March 13, 2024

Our March monthly club meeting welcomed the Audobon Center of Birds of Prey from Maitland, Florida. Representative of the facility presented an hour long lecture about their work caring for birds of prey. We learned about their diet, the rehabilitation process, and how to identify the different life stages of a songbird. 

The Center takes in over 400 injured or abandoned birds each year and the goal is to release the birds back into the wild. Unfortunately, some birds cannot be healed enough to be returned to nature, so they are permanently housed at the facility.

The stars of the show were a Peregrine Falcon, an Eastern Screech Owl, and a great American Eagle. The powerful shrieks of each bird were jaw-dropping.

The center is run solely on donations and entry fees from visitors to their facility. Sounds like a Club field trip for next year! 

In addition to regular club members at this lecture, we invited members from Thriving in Place, Lifelong Learning and the Girl Scouts troop from the Artisan Park area.  

February 21, 2024

With the tropical sun over Celebration, we often are reminded of the importance of shade. We invited back horticulture specialist Hannah Wooten to educate us on shade gardens and shade plant selections. Her lecture was energizing and informational.  If you missed our meeting, here is a LINK to her lecture on shade gardens: 

January 17, 2024

For January’s monthly membership meeting, our guest speaker was the Celebration Agricultural Review Committee (ARC). ARC explained the process that homeowners are required to follow to successfully add, change, or remove items associated with their Celebration property. Our giving table was covered with lovely donations from fellow Garden Club members. We have our giving table set up every meeting. Please remember the deadline to apply for a Garden Club Scholarship is January 31, 2024.

November 15, 2023

The Club November 2023 meeting on November 15 was held at Heritage Hall where Mark Russell, agronomist and head horticulturalist at Disney Four Seasons Resort, discussed Florida Native plants being used at his resort. The native plants not only beautiful the area but being back butterflies, bees and birds that are also native to this area of Florida. 45 club member attended the lecture and learned about types of plants and where to buy them.  Mark uses Green Isle Nursery in Groveland for his supply of plants.

October 18, 2023

On Wednesday, October 18, 2023, Jessica Sullivan spoke to our Club about citrus trees. Jessica works as an agriculturalist and horticulturalist at the University of Florida, IFAS Extension, in Osceola County. The Club learned the importance of purchasing grafted citrus, how to fertilize and harvest citrus, and the difference between a Scion citrus tree and a Rootstock citrus tree. We also learned about citrus greening and how it this disease has decreased the production of citrus groves worldwide. 

September 20, 2023

Brian Causey, owner of Exquisite Lawn Care, was the speaker for our September meeting. Brian and his workers are the landscapers for many Celebration properties, and he is also a CROA contractor for parks and public use areas. He enlightened us stories about how he and his team help keep Celebration looking beautiful, and offered excellent advice as to how we can make our yards healthier.