Details:  TBA

Registration is still open! Activities will include landscaping, conservation, research, field trips, socials, vendors, silent auction, plant sales, and exhibits.

Jason Rohr, Assistant Professor of Biology, USF will talk about how parasites, pollution and climate change create a dangerous brew for frogs, toads and other amphibians and their aquatic communities.

Jennifer Winters, Sea Turtle Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) Manager will give us an overview of the HCP program with a focus on sea turtle protection efforts and other wildlife and plant projects of environmental interest.
 
Jennifer has been HCP Manager for Volusia County Environmental Management since April, 2002.  Her work experience includes permitting and compliance enforcement for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) submerged lands and environmental resource permitting (SLERP) and domestic wastewater sections. Prior to that, she was a biologist technician with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service at Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, and a GIS technician for the Florida Fish (USFWS) and Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). She is a recent graduate of the University of Florida's Natural Resource Leadership Program, and a certified Coastal Master Naturalist.  Jennifer has a degree in Geography and a certificate in Environmental Studies from Florida Atlantic University.

Doors open for social time at 6:30, program starts at 7pm, followed by a short refreshmetn break and the chapter business meeting.

The new meeting location is the James Park Youth Activity Center, 1700 James Street, South Daytona.

June 6, 2012 at 7:00 PM

Pinellas County Extension, 12520 Ulmerton Road, Largo, FL 33774

Florida Native Plant Society (Pinellas chapter) monthly meeting and speaker: "Why not native? Barriers to environmentally-friendly landscaping" -- a talk by Dr. Rebecca Johns

Also at the meeting, wildlife ecologist Dr. Craig Huegel will be present to sign his newly published book, "Native Wildflowers and Other Ground Covers for Florida Landscapes." The book will be available for purchase at the event.

The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be available at no charge.

Jun 9 (Sat):  St. Johns Eco-boat tour, Highbanks Marina, DeBary’ 9:30 AM -11:30 AM
To get Group Rate ($20/ person) You Must Reserve in Advance! (capacity 28)
Leader: Sonya Guidry   sonyaguidry@yahoo.com   386 690-1797
Lunch after tour at Swamp House Grill at Highbanks Resort and Marina

Field Trip:

WHERE: Lakeland Highlands Scrub

WHEN: Saturday, June 16, 2012  8am

TRIP LEADER: Edward Murawski, Project Planner, Kleinfelder

Meet at the gate of Lakeland Highlands Scrub at 8am for an expert-led hike through the Lakeland Highlands Scrub. Please bring water, snacks, suntan lotion, bug spray, hat.

Heartland Chapter Board Meeting - at Denny's restaurant on Hwy 98 in Bartow

Dinner is at 6:30pm. The meeting starts at 7:00pm.

Location:  Regency Square Library, 9900 Regency Square Blvd., Jacksonville, FL 32225

Agenda:  Business meeting followed by guest speaker

Program:  “Advanced Butterfly Gardening” presentation by Edith Smith, owner of Shady Oak Butterfly Farm.  The presentation will move into species other than the basic ‘everyone knows these’ butterflies.  It will also cover adding other things to the garden for butterflies and some misinformation that is often taught (and sold).  We will have an actual butterfly release outdoors after the presentation.

Edith Smith’s husband, Stephen, built her two greenhouses while she was in college in 1981. She raised a variety of plants, from trees to herbs to annuals to perennials to shrubs. Stephen also built Edith an herb nursery in the late 90's. Growing over 600 species of herbs, the nursery incorporated 4 greenhouses Stephen and Edith built with the help of their children and employees. Edith's sister, Sandra, brought butterfly host plants for Edith's garden. Watching a butterfly lay eggs on fennel for two days, Edith saw the results of butterfly predators. Determined to save butterflies from predators, Edith brought in Black Swallowtail eggs that were laid on fennel and other plants, raised them inside the greenhouse, and released them into the garden.

Edith met Dan and Kay sometime around July, 1999. Edith told Dan that she was raising butterflies to save them from predators. Dan offered to buy butterfly pupae from her if she had extra. Within a year Dan was buying over a thousand pupae per week. Realizing that she could save more butterflies by selling pupae to support the expenses of raising them, Edith and Stephen changed their product from herbs to butterflies and butterfly host and nectar plants.

During the busiest time of the year, the farm sometimes raises over 5,000 pupae per week. The preferred average at the farm is two to three thousand per week during spring and summer months. Butterfly and moth host and nectar plants are available at the farm or over the internet. The farm is approved to ship plants and butterflies to all 48 contiguous states.

Details:  Our own chapter member Dick Diener

Subject: A Contrast of Dissimilar Habitats that Harbor Identical Plant Species

At the farm we begin in the garden, continue to the butterfly egg production area, go to the larvae lab, and then into the office to finish up with packing and shipping butterflies.   We don’t allow guests to enter the greenhouses.  They are old and the floors are often super slippery.  If anyone wanted to purchase plants, we would go into the greenhouses and bring the plants to the office.  The tour is anywhere from 1-2 hours, depending upon the interest of the group.  Every so often we have a group that isn’t that interested and is ready to go on.  Others could stay and talk all day!

Note there is a charge of $10 per person for this tour.  Please bring a lunch to enjoy with other Native Plant members at the end of the tour.

Sea Oats Chapter will be at the Guana-Tolomato-Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (GTMNERR) http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/sites/gtm/ in South Ponte Vedra Beach in support of National Pollinators Week.

Details forthcoming.

July 14 (Sat) Native Plant Swap- Sanchez Park, Ormond Beach, Lunch at nearby
Restaurant on Tomoka River, River Grille.
Leader:  Sonya Guidry sonyaguidry@yahoo.com   386 690-1797

Details:  Chapter member Eleanor Foerste, Faculty, Natural Resources, UF/IFAS Osceola County Extension

Subject: TBA

Details:  Stephen Tonjes, Senior Environmental Scientist, Florida Department of Transportation, District Five.

Subject: TBA

The next Heartland Chapter meeting will be at the Circle B Bar Reserve.  The program begins at 7:00 pm. Native plants may be available with a silent auction. Also available will be various books and reading materials for sale.  The Circle B Bar Reserve is located on State Road 540 (4399 Winter Lake Road) between Lakeland and Winter Haven.

Speaker: TBA

Topic: TBA

Whether a member of FNPS or not, you are welcome to join us for this interesting presentation. No RSVP is necessary.

General Meeting Thursday, September 20, 2012

Time:  6:30 PM

Location: Regency Square Library, 9900 Regency Square Blvd.,Jacksonville,FL32225

Agenda:  Guest speaker presentation followed by business meeting

Program:  Gail Farley, Ixia member, will speak about “Wildlife Food Habits and Favorite Woody Plants.”

Gail Farley is naturalist forCrookedRiverState Park'sNatureCenterin St Mary’s, GA.  Gail found while goggling a unique book titled "American Wildlife and Plants - A guide to Wildlife Food Habits: the use of trees, shrubs, weeds and herbs by birds and mammals of theUnited States".  It's authored by wildlife scientists Martin, Zim and Nelson  and was published in 1952.  While invasives have certainly changed our landscape, today's birds and mammals should have about the same food preferences as those living in the first part of the 20th century.  Gail will present the top 20 woody native plants ranked by food value to wildlife. #11 will surprise most members!  Gail has a BSc in biology, has been an ongoing member of 3 state native plant societies for many years (Atlantachapter of Georgia NPS, VA Beach chapter of VNPS, and now FNPS).  Both VA and GA chapters have published her article on this subject and she's slated to author an article for GA's July newsletter on Sawtooth Palmetto (Serenoa repens), its ecology and management.  Gail's also a former Chesapeake Master Gardener who developed and presented a public outreach program on "The Freedom Lawn", a lawn concept that requires a homeowner only to mow his/her lawn (no reseeding, no fertilizer, no chemicals or herbicides, no watering required).  The result is clean storm water from the homeowner's lawn; rich biodiversity for lawn organisms and wildlife and saves homeowner time and money.  Gail does admit The Freedom Lawn is a very tough choice for most to adopt.

Our first meeting of the year will be on the 3rd Sunday due to a schedule conflict.  At 6pm we will discussed Native Trees and Palms that are perfect for our area.

Time:  6:30 PM

Location: Regency Square Library, 9900 Regency Square Blvd.,Jacksonville,FL32225

Agenda:  Guest speaker presentation followed by business meeting

Program:  “Growing Native Edible Plants inNE Florida,” by Tim Armstrong.  He will bring native edible plants to sell.

Tim is a highly experienced businessman with expertise in the latest ecologically sound growing methods and trends in small-scale agricultural projects.  He is dedicated to finding new and profitable ways to bring healthy, high-quality, and affordable food choices to theJacksonvillecommunity.  Tim is strongly committed to creating viable employment options for people with disabilities.

Tim purchased Fruit Cove Cactus and Foliage in 2005, a small route sales nursery in northFlorida.

He moved to a new 40 acre site in 2009 on the west side ofJacksonvilleand created “Eatyouryardjax.com” which provides edible plants for local residents.  He  is a graduate of Will Allen’s Commercial Urban Agriculture Program at Growing Power Inc. inMilwaukee,WI.  Tim participates in community supported agriculture (CSA) market inNeptuneBeach(Beaches Green Market). He is active in the Beaches Local Food Network, Local Harvest, Slowfood North Florida and the AHTA-American Horticulture Therapy Association.

Time: 10:00 AM--12:00 PM hike, 12:00 PM Brown Bag Lunch

Location: Saturiwa Conservation Area, 2425 County Rd. 13 South, Elkton, FL 32033

Located on the St. Johns River in southwest St. Johns County, the Saturiwa Conservation Area has been cited as one of the finest examples of sustainable multiple-use forest management in Florida. It is a stunning combination of a planted slash pine, natural pine flatwoods, cypress dome wetlands, a hardwood riverine swamp, and a half mile of pristine shoreline.

Mike Adams, owner of Adamscience, an environmental resource management company, maintains and conserves wildlife habitat, water and forestland on the 94-acre family homestead while also managing the property’s planted pine stand. Mike employs prescribed burning and selective harvesting toward his goal of restoring the property back to a longleaf pine ecosystem not seen in this part of Florida for over a half century.

Mike will lead our field trip. Please bring lunch. Go here to see a video and to learn more: http://www.florida-agriculture.com/news/agen_saturiwa.htm

Time:  10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon

Location:  Durbin-Julington Creek Preserve,13130 Bartram Park Blvd,Jacksonville,FL32223

The area is located on a peninsula formed at the confluence of Julington and Durbin creeks, and has approximately nine miles of shoreline along the two creeks. The peninsula is a long sandy ridge that grades into floodplain swamp and marsh along the creeks’ shores. Natural communities consist of sandhill along the higher areas near the center of the peninsula and flatwoods at the lower elevations. The preserve contains extensive floodplain wetlands, providing water quality and floodplain protection for both creeks and theSt. Johns River. Wildlife viewing: Known wildlife at the preserve include bald eagle, osprey, gopher tortoise, bobcat, turkey, deer and numerous species of wading and songbirds. Manatees seasonally swim in both creeks. Recreational activities: Hiking, picnicking, horseback riding, bicycling and nature study.

This hike will be led by Ixia member, Pete Johnson:  904-536-4806 cell.  There is no picnic area, so we plan to eat at Panera Bread after the hike.