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May 9, 2021
NEWS FROM OUR CHAPTER PRESIDENT
After long, forced pause due to Covid, Sea Rocket chapter's activities are slowly, safely and enthusiastically starting to resume. We had an excellent turnout and great energy at the most recent plant sale and field trips. Please see our newsletter.
MEETINGS
Sea Rocket's monthly meetings are held at The Enchanted Forest Sanctuary,
444 Columbia Blvd, Titusville, FL 32780. Phone: 321-264-5185
Sea Rocket monthly meetings are held on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7:00pm (not the last Wednesday). Please email Lois Harris at lois6459@att.net for meeting information:.
All Sea Rocket meetings and activities are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
Sea Rocket Chapter serves north and central Brevard County from Scottsmoor to Rockledge and east to Merritt Island, Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach.
REMINDER! The Sea Rocket Chapter does not meet in June, July and August; full programs resume in September.
MISSION
The purpose of the Florida Native Plant Society ~ Sea Rocket Chapter is to promote the preservation, conservation, and restoration of the native plants and native plant communities of Florida, primarily through education and community outreach.
Monthly guest speakers provide programs on a variety of topics relevant to the mission of the Sea Rocket Chapter. Please view the current Sea Rocket newsletter for program information.
Monthly field trips to conservation lands in central Florida are FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. View upcoming field trip information in the current Sea Rocket newsletter.
Sea Rocket Chapter volunteers maintain a native plant nursery and sell plants to the public at events throughout the year; for information on volunteer work email Lois Harris at lois6459@att.net.
May 9, 2021
DID YOU KNOW?
Titusville: Landscape Mitigation
The City of Titusville City Council approved the transfer of $25,000 from the Landscape Mitigation Fund for tree and mangrove plantings at Sand Point Park to help remediate for the December sewage spill. These funds accrue when developers chose to pay to cut down trees rather than replace them. Parks and Recreation has approved the planting of 10 eastern red cedars and 18 sabal palms at the east pond. The City will accept bids for the planting of trees and watering for three months. After that, mainte- nance will be by Parks and Recreation.
Tex Loadhultz of Parks and Rec. has been communicating about mangrove plantings with Caity Savoia of Marine Resource Council (MRC). The plan is for 22 red mangrove plants to be planted at approved locations among the rocks of the Lagoon shoreline. KBB volunteers will do the actual planting. Titusville Tree Farm supplies mangrove plants to MRC. The City has also agreed to in- stall floating vegetative mats in both Sand Point Park. TEC met about the Tree Protection ordi- nance. Planning and Zoning will review the ordinance on May 5 and Council on July 27
Recent improvements to our nursery
Date Line 11-11-16
Whew! The prototype water table has been completed. The table stands about 4 ft. high. It is 4 ft wide by 8 ft long, and 1 inch deep. The 1 inch is the allowed water level that will keep the plants moist. Why water from the bottom? The ground water we use at the nursery is full of iron. When we water the plants the iron deposits coat the leaves, cutting out the sun, thus killing the plants. By watering from the bottom the leaves will not get coated with iron oxide, and the plants will hopefully thrive. This table is a prototype to test the feasibility of following on with this method. The table is level within reason, the plastic is solid, and the plants are drinking, as required.
Today, 11-10-16, I saw "Nursery Nan" back in her burrow. I call her "Nan" because I've been told she is a girl tort. She was gone for a couple months but thankfully has returned.
11/16 A recent addition to our Nursery is the "Water table". The reason for this table is because of the ground water quality we use to water our plants. Originally our water quality was poor at 3600 ppm salt. Many of our plants could not tolerate this level of salinity. The Board decided to sink another well, about 60 feet for salt free water. We did, and we got salt free water, BUT it was loaded with iron. O.K, I thought, not a problem. Not so, heavy iron content as we have is a problem. It coats the leaves of our plants with iron stain and cuts off the sun from their photosynthesis factories. No photosynthesis, no life. We were losing our plants to an artificial night. The object with this table is to have the plants sitting in water, maybe one inch layer of it. No water will coat the leaves. But will water from beneath
4/16 The temperatures can get pretty high in the greenhouse, which is not good for the young and tender sprouts and rehabilitating plants the greenhouse is expected to house. We had shade cloth for over a year, but it too succumbed to the brutal Florida sun. Nothing we did seemed to tame the brutal heat built up in this structure. Sea Rocket abandoned use of the greenhouse idea. Eventually the County sold it and put in a storage building.
The Sea Rocket Chapter display and native plant sales at Earth Day Family Fun Festivals in Titusville's Enchanted Forest Nature Sanctuary.
Click on the picture to see enlargements.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
& THINGS TO DO
LIGHTNING STRIKE HIKE
Sea Rocket Chapter FL Native Plant Society
Location: Cocoa Conservation Area. 1636 Cocoa Bay Blvd., Cocoa, FL
Date/Time: Saturday. June 19th. 8:50AM to 12PM. Meet at the picnic shelter.
CLICK FOR FLYER
The next plant sale is scheduled for September.
You'll find details of our numerous activities in the Newsletter: "Walk and Talk," natural area hikes, demonstration garden development, kids activities, PICNIC!
GARDEN VOLUNTEERS
Lois will be working in the gardens at the Enchanted Forest on the 2nd Saturday of each month from 9:00AM to 1:00PM. Staff also has sanctuary workdays on the 3rd Saturday. Everyone is invited to join in when they can. Participants should bring water, wear closed-toe shoes and bring their own tools, including gloves and bug spray.
| Please send calendar items to Jill Whitson at searocketfnps@gmail.com |
| For a comprehensive view of Sea Rocket activities go to www.FNPS.org; events, "searocket." |
Why Native Landscapes are Important
By the authors of
A Step-by-Step Guide to a Florida Native Yard
Ginny Stibolt & Marjorie Shropshire
Volunteers are needed all the time to keep the nursery and gardens in top shape. If you think you'd like to be involved, but are new to native plants, no problem! I volunteered with zero knowledge of native plants and have been taught by the best about native plants and how to grow them. If you are interested there are opportunities to learn and be a part helping Florida regain many of it's vanishing plants.
Volunteer opportunities exist for plant sales, or working the nursery, or helping to maintain the various butterfly gardens around the building.. Volunteering is a great chance to learn from the best, and meet and work with master gardeners, and experts in botany, and native plants, .
Current Program! Ongoing
As explained in the attached PDF, Dr. Teresa Cooper is asking for some help with supplies. She will be speaking at the Sea Rocket June meeting (6-24) about this project. If you can help in any way contact Martha at tigerlily1953@aol.com or myself at brevcracker@gmail.com and we'll get it to Dr. Cooper. - David Humphrey
Dr. Teresa Cooper is currently conducting research in the Enchanted Forest for the species Tillandsia utriculata.
Webmaster: Tillandsia utriculata, commonly known as the spreading airplant, is a species of bromeliad that is native to Florida and Georgia in the United States.
Our gardens in the Enchanted Forest
Nature Sanctuary.
Sea Rocket Chapter Completes Keep Brevard Beautiful Xeriscape Garden
The Sea Rocket Chapter has completed an 800 square foot pollinator garden at Chain-of-Lakes Recreation Area in north Titusville. Keep Brevard Beautiful awarded the Sea Rocket Chapter a Xeriscape Grant earlier this year to help offset some of the costs associated with the garden.
Sea Rocket's contribution to the project exceeded $1,800 in value and included over 140 hours of donated labor and nearly $500 in plant material. Volunteers planted 150 native plants representing 20 species, many of which are butterfly larval host plants.
The two halves of the garden are split by a hardened trail, making it easy for visitors to view the many native pollinator species which visit the plants, including several species of butterflies, moths, and dragonflies.
Chain-of-Lakes Recreation Area is located at 1614 Snowy Egret Drive. Contact Brevard County Parks & Recreation at 321-264-5105 for more information. |
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Click for Gallery of Enlargements
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Eileen Szuchy's "A Sampling of Native Edible Plants of the Central Florida Region"
Dr. Paul Schmalzer's "Scrub Habitat"
Dr. Paul Schmalzer's "Woodland Habitat"
The Florida Native Plant Society
UFL Florida Landscaping for Wildlife
Sea Rocket
BOARD of DIRECTORS
President - Linda Sackman
Vice President - Kristina Jackson
Treasurer - Patti Larson
Secretary - Laura Covel
Chapter Representative - Elizabeth Bishop
COMMITTEES
Membership - Barbara Gwiazda
Education/Outreach - Amy Conti
Nursery - Lois Harris
Hike Leader - Paul Schmalzer, PhD
Newsletter - Jill Whitson
Digital Archivist - David Humphrey
Social Media - Kate Chiodini
Hospitality - Armand De Filippo
Website originated: 2001
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