Calusa Garden Club Gets Best Practices from Cesar Peralta

Calusa Garden Club of Marco Island meets from October through April, and its meetings include educational speakers from our area on educational topics that fit the Garden Club goals of advancing horticulture, protecting our environment, and learning floral design. On Monday, October 11, Garden Club members were enriched by a presentation from Cesar Peralta, the Green Industries (G.I.) Best Management Practices Regional Coordinator of the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Peralta told garden club members how a consortium of providers in the landscaping, nursery, and other “Green Industries” had joined with University of Florida and with government entities to devise a curriculum for best management practices for the green industries that would aid in protection of our water resources. The Green Industries are the companies who employ people working every day to mow, prune, plant, weed, fertilize, and take care of pest problems in our Florida landscapes.

Peralta is an educator who teaches landscape company employees in best practices for protection of Florida’s water resources. In addition to talking with club members about the classes he presents to landscape company employees, he also discussed the resources available to Florida residents on the UF/IFAS website. Calusa Garden Club members were very familiar with the UF/IFAS website, and many of the members use it almost daily as a resource for their gardening activities. The basic link to the UF/IFAS website is ffl.ifas.ufl.edu/apps. The pages that Peralta highlighted that are of interest and use to our Marco Island homeowners and gardeners are Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Plant Guide, Florida Fertilizer Ordinances, Toxic Plants, and Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ Butterfly Gardens.

Calusa Garden Club members also held their first business meeting of the 2021-2022 Club year and welcomed several visitors to the meeting. They enthusiastically discussed the Club’s plans for activities during the coming year, including the upcoming November 23 Plant and Thanksgiving Arrangement Sale at Marco Lutheran Church parking lot. Two additional fun and educational activities planned for the year are a February 1 field trip to Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, which will be a trip open to the community. Finally, the members discussed their planned spring Marco Island Home Garden Tour that will showcase several members’ beautiful landscapes and gardens.

Calusa Garden Club of Marco Island is a member of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs. Membership is open to persons interested in horticulture, floral design and environmental matters residing five months or more in Collier County. If you are interested in membership, please contact the Garden Club at calusagardenclub@yahoo.com. For updates and information, please visit the Garden Club’s website, calusa.org, or visit the Club’s Facebook page Calusa Garden Club.