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May 2022 The Gardens Gate Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens

Earth Day Ladybug Launch Pg6

Volunteer Spotlight

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Out and About with The Gardens

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Upcoming Events

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2410 SE Westmoreland Blvd. Port St. Lucie, FL 34952 Phone: 772.337.1959 Fax: 772.237.5952 Email: info@pslbg.org Web: www.pslbg.org

Pavilion, Gift Shop & Garden Center Hours:

Wednesday - Saturday 10:00am - 4:00pm Sunday 12:00pm - 4:00pm FURRY FRIENDS ARE WELCOMED ACCOMPANIED BY RESPONSIBLE OWNERS. PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW YOUR PET TO RELIEVE THEMSELVES IN OUR GARDEN ROOMS. PET STATIONS ARE LOCATED AROUND THE GARDENS FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE. SKATES, BOARDS & BICYCLES ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THE WALKWAYS IN THE GARDENS

Suggested Donations: Adults $5 • Students $2 Free for FPSLBG Members and Active Military with family (IDs required)

Mission Statement... Friends’ mission is to create and maintain a beautiful, serene sanctuary in the center of Port St. Lucie that is environmentally sound and naturally diverse and to provide educational, cultural and recreational opportunities for all who visit.

Officers & Directors... President: Vice President: Secretary: Treasurer: Directors:

Jeff Chambers Heather Furnari Mary Petrone Brenda Gustafson Mark A. Barnes Valerie Davis-Bailey John Erickson Laura Mehr Judy Nash-Wade Arthur Pearlstein Cathy Russo

Standing Committee Chairs... Election Committee:

Stephanie Alessandrini-Giarraffa Cathy Russo Laura Mehr Brenda Gustafson

Finance Committee: Gift Shop Committee: Horticulture Committee: Membership & Volunteer Committee: Laura Mehr Resource Development Committee: Heather Furnari Strategic Planning Committee: Arthur Pearlstein

Newsletter... Editor & Design:

Mark A. Barnes

The Gardens is managed and operated by Friends of the Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens, Inc., a non-profit 501(c)(3) public charity organization, that was founded to help support the daily operations of The Gardens. Friends volunteers provide hands-on daily oversight of the facility, including staffing to handle the many visitors year round. Please consider becoming a member of Friends. Friends' is a 100% volunteer organization. In all cases, donations are deductible to the extent allowed by law.

CONTENTS Monthly Calendar Link

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Mother’s Day Plant & Gift Sale

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Earth Day Ladybug Launch

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Discovery Backpacks

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Volunteer Spotlight

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Wanted: Event Contractors

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Mulching Your Vegetable Garden

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Time For Some Laughs

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Out & About with The Gardens

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Pictures from our Guests

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Upcoming Events & More Yoga and more!!!

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President’s Message

Greetings one and all!

Thanks to everyone, especially Mary Petrone and Mary Pat Harper for making this years Ladybug Launch a great success. The kids were happy and the feed back from parents was all excellent. Our next event will be in June, Taste of the Tropics with the Rare Fruit Club. Please contact Heather Furnari at Events to Volunteer. Just a heads up, once the Port Project is started the Boardwalk will also be closed to keep people out of the construction zone. Progress takes time and patience. Once the project is complete, people will have another trail to walk in the nature area next to the Anchorage Condominiums. It will be a raised boardwalk and wind through the preserve. Several projects are in the works for the Gardens. Not in any order, installation of the security system and cameras, the security fence, pavers in the Secret Garden and Astro turf installed in the stadium seating by the lake. I have received feedback about the fence being installed. The biggest concern is that people who work during the day will not be able to enjoy the Gardens after 5. We realize this and would like to be more available, but we can only do what we have the volunteers to cover. As an observation, out of 497 Friends members, only 63 volunteer. For those that do, we THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. This would be a good time for more people to step up and volunteer. Thank You to everyone for your continued hard work. Jeff (aka the Captain)

Jeff Chambers, President

Friends of the Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens

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If you've ever wondered, kids are fascinated by ladybugs, and this weekend's Lady Bug Launch at the Port Saint Lucie Botanical Gardens confirmed it. Between 10AM and 12PM, more than 160 enthusiastic youngsters, accompanied by parents, grandparents, and older siblings, passed through the Pavilion doors to make their way to the release site of 4,000+ Lady Bugs. It wasn't a direct path, however. The route to the goal line was filled with fun activities to do, and each was about Lady Bugs. A video on these adorable insects was offered in the Pavilion. A right turn at the end of the promenade brought you to Yoga classes for children. The Secret Garden had both parents and children coloring pictures of ladybugs, while the Faerie Forrest held a Storytime. The fun didn’t stop there. A bingo game was on-going in

the Palm Walk and the Bamboo Garden offered two more games: a Fun Facts quiz followed by a puzzle. Lady Bug stickers were given to each child with every activity they participated in. Collect 4 of these stickers and access to the Butterfly Garden launch location was gained. Volunteers in this area guided each child in capturing ladybugs from insect habitats. Then they helped them release these helpful creatures into the garden to find food (aphids, plus), water, and a new home. Our thanks to all the volunteers assisting in this event that includes a group of ladies from the St Lucie West Garden Club. See You Next year! The Education Committee of the Port St Lucie Botanical Gardens

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Hours: Wednesday thru Saturday 10am - 4pm & Sunday 12pm - 4pm. Closed Mondays & Tuesdays 10

Are You Looking for Fun and Educational Children’s Activities? The Gardens is the Perfect learning environment!!! Our NEW Discovery Back Packs are available to the public inside the Pavilion, free of charge, for parents and kids to take an exciting adventure and learning experience through the Gardens. Adults may sign-out backpacks Wednesday thru Saturday 10am - 4pm and Sunday 12noon - 4pm, with a Valid State ID, for use within our Gardens. Scheduled Lessons are available to public and Private schools. Inquire at our front desk or email education@pslbg.org.

Thank You.

Our April ACE Award Volunteer of the Month was awarded to MARY PAT HARPER from our Education Department. Mary Petrone, the head of the education department nominated Mary Pat because she has been instrumental in forming the very successful education committee. Mary Pat received a Certificate of Recognition from the Board of Directors, a logo item from PSLBG, and a 50 % off coupon from the Gardens Gate Gift Shop. In January of 2021 Mary Pat came to the gardens, and after a conversation with our Vice President, Heather Furnari, she was encouraged to join the education department due to her background in education. She and Mary Petrone immediately knew that they were ‘in sync’ with their goals for children’s education. She has worked tirelessly to fulfill the goals of the education department, and along with Mary Petrone, has coordinated many other activities, such as the recent Ladybug Launch, a collaboration with Morningside Library, and story time in the Fearie Forrest during the Art Show. Mary Pat helped develop our backpack and scavenger hunt program for children, and created the 5 standardized lessons for children that are used weekly in the gardens. 12

Mary Pat’s career in Education as a teacher in upstate NY, and her further experience locally after her retirement as a volunteer in SLC schools, made her more than qualified to institute these programs at the gardens. Mary Petrone has said that Mary Pat, affectionately known as Sister Mary Pat for her organizational skills, her focus, her ability to constantly be moving forward, her ability as the Education Departments’ ‘Task Master’ and her ability to ‘get things done’ no matter the time pressure, makes her uniquely qualified to be April’s Volunteer of the Month.

THANK YOU MARY PAT !! from all of us at Friends ]

Mulching Your Vegetable Garden: What and When There are many reasons to mulch vegetable crops, but for me the biggest one is to prevent weeds. With 20 raised beds in my garden, I wouldn’t be able to keep up with weeding if I didn’t mulch. Mulching the soil is also water wise because it reduces the need to irrigate. Mulch can prevent certain pest issues and improve soil structure and fertility, depending on the type Plastic mulches are also often used to of mulch. increase soil temperature for heat-loving vegetables like melons, tomatoes and There are two types of mulches: organic peppers. There are a variety of colors materials like straw, which break down and available, each of which affect different enrich the soil, and inorganic products like crops in different ways. Plastic mulch isn’t plastic or fabric. These don’t decompose as aesthetically pleasing as natural and improve the soil, but they still can offer materials, but it can help extend the benefits to a food gardener. growing season in a cool climate. Straw is my go-to mulch for my raised vegetable beds. It’s inexpensive and effective and it can also help prevent certain pest issues, like squash vine borers, which lay their eggs on the stems of squash plants. Gathered in the autumn and used in the spring garden, shredded leaves or leaf compost is a weed-free choice for food gardeners. It breaks down quickly, adds organic matter to the soil and holds moisture. I recently visited a home garden where the gardener laid black fabric mulch around his heat-loving plants. It prevented weed growth and also warmed the soil, encouraging his tomatoes, peppers and artichokes to grow rampantly. Impressed with the harvest, I am trying fabric in a few of my beds this year. 14

Compost is an inexpensive and effective mulch in a vegetable garden. It helps hold moisture, and it adds organic matter as it breaks down. The best time to apply any mulch is right after a deep, soaking rain. Lay the mulch on top of the soil, around the plants. Organic mulches should be applied in a two- to three-inch-deep layer. You may need to top this off in midsummer as the materials begin to decompose. Niki Jabbour grows and harvests vegetables all year at her home in Nova Scotia. Find her online at savvygardening.com and in every issue of Horticulture. She is the award-winning author of The Year-round Vegetable Gardener and Groundbreaking Food Gardens, as well as Niki Jabbour's Veggie Garden Remix.

Weddings are Magical at The Gardens

Trees in bloom at The Gardens

It’s time to come visit our Gardens Gate Gift Shop for those one of a king gift items and special membership deals.

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