and native plant sales in Hardee and DeSoto counties

Learn how to transform your property into a beautiful oasis for people and wildlife that will not only conserve precious water resources and reduce pollution but may also save you time and money. This page lists workshops held in Hardee and DeSoto counties, provides links to information provided during the workshops and also provides links to several other sources.

The workshops are free and no registration is required. Updates to these workshops are posted on this page of this website (www.CHNEP.org) as they are made available. Since 2005, the CHNEP has initiated workshops in Hardee and DeSoto counties because they currently do not have county staff dedicated to a program that addresses these issues. Information about similar programs held in other counties is available.

We anticipate the next workshop will be held either Saturday, January 22 or 29 in 2011.

As a thank you for participating, each person who attends (while supplies last) will receive a free native plant at the end of the workshop as well as many other informative and useful items. Native plants will also be available for purchase. Please encourage your friends and neighbors to attend.

Thanks to all who made prior workshops held in DeSoto and Hardee counties such great successes. Workshops held in 2010 were offered free because of the cooperation and generosity of many groups, including:

• Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program

• Peace River Basin Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District

• South Florida Community College

• Deluxe Trees and Shrubs

• Guest speakers and many others.

Earlier workshops were also offered because of support received from:

• Pine Lily Nursery

• DeSoto County Parks and Recreation

• Sun State Landscaping

• Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority

Did you attend the workshops on January 24, 2009?

We'd like your input! Please follow this link to a short online survey.

We welcome details of how you have incorporated any of the Florida-friendly landscaping techniques into your yard.

Please call 866/835-5785 ext 240.

This partnership has offered several workshops since 2005.

• January 23, 2010 in Arcadia (59 participants) and in Hardee (13 participants): promotional postcard

  • South Florida Community College, 2251 NE Turner Ave., Arcadia. Registration begins at 7:45 a.m. Program begins at 8 a.m. and ends at noon.

  • South Florida Community College, 2968 US 17 North, Bowling Green. Registration begins at 12:45 p.m. Program begins at 1 p.m. ends at 5 p.m.

• January 24, 2009 in Arcadia (30 participants) and in Hardee (20 participants): promotional postcard

• April 26, 2008 in Arcadia (50 participants)

• October 13, 2007 in Arcadia (60 participants), Florida Native Plant Image Contest

• September 8, 2007 in Bowling Green (29 participants)

• February 3, 2007 in Arcadia (90 participants), Florida Native Plant Writing Contest ~ Florida Native Plant Writing Contest Entries

• January 27, 2007 in Bowling Green (45 participants)

• February 13, 2006 in Bowling Green (50 participants)

• November 5, 2005 in Arcadia (100 participants)

• June 29, 2005 in Arcadia (46 participants)

• June 15, 2005 in Wauchula (20 participants)

• June 1, 2005 in Arcadia (46 participants)

Information provided during workshops

PowerPoint presentations used by speakers at workshops organized in Hardee and DeSoto counties are available by clicking on the name of each presenter. If you don't have PowerPoint software, you can download the free software PowerPoint Viewer. (Follow the link then search for "Powerpoint Viewer 2003.")

• Useful Websites for Homeowners prepared by UF/IFAS Polk County Extension Service

• Starting from Scratch? A General Plan for Your Florida Yard prepared by Florida Native Plants, Inc.

• Back Ten Feet for Hardee County, DeSoto County and Lee County

• Understanding the Drought and How You Can Help prepared by the Southwest Florida Water Management District, January 2009.

• Using Rain Barrels: what you do in your yard can make a difference prepared by Polk County Extension Office

• Landscape Philosophy and Native Plant Use by Bill Bissett, ASLA, landscape architect. He is one of the founders of The Natives in Davenport and a member of the Florida Native Plant Society and the Association of Florida Native Nurseries.

• Landscaping with Florida Native Plants by Tom Heitzman, owner of Sweetbay Nursery in Parrish: He has designed and implemented numerous award winning native plant landscapes and is a member of the Florida Native Plant Society and the Association of Florida Native Nurseries.

• Demonstration of an online interactive landscape design program (www.FloridaYards.org)

• Hardee: Sylvia Durell, Southwest Florida Water Management District

• Site analysis of larger parcels (acreage): Elizabeth Anne Gandy, Florida Park Service

• Pond management: Ernesto Lasso de la Vega, Lee County Hyacinth Control

• Control Yard Pests Responsibly by Rebecca McNair, Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program

• Pest management

  • Hardee: Angela Maraj, Southwest Florida Water Management District

  • DeSoto: Angela Sachson, UF Florida Yards and Neighborhoods, Okeechobee Region FYN Program

• The Ferns of Florida: A Reference and Field Guide

• Florida’s Best Native Landscape Plants

• Florida Butterfly Gardening

• Florida Landscape Plants: Native and Exotic

• Florida Wildflowers in Their Natural Communities

• The Guide to Florida Wildflowers

• A Gardener’s Guide to Florida’s Native Plants

• Landscaping for Florida’s Wildlife

• The Shrubs and Woody Vines of Florida

• Southern Gardening: An Environmentally Sensitive Approach

• The Trees of Florida: A Reference and Field Guide

• Wild Orchids of Florida

• Your Florida Guide to Butterfly Gardening