Program Schedule

September 20, 2007
Program - Belinda Perry, Manager, Sarasota County Natural Resources "Discover Natural Sarasota County'. Sarasota County manages over 50,000 acres of natural areas on more than 25 sites. Discover where these gems are and what's special about them.

Belinda has managed Sarasota County's Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program since 2002. She would love to spend a week in the field for every day spent in the office although her responsibilities often are the other way around. Previous experiences with the School Board, Sarasota County and Myakka River State Park provided a strong foundation for her extensive knowledge of the county landscape.

September 22, 2007
Field Trip - Sleeping Turtles Preserve - with Belinda Perry. 9:30 AM

Sleeping Turtles Preserve is located at 3462 Border Road, Venice. To reach the preserve, take I-75 to exit 193 (Jacaranda Boulevard). Turn right on Border Road and travel east toward the sign for Sleeping Turtles Preserve. Turn left into the parking lot on the north side of Border Road.

October 13-14, 2007
Butterfly Festival - Florida Museuem of Natural History in Gainesville

October 25, 2007
Program - Nancy Armstrong of Pine Lily Nursery "Going Native for Nectaring" Florida native nectar and larval plants

Nancy and Brooks Armstrong established Pine Lily Nursery in 2003. They are an all native plant nursery doing most of their plant propagating from plants growing wild in the pine flatwoods community on their acreage in southwest Hardee county. The nursery's focus is mainly on wildflowers, grasses and ferns. They are members of the Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS) Serenoa Chapter which gave them guidance and support for their nursery endeavor. They are also members of the Association of Florida Native Nurseries (AFNN).

November 15, 2007
Program - Dr. Fred Santana - Butterfly Predators: Butterflies are fair game to many predators. The list of butterfly predators is long, including ants, spiders, wasps, assassin bugs, ambush bugs, predatory stink bugs, birds, and lizards, to name a few. Dr. Fred Santana, will touch on the above predators, but the main focus will be on wasps and true bugs. It is estimated that only 2% of most butterfly caterpillars survive to become adults.

January 24, 2008
Program - Kathy Crowley, Co-Owner of Crowley Nursery. Kathy will do a program on butterflies and she will have some "out of the ordinary" butterfly plants to sell.

February 28, 2008
Program - Tom Williams, MRT Lawn & Garden Center with plants to sell. Tom is a Master Gardener in three states and very informative.

March 27, 2008
Tour of Mariposa Nursery and garden center at 10 AM. Will be held at Mariposa Nursery - 5020 Lorraine Rd. Bradenton FL. Carpool from McDonald's at Bee Ridge and Cattlemen. Meet at 9:30 AM - call Bob Haynes, Field Trip Coordinator - 924.8902 or email: hay457@msn.com

April 5, 2008
Field Trip - Environmental Services & Celery Fields - leader Stuart Hills

May 22, 2008 (begins at 11:00 AM)
Potluck Luncheon & Butterfly Count Evaluation