Florida Native Plant Society

Announcing the Peggy Lantz Writing Contest!

We’re excited to launch our writing contest celebrating creative voices inspired by Florida’s wild flora, in honor of Peggy Lantz, an esteemed nature writer and tireless advocate for Florida’s native plants. Learn more at fnps.org/writingcontest.

Tomorrow at noon we'll be streaming Pinellas County Extension's James Stevenson's 2023 FNPS Conference Presentation on the Ferns of Florida instead. Please join us tomorrow at noon!

Watch live on YouTube: buff.ly/0BOVkgZ

Our presenter for tomorrow, Owen Schneider, had a family emergency so he's flying back home to be with his parents tomorrow and won't be presenting. We're working on rescheduling Owen so keep an eye out for that.

This month's Lunch and Learn is with Temple University ecologist Owen Schneider is going to be lit! 🔥
He will be presenting his research on plant flammability in Long Pine Key in Everglades National Park.
🕛 Friday, 11/21, 12pm EST
✏️ Registration: buff.ly/apdmsL5

There are still tickets available to the state's longest running native plant landscape tour on Sunday!

Our Conradina Chapter has arranged for a 20% discount to a local nursery on Sunday, plein air painters at some of the stops, & a free native plant to all attendees.

brevardlandscapetour.org

FSC Executive Director Ryan Smart and FSC's Lobbyist (and FNPS's Government Affairs Advisor) Travis Moore will walk through a preview of the 2026 Legislative Session and share their tips on how to be an effective advocate during Legislative Session.

Join the @flspringscouncil.bsky.social for a deep dive into Florida's Legislative Session and lobbying for springs 🏛️ PART 5 OF THE SPRINGS ADVOCACY 101 SERIES 💦
🗓️ Wednesday, November 19 at 6:30 p.m. buff.ly/Bx7C590

🔥 Experience a prescribed burn and explore the role of fire in Florida’s ecosystems this Saturday at the Lake Wales Ridge Fire Fest, a day of learning, demonstrations, and community engagement. The festival is free with the $6 entrance fee to Highlands Hammock SP. visitsebring.com/event/fire-f...

Huge thanks to the @flspringscouncil.bsky.social for hosting our President, Eugene Kelly, for a deep dive on conservation land protection last night. Ryan Smart, Gene, and Ryan Worthington's excellent discussion is on YouTube and runs 1h16.

Watch it here: buff.ly/hPfjhd2

🌀 We're very excited to have Nicole Zampieri as our L&L presenter this week. She is an incoming professor in the Department of Biology at UCF & will discuss her research into the hurricane ecology of longleaf pine savannas.

Registration: buff.ly/w7PRd3q

close up of a pressed preserved plant that has numerous elongated evergreen leaves running up and down along each side of many entwined stems and tiny flower pods clustered at the bas along some sections of leaves

Online Exhibit 🌿 Rare, Beautiful & Fascinating

Feature: Florida Yew (Taxus floridana)

This critically endangered native Florida plant produces Taxol, an anticancer drug. Florida yew is not harvested commercially due to its rarity.

🎧 With Kent Perkins: www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/100-years/ob...

Unfortunately, we're also operating in a difficult funding environment and we need your support to continue our work. Mark your calendar for December 2nd and let's make this year's Giving Tuesday one to remember!

and opposing the routing of the Central Polk Parkway through The Natives nursery or the last wild habitat of Blushing Scrub Balm (Dicerandra modesta). We also worked with our partners to pass the State Parks Preservation Act, to keep the state parks debacle of 2024 a thing of the past.

We're looking forward to Giving Tuesday, which is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving every year. We have just come off of a relatively successful year in conservation advocacy, having taken the lead on stopping the Withlacoochee State Forest land swap

Read the article on this fresh research by the Tallahassee Democrat: www.tallahassee.com/story/life/h...

L&L - Wildflower Watchers with Marina Mertz of the Florida Wildflower Foundation YouTube video by Florida Native Plant Society

Our partner organization Florida Wildflower Foundation is working hard on education and outreach regarding roadside pollinator habitat.
Join their team of Wildflower Watchers to report roadside native habitat that deserves good management: www.youtube.com/live/mX3BVdd...

🦋 Research just out from UF IFAS shows that while many Floridians are aware of the potential benefits of supporting native plants as pollinator habitat on roadsides, a large subset of the population isn't even thinking about how roadsides could support pollinators.

FNPS is proud to be sponsoring this year's Groundcover Restoration and Enhancement Workshop. The past two workshops have been incredibly informative with excellent networking among native plant folks & this year's workshop should be similarly excellent. Register here: web.cvent.com/event/5a792b...

Today as part of our conference sponsor appreciation series, we’re highlighting Young Bear Environmental Consulting, an environmentally conscious firm dedicated to protecting Florida’s natural resources.

Learn more about their impactful work at ybeconsulting.com. 🌿💧

Campaign contributor skips line, gets big payday from Florida governor and Cabinet • Florida Phoenix When you were in elementary school, did you ever have to deal with some rude student who tried skipping to the front of the line? Something like that just happened with Florida’s popular land preserva...

Read the article by @craigtimes.bsky.social in the @floridaphoenix.com: floridaphoenix.com/2025/10/02/c...

We issued an action alert the day prior to the Cabinet meeting (9/29) hoping that the members would listen to reason and not waste limited conservation funding on this property with questionable valuation and limited conservation value. Unfortunately we were not heard.

Our President Eugene Kelly, wrote a letter to the Governor and CFO asserting “the lands in question have virtually NO actual conservation value,” in contrast to the many thousands of acres in existing Florida Forever projects and within the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Last Tuesday (9/30) the Florida Governor and Cabinet voted to spend $83m of money earmarked for protecting land for conservation to buy four acres in Destin completely outside of any existing conservation land purchasing project area.

Tell Governor DeSantis & CFO Blaise Ingoglia to vote NO tomorrow on the purchase of the Pointe Mezzanine property!

Governor DeSantis (850)717-9337 GovernorRon.Desantis@eog.myflorida.com
CFO Blaise Ingoglia (850)413-3100 Blaise.Ingoglia@myfloridacfo.com

More info: buff.ly/ITgSyUR

We are a proud member of the Reunite the Rivers Coalition. After >50 years, it’s time to breach the obsolete dam & allow the Ocklawaha River to be free-flowing & connected to Silver Springs & the St. Johns again. Pledge to support Ocklawaha restoration. IT'S ABOUT DAM TIME! buff.ly/gmQyXdc

Don't miss this week's Lunch and Learn with Susan Carr, land conservationist extraordinaire! Susan will be presenting on the recent history of conservation land in Florida, focusing on local, state, federal, and private funding mechanisms.

Register here: buff.ly/hPL9aWG

Shoutout to our Pawpaw Chapter, serving Volusia & Flagler for 35 years! From monthly programs & field trips to public gardens & their annual Native Plant Sale & Expo, they’re making a huge impact—and helped make our 2025 FNPS Conference a success.

There's still time! Submit your photos by midnight at fnps.org/photocontest.

📸: Valerie Anderson

Whether you’re photographing plants or the plant people who love them, make sure to get outside this weekend - the FNPS Photo Contest ends on Monday!

Find more details and apply at www.fnps.org/photocontest.

Only one more week to enter the FNPS Photo Contest! Showcase your creativity and love for Florida’s native plants by submitting your best shots.

Visit buff.ly/6xVLtUo for more information and to enter!

📸: Lilly Anderson-Messec

#FNPSPhotoContest #FloridaNativePlants