azaleas are reaching peak season, so go soon if you want to see them. Next to bloom is the rose garden. As one park ranger said, “There’s always something in bloom here.”

The Arboretum is operated by a citizens’ group and is on land that once housed a titanium plant. It’s a wooded property with wide dirt paths and more elevation than is usually found in a Florida park. There are native and cultivated species planted with plenty of signage to identify what’s what. Ecosystems include hammocks, flatwood forests, and fresh and saltwater marshes. Look for the live oaks that are over one hundred years old.

There are no group events scheduled at the moment, but there are recommended Yoga poses on each path for those with a phone that can read a QR code. The poses are modeled by Olympic gold medal winner Shannon Miller.

There’s plenty to see this time of year in Northeast Florida, so find a spot that inspires you, and experience the real Florida.

Lisa Grubba is a journalist and Florida Master Naturalist. This month’s edition of “Wild Florida” was broadcast March 25, 2021 on WJCT News’ First Coast Connect with Melissa Ross on 89.9 FM.