[Working with FANN & addressing locally sourced availability]

Thank you for your comments, Juliet (read her post). Availability of better and locally-sourced plants has been recognized as a major challenge by our work group. We are going to have several regional versions of every brochure and workshop curriculum, and within some brochures we will address plant availability and locally-sourced plants. A brochure dedicated to that topic might be a good approach. We do not expect to solve the availability issues BEFORE promoting native gardening, but it can be a means to push those needs to the forefront. We think FANN nurseries are going to want our gardening information for customers, so by suggesting species and working with FANN, we may develop some nursery partners who supply the species and sources we recommend.

This is a complex issue. We expect the writing and vetting process for these brochures and curriculum to be every bit as challenging as the policy Conservation is working on. Your thoughts will continue to be a great help to us as we struggle to make the best possible suggestions for gardeners through Florida Native Gardening 101. AND we are going to keep it simple! Doesn't sound possible, but hey, that's our goal.

[Re: Initiative: Promoting landscaping with native plants]

Yes, as you say "...by suggesting species and working with FANN, we may develop some nursery partners who supply the species and sources we recommend."  This would be win,win for everyone.

And yes, it is a complex issue - so many things we work on seem straight-forward at first and then complexity sets in!  I wish you the best of luck in keeping it simple!  Please share your secrets ;-)

[Brochure Progress & Next Steps]

Oh my, so much has happened. We have a printed prototype draft of the landscaping (formerly Gardening 101) brochure for the central region and the review period will be ended on February 28 (extension requested by Board Landscape Committee). We have received many good, but relatively minor suggestions from many people. The workgroup still wants to improve upon: 1) text content, 2) plant images, 3) plant bullet points, 4) landscape photographs. All of these are just replacing what is there with something better when we find or create it. None require any significant design changes.

One significant issue remains and was emphasized by the Board Conservation Committee. The choice of regions and plants for each region needs to be more reflective of plant communities and not solely driven by plant availability.

The second significant issue is that the Board Landscape Committee has a list of additional purposes, items, and format changes recommended for the brochure. If implemented, these recommendations would require an overhaul of the project, seemingly a start of scratch. One alternative, since most of the recommendations are valuable, is that these recommendations could be implemented in the landscape workshops that are in a very formative stage. We have already suggested implementation of resources developed by the Board Landscape Committee (or from these resources) into these workshops. We'll hold any further speculation until the end of brochure feedback window, before making any decisions or recommendations for next steps.

A Board report of progress is posted (attached) on the February Board meeting Forum post. Additional information is posted on the Council website (council.fnpschapters.org or a link on the footer of every FNPS.org page), under the "Initiatives" tab.