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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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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.
- Tuesday, 8/2, 7:00 - 8:00 PM: Pinellas Chapter Conservation Committee Meeting
- Wednesday, 8/3, 6:30 - 8:00 PM: Pinellas FNPS Monthly Program - Creating Habitat with Native Wildflowers
- Wednesday, 8/4, 9:30 AM: Blue-Green Algae Task Force Meeting
- Tuesday, 8/16, 7:00 - 8:00 PM: Pinellas Chapter Conservation Committee Meeting
- Saturday, 8/20, 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM: Moccasin Lake Butterfly Garden, Volunteer Opportunity
- Saturday, 8/20, 8:30 AM - 10:30 AM: Field Trip to VISTA Gardens
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Creating Habitat with Native Wildflowers
Stacey Matrazzo, Florida Wildflower Foundation
Wednesday, August 3rd
In-person and Zoom Presentation
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
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This meeting is in person and on Zoom. We hope you will join us in person.
Wildflowers are recognized as essential to Florida’s ecological health, economy and natural beauty. The Florida Wildflower Foundation protects, connects and expands native wildflower habitats through education, research, planting and conservation. Join Stacey Matrazzo, Executive Director, Florida Wildflower Foundation as she shares knowledge and advice on incorporating native wildflowers into your home, business and public spaces.
Arrive at 6:30 to enjoy refreshments, meet other members and participate in a silent auction of donated native plant "volunteers", seeds and cuttings. Prices start at $1. Bring what you can and be sure to bring cash to purchase.
flawildflowers.org
@FloridaWildflowerFoundation
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88373765772?pwd=UzhVU2d0WWFKSlhPY1YrU1cvK1h2Zz09
Meeting ID: 883 7376 5772
Passcode: 307188
One tap mobile
+13017158592,,88373765772#,,,,*307188# US (Washington D.C)
Questions? Email program@pinellasnativeplants.org.
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Conservation Committee Focuses on Wildlife Corridor
August 2nd and August 16th
Zoom Meeting
7:00 PM
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The Pinellas Chapter FNPS Conservation Committee will be meeting the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7 pm via Zoom. The committee is open to any member or non-member interested in discussing local conservation issues and formulating chapter policies and programs to address the issues.
The Conservation Committee is currently working on an initiative focused on building urban wildlife corridors throughout Pinellas County which will connect our three nature preserves - Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, Weedon Island, and Brooker Creek Preserve.
If you haven’t contacted us already and are interested in participating, email conservation@pinellasnativeplants.org for more information.
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TAKE ACTION: The Blue-Green Algae Task Force
Thursday, August 4th
In-person and Zoom Meeting
9:30 am
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Governor DeSantis took a major step forward in combating Blue-Green Algae within Florida through the creation of the Blue-Green Algae Task Force along with the appointment of its five members.
The Blue-Green Algae Task Force plays an important role in protecting Florida’s water and water-related resources. Each of the task force members is a nationally recognized and well-respected scholar. Their collective scientific expertise and input figures prominently in the department’s efforts to improve water quality throughout the state.
The Blue-Green Algae Task Force, through a deliberative and transparent process, will ensure that objective and sound science informs Florida’s environmental decision-making process. Input from the task force will be used to support key funding and restoration initiatives and guide regulatory changes that are needed to improve water quality for the benefit of all Floridians.
Meeting will be held in-person and virtually. Register below to attend.
Address:
Johnson Education Center
Florida Atlantic University, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
5600 N US Highway 1
Fort Pierce, FL 34946
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Moccasin Lake Butterfly Garden Volunteer Opportunity
Saturday, August 20th
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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Field Trip to VISTA Farms
Saturday, August 20th
8:30 - 10:30 am
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Join us for a group field trip to VISTA Gardens, Hillsborough County's first garden park. This groundbreaking park is providing a sustainable model for organic gardening, native plants, pollinators and opportunities for the community. VISTA's group leaders will speak in their area of expertise:
Jennifer: greet the group and lead the tour around the garden
Deb: seeds and seedlings at the pavilion
Vicki: native landscape and monarch way station
Rolfe: compost operation
Richard: flower garden
Janet: pond
Marty: solar/water
Evans or Jennifer: garden/herbs
Roberta: wildflowers demo garden
There is a port-a-potty available and while there are no sidewalks, wheelchairs could be used on the paths (grass, mulch, etc.). The tour will be in shade and sun, so bring sunscreen and plenty of drinking water. This tour is limited to 10 people, so sign up early and please cancel if you are not able to attend so that others may have the opportunity.
Please arrive 15 minutes early and be ready to be amazed at what a group of volunteers can achieve right in the middle of suburbia Tampa!
Address:
13572 S Village Dr, Tampa, FL 33618
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Chapter Awards Landscaping Grant to EmpowHERment Community Center
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 The Pinellas Chapter recently awarded a grant in the amount of $400.00 to EmpowHERment, a local non-profit with a mission to empower all women by fostering the skills and resources needed to obtain self-sufficiency in finances, mental/emotional wellness, and the cultivation of relationships. The organization delivers their services, at no cost to their clients, from two community centers in Clearwater and Palm Harbor. The grant is for native plant landscaping around the Palm Harbor center, in what was a former church on the corner of Curlew Road and County Road 1.
Jayne Couture said in the grant proposal, "The goal of the grant is to provide a space that is welcoming to clients, many of which are suffering from anxiety and depression, low self-esteem, or needing a feeling of support from our local community. The existing landscape has live oak trees, and the addition of Florida native plants would provide habitat for the local wildlife: birds, butterflies, and bees and preserve the feel of a natural Florida landscape."
"As a non-profit community center for women, we hope to provide a tranquil, welcoming exterior that matches the energy of our center’s interior. With a focus on emotional wellness, our community believes in the healing power of nature. Our dedicated staff and volunteers are prepared to tend to the garden as needed, ensuring year-round beautification of our property and contributing to the restoration of native wildlife in our community."
EmpowHERment staff and volunteers will maintain the area, keeping it watered, pruned, and free of weeds. The site will use the oak leaves as mulch for the landscape areas. Plants to be purchased include: Walter’s Viburnums, Beauty Berry, Bahama Coffee, Coral Bean, Lantana, Firebush, Buttonbush, Yellow Jessamine, Cardinal Flower and Dotted Horsemint.
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Monarch Butterflies Now Endangered
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BY CHRISTINA LARSON
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The monarch butterfly fluttered a step closer to extinction Thursday as scientists put the iconic orange and black insect on the endangered list because of its fast-dwindling numbers.
“It’s just a devastating decline,” said Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University who was not involved in the new listing. “This is one of the most recognizable butterflies in the world.”
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature added the migrating monarch butterfly for the first time to its “red list” of threatened species and categorized it as “endangered” — two steps from extinct.
The group estimates that the population of monarch butterflies in North America has declined between 22% and 72% over 10 years, depending on the measurement method.
 “What we’re worried about is the rate of decline,” said Nick Haddad, a conservation biologist at Michigan State University. “It’s very easy to imagine how very quickly this butterfly could become even more imperiled.”
Haddad, who was not directly involved in the listing, estimates that the population of monarch butterflies he studies in the eastern United States has declined between 85% and 95% since the 1990s.
In North America, millions of monarch butterflies undertake the longest migration of any insect species known to science.
After wintering in the mountains of central Mexico, the butterflies migrate to the north, breeding multiple generations along the way for thousands of miles. The offspring that reach southern Canada then begin the trip back to Mexico at the end of summer.
“It’s a true spectacle and incites such awe,” said Anna Walker, a conservation biologist at New Mexico BioPark Society, who was involved in determining the new listing.
A smaller group spends winters in coastal California, then disperses in spring and summer across several states west of the Rocky Mountains. This population has seen an even more precipitous decline than the eastern monarchs, although there was a small rebound last winter.
Emma Pelton of the nonprofit Xerces Society, which monitors the western butterflies, said the insects are imperiled by loss of habitat and increased use of herbicides and pesticides for agriculture, as well as climate change.
“There are things people can do to help,” she said, including planting milkweed, a plant that the caterpillars depend upon.
Nonmigratory monarch butterflies in Central and South America were not designated as endangered.
The United States has not listed monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act, but several environmental groups believe it should be listed.
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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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