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FNPS Mission: To preserve, conserve, and restore native plants and native plant communities.
Learn more by visiting the FNPS website • Check our calendar for upcoming events sponsored by the Pinellas, Nature Coast, and Suncoast Chapters • Not a member yet? Join today!
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March Madness Florida Native Plant Style
This is a showy month for our native plants, lots of blooms and buzzing going on! Fall bloomers are putting out a second show including goldenrod and dotted horsemint.
Our previously scheduled speaker and field trip have been postponed at the presenter's request, and in it's place we are hosting a Native Plant Swap at Moccasin Lake Nature Park. See below for full details and start potting your volunteers!!
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Event Updates
Please see details for these events in the newsletter below and check our Facebook Group and website calendar for the most up-to-date information.
- Saturday, 3/5, 10 AM - 5 PM : FBGF Native Plant Symposium
- Monday, 3/14, 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM: Pinellas Chapter Conservation Committee Meeting
- Saturday, 3/19, 8 AM - 10 AM: Moccasin Lake Butterfly Garden Volunteer Opportunity
- Sunday, 3/20, 9 AM - 12 PM: Native Plant Swap, Moccasin Lake Nature Park Picnic Shelter
- Wednesday, 3/22, 6:30 pm: Chapter Board of Directors Zoom Meeting
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Members Only Florida Native Plant Swap
Moccasin Lake Nature Park Picnic Shelter
Sunday, March 20th
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
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 In lieu of our monthly meeting and fieldtrip, which were postponed by the presenter, we are holding a Florida Native Plant Swap at the Moccasin Lake Nature Park Picnic Shelter in Clearwater. The shelter is behind the visitor center and raptor exhibit.
To participate in the swap you must
- Be a current member of the Florida Native Plant Society. (bring your card or email confirmation)
- Bring at least one native plant or packet of native plant seeds to swap (purchased or harvested from your plants).
- If you have nothing to share, you may swap excess plants for a ridiculously low donation of $1.00 - $5.00 each. Members bringing multiple plants will price their donations based on size and rarity of species. All proceeds go towards supporting chapter projects and grants.
All plants should be healthy and free of pesticides. Plants should be labeled with the common name, botanical name and basic site and care instructions. This information can be obtained on the FNPS site at https://www.fnps.org/plants. Volunteers will be on hand with pre-printed labels and care instructions for the most common volunteers for this time of year and can even help identify "mystery natives".
If you are not a member you can join here, for just $35 a year. Members also get discounts at local Florida Native plant nurseries and retailers. To help us gauge our volunteer needs please sign up if you plan to participate.
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View the February Zoom presentation on Heartwood Preserve and subscribe to our channel.
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Volunteer At The FBGF Native Plant Symposium
Saturday, March 5th
11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
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Help the Pinellas Chapter share our materials with attendees at the FBG Florida Native Plant Symposium. We need two more volunteers to staff our exhibit from 11:00 - 1:00 and 1:00 - 3:00.
Sit in our booth for a two hour shift (or longer) and talk with adults about the benefits of native plants and how to start them in their home landscape. Share your love and enthusiasm for native plants and conservation with others. You do not need to be an expert. You just need a smile on your face and a willing spirit. Sign up here.
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FBGF Native Plant Symposium
Saturday, March 5th
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
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This symposium is being produced by the Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation. More information here: https://www.flbgfoundation.org/symposium
General Admission: $75, FBGF Members: $50. Registration opens Monday, January 17th!
Online Registration here
Agenda (subject to change):
10.00am – 10.15am: Introduction, welcome and triviaice-breaker.
10.15am – 11.15am: Key note speaker #1. Exact topictbd but will feature Florida native plants. 45 min presentation and 15 minquestion period.
11.30am – 12.15pm: Docent led tour(s) of native plantsin the gardens.
12.15pm – 1.15pm: Lunch Break (Picnic lunch in thegardens – box lunch provided). Native Plant Sale – various vendors.
1.15pm – 2.00pm: Advance choice of activity.
- Dendrology Identification in theAquatic Demonstration Area. Follow along as a tree expert identifies some ofFlorida’s native trees using a key system.
- Master Gardener led tour of the P2000(Forever Florida) natural area in the gardens
- Slideshow presentation of FloridaNative Plants and related Ethno botany.
- Slideshow from FNPS (possibly- ifthey wish to be involved)
- Native Plant Sale.
2.15pm – 3.15pm: Key note speaker #2. Exact topic tbdbut will feature Florida native plants. 45 min presentation and 15 min questionperiod.
3.30pm – 4.30pm Native Plant Sale; free time in thegardens; self-guided tours of the Native Tree Walk and the P2000 area.
Notes
Keynote Presentations will be held in the auditorium on thesouthside of the FBG campus.
Informationaldisplay tables – possibly from FBGF, IFAS, Audubon, Sierra Club, PinellasCounty etc.
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Moccasin Lake Butterfly Garden Report
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This month, the team of volunteers at Moccasin Lake tackled the removal of two large, non-native Firebush and several invasive shrubs to make room for a new partial shade / shade garden. Under the leadership of President Davis Byrkit the group installed marlberry, rouge plant and other shade tolerant native plants!
Volunteers also learned the correct method for pruning Beautyberry and other native shrubs. Our thanks to these volunteers who participated. Alessandra Gallastegui, Anja Hagenson, Emilia Bednarek , Hailey Blanchard, Isabella Monti, Jessie Wahlers, Joey & Rachel Civello, Jordan Haas, Kersten Haley, Lauren Swezey, Leah Stretch, Lisbet Joyce, Marianne Martin, and Anastasia Egelie
Again -- thanks for coming out and helping renovate and maintain the garden. We hope to see you at future volunteer opportunities, meetings, field trips and special events like this. Sign-up for next month's volunteer opportunity at the Butterfly Garden.
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Thank you (L-R) Kersten Haley, Vicki Thomas, Rebecca Wellborn and Leah Bailey or taking the 10 - 12 shift at the Hope Spot Festival in Dunedin on February 12th. We had a great time and met so many cool plant lovers.
Other volunteers were Jan Allyn, Bonnie Carine, Marquette McManus, Cameron Loubet, Sonja McCann, Debra Moroff and our new friends Roselee Mueller and Carrie Schranz, who found us online and volunteered not knowing who FNPS was. All volunteers received a chapter t-shirt and made new friends. We LOVE our volunteers!
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Moccasin Lake Butterfly Garden Volunteer Opportunity
Saturday, March 19th
8 - 10 am
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Join a team of volunteers in maintaining the Butterfly Garden at Moccasin Lake. This is a great opportunity to learn more about which plants attract and host our local butterflies, what conditions they grow in and how to prune them.
Please bring hand tools (if you have them), work gloves and a reusable water bottle. The chapter will provide trash bags.
We really appreciate the City of Clearwater allowing us to use the classroom at the park for our monthly meetings, and volunteering in the park is our way of showing it.
RSVP with your mobile number for further instructions.
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Hello.
My name is Jenny Welch and I am the silent auction chair for the Florida Native Plant Society conference in May. The silent auction will be virtual this year.
I am writing to see if anyone in your chapter would like to donate to the silent auction.
Items that would be good for this virtual silent auction include:
- Gift certificates to a local native plant nursery, to a local restaurant, a kayaking company, any local establishment.
- Easy and affordable to ship plant related items, artwork, rare books or collectibles.
Because this is a virtual conference and virtual silent auction we have to remember that whatever goes into the silent auction will either have to be mailed or picked up.
Thank you for your consideration,
Jenny Welch
FNPS Silent Auction Chair
flnaturegirl@yahoo.com
407-319-2488
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The Pinellas Chapter has several volunteer opportunities that will allow you to channel your passion for native plants and conservation into helping the chapter fulfill its mission. Many volunteer positions require just a few hours a month, and most duties can be performed at your home. If you are interested in applying or would like more information, email volunteer@pinellasnativeplants.org.
Volunteer Committee Member
- Recruiting volunteers for special projects and the speakers bureau utilizing social media, emails, and special events.
- Collecting volunteer contact information, availability and skills, and maintaining a volunteer database.
- Keeping new and existing volunteers informed about the organization’s volunteer opportunities, matching volunteers to opportunities that suit their skill sets, and ensuring they understand their responsibilities and receive the proper training.
- Keeping records of volunteers' hours and reporting them to FNPS.
- (2 to 4 hours per month)
Marquette McManus
Volunteer Chair
(727) 776-2794
volunteer@pinellasnativeplants.org
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Thank You To Our Business Members
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Pinellas Chapter Florida Native Plant Society
2022 Officers, Directors and Committee Chairs
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All chapter members are invited to attend Board meetings, normally held via Zoom the third Wednesday of the month from 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm. Email the President for information about the next meeting, and/or if you have an issue that you would like addressed.
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President - Davis Byrkit
Vice President - Jane Graham
Secretary - Andrea Andersen
Treasurer - Robin Peacock
Past President - Michael Coleman
Director / Chapter Representative - David Perkey
Director / Membership Chair - Ginger Brengle
Director / Programs Chair - Pam Schrader
Director / Communications Chair - Jessica Palenchar
Director At Large - Vicki Thomas
Director At Large - Sari Wood
Social Media and Email - Rebecca Wellborn
Newsletter Editor - Nataly Capote
Webmaster - Patty Perkey
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Florida Native Plant Society Mission
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The Mission of the Florida Native Plant Society is to promote the preservation, conservation, and restoration of the native plants and native plant communities of Florida.
The Society fulfills this mission through:
- Support for conservation land acquisition
- Land management that enhances habitat suitability for native plants
- Education
- Public policies that protect our native flora, especially rare species
- Research on native plant species
- Encouragement of local landscaping practices and policies that preserve Florida's native plant heritage
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