Tag Archives: Lake Jesup Conservation Area

Sunflower Status – Oct 2, 2021

October 3, 2021Lake Jesup SunflowersLake Jesup Conservation Area, Lake Jesup Wilderness Area, SunflowersEd Rosack

Lynn drove me over the Lake Jesup bridge yesterday so I could scout the Swamp Sunflower fields to the east of HW 417 in the Marl Bed Flats area north of the lake. It’s not very safe to park on the side of 417 – this was the best photo I got with my iPhone from the passenger seat of our moving car:

Lake Jesup Swamp Sunflower Field. iPhone photo, made on 10/3/2021

You can see that the annual Swamp Sunflower bloom has started here in Central Florida and it looks like it’ll be a good year for the flowers. These are about 2-3 feet tall – they’ll reach up to 6 feet or more later, so I’m guessing they might peak in the next week or two.

Here’s a better photo of one from 2013:

Water drops and insects on a Swamp Sunflower. October 2, 2013

It’s been a little wet this summer, and they’ve closed this area in the past due to high water. So I searched on-line for any info on whether it’s open. Marl Bed Flats is part of the Lake Jesup Conservation area and I couldn’t find any mention of closures on their web page. I did see this on the Lake Jesup Wilderness area page (which is a short distance away from Marl Bed Flats on the west side of 417):

“The Lake Jesup Wilderness Area is currently closed due to wet season conditions.”
https://www.seminolecountyfl.gov/locations/Lake-Jesup-Wilderness-Area.stml

I’ve enjoyed photographing these flowers since 2006, but I probably can’t visit this year. Since I can’t give you a better report, you’ll have to venture out there on your own. If you do go or find a better status, please leave a comment here so others will see the info.

I’ll leave you with one more close up. I like the water drop in this image from 2010:

Water drop on a Swamp Sunflower. October 10,2010

If you’re interested, I have more photos from this lovely field of wildflowers in this album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/albums/72157622430520287

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Please take care of yourselves and each other. And if you can – and make some photos!

Lake Jesup Sunflowers?

September 26, 2020Lake Jesup Sunflowersfisheye, Flowers, Lake Jesup Conservation Area, landscape, Marl Bed Flats, sunsetEd Rosack

It’s getting to be that time of year again – when the Marl Bed Flats part of the Lake Jesup Conservation Area along HW 417 north of Lake Jesup usually fills up with wild swamp sunflowers. It’s a late September / early October event and lasts for a couple of weeks. Lynn and I drove by yesterday to scout the area.

Swamp Sunflowers (from 2012)

The good news is that we already saw a few sunflowers blooming. The bad news is that we also saw a lot of standing water, especially near the lake. Flooding or standing water in the flower fields usually means fewer flowers.

There’s more bad news. This morning while putting this post together, I checked the Lake Jesup Wilderness Area website. It says:

“The Lake Jesup Wilderness Area is currently closed due to high water levels …”

It seems we’ll have to wait until next year to photograph these flowers. Sorry about that.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Stay safe! Take care of yourselves, your friends, and your families! And if you can, make some photos – although probably not Lake Jesup sunflower photos this year.

Looks like a good sunflower season on the way!

September 29, 2019Lake Jesup SunflowersLake Jesup Conservation Area, Marl Bed Flats, SunflowersEd Rosack

I’ve been photographing the swamp sunflowers in the Marlbed Flats / Lake Jesup Conservation area since at least 2006. Last year, the fields by HW 417 next to Lake Jesup were flooded and the Swamp Sunflower season was disappointing. But I’ve driven by there a couple of times in the last week or so and it looks like we’ll have a a lot of flowers this year. Blooms are already visible from the road.

Lake Jesup Wildernes Area – Swamp Sunflowers. This is a fisheye photo from 2012. I think I’ll take that lens out there with me again.

If you’re interested in hiking out there, you can find a lot of info in my posts at this link: https://edrosack.com/category/photo-ops-in-florida/lake-jesup/sunflowers/. And Jeff Stamer has a good article about the flowers on his blog: http://www.firefallphotography.com/lake-jesup-wildflower-update-october-10-2015/.

It might be a bit early for a visit right now. I’m guessing they’ll peak around the first or second week of October. If you do go, be careful. Take water, bug spray, etc. and watch out for snakes and other wild animals. It is a wilderness area!

You can see more of my swamp sunflower photos in this album on Flickr.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Beauty and Bugs in the Soggy Swamp: Sunflowers, 2015

October 10, 2015INSIDE FLORIDA, Lake Jesup, Lake Jesup Sunflowers, Sanfordblack and white, Flowers, Lake Jesup Conservation Area, landscape, Marl Bed Flats, SunflowersEd Rosack

I don’t know how long the Sunflowers have staged their fall nature extravaganza along the north side of Lake Jesup near Sanford Florida. I’ve been photographing them since 2006, and my first post about them was in October 2007 – a few months after I began the blog.

I didn’t make it last year and just had to see them this time, so off I went yesterday morning (October 9) to the Marl Bed Flats in the Lake Jesup Conservation area.

Looking up

The flowers are just about in peak bloom. If you want to hike out there, you’d better make plans quickly. The blooms only last a couple of weeks, so by next weekend, they’ll be fading.

Monochrome flowers

The flowers are beautiful, but the bugs are swarming. I didn’t make any photos of the insects, but I did bring home souvenir mosquito bites. Wear long pants and a long sleeve shirt and use insect spray too. It’s also wet. I didn’t get far from the forest edge – but the water was already several inches deep. Waterproof boots are a great idea.

Lake Jesup Sunflowers at Marl Bed Flats

There are other things to see out there too. It’s a good local birding spot with at least two Bald Eagle nests reported.

When you go, please be careful. Don’t stop on the side of 417 – it’s dangerous! It’s a bit of a hike from the parking area out to the flowers. And it’s still hot – wear a hat and bring water with you.

The Lake Jesup Wilderness area really is wild – I’ve seen bobcats and worried about wild hogs. I haven’t seen any snakes, but I’ll bet they’re around. And Lake Jesup has one of the densest populations of alligators in Florida. So enjoy, but be careful!

You can browse some of my photos of the area in this set on Flickr. I also have more info on the area collected in these older articles:

And here are some more Florida Sunflower links you might find interesting:

~~Kelly Del Valle’s post about her trip this year~~ (sorry – no longer available)
Jeff Stamer’s post (with excellent directions) about his trip this year
And a post on Florida Rambler about Florida Sunflowers in other locations

For reference, here’s a Lightroom map of the area with the locations of photos I’ve made out there. The streets leading in are also shown, so you can see how to get there (click for a larger version).

Marl Bed Flats area on the north shore of Lake Jesup