[Press Release] Winter Park’s Mead Botanical Gardens Receives Landscape Award



Melbourne, FL – The Florida Native Plant Society (FNPS) has designated October as “Native Plant Month.” During October, local society chapters host talks and hikes to natural areas to promote native plant communities and the environmental benefits to wildlife. In that educational spirit, FNPS created a landscape award program open to homeowners, businesses, government agencies, HOA’s, and community groups. FNPS received 19 applications for the 2023 landscape award cycle. Applicants across Florida had the opportunity to showcase their landscaped project and to highlight their garden.
 


Among the 19 applicants, a local winner for the “Garden of Excellence” was selected. Mead Botanical Gardens in Winter Park was chosen for its native upland plant restoration work since 2013 in partnership with the local FNPS Chapter. The applicant described Mead Botanical Garden as a “natural oasis amid urban Winter Park and Orlando, almost a “last frontier” of natural land.” The presence of 100-year-old longleaf pines provided the inspiration for the local chapter to embark on restoration of the sandhill community by removing exotic plants and planting native grasses and wildflowers. In return, the site has expanded its gopher tortoise population and provided educational trails to visitors.

“Mead Botanical Garden is a wonderful example of what urban green space can become through partnerships,” said Lynda Davis, FNPS Executive Director, “they are a respite for visitors and residents alike and provide an oasis for wildlife.”

www.fnps.org



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