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Wildflower Seed Program, Gainesville To Hawthorne State Trail
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During the year 2003 – 2005 Joan Pryor was the President of the FFGC
and her theme was: “Keep Growing”. Her wish was to have
wildflowers blooming on trailheads of the Florida State Trail. Reva
Pachefsky was District Director. She had chosen me, of the Four Seasons
Garden Club, to be the District V Horticulture Chairperson. At
the FFGC Convention, which was held in April 2004, Dara Dobson, FFGC
Wildflower Chairperson, encouraged me to pursue a possible wildflower
seed grant. I also met past FFGC President Carolyn Schaag,
chairperson for the FFGC Wildflower Council. She and I had a wonderful
conversation how nice it would be to see beautiful wildflowers on
trailheads of our Florida hiking trails. All garden club presidents
were encouraged to apply for a financial grant to purchase wildflower
seeds. The grant funds were generated from the sale of the
Coreopsis Car License Plates.
In August 2004, I met, for the first time, with JulieAnne Tabone,
Paynes Prairie State Park, Park Services Specialist. We met right here
at this Trail Head and in her truck we drove the length of the
Hawthorne Trail. She is such a cheerful person, we had a wonderful time
looking at the different areas. I took pictures and we
approximated the areas to be seeded with wildflowers. Then I got
in contact with Mr. Gary Henry who is the Wildflower Foundation
Director in Tallahassee. My husband Byron had helped me write a
Proposal for the Planting of Wildflowers, calculate the estimated area
where the seed would be planted, the amount of seed, and the
cost. In September 2004, Hurricane Frances resulted in
destruction around Gainesville and there was substantial damage on the
Hawthorne Trail. At that time I received the approval of a Grant
for the purchase of wildflower seeds: 10 pounds Coreopsis
leavenworthii and five pounds of Rudbekia hirta. We have been
working on acquiring the seed ever since. During the 2005 season
we were not able to plant the seed because the money had not come
through and it was too late to purchase the seed. This year, when
I sent in my purchase order to the Department of Agriculture, I found
out that the price of seed had gone up from $45 to $115 per
pound. Therefore, I had to re-apply the Proposal for a Grant.
This was quickly approved. Then I found out that there were not
enough of the Rudbekia hirta certified seed available. Recently,
we received the 10 pound Coreopsis, 3 pounds Rudbekia, and 6 pounds of
a somewhat different Rudbekia seed which was given free of charge
(because we had to wait so long). We received this gift from the
people at the Wildflower Seed and Plant Growers Association in
Tallahassee.
Suddenly, we are meeting here for this happy occasion to get the seed
into the ground. We could not have done this without the help of
the Paynes Prairie Staff who prepared, with herbicide and tilling, the
proposed planting areas, and most importantly, the steadfast
encouragement of JulieAnne Tabone.
A big Thank You to everyone! Thank you to all Four Seasons Garden Club members and everyone present here today.
Margarete R. Ruth Member Four Season Garden Club
Chairperson of Trails and Greenways, District 5, FFGC during 2003-2005 (2006)
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