Sweetbay Chapter of Florida Native Plant Society

The Sweetbay Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS) serves Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Walton, and Washington Counties.The mission of FNPS and the Sweetbay Chapter is to promote the preservation, conservation, and restoration of the native plants and native plant communities of Florida. We do this through:Native Plant Education-- Many people are "plant-blind;" to them plants are the green stuff. What we know little about tends to be valued less. The Sweetbay Chapter and FNPS work to teach people about the plants that we live with and why they, and the native plant communities around us, are important.Native Ecosystem Preservation and Management-- When we convert native plant ecosystems to subdivision and farms, we lose the native plant communities that they supported. The same thing happens when we withdraw management -- some systems become overgrown, losing wildflowers that need light which then get taken over by non-native invasive species. Did you know that most of the really bad weeds that you see are non-native?Sustainability, Bringing Nature Home-- Local actions can make a difference. When we change our landscaping to include native plants grown with techniques that minimize the need for added water and fertilizer, we can and do minimize our footprint on our environment.Supporting Pollinators and Butterflies-- Plants are enormously important to insects, a huge number of which rely directly on native plants. Did you know that the larvae of monarch butterflies depend exclusively on native milkweeds? Studies are showing that there is a close relationship between insect abundance and native plants. They co-evolved together. Recent studies show that we are losing our insects, both in terms of the number of species and in terms of their numbers locally. The Sweetbay Chapter's events, and additional programs provided by FNPS, are designed to educate our members and the public.Supporting Wildlife-- Wildlife depend on native plants and native plant habitats. Some wildlife are herbivores (deer), and some are insectivores (most birds feed their babies insects even in species where the adults eat grains, fruits, or animal prey). You can attract hummingbirds to a feeder, but they need: places to nest, rest and hide; insects to feed their young; and nectar that is more nutritional than sugar water from a feeder. Our chapter provides support to teach people how to keep wildlife in our natural areas and how to build habitats in urban ones.Enjoying Nature --We get out into the woods, into our parks, into our swamps, into other wild lands. We have field trips open to the public led by local botanists and ecologists.

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