A Message From Th e Foundation ChairBy DIANNE WHEATLEY-GILIOTTI

As we anticipate the cooler weather of a Florida winter, the Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation Board knows that you will want to visit the gardens fre-quently to enjoy the ever changing blooms. Th e garden brings forth a change in hues, scents and visual experiences to delight the visitor daily in every season.Th e Foundation board appreciates your membership support of your gardens and to the Botanical Bounty gift shop, managed expertly by Stacey Ziti and her cadre of volunteers.We hope that you are fi nding these newsletters, edited so creatively by Ruth Davies, a source of timely information about the gardens and about events and activities, to add to your experience here. We want to hear from you and

hope that you will complete the enclosed survey and return it to us.Th e Foundation Board is dedicated to growing these gardens in partnership with Pinellas County and the University of Florida-IFAS and the Master Gardeners. We thank Commissioner Susan Latvala for her support in 2006 and look forward to working with Commissioner Stewart again in 2007.

Pink And SweetDombeya wallichii, a.k.a. pink ball or ornament tree, bloomed right on sched-ule for the holidays on the tropical walk in Th e Florida Botanical Gardens.Dombeya, named after its discoverer Joseph Dombey, a French botanist, is a warm climate tree..Fortunately for us, Dombeya is not fussy – it does not care about fertile soil and can grow in part shade or sun. If there is a prolonged drought, it needs to be watered deeply, but only occasionally.Th e fl owers off er pure pleasure – they consist of many in a ball form that hangs down. Th e next surprise is its fragrance, delicately sweet. Some describe it as the Florida hydrangea. Th e fl owers can be picked and put in a vase with water but only last a short time in the house. Th e tree blooms for about a month and each fl ower ball will drop to the ground.

Bulletin of Th e Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation, Inc.12520 Ulmerton Rd.Largo, FL 33774

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Rose Garden dedicated to Judy YatesA special garden was dedicated to a special per-son on Oct. 28, 2006. Th e Rose Garden is high-lighted with a beautiful bronze plaque in dedica-tion to Judy Yates. Many of her friends came to the garden to spend an evening with the lady who held the vision of a botanical garden in Pinellas County.Th e years of hard work, sweat and tears have

manifested themselves in a unique and cherished garden. Many of Judy’s friends shared their memories of helping to grow the gardens to the much visited and appreciated destination it is today.

Kool n’ FancyIn October of 2006, we had a fun romp back to the ’50s with our Kool n’ Fancy and General Meeting. Volunteers and quite a few members dressed for success in bobby socks and bobby pins, T-shirts and blue jeans. It was “cool, man!”Th e Gardens were full of people from all over on Super Saturday. Th ere were bird watchers and plant enthusiasts coming to buy at the Master Gardeners Plant Sale. Many dropped by the Palm Plaza to have a look-see. Th e Down-

shifters were groovin’ out in the parking lot with antique Hot Rods, while many were dancing away on the plaza. Janie Howell received a prize for the best dressed teenager in black and white polka dots and red blouse (shoes and belt to match), while Doris Zander looked like she just stepped out “Vogue” in her gray and pink (with crinolines).We had “teeny boppers” serving root beer fl oats and bubble gum. Th ere were fabulous door priz-es, a new member won the 50-50, music and just a hip time for all.Starlights ExpressDecember 1st, the wedding garden was transformed for Starlights Ex-press. It was the top evening event we have ever had in the gardens. Th e lights were mesmerizing, the food was abundant and the entertainment couldn’t be matched anywhere. Besides jazz all evening, Dr. Barry Hai-cken and a friend, roller bladed around the wedding garden fully lit with

LED lighting. Th ey skated to the sounds of diesel and choo-choo trains. Th ey could have been in the Broadway show.

Cracker Barrel donates rocking chairsDebra Mikels, retail manager of the Cracker Barrel Store on Ulmerton Road delivers rocking chairs to Ann Shimp, Seasonal Sensations chair. Th e donated chairs provide a respite for strollers in the gardens.

VisitTh e Florida

Botanical Gardens and let nature

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Volume 9 Spring 2007 Editor: Ruth Davies

Bulletin of Th e Florida Botantical Garden Foundation

In the right place at the right timeBy BRUCE MCMANUSHave you ever been in the right place at the right time? When this happens to us, something good almost always happens. In fund raising for charities, there are certain factors that increase the likeli-hood that this will happen. Any one of us may be the catalyst that causes a major charitable gift to occur.Th e fi rst factor is to realize that most people enjoy being charitable. When you add the further fact that most people would like to feel that their life has made a diff erence, all that may be required is for someone to off er the prospective donor the opportunity to make the commitment or take the action necessary to make the diff erence. Many times this will mean a fi nancial commitment. Sometimes it means assuming a leadership position in order to cause things to happen.What we need to recognize as unpaid volunteers is that we do not need to have a lot of money or be well connected to cause good things to happen. What we do need is to have contagious enthusiasm for the projects we are involved in, be well informed as to the fi nancial and organizational needs to cause the desired event or action to occur and then be willing to ask the people we come in contact with whether they would like to help.Let’s give it a try - good things will happen.

Membership in the FBG has benefi tsBy Mary Ellen WarnerOne of the benefi ts of FBG membership is reciprocity with other botanical gardens in the U.S. and Canada.I visited Norfolk Botanical Gardens (Va.), which is so big, you travel on trolleys. Th ey move on to another garden every 15 minutes. Some of the attractions are: a garden full of azaleas and rhododen-drons, a wetland garden with a large marsh, a rose garden bigger than our entire garden, places where scaff olding and tree houses were built for children to climb. Adults climbed too. A trip to the top revealed magnifi cent views.Th ere was a hedge of twisted, intertwined crape myrtle. Lots of wild life, humongous butterfl y gar-den, many ponds. Th ree hours of traveling by trolley garden to garden and didn’t see it all.Plants were identifi ed, making it easier to learn of another zone’s greenery. Fragrance was provided by gardenias, tea olives and jasmine. Th ere were more evergreens than we could ever have here.Use your reciprocal membership to visit botanical gardens when you travel.For membership, call me at 367-2580 or stop in at the gift shop.

Th e FBG Foundation Board meetingsTh e FBG Foundation Board meets on the second Wednesday of each month at Extension. Your ques-tions and commments are welcome. Contact one of the board members listed below.

Dianne Wheatley-GiliottiRuth DaviesMonique NoujaimNatalie Oliver

Andy BergeronLoraine FaustBarbara GossVivian Haicken

Barbara JonesBruce McManusMickey SalmonMary Ellen Warner

Master Gardeners further their educationBy PAT DIETRICHApopka was the destination for a bus full of master gardeners and staff members in December.Once a major citrus-growing region, climate changes and hard freezes in the 1950s forced growers to take a long look at the success rate of their operations. Since they already had agri-business basics such as labor, transportation and chemical supply established, many began to supplement their citrus operations with growing foliage plants. Today, Apopka proudly declares itself the “Indoor Plant Capi-tal of the World.”Agri-Starts, Inc. toured master gardeners through its tissue culture operation. When shoots develop, they are removed and repotted. It takes about a year to produce a fl at of cloned plants, and then they are shipped elsewhere to be raised further.Florida Cactus, Inc. opened in 1959, receives cactus and succulent starts from Canada, and raises them until they are large enough to be sold to retail stores and fl orists. Most of the species they raise are native to the U.S. and are ideal to grow in Florida in well-drained soil.Th e University of Florida IFAS Research Center is a fi ve-year-old facility where horticulture, agricul-ture, and pharmaceutical courses are taught. Dr. Beeson explained his fascinating research concern-ing watering plants.Th e MG’s next stop was the Deroose greenhouse. Th is four-year-old facility boasts state-of-the-art equipment and techniques in its 10-acre greenhouse operation. Th ey receive microcuttings from their parent-company tissue lab in Belgium, mostly bromeliads. Th e company employs 85 people year round to raise variegated fi cus and aquatic plants besides bromeliads.Th e fi nal stop on the Master Gardener odyssey was Location 8 of the Hermann Englemann company, which boast nine locations in the Apopka area. After Hurricane Jeanne, it was totally rebuilt. Engle-mann is the supplier of the “Angel” plants that we know from our favorite box stores, and their goal is tight, compact plants.Patsy Schamber and Chuck Scaffi di put together this intensivve trip.

Master Gardener Plant SaleEarly morning garden strollers often have the opportunity to see Master Gardeners planting and pruning in the botanical gardens. MGs are trained by University of Florida-IFAS Extension horticul-turists and work under the mentorship of one of the horticulturists. Proceeds from plant sales are used for further education, to support university programs, horticul-tural programs and benefi t Th e Florida Botanical Gardens.Th e next Master Gardener Plant Sale will be on Saturday, March 31, at Extension.Prepare your planting beds for the spring and summer plants that you can purchase at the sale. FBG members with their membership card can shop an hour early, at 8 a.m. Nonmembers can shop from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bring a wagon to load with new special varieties! Call Michael Pettay at 582-2599.

Botanical Bounty Gift ShopBotanical Bounty gift shop is brimming with items to delight the heart of any gardener. Colorful sarongs that can be used as a wrap, a scarf or even a blouse are nature inspired. Books on roses, reptiles and recipes invite browsers. Check out our gardening tees and of course, our best selling gardener’s gloves. Our volunteers will gladly gift wrap your pur-chases – all of which support our wonderful Florida Botanical Gardens.

Plant documentationBy KEN FORDTh e Florida Botanical Gardens is a living museum housing collections of plants that supports its mission of public education and environmental sustainability. Unlike the collections of art or natural history museums, those of a botanical garden are constantly in fl ux, requiring day-to-day maintenance to ensure survival. Be-yond that, the infrastructure and objectives of a garden are identical to those of any other museum.As with all such facilities, the credibility of their collections is based on proper identifi cation and record-keeping – the who, when, where, why, and what of its acquisitions. Without this pertinent data, a botanical garden is no more than an attractively landscaped park. With this type of data, a garden is not only able to record the development of its collections, but also may share that development with other gardens in joint educational endeavors. Six months ago I began entering the gardens’ plant inventory data into BG-Base, a highly sophisticated and comprehensive collections database used by many of the major botanical gardens in the United States and elsewhere. With appropriate data entry, BG-Base has enormous capa-bilities. It can elicit what plants are in particular collections in specifi c areas and when they were installed, from where they were obtained, what their cultural requirements are, to where they are native, and a myriad of other specifi c data fi elds. All of this information is im-portant for the historical record of FBG as a living museum, and for interaction and exchange of data with other botanical gardens. To facilitate this inventory, the Florida Botanical Gardens has been divided into 35 location areas in BG-Base, each designating specifi c collections (e.g., Palm Garden), or encompassing particular areas (e.g., Tropical Courtyard). To date, about 75% of these areas have been inventoried and basic data regarding the plant taxa within each has been entered into BG-Base. When the location inventories are updat-ed, more detailed information regarding each taxon will be researched and included. BG-Base has one further, rather exciting extension. Once the inven-tory has been updated, it is possible to link this data with a computer application called BG-Map, which will pinpoint the physical location of every plant in each collection, thereby providing a detailed map of the gardens and its holdings. With this capability, visitors to the gardens can be shown exactly where a plant they may be seeking is located.BG-Base is a project that never will be truly “completed” due to the very nature of living collections and their continuous development. However, the Florida Botanical Gardens will soon have an excel-lent basis for its ongoing plant record keeping and an ability to better educate visitors on both casual and scientifi c levels.

Th e quality of our DB-Base documentation is dependent on being sure that quality in-formation is put into it. We have been very fortunate to have Ken Ford,Extension horti-culturist, take on this task