2022 Meetings

General Meeting Information

December 9, 2022, 2-For-1 Meeting!

Location: Big Cypress Recreation Center
Time: 1:00 Social 1:30 Meeting

Preparing Your Garden For Frost and Freeze with Gary Babic

Gary BabicGary, with a Ph.D. in organic chemistry, a Masters's in Business Administration, and a career at Texaco, lived in or visited 70 countries. His love for travel and passion for learning led him to become one of the Top 25 Birders In the World. For the love of learning and sharing, he became a Master Gardener, with no small commitment to study, time, and service. Gary serves as the President of The Village Birders, has been a member of the Butterfly Garden Club since its inception, and he serves on the board of The Villages FNPS chapter. With an ever-present laugh and a strong appreciation of the interconnectedness of life in environments around the world, he said he gets pure joy out of gardening in The Villages, even in the cold.

Brain Law, Environmental Specialist

Native Plants at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park—Brian Law, Environmental Specialist.

This presentation is an introduction to our chapter’s January 10 field trip to this amazing park.

Lots of Aligators“There are a handful of places that stand out as excellent locations for wildlife watching in Florida, but the best place to see alligators is”…Paynes Prairie near Gainesville. Yup--alligators, osprey, bison, wild horses, feral pigs, and TONS of native plants!

A Lake or A Prairie?

A little history: Paynes Prairie is a large, flat, marshy plain covered by grass and scrubby trees. Water draining into the Prairie goes underground through the soluble limestone of Alachua Sink. Historically Paynes Prairie has alternated between being a lake and a prairie. It was occupied by Timucuan Indians until the late 1600s when the land served as a large cattle ranch for the Spanish. In 1871 the sink was plugged with logs and debris and so became the Alachua Lake, plied by low-draft steamboats like the "Cicola" which shipped citrus. In 1892 the sink became unplugged and rapidly drained, once again reverting to its prairie state.

Paynes Prairie Walking Trail

Our field trip will focus on native plants in the Alachua Sink area, accessed by paved and unpaved walkways and a beautiful boardwalk. Be prepared to bring out the camera for the amazing views!

More Pictures of Paynes Prairie

November 11, 2022

Topics: Results of the Great Native Grass Hunt and the keynote presentation "Planting for Wildlife" by Lisa Sanderson, Sumter County Extension Agent. 
Location: Big Cypress Recreation Center
Time: 1:00 Social 1:30 Meeting

October 14, 2022

Location: Fred Funk Butterfly Garden,
Google directions:  Lady Lake Seventh-day Adventist Church
231 Lake Griffin Rd, Lady Lake, FL 32159
Directions: Hwy 466 E, cross over 441/27 at new WAWA. 466 turns into Lemon Street. Go 1 more block and turn left (N) on Lake Griffin Road.  Lady Lake 7th Day Adventist Church is one more block on the right.
Time: 1:00 pm

Fred Funk Butterfly Garden, The Villages, FLWe are lucky to live so close to Florida’s largest demonstration butterfly garden, and equally lucky to be able to learn from butterfly expert, Alycyn Culbertson, along with members of The Villages Butterfly Garden Club! Alycyn, our keynote speaker, has prepared a special photo talk on “ATTRACTING BUTTERFLIES WITH NATIVE PLANTS.” Alycyn, a popular and well-known speaker in our community, has prepared a presentation on matching plants native to Florida with our native Florida butterflies.

Following her presentation, members of The Villages Butterfly Garden Club will take us on small-group garden tours that focus on native Florida plants. The butterflies have been amazing this year, in spite of the frost the gardens endured in 2022, and the garden should be at its peak this month!  

We are meeting with The Villages Butterfly Club at the Fred Funk Butterfly Garden. The garden is on the grounds of the 7th Day Adventist Church, 231 Lake Griffin Road, Lady Lake. The meeting will be inside, starting at 1:30, in the sanctuary (because the fellowship hall will be set up for a church dinner Saturday) with tours of the garden following. 

Alycyn Culberson will talk to us about the Fred Funk Butterfly Garden and we will tour the garden. Recently Alycyn gave a program for The Enrichment Academy on attracting butterflies to your yard. She will share with us her knowledge with an emphasis on using native Florida plants. Alycyn has a rich background in gardening and in experience with butterflies. She has even written a book! More about Alycyn.

More about the garden.

Documents to download before you visit the butterfly garden.

Introducing “The Great Grass Hunt” in preparation for the Nov meeting—Vicky McLean
“Coaxing Butterflies Into Your Garden Using Florida Native Plants”—Alycyn Culbertson
Garden Tours Members of the Butterfly Garden Club

 

September 9, 2022

What You Didn't Know About Bees

Bob GalbraithWe all hear about the importance of bees but do you know the hows and whys of bees?  Join us for a discussion and hands-on demonstration of some of the components of a hive as Bob introduces us to honey bees, how to identify them, and other interesting facts on bees.

Bob Galbraith received his BS and MS degrees in Geology from the Univ of Cincinnati.  His career has taken him around the world, exploring and studying minerals, granite and involved him in hazardous waste clean-up projects.  After semi-retirement in 1990, Bob continued to do geologic consulting and returned to his love of gardening and beekeeping with his daughter. Bob became a full-time Village resident in 2014 where he is active in many clubs and continues to educate others in his vast experience with bees.

Meeting Minutes

May 13, 2022

Mixing it Up with Brooke Moffis

Adding Native Flowering Plants and Ground Covers to your Yard and Garden

Brooke MoffisBrooke Moffis, Lake County Extension Agent
Residential Horticulture/Florida Friendly Landscaping
Ph.D. student UF/IFAS School of Natural Resources and Environment

Brooke has published numerous articles related to her field of study, as well as informative articles for the residential gardener.  Her articles can be found online on the Florida Master Gardener Program on Facebook.

Brooke credits her love of plants to the many hours spent in the garden with her Grandfather.

Note the new time and date. We are having a social half-hour from 1:00 to 1:30. The meeting with announcements and speaker will begin at 1:30. Plant raffle is after the speaker. We now meet on the 2nd Friday of the month.

There are no meetings in June, July and August.

We welcome guests to come and see what our local society chapter is doing. FNPS membership forms and dues are accepted at the meeting or you can join online at www.fnps.org/membershipform

Directions to Big Cypress Recreation Center

April 8, 2022

Another 3-For-1 Meeting! 
A “Best Book” for Native Plants, “Best Plant Identification Apps”, and “Where and How to Plant Natives in Your Landscape” 

Meeting Details

March 25, 2022

Chiropractor-Dr. Chris KesslerGardening with Back Problems
Chiropractor-Dr. Chris Kessler

Three- In-One Meeting Details

Plant Drawing - last but not least. Go home with a new Florida Native Plant.

Note the new time. We are having a social half-hour from 1:00 to 1:30. The meeting with announcements and speaker will begin at 1:30. Next month meetings will move to the 2nd Friday of the month.

February 25, 2022

3-For-1 Meeting! Social Media, Plant of the Month, and “Planning Your Garden—Natives and Florida Friendly Plants”

1 - Bring your smartphone! Linda Hunt, one of our webmasters, will show us how to hop on our chapter’s Facebook/Meta page, find out about places to visit and gardening events. Learn how to connect with members and how to post your photos and comments! 

2 - See Jo Hudak’s story of planting and nurturing the native Skyblue Clustervine until it cascaded into a riotous evergreen blanket of blue flowers. 

3 - Gary BabicGet instruction and pointers from the ever-popular Gary Babic on “Planning Your Garden—Natives and Florida Friendly Plants”. Gary, with a Ph.D in organic chemistry, a Masters in Business Administration, and a career at Texaco, lived in or visited 70 countries. His love for travel and passion for learning led him to become one of the Top 25 Birders In the World. For the love of learning and sharing, he became a Master Gardener, no small commitment of study, time, and service. Gary serves as the President of The Village Birders, has been a member of the Butterfly Garden Club since its inception, and he serves on the board of The Villages FNPS chapter. With an ever-present laugh and a strong appreciation of interconnectedness of life in environments around the world, he said he gets pure joy out of gardening in The Villages. “As my garden got established, I began seeing a huge number of types of butterflies! I just didn’t know there were so many!” 

January 28, 2022

Note the new time. We are having a social half-hour from 1:00 to 1:30. The meeting with announcements and speaker will begin at 1:30. Plant raffle is after the speaker.

Please be respectful of COVID.

To attend by Zoom: (Please have Zoom installed on your device prior to the meeting.)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7295563506?pwd=WGdkZEk2VUJhU1JuWUpGS1VtNnJQdz09
Meeting ID: 813 1006 0968
Passcode: 871860

Jan Wichterman, Park Service Specialist and Volunteer Coordinator at Lake Griffin State Park off of Route 441 near The Villages will be presenting at our January meeting. She has been with the State Park System for 16 years. Her presentation will provide what Lake Griffin has to offer and what critters play an important part in Florida's ecosystem. This talk is a corollary presentation to the informative hike our chapter took in November through the wetlands at Lake Griffin Park.

Janice Wichterman Park Ranger at Lake Griffin State Park

Primary business of January's meeting is the election of officers.
Our by-laws state:

"6.02 Officer Elections Officers shall be elected by the CHAPTER members at the Annual Meeting by a plurality vote of the members present and voting at such meeting. Officers shall be elected for a term of one (1) year. Only CHAPTER members may be officers. Officers shall automatically be members of the CHAPTER Executive Committee. Officers shall serve without compensation except reimbursement for actual expenses incurred or to be incurred."

Currently, the slate is:

Sue Egloff, president
Vice President - open - less than ten hours/month
Secretary - open - recording meeting minutes - approximately five hours/month
Treasurer - Marcia Gould - handles financial matters
Program Chair - open - arranges speakers - approximately five hours/month
Chapter Rep - Gary Babic

Nominations will be encouraged from the floor. The person nominated must be present. This is a great opportunity to get to know your fellow villagers and support the environment in years to come. Do realize former board members are very supportive in teaching you your new position.

We welcome guests to come and see what our local society chapter is doing. FNPS membership forms and dues are accepted at the meeting or you can join online at www.fnps.org/membershipform

Meeting Minutes Word PDF

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