Conference Calling

The Conference is calling! Yes, the 31st Annual Conference of the Florida Native Plant Society, in Maitland, May 19-22, "Patios, Preserves and Open Spaces," is indeed calling you, and now is the time to make plans and register. Why? Because you will:

    •    learn things you always wanted to know
    •    learn things you never knew you wanted to know
    •    meet people who really dig the same stuff you do
    •    meet people who expand your horizons
    •    take home new visions  for your own future

And I am not kidding! The conference is specifically designed for people just like you, whether you are a lifelong pro or a native plant newbie. There will be presentations on topics from experts ranging from the needs of a homeowner to those of research scientists and everything in between.

 
Interested in invasives? Butterfly gardening? Wildflowers in the landscape? Green roofs?

 
Focused on research in restoration outplanting of jacquemontia,? Or genetic drift in 
St. John’s Wort?  (See? Did you know there was genetic drift in St. John’s Wort?) 


Are you secretly craving a workshop called Midnight in Your Garden of Good and Evil? 
(And who wouldn’t be?)  Well, look no further. There is one.

And how about Native Plant Yard Tours? Oh yes, you will see real native plants in actual yards! 
It is a fantastic way to assimilate knowledge about what works in home landscaping. 
 


 
 
Bruce Means will teach and entertain you during a presentation called “The Wild, Wild World of the Florida Panhandle.” If you have never had the opportunity to hear him, treat yourself right now. He is one of the authors of Priceless Florida, and he knows Florida from the inside out.

Inspiration will permeate your very soul from this years’ keynote speakers, Rutherford Platt and
Rick Darke. These gentlemen have literally been visionaries of our times; predicting the future of our world with and without the plants and ecosystems that we simultaneously need and decimate.


For a detailed schedule, go to the conference page  and click on “schedule;’ (or top right of this page, click on the "Patios, Preserves and Open Spaces") where you can download a spreadsheet of all the talks, and the field trips, keynote speakers, social events and everything else.

Do you just want to get the heck out of Dodge? Then don’t miss the spectacular field trips, which are 
unbelievable opportunites to learn and enjoy our Florida natives. All field trips are lead by folks who are experts; you will have the chance to observe and ask questions. Take look at the wide variety of trips being offered – there are hikes, canoe trips, rides in buggies through mesic hardwoods, sloughs,  springs, swamps, marshes, reclaimed lands, and wildlife management areas.

There is a trip for all you people who want to eat native. You know how we are always saying on this blog, “Don’t eat this plant until you have had it ID’d by an expert?" Here is your big chance!

There will be social events, eating, author book signing, cool plant art for sale, cool plants for sale. You can come for one day or all the days.  There will be weighty thoughts and general hilarity. Truly something for everyone!
 
The conference is one of the Society's biggest efforts to offer education to the people of Florida. Take advantage of it.  I promise you, you will be glad you did.

sue dingwell

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