SAFETY HARBOR GARDEN CLUB
Education Beautification Gardening Fun!
Plant "Sale"
Folly Farm Nursery Plant Sale every second Saturday - 9:00AM - NOON 1562 MLK Dr, (old 4th St North) Safety Harbor Florida, 34695
Every second Saturday the Safety Harbor Garden Club opens up their Nursery!
A great selection of native plants is always available, and a donation is recommended. Need help making a selection?
Gardeners can also take advantage of a fully staffed Master Gardener help desk!
Plants from the nursery also find their way to other city parks and locations as part of the SHGC beautification programs!
Donations: Help the Garden Club Volunteers assist to maintain Mullet Creek Park and Folly Farm where we are based. Come and visit us and see! Thank You for your generosity!
Click below for more choices
SHGC GARDEN AWARD
Have you seen a beautiful front yard garden in Safety Harbor?
If so, contact the Garden Club.
We select a location several times a year to honor the efforts of the gardener and present a yard sign congratulating them on their garden!
Submit your nomination to : SafetyHarborGardenClub@gmail.com
Like us on Facebook!
Memorial Day Pot-Luck Picnic!
A Monday Holiday tradition! On Monday Holidays we like to play in the gardens and then picnic for lunch!
Bluebirds at Folly Farm 5/25/2023
Nancy McClelland checks on the latest nest activity in the 5 SHGC bluebird boxes.
Nancy is very careful... Bluebirds are thriving!
The Safety Harbor Garden Club
Folly Farm Enhancement Project - "Gnomeo".
The Gnomeo Project is nearing completion!
One of the Safety Harbor Garden Club Folly Farm enhancement projects for 2023 was to tell the story of Gnomeo.
Gnomeo was a Gnewlywed Gnome, a Gnome specializing in the good luck and fortune of newlyweds. He was transported to Folly Farm when he and Fairiette (His Fairy girlfriend), hitched a ride to Florida with the then newlywed George and Lucille Weiss (They donated the land that Folly sits on). Link to more info on their trip below in the Gnomeo Project section.
Andrea Norwood, Shannon Schaffer, Kumpa Tawornprom, Chris Dotson, Sean Carbury and SHGC President Gary Sawtelle got together and made the magic Gnome installation happen - with plenty of help from our great City Leisure Services team of Building Maintenance and Parks and Rec!
One of the fascinating experiences of seeing the almost complete installation is the optical illusion that suggests the head moves! If you look at it long enough - the head seems to move!
Check out the photos and videos below for some recent developments:
Gnomeo Head Installation 5/24/2023
Gnomeo head install -
UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS
Monthly Meetings at Moccasin Lake Nature Park
May 17
Theresa Badurek
Cutting Edge Pruning.
June 21
James Stevenson
All About Mushrooms.
July and August. no meetings
September 20
Melissa West of Florida Friendly Gardening on Composting.
PLANT SALE MAY 13
Donations topped $700!
Thanks to all our volunteers for making it a great day!
May Meeting news:
Theresa Badurek will be the speaking at our Safety Harbor Garden Club Meeting on Wednesday, May 17- Moccasin Lake. She will be presenting the extremely important topic of Pruning. Her presentation will focus on plants, shrubs and small ornamental trees. Theresa is a certified arborist and is excited to teach us these very necessary skills.
She is an experienced Extension Agent with a demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Skilled in Botany, Horticulture, Sustainable Design, Landscape Architecture, Garden Design, and Urban Design. Graduate of University of Florida.
200+ TREES PLANTED AT FOLLY FARM NATURE PRESERVE!
John and Harriet Fuller at the center of it all!
A line of Sweet Gums in the foreground with John and Harriet in a stand of Bald Cypress saplings.
This past Monday, Will Moriaty's tree planting organization, the Tampa Bay Reforestation and Environmental Effort, Inc. (Tree, Inc. – Reforesting Tampa Bay with native trees (treeinc.org) planted native trees in the Folly Farm Preserve's wetland
area.
Trees Inc., Keep Pinellas Beautiful, Safety Harbor Garden Club and other volunteers joined together to help plant over 200 native trees on Monday, May 1st!
Spearheaded by John Fuller, and overseen by Will Moriaty the project focused on removing invasive plants and replacing them with native trees including approximately 150 Bald Cypress trees!
Safety Harbor Garden Club
Annual Summer Picnic
Wednesday, April 19
Hi everyone!
Our annual SHGC Summer picnic is scheduled for Wednesday, April 19 at the Folly Farm Nature Preserve Barn!
The picnic starts at 11:30 but come early for the scavenger hunt that winds its way through our Folly Butterfly Gardens!
Registration tables will be open at 10:00AM to allow plenty of time for the scavenger hunt/Garden stroll.
The hunt will be fun and informative and there are prizes!
The highlight of our Summer Picnic is the auction!
Garden art, amazing plants, tools, garden jewelry, books, and all sorts of cool stuff!
We ask everyone to please bring an item.
Each item will have a paper bag where you will place your raffle tickets.
Everyone gets a raffle ticket at registration. You may purchase additional.
Picnic Volunteers needed:
Registration
Barn set up
Auction
Food set up
Clean up
Wherever you need me!
Your 2023 dues must be paid to attend (you can pay at picnic registration)
Guests of dues paid members are welcome - $5
Please RSVP your intention to attend the picnic by clicking on this link and mention your volunteer preference.
Hope you can make it!
The SHGC Summer Picnic Committe
SHGC NEWSBREAK
Enchanted Garden Fest
Folly Farm Nature preserve was a-buzz with activity on Sunday March 26
as visitors poured in to experience our enchanted gardens!
Over 25 Garden Club members were on hand to help out!
We had one of our best plant sales ever ($1,800+)!
Our Peanuts "Lucy" psychiatrist help desk was a big hit.
We even had a witch in the Safety Harbor Dancing Witches Troupe - Jennifer Rothe!
And, of course, the big guy himself "Gnomeo" was taking a rest back by the wind phone.
Gnomeo is this year's SHGC enhancement to Folly.
Sponsored by the Safety Harbor Garden Club and designed and built by an amazing team of artists and craftsmen.
Some of us got dressed up a little and everyone was feeling the enchantment!
Post your Fest photos on our Facebook page!
SHGC NEWSBREAK
NO MARCH MEETING!
As it is we still have openings in the President and Vice-President positions.
The SHGC Board met on Wednesday, March 1
and a decision was made to extend Gary Sawtelle's term of President until July 1.
The search for a new president and vice-president continues...
Cheryl Warth will continue with the duties of Vice-President until she moves.
The rest of the team is staying on.
Thank you to Karen Isak for her commitment and excellence to the Secretary position,
she has stepped down and is pursuing other interests!
SAVE THESE DATES !
SUNDAY MARCH 26
All hands on deck for this big event!
ENCHANTED GARDEN FEST
10am -2:00pm
Folly will be enchanted with fairies, gnomes, and all things garden. Shop from local plant vendors and explore the gardens as you search for fairy doors and landings. Enchanted performances and costume contest for those that choose to dress for the occasion.
The Garden Club will be featuring our:
Gnomeo Project - Plant Sale - Pollinator Pathways Kickoff
Volunteers please arrive between 8:00am - 9:00am
9:00am meeting for assignments
We have a supply of elf ear and gnome hats while they last!
Folly Farm News
GNOMEO PROJECT
COMING SOON TO FOLLY FARM!
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE!
WANT TO LEARN ABOUT FLORIDA NATIVE PLANTS?
CONTACT US AND TAKE A TOUR OF FOLLY FARM!
Music for Gardeners
Forest Runner
APRIL EDITION OF THE DIRT FEATURES OUR VERY OWN MASTER GARDENERS IN ARTICLE TITLED:
GARDENERS INVENT FANTASTIC RAIN GUTTER WATERING SYSTEM….pg 5
MASTER GARDENER VOLUNTEERS
Hats off to these volunteers who do a fantastic job keeping Folly Farm green and bustling with colorful flowers as well as in Mullet Park and other areas in Safety Harbor. All have earned the title of "Master Gardener."
Have a question about a particular plant or garden-related issue? Come to our monthly meetings and ask any one of our Master Gardeners for assistance.
MASTER GARDENERS AT SHGC/FOLLY FARM
Gary Sawtelle Leslie Zambito Barbara Nelson
Sandy Huff Elsa Soto Carol Zieres
Angela Strain Teresa Cline Janice Corbet
Avis Traester Coleen O’Leary Cheryl Warth
Joni Masse
ARBORISTS AT SHGC/Folly Farm
Congratulations to two of our Garden Club members for passing their Arborist Certification Tests.
John Fuller and Robert Moser are now Certified Arborists!
MASTERS OF FOLLY
Masters of Folly Certification: In order to become a certified Master of Folly, participants must pass a test that includes Plant ID (10-15 plants actually located at Folly), Butterfly and host plant ID (10 butterflies located at Folly and their host plants), and History of Folly Farm.
YOU CAN HELP SUPPORT THE MASTER GARDENER PROGRAM BY DONATING TO THE BARBARA STRICKLAND ENDOWMENT FUND
Barbara Strickland passed away in 2019 and left a donation which was impactful enough to fund an endowment. The endowment will be used for the UF/IFAS, Pinellas County Master Gardener Program, including travel support for training, conferences, projects, etc. If you would like to increase the impact of her donation please visit: https://www.uff.ufl.edu/giving-opportunities/026203-barbara-strickland-pinellas-county-master-gardener-volunteer-endowment/.
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HAVE YOU SEEN THESE? TREAT WITH CARE!
Folly Farm 1562 MLK Dr, (old 4th st North)
Safety Harbor Florida, 34695
SafetyHarborGardenClub@gmail.com
Mailing address: 690 Main Street #209, Safety Harbor Florida
Phone 727-281- 6856
Updated by:
Gary Sawtelle
Nancy McClelland