Download 2016 newsletter Feb-June - Lake Beautyberry

February – June 2016
The Beautyberry
Lake Beautyberry Chapter of the
Florida Native Plant Society
P.O. Box 88 Umatilla, FL 32784
Chapter Contacts:
President: Lavon Silvernell 223-4761
Vice President: Patricia Burgos 516-4825
Secretary: Jean St. John 288-0908
Treasurer: Mary Davis 324-4014
FNPS Chapter Rep: Jon Pospisil 407-448-6195
Newsletter: Nadine Foley 669-2398
Website/E-List: Patricia Burgos 516-4825
Lake Beautyberry Chapter – Winter/Spring 2016 Calendar
Discovery Gardens Workdays – First Wednesdays of the month.
The next workdays will be held on February 3 and March 2 at 10:00 a.m. and on April 6 and May 4
at 9:00 a.m. Barbara Grigg and her regular helpers need a few more workers to tend and improve the native
garden at Discovery Gardens at the Ag Center, Tavares. They will be glad of your help and if you have a
native plant to add to the garden, please let Barbara know at 383-3631.
Bird-A-Palozza at Lake Apopka – Saturday, February 6, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Join our members at the Orange Audubon Birding Festival at Magnolia Park on Lake Apopka. We
hope you will enjoy the birding and the events planned and also volunteer for awhile at the
Beautyberry/OVAS display. We will have native Florida plants for talking points and for sale. Contact
Jeannie Colletti at 669-6632 to let her know when you can help at the info table. Directions: Go toward
Apopka on US 441. Just after you go under the 429 tollway underpass, turn right onto Binion Road (or
Orange which becomes Binion Road) and proceed about 5 miles south to Magnolia Park.
Program Meeting at Cooper Memorial Library – Saturday, February 6, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.
The topic at this meeting will be “Pollinators” and attracting them to your yard, presented by Taryn
Evans of the Marion FNPS Chapter. It will be held at the Cooper Memorial Library, 2525 Oakley Seaver
Drive, Clermont. Free and open to the public. Contact: Jon Pospisil at 407-448-6195
Field Trip to Scrub Point Preserve - Friday, February 26, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.
Scrub Point Preserve is a Lake County Water Authority property in south Lake County. The site’s
89 acres include peninsular shoreline on John’s Lake with a range of wetland plants from giant Live Oaks,
other rare scrub plant species, and likely scrub plum. This mixture of terrain provides excellent habitat for a
wide variety of wildlife, too.
To join us for this activity, meet at the intersection of Hartwood Marsh Road and US 27, south of
Hwy 50, Clermont. We will meet in the Publix parking lot. There is a McDonald’s if you have not had
time for lunch. Look for the Beautyberry banner in the Publix parking lot and arrive to leave at 2:00 p.m.
for Scrub Point. This property is not open to the public due to rough access so we will consolidate into
fewer vehicles. For more information and to let us know that you plan to attend call Lavon at 352-2234761.
Program Meeting – Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.
Our chapter is pleased to welcome the President of the Florida Native Plant Society, Anne Cox to
this program meeting. Anne is a great example of a FNPS member. She is a Biologist, business woman and
a really terrific person. She has spent her career caring for Florida’s natural areas and the wildflowers,
birds, butterflies and fauna that inhabit these lands. Most recently, she has been a steady, successful guiding
hand for our state society.
The meeting will begin at 2:00 p.m. for plant exchange, library, handouts, refreshments and
socializing. At 2:30 p.m., Anne will speak on the importance of native plants and she will give an up-date
on FNPS. The meeting will be held at Trout Lake Nature Center, Eustis. Directions: Take SR 19 north out
of Eustis to the intersection with CR 44E and turn right at Winn-Dixie and CVS Pharmacy, then go ¼ mile
to the nature center entrance on the right. The public is welcome at our program meetings.
Field Trip to North Lake Park – Friday, April 1, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.
This will be an easy Springtime trip to North Lake Community Park near Umatilla. We will enjoy
seeing the mature native plants in their glory. When this county park was built a few years ago, all
landscaping was done using native plants. We will meet in the parking lot at 10:00 a.m. Directions: Go
north on SR 19 and through Umatilla to the north side of town. At the stoplight, turn right onto CR 450 for
about ½ mile, then left onto Roger Giles Road at the park sign. After our park walk, we will go onto
Clearwater Lake near Paisley on CR 42 in the Ocala National Forest. We can walk a bit on the trail and
then have our picnic lunch near the lake.
As usual for a field trip, bring a hat, sunscreen, water, insect repellent, snacks and wear comfortable
walking shoes. There may be a day use fee at Clearwater Lake. Contact: Lavon at cell 352-223-4761.
PEAR Park Plant Sale – Saturday, April 16, 2016 from 8:00 a.m. to Noon.
The Native Plant Sale and Open House at PEAR Park will again have an abundance of native plants
for sale ready for your spring gardening plans. Also take time to visit the Nature Center, the demonstration
gardens, the Butterfly Pavilion with the beautiful butterfly sculpture and the new Wildlife Viewing area.
Beautyberry members will be helping the PEAR Park volunteers with the plant sale and also will
tend a native plant information table. Please call Lavon at 223-4761 to volunteer for a time slot to help.
Directions: From the intersection of CR 48 and US 27 south of Leesburg, go south on US 27 for 1.8 miles
to the second entrance for PEAR Park on University Ave. Turn right onto University, then go about 1 mile
to the park entrance.
Program Meeting on Monarch Butterflies – Sunday, May 15, 2016 at 2:00 p.m.
Our chapter is excited to have Ranger Scott Davis, from the St. Mark’s National Wildlife Refuge,
present a program on Monarch Butterflies. Ranger Davis will provide information on life cycle and
physiology and how to attract butterflies to your yard and keep their population healthy.
In addition, Scott will talk about evolving research surrounding Monarchs, the risks and challenges
which face them and how individuals can help. The Beautyberry and OVAS members who took the long
trip to St. Marks Refuge highly recommended Scott as a knowledgeable and entertaining speaker. We are
happy he will make the trek from north Florida to Lake County to provide this program. Join us for this free
program at Trout Lake Nature Center. Refreshments, plant exchange and socializing begin at 2:00 p.m. and
the program will be at 2:30 p.m. Directions to TLNC appear earlier in the Calendar.
FNPS Annual Conference – Thursday, May 19 through Sunday, May 22, 2016
The FNPS Annual Conference will be close to home this year so plan now to take in as much as you
can this time. It will be held at the Daytona Beach Resort and Conference Center. Field trips are usually
held on Thursday and Sunday with meetings, keynote addresses and break-out sessions held on Friday and
Saturday. The FNPS annual members meeting will be on Saturday, May 21. Watch for details on the
website at www.fnps.org or in the March-April edition of the “Sable Minor”.
Tram Tour at Lake Louisa State Park - Friday, June 10, 2016 at 10:00 a.m.
The weather will be warmer in June so we will take a tram-tour of Lake Louisa State Park visiting
the various habitats at this beautiful park including the cypress tree shoreline of Lake Louisa and up to the
Long Leaf Pine restoration hillsides. Summer wildflowers should be in bloom along the way. We plan to
picnic at some point at tables along the lakeshore. As usual, bring a hat, sunscreen, water, insect repellent,
snacks and wear comfortable walking shoes. There will be a park entrance fee. For details on car pooling
contact Lavon at 223-4761 closer to the date of the trip.
President’s Message from Lavon Silvernell
I feel so fortunate. I am over a year into “retirement” from full-time paid work and life is satisfying.
I started doing the Wednesday hikes with Florida Trail for exercise, friends and cookies, too. I’ve done
some birding trips with Audubon, though I have not mastered warblers or shoreline birds yet. I am spending
more time at the park with my Grand – Addison. I finally have some time for “me” stuff.
I am still working, too, Saturdays at Green Isle Gardens. There are plant people from literally all
over the state looking for that special plant for their projects. But, even more than the customers, I enjoy
the young folks at GIG, the interns and paid staff. I guess they are Millennials: thoughtful, passionate,
idealistic and working toward a future they want to see. It gives me hope.
My past year as President of Lake Beautyberry has been satisfying. Being a part of a group, sharing
the work, providing fun, educational programs and activities and making a contribution. There are
opportunities to speak to garden clubs and homeowner groups and it offers a podium to share information
about native plants, wildlife and natural areas.
One of my other fulfilling retirement opportunities has been to be a part of the Keep Lake Beautiful
Committee composed of Commissioner Campione, Brian Sheahan and community members. This
committee, whose mission is “to beautify Lake County by engaging our community” has led neighborhood
clean-ups, supported waterway clean-ups and has a variety of other projects on-going including some at
schools. Some projects involve tree plantings. Brent McCallister, also a Beautyberry member has been
helping with that. Commissioner Campione is passionate about wildflowers and has been communicating
with CSX railroad about the possibility of plantings along sections of the RR right of way.
I was able to participate in an enthusiastic meeting with County staff and Commissioner Campione
discussing how to identify and locate existing wildflower sites and perhaps add some new plantings on
highway right of ways, utility easements and other public areas. There was discussion of which department
the work might fall within and what volunteer expertise and energy might be enlisted from the community.
Beautyberry was mentioned as was CISMA.
If there is going to be a continued focus on maintaining some “Real Florida, Real Close” in Lake
County, volunteers will be helping to make it happen. Perhaps “they”, or maybe, “you” could photograph
and document wildflowers on a section of roadway that you drive every day, or monitor a site and help to
determine a mowing schedule. Maybe volunteers could identify photos of wildflowers that others send in
to be posted on a website showing Lake County’s beauty. Perhaps you and your neighbors could plant a
wildflower plot in an area which the folks responsible for monitoring safe roads determine is appropriate. I
hope some of you decide a part of this beautification project sounds like it could be a fun and satisfying part
of your busy schedule.
Our speaker for the May program on Monarch Butterflies had a quote from Jimmy Carter at the end
of his email: “My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I
can, with whatever I have, to try to make a difference”. Maybe what you can contribute is not wildflowers,
but I hope you have found your useful spot. I know we are all better for it.
Annual Meeting Report
Our chapter is beginning our 16th year as an FNPS Chapter and presently we have 68 paid-up
members in Lake Beautyberry. We welcome our new members and appreciate the many long-standing
members who have contributed to our vitality. At the January 17, 2016 Annual Meeting, after our program
speaker, President Lavon Silvernell convened the business meeting. Treasurer Peg Lindsay reported we
have $991.62 in the account as we enter the new year and she also presented a budget for 2016 which was
approved by the membership. Secretary, Nadine Foley presented Minutes of the November 15, 2015
Program meeting and of the December 3, 2015 Planning Meeting. These Minutes were approved and the
Treasurer’s Report, the Budget and the Minutes are all available to any member by contacting Nadine at
669-2398. Lavon moved on to the Election of Officers for 2016 giving the report provided by Vice
President Freda Betts, Nominating Committee. Freda has worked to get some different members willing to
serve as Officers, thus giving a break to some long serving members.
The Nominations were Patricia Burgos for Vice President, Jean St. John for Secretary and Mary
Davis for Treasurer. Lavon asked for any nominations from the floor. There were none. Lavon said Peg
Lindsay will work with Mary and Nadine will work with Jean to ensure a smooth transition. Peg Lindsay
made the motion to close the nominations, seconded by Barbara Grigg and the motion passed unanimously.
Nadine made the motion to elect the nominated slate, seconded by Joan Bryant and the nominated slate of
Officers was elected unanimously. Thank you to those willing to serve. Lavon will continue as President
and Jon Pospisil will continue as Chapter Rep providing continuity. Lavon introduced Mary Davis, our new
Treasurer and Lavon said we need more people to help as our chapter undertakes new projects through-out
the year. The Officers and their contacts are on the first page of this newsletter.
Lavon then asked outgoing Officers to join them at the front, plus all our members present, many of
whom are active on Committees and she asked everyone to join hands and recite the following Pledge: I do
solemnly pledge in all ways that I am able – I will support the mission of the Florida Native Plant Society –
to promote the preservation, conservation and restoration of the native plants and native plant communities
of Florida, and the work of this local Lake Beautyberry Chapter. Amid the general good feeling following
the Pledge and there being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.
Chapter Committees, Chairmen and Contacts
The following is a summary of our Chapter Committees with a brief job description, the Chairmen
and their contacts. Please keep this list handy so you can volunteer to help at our activities and events.
Help is always welcome!
Advocacy – Patricia Burgos 516-4825 and Lavon Silvernell 223-4761
Communication & Social Media – Patricia Burgos 516-4825 Website: Jon Pospisil 407-448-6195
Twitter: Peg Lindsay 326-2045 Facebook: Peg Urban 326-3868 E-List: Patricia Burgos 516-4825
Field Trips – Lavon Silvernell 223-4761 and e-mail - [email protected]
Landscape – Brent McCallister 589-0944 Discovery Gardens: Barbara Grigg 383-3631 Seed Collection:
Shirley Heinzelman 455-4018
Membership – Peg Urban 326-3868 Renewals, Greeters, Phone call follow-up.
Newsletter – Nadine Foley 669-2398 Submissions to [email protected]
Outreach – Vacant – Coordination of volunteers for public outreach.
Programs – Lavon Silvernell 223-4761 and Jon Pospisil 407-448-6195
Publicity – Joan Bryant 357-7926
Meeting Set-Up Coordinator – Jeannie Colletti 669-6632 Greeters: Freda Betts 259-6325 and
Peg Urban 326-3868 Set-up and take-down: Nadine Foley 669-2398 Library: Jeannie Colletti
669-6632 Refreshments: Shirley Heinzelman 455-4018
Audio Visual – Horace Thompson 383-2933 and Brent McCallister 589-0944
Plant Exchange – Barbara Grigg 383-3631
Field Trip Recaps
Each time we go out on a field trip it is a reminder of the outstanding natural beauty we are lucky
enough to enjoy in our own Lake County. In September we visited Lake Griffin State Park on the north side
of Leesburg. Our guides were Danny Osborne, Park Ranger, Chris Matson, District Biologist and Burn
Boss and Mike Jeakel, Park Volunteer. Our guides noted the 400 plus acre property has a continuing burn
regime going back to the 1980’s and has been burned six times since then. This maintains a “floristic
diversity” that the managers are proud of, including the rare native plants Clasping Warea, Scrub
Buckwheat and Clitoria. We saw these in abundance with the new Warea site doing well. It has been
started with seeds from the fully protected site at the park. The seeds germinated four years later after a
burn was done.
On our walks we saw a wide variety of fall blooming native plants in the sandhill community. At
one spot we saw Clasping Warea, Wiregrass, Carphephorous and lots of baby Lupines all forming a
precious natural garden. The air was full of beauty, too with Sulphur and Gulf Frittilary Butterflies and
Dragonflies galore. Peg Lindsay named Blue Dashers, Carolina Saddlebags and Eastern Pond Hawks in the
Dragonfly category. Lake Griffin State Park has all the amenities and is close by with a boat ramp, canoe
and kayak rentals, fishing, camping and nature trail. A mammoth Live Oak welcomes all near the park
entrance. Visit soon!
Another “jewel” was our destination in December when our field trip was to Alexander Springs in
the Ocala National Forest. As the Timucuan native people did 1,000 years ago, we tread a path around
beautiful, deep and flowing Alexander Springs. As we walked the Timucuan Trail we watched for several
special plants and we found them all at various points. We found Vine Wicky, Atlantic White Cedar,
Yellow Anise and Hearts-A-Busting. The cedar was a large, old tree with 4 trunks living here a long time at
the far southern range for this species. We also found Golden Polypody Fern climbing in the palm boots
and Shoe-String Ferns climbing palm trunks.
Following a small running stream, we came to a nice bridge overlook at a larger stream. The
shrubbery was covered with Climbing Bindweed with a few blooms left and puffball seeds. We got out a
book and identified Baccharous glomeriafolia full of yellow bunched blooms at stream-side. It was covered
with many native pollinators and honey bees. In this damp environment we found many shelf fungi on dead
wood: a red-topped kind, a variety of the turkey-tail type shelf fungus and some beautiful brown-toned
turkey-tail fungus. Peg Urban took a lot of photos! The boardwalk ended at an overlook of the spring
which was a fine way to end our beautiful walk.
Catching Up on Our Programs
Our September meeting was our chapter’s Potluck Picnic hosted by Brent and Diane McCallister at
their rural residence east of Eustis. During our assembly time before the picnic, the members enjoyed a
slideshow Brent had prepared of the Plant and Animal Life at “Lyonia Lodge”. While eating our lunch on
the large porch, we admired the beautiful, natural surroundings at their new home.
Brent is a Landscape Architect and having just retired, he planned the placement of the house they
had built. After lunch and our meeting, everyone went outdoors for a tour guided by Brent of their brand
new home, nested so very carefully into the existing trees and the natural surroundings. They kept all the
trees except for the house footprint. Brent provided a plant list for the mature Scrub habitat and we set out
to find many of the plants on his list. The Sand Live Oaks have curved trunks that the Black Bears climb
right up. Large Lyonia shrubs provide dense undergrowth along with very old Saw Palmettos, Shiny
Blueberries and Sand Holly. Pine trees tower over all. The fall wildflowers were in bloom, too. Over all, a
lovely natural landscape that they are enjoying and they are adding even more plants for seasonal variety.
Thank you, Brent and Diane for hosting this very pleasant afternoon at “Lyonia Lodge”.
In November, Dr. Jay Barnhart gave an excellent, photo enhanced talk on “What is This Fungus,
Among Us”? First off, you pronounce Fungi as “Fun Guy” and with that we were off on a detailed
description of the life cycle of fungi, the growth habit of them and the wide variety abounding in this world.
Jay’s many photos of these colorful mushrooms made one think that we should be looking closer as we
walk. Your editor confesses to not being able to keep up in this report, but here are a few of the strange and
unusual fungi found locally: On Oak logs, look for pumpkin colored fungi which are luminescent in a dark
room; “Colt’s Hoof Conk”, a shelf type on dead wood; “Dog Vomit”, a yellow blob lasting only a few days;
“Dead Man’s Fingers”, black, encapsulated and they breakdown into dust – may also be white; “Stink
Horn”, very odorous, starts as a ball then pushes out into a lattice; “Puffballs”, on the ground, as are “Earth
Stars”, a round marble and then a puff of brown smoke which are the spores going out and “Turkey Tail”,
fan-shaped with striping growing on dead wood. The color is derived from the wood it is growing upon.
We found many varieties at Alexander Springs now that we knew what to look for.
If you are interested in knowing more about Fungus, there is a new mushroom group meeting at
TLNC. Inquire at 352-357-7536 or ask in the office at the nature center.
Our January Program was given by Steve Turnipseed, founder of the new Villages Chapter of FNPS.
Steve’s topic was “Conversion of a Turf Grass Lawn into a Native Plant Landscape in a Deed Restricted
Development”. Now, he has actually accomplished this as his talk with accompanying photos proved and
he was encouraging to anyone interested in such a landscape project. He said to aim to create a native plant
landscape that is both attractive and tidy.
To begin, find out what the deed restrictions do allow. You may find that recent legislation will
allow more native design than was planted at the time of building your home. Then, move on to getting a
design and choose the suitable plants, hire a reputable contractor and do the work in stages. Work in from
the property line and out from the house. Islands of turf may be left, if you are doing it in phases over a few
years time. Plan to keep the landscape looking tended as you work to add more areas. Get approval from
your development and then contract the design and take it to get bids for the work.
Steve said that as the turf was removed, pine straw was put in to look good and to ready the beds for
the new plants going in. Take high volume irrigation out and replace with drip irrigation. His water use
declined from 20,000 gals/month down to 4,000 gals/month and now the established plants are not being
irrigated at all. Steve’s photos from all angles of his yard and aerial views show the before and after of his
landscape project. To see this, there is a U-Tube video called “Transformation of a Turf Grass Lawn into a
Native Plant Landscape in Central Florida”.
FNPS Chapter Rep Report from Jon Pospisil
Jon Pospisil reported at the November meeting that some chapters have been working on getting
more native plants for sale in “Big Box” type stores and they are sharing ideas on this at the Council of
Chapter’s meeting. Also, at the state level, a Policy on talking for the group was passed similar to the one
adopted by our chapter in September 2015. Jon said the October as Native Plant Month took hold around
Florida with many county proclamations. Several of our members attended the Board of County
Commissioner’s meeting when they proclaimed October Native Plant Month in Lake County and presented
the proclamation to the chapter. Lavon had a short slideshow running showing Lake County wild flowers in
bloom.
Jon announced the FNPS Annual Retreat to be held March 11 – 13, 2016 at Camp Kulaqua in High
Springs, FL. He plans to attend on our Chapter’s behalf, meeting with the Council of Chapters. All chapter
leaders are welcome as well as any interested FNPS members. Registration and all details are now on the
FNPS website: www.fnps.org and go to the Events calendar. Deadline to reserve lodging and meals is
February 25, 2016.
Fall Events Reported
1. The Wings and Wildflower Festival attracted an estimated 5,000 people and our chapter received
a thank note for our sponsorship and participation. Many of our members volunteered at the festival and
also enjoyed the many events and presentations. It is rumored the festival will be held again in October.
2. Lavon reported the results of the fall native plant sale held at Green Isle Gardens on October 17,
2015. This fundraiser had sales of $909.55 generously shared by owners Marc and Terry Godts with our
chapter. Our chapter received $300.00, plus Marc and Terry donated an additional $150.00 for a student
native plant project. Four new FNPS members joined at the sale as well. Lavon extended thanks to all for
making the fall fundraiser a great success.
3. A diverse audience of 50 attended the Ginny Stibolt Sustainability Program sponsored by Lake
Beautyberry Chapter and held at the Extension Service for the general public. A number of people showed
interest in joining our chapter.
4. At the Mt. Dora Plant and Garden Fair, Patricia Burgos and Wendy Poag and their helpers
brought native plant seeds collected for the event. People were able to select seeds and assemble a packet
for their home landscapes. Donations added up to $50.00. They talked about the planting and care of the
seeds and plants. Thank you to all who helped at that November public outreach event.
5. Thank you to Peg Lindsay and Bob Putnam for organizing and leading the wonderful overnight
trip to the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and the vicinity. Highlights of that trip in October were the
Edward Ball/Wakulla Springs State Park and the historic Wakulla Lodge, Bald Point State Park, Mashes
Sands County Park, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge and the Lighthouse, a nature themed boat ride at
Wakulla Springs and some really good local restaurants and seafood! The birders in the group identified 98
different species of birds and the plant people notched several new native plant species along the coastal
beaches. Local guides were so very informative and helpful.
Gardening with the Natives by Barbara Grigg
(Previously published in “The Tarpaper” – Reprinted with permission.)
Deciduous – shedding leaves annually. Evergreen – Having green leaves throughout the year.
These definitions work just fine in the north where deciduous trees shed their leaves in the fall,
remain bare all winter and leaf out again in the spring. Because our seasons tend to blend one into another
in Central Florida, we sometimes have to stretch the definitions a bit.
The true evergreens that shed a few leaves here and there throughout the year don’t behave any
differently here, it’s the ones that shed all their leaves at once that seem to be confused. In early November,
the muscadine grapes and red mulberry have been bare since late September, the white fringe and dogwood
trees are just starting to shed and the red maple is beginning to think about it. Red maple will often not shed
until December and may leaf out again by February. There are a number of trees, among them live oak,
laurel oak and Ilex opaca, that shed in the spring and leaf out again at once. Maybe we should call them
“deciduous evergreens”. Some evergreens such as Magnolia virginiana also shed leaves each spring.
These trees always have two year’s worth of leaves and shed the oldest set when they put on new growth.