July Meeting - Sean Patton - Creating Healthier Ecosystems, Starting in Our Own Backyards

July Meeting - Sean Patton - Creating Healthier Ecosystems, Starting in Our Own Backyards

Meeting Date/Time: Monday, July 14th, 2025 at 7pm.  

Location: Harlee Building/County Fairgrounds, 1303 17th St W, Palmetto, FL 34221

Our speaker on July 14 will be Sean Patton, a graduate of New College of Florida, where he studied Marine Biology and Ecology. After graduation, he became an aquatic biologist working in the swamps, lakes, and other bodies of water found in Sarasota and Manatee Counties. Concerned about the traditional, costly, impermanent, and ineffective systems within the private sector of environmental management, he began researching alternative methods of restoring Florida's landscapes to their most balanced and natural forms. He created his own company, Stocking Savvy  to utilize naturally-occurring biological systems, native plant species, harvesting, and a coalition of green businesses to restore habitat across our state. He believes every backyard can be a flourishing habitat and every pond a paradise.

With co-author Kendall Southworth, Sean recently published a book, Florida’s Aquatic Butterfly Gardens: How to Create a Beautiful Backyard Habitat for Attracting 70+ Species with 100+ Native Plants, a guidebook for creating aquatic butterfly gardens in Florida.

Sean will speak about how we can create healthier ecosystems, starting in our own backyards.

June Meeting - John Dawson - Citrus Care in the Home

June Meeting - John Dawson - Citrus Care in the Home Landscape

Meeting Date/Time: Monday, June 9th, 2025 at 7pm.  

Location: Harlee Building/County Fairgrounds, 1303 17th St W, Palmetto, FL 34221

from the Program Committee

Our June speaker will be fellow MRFC member John Dawson. John is a Master Gardener with 20 years of experience in horticultural education. 

John has grown citrus in Manatee and Dade Counties, and has years of experience at the Manatee County Extension Office diagnosing citrus problems. He will speak on Citrus Care in the Home Landscape, including the history of Citrus in Florida and here in Manatee County, and how to select, plant, maintain and protect citrus in your landscape.