Paynes Prairie Chapter of FNPS

08/23/2026

🚨Important and exciting announcement! The Paynes Prairie Chapter Leadership Team has decided to move our meeting location! We will now be meeting in the “Blueberry Classroom” a room in the brand new Paul M. Lyrene Blueberry Research Building.

🌿This change is in collaboration with the brand new student chapter on UF’s campus, the Florida Native Plant Club (UF Florida Native Plant Club ). Meeting here will allow greater accessibility for all ages and distances- it’s centrally located in town, with better technological support to stream our meetings digitally. Tune into our upcoming September newsletter, The Rhexia, for more details!

07/24/2026

💔missed the last Dicerandra rescue? Well, there’s another next week!

🌸Plant Conservation Volunteers will have an opportunity Thurs. July 30 in the morning to assist in rescue of Longspur Mint (Dicerandra cornutissima) within the I-75 Right-of-Way south of Ocala. Rescued plants will be cured, watered, and outplanted at Bok Tower Gardens, Florida Forest Service lands, and on Putnam Land Conservancy conservation easements.

🚗Florida Dept. of Transportation staff will provide a pre-rescue training at the I-75 MM 346 Southbound Rest Area on how to safely conduct the work. Most folks will leave their car at the Rest Area. This is difficult, hot work and has high exposure to the sun and steep slopes. Work will be for three hours. Volunteers who are late cannot participate because FDOT will es**rt us to site and that stretch of highway is EXTREMELY busy.

🪴If you would like to help out and participate, please contact Mike Jenkins at [email protected]. It would be great to have 4WD vehicles with a cover over the bed, large watering tanks, pots, etc.

07/18/2026

06/19/2026

Very much looking forward to this local annual sale next weekend! All proceeds go to funding student employees and supplies.

06/02/2026

🚨🌸🛟 URGENT NEED for helping rescue Dicerandra cornutissima this Friday! See graphic for more info and contact Mike Jenkins if you plan on attending.

06/01/2026

🌳Check out this opportunity to explore the new addition of Kerr Lake to the Indian Lake State Forest during a Bioblitz next Saturday on June 13th! We need folks interested in snapping pics of plants to help document the unknown diversity at this site 📸Download iNaturalist (if you haven’t already) and come on out. We’ll be joining the Florida Forest Service for this exciting event, so contact them with any questions or concerns prior to the 13th 👊

🌿Native plant education for Alachua, Bradford and Levy counties
📆 We meet every 3rd Wednesday, September through May at 2560 Hull Rd in Gainesville, FL.
🌸 Learn more at
https://paynesprairie.fnpschapters.org/

05/23/2026

Looking forward to this talk next month 🤩

Join us on Wednesday, June 17 at 2pm for our webinar “The Florida Meadow — A Future of Ecological Enhancement” presented by UF/IFAS Research Associate Dr. Gage LaPierre. Register now at: https://www.flawildflowers.org/event/260617-webinar-the-florida-meadow/

Meadows are dynamic, human-created plant communities — graminoid- and forb-dominated landscapes that offer both ecological value and striking visual appeal. In this presentation, we’ll explore what makes meadows thrive in Florida’s unique environment, from the principles behind their design to the practicalities of installation and long-term management.

05/18/2026

🌳This month’s regular field trip is a chapter first! We’re collaborating with local design and build studio for a landscaping tour of three gardens imagined and created here in the heart of Gainesville that explore ecological function, plant performance, and expressive design with native plants.

🌱We’ll be led by Emergent Gardens designer and horticulturist Shelby Radcliffe, meeting at Pulp Arts for a tour of the gardens there (ADDRESS CORRECTION: 1705 NE 16th Ave) - SEE IMPORTANT PARKING INFO IN COMMENTS! An evolving experimental landscape in a creative commercial setting, Pulp Gardens blends structured native plantings with looser, exploratory areas across varied conditions.

🦆From there, we will visit two more Duckpond properties designed by Emergent Gardens, creatively named “Little Mound” and “Flatwoods Bungalow”. A compact residential front yard installed in winter 2024, Little Mound uses re-graded soil to create subtle topography on a hot, dry site. The planting is approximately 80% native, prioritizing drought-tolerant species and seasonal variation within a simple, legible structure. The tour will highlight plant selection, composition, and performance under drought conditions.

🍃Flatwoods Bungalow is a small front yard garden also built in Winter 2024 and organized into two matrix-style plant communities inspired by pine flatwoods understory systems. A curated mix of native ecotypes, select nativars, and structural grasses creates seasonal color and year-round cohesion, complemented by a diverse front porch border that adds contrast and texture. The tour will address strategies for unity, flow, and layered planting in small residential spaces. The backyard will not be open to the public, but can be viewed from the gate.

⬇️continued in comments! Photos from another project not on the tour, “Living Lab” - see Emergent Garden’s website for more of their work.

05/13/2026

🤓Get ready for some UF/IFAS knowledge at our next Chapter meeting and featured speaker presentation! This month, we will be hearing from Dr. Cynthia Nazario-Leary about “Landscaping with Native Plants in North Florida”! This talk will surely be useful when thinking about our yards and gardens.

🪷Dr. Nazario-Leary is the UF/IFAS Environmental Horticulture Extension Agent for Alachua County. She received her B.S. in Landscape Contracting from Pennsylvania State University, her M.S. in Horticulture and Ph.D. in Natural Resources & Environmental Management from the University of Hawaiʻi. Cynthia began working in Extension as an urban horticulture agent for the University of Hawaiʻi in Maui County. After 20 years in Hawaiʻi, she moved with her family to Gainesville in 2019. In her current UF/IFAS extension position, she directs the Master Gardener Volunteer program, implements Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ programs, and supports community and school gardening initiatives.

☀️Dr. Nazario-Leary aims to combine her extension experience with her passion for communicating science-based information to engage the community and affect positive change. Her presentation will show us the results of UF/IFAS research, so don’t miss your chance to get quality help with your landscape! Meetings are free and open to the public, so come on out. We hope to see you in person or on zoom next week!