Florida Native Plant Society April meeting

Renee Stambaugh, President of the Sea Oats chapter of Florida Native Plant Society, told local reporters from Historic City News that this month’s meeting program will take account of “Native Plants That Are Often Overlooked”.

The local Sea Oats chapter meets at 7:00 p.m., May 11th, at the St. Augustine Beach City Hall, A1A at 16th Street.

Michael Bowles, Sea Oats chapter vice-president, is the featured speaker. Bowles is a former supervisor at Kanapaha Gardens in Gainesville and served on the prestigious gardening staff at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. He also assisted on special projects at Callaway Gardens in Georgia.

Bowles’ presentation will include a variety of native plant species that are common in St. Johns County yet overlooked — disregarded because they are rare, unavailable commercially, or visible only certain times of the year, such as the Toothpetal False Reinorchid, Habenaria floribunda.

This free program is open to the public. Prizes include native plants donated by Leonardi’s Nursery and Southern Horticulture. For more information, call 904-471-7239.

Photo credit: © 2010 Historic City News contributed photograph by Paul Rebmann