No meetings during our summer months
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May 2026 The Villages Butterfly Garden Club Newsletter
Please help us welcome our special guest speaker, Dr. Marc C. Minno, at our May 15th meeting at Fish Hawk Recreation Center, 1:30 – 3:15. We would like to attract a large audience, so please invite other clubs, friends and neighbors to this meeting. Dr. Minno will be talking about Florida Moths. The room will be set up with chairs and no tables except for leadership use. Arrive no sooner than 1 pm when doors open. We will start promptly at this meeting. We will also have the plant raffle.
Dr. Minno’s bio: Dr. Minno has a Ph.D. in zoology and more than 35 years of professional experience as an interdisciplinary scientist. He retired from the Suwannee River Water Management District in Live Oak, Florida in August 2022. Dr. Minno currently works on plant and butterfly projects throughout Florida via Eco-Cognizant, Inc., his home-based consulting business.
In addition to his many years of experience with wetlands, Dr. Minno is keenly interested in conservation biology and has conducted field research throughout the U.S.A. as well as in Central America, South America, Caribbean, Europe, and India. Since 2011 Dr. Minno has been working with biologists in Cuba to better understand the ecological relationships of imperiled butterflies in southern Florida. He has authored/coauthored six books, six book chapters, and more than 100 articles on butterflies and plants.
We have so many people to thank for all the help with the pruning and mulching and I know I did not catch all the names. Thank you all so much! A special thank you to all the dedicated workers who are out there week after week and month after month. We do notice you. Without your help our garden would not be in the shape it is today.
Thank you for those donating plants in April. Carrie always works hard tenderly raising many plants, and thanks to Sharon Therson and Valerie for their donations at our last meeting. The plant raffle is our fundraiser and all funds go back into the garden.
A small group of us went out to the Eden of Wings nursery and had a nice day walking along and picking out plants. Host plants are nicely organized by butterfly species and nectar plants are separate. I bought a few, some interesting, that will go into Fred’s garden or my own garden at home. We then ate at a nice nearby restaurant. If you are heading out to a weekend at the ocean, consider a stop there. https://edenofwings.com/
The summer months are coming. We will not have club meetings, but will meet at the garden for tours. They are held on the third Friday of the month from June through August, 10-12 to beat the heat. If you want to enjoy butterflies now, there are numerous butterflies flying by 10 or 11 am. I did spot a Zebra Swallowtail since we do have Paw Paw in the garden. It is one of my favorites. I also spotted a Black Swallowtail caterpillar on Mock Bishop’s Weed and caterpillars on the Pipevine along with many butterfly species flying.
The church is gracious in providing the land for the garden to us and we are getting along nicely. They do have a few rules that I do want to remind our members and workers. The church’s Sabbath is on Saturday and they request that NO work be done on that day. You may visit the garden on Saturday and enjoy its beauty. Parking may be limited during church hours. The other rule is about dogs. If you bring your dog for a walk while in the garden, the dog MUST be on a leash and not running about freely. There is a sign posted in the Monarch garden. We will have to ask you to leave.
Prepared by Sue Allie
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April 2026 The Villages Butterfly Garden Club Newsletter
Our club will be meeting on April 17th at the FRED FUNK BUTTERFLY GARDEN, Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 231 Lake Griffin Road, from 1:30-3:00. We do two meetings a year at the garden, April and November. Our presentation will be by Eric Scovac from Tip Top Trees. He is an arborist and will be talking about trees and their care. We will also have a plant raffle.
I would like to thank everyone who helped out with last month’s meeting. If you attended, you saw we were very short handed. We are in need of various people to help out (backups) with Facebook, our website, and just general help. See me at the meeting or email the club address.
Coming up is our day to spread mulch in Fred’s garden. It will be on April 19th from 9-12. We will have the pallets delivered and placed along the gardens so we need help lifting and moving bags while other people spread the mulch around. Bring gloves, scissors to cut bags, water, rakes and whatever else you may think of to spread mulch. Bathrooms will be available. We do have one or two wheelbarrows available. If we need another day, we will send out another notice.
The Fred Funk garden is recovering nicely. The rain helped considerably. There are tiny leaves appearing on the Paw Paw plants and the Giant Milkweed has sprouts from its roots along with the many other plants we have. It just takes time and patience.
I have a very special announcement. Our May meeting will be back at Fish Hawk Recreation Center. The room will be set up with no tables. We are inviting other clubs to attend and we need your help in advertising as we would like a large attendance. I would advise coming early for your seat. You do not have to be a member of the club to attend, but must have a Village ID. Please help us to attract a larger audience for this meeting. Flyers are at the back table.
Our very special speaker will be Dr. Marc C. Minno. Dr. Minno is a big name for butterfly enthusiasts. His bio reads:
Dr. Minno has a Ph.D. in zoology and more than 35 years of professional experience as an interdisciplinary scientist. He retired from the Suwannee River Water Management District in Live Oak, Florida in August 2022. Dr. Minno currently works on plant and butterfly projects throughout Florida via Eco-Cognizant, Inc., his home-based consulting business.
In addition to his many years of experience with wetlands, Dr. Minno is keenly interested in conservation biology and has conducted field research throughout the U.S.A. as well as in Central America, South America, Caribbean, Europe, and India. Since 2011 Dr. Minno has been working with biologists in Cuba to better understand the ecological relationships of imperiled butterflies in southern Florida. He has authored/coauthored six books, six book chapters, and more than 100 articles on butterflies and plants.
See you at the meeting. Come on out and view the garden recovering.
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March 2026 The Villages Butterfly Garden Club Newsletter
Our next meeting will be held on March 20th, 1:30-3:20 pm at Fish Hawk Recreation Center. Our speaker will be Gary Babic. His presentation will be on “Butterfly Gardening Basics and a bit more”. Gary has been a Sumter County Master Gardener since 2014, and he is interested in all types of gardening especially habitats for butterflies and other wildlife. He was past president of The Village Birders and past councilor for the local Florida Native Plant Society branch. Gary was born in Connecticut, received his PhD from UConn, and worked primarily for Texaco in the petrochemical industry. He has lived in SE Asia for ten years, and has visited over 100 countries looking for birds. He has lived in The Villages since 2006 and enjoys golf when not in the garden.
Last month’s meeting was fantastic. Bob Keyes showed videos on You Tube from the Wild Floridian. You may want to check other videos she has made. Although she is southern Florida, some of her information can be applied to our area.
We will be working in the garden Sunday, March 15th starting at 9:00 am. This will be our pruning day. There is quite a bit of work to be done. Come later or stay an hour or so. I plan on being there from 9-12. Pick your time to help us out. Bring rakes, pruners, old sheets, water, wheelbarrows etc. We do have one wheelbarrow. We need people to move the mulch bags to the garden as they will be on pallets. We will place our debris on sheets and someone can move that to the dumpster while we continue pruning. Some people can rake leaves that we can use as mulch in the gardens. We can guide you along as to what all needs to be done. Restrooms will be available.
We give thanks for plant donations to: Teri Mallory for her fresh flower arrangement, Holly Durfee for the plants and Deb Embry for the Welcome to my garden plaque. Thanks to our Carrie who works so hard with the plants she provides. All money received goes back into the garden. We would also like to thank Mike Backes, Barbara Lupinski and Dale Mae Menditto for helping us out at the Outdoor Expo. There was a great turn out of people attending that event.
Plant Sales – Spring Plant sale and Garden Festival with the Sumter County Master Gardener Volunteers will be held March 21st, 8-4 and the 22nd, 9-3 at the Phillip Brady Arena at the Doug Gilpin Pavilion on the Sumter County Fairgrounds (7620 State Road 471, Bushnell).
UF/IFAS Spring Plant Sale at Discovery Gardens, 1951 Woodlea Rd, Tavares. The Lake County Master Gardeners hold this plant sale. Held on March 28th, 8-2. Their Spring Plant Sale is a signature, one-day event featuring a wide selection of Florida-Friendly plants grown by Master Gardener Volunteers in our greenhouse. More Information
https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/lake/ffl/spring-plant-sale-2026/
Note: Our meetings in April are held at the Fred Funk Butterfly Garden giving non-Villagers a chance to attend our meeting. Also, it is a time that we can go observe the garden and see what is flying or what flowers are blooming.
Our Facebook site, Fred Funk Butterfly Garden, is where you can share your photos or observations on Fred’s garden or your own garden.
Please refer to our website or emails for any last minute changes.
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February 2026 Newsletter for The Villages Butterfly Garden Club
February’s meeting will be Feb 20th, 1:30-3:20 at Fish Hawk Recreation Center. A Village ID is required. Our speaker will be Bob Keyes who will present videos on Frost Damage and Florida Friendly Plants etc. Bob Keyes has spent fifty years in the orange juice industry, thirty years as a controller and the last twenty years as commodity manager for the largest Purchasing Association in the Dairy and Beverage Industry. He has spent forty-three years in Florida with the last twenty years in The Villages. He is a member of our club for eight years and President of the Florida Native Plants Society the last two years.
The club will have plants and a few related butterfly/garden items for our raffle.
Thanks to the workers who showed up on our Sunday workday, Jan 25th: Debi Clark, Lynn Schrum, Nancy Dale (Heartbeat Peace Circle), Jen Smith (Abundance of Love Home), Barb Lupinski and Lindsay Collier
( AAOK Club - Acknowledging Acts of Kindness - The Villages, Florida) led by Louise, Al and Sue. Sorry I wasn’t there on the original Sunday and don’t have names for those people – we thank you too.
Thanks to Terri Morris for the beautiful rose flower arrangement that she donated for our raffle at January’s meeting.
Outdoor Expo – February 27-28 – 10am – 3pm at Everglades Recreation Center in the Grand Canyon room. The club will have a booth inside for the Expo. This is a great way to promote our club. We need volunteers to work our booth. This involves talking to visitors, handing out leaflets etc. Shifts will be 10-12:30 and 12:30-3. Contact Sue Allie, 352-459-5825 or tvbgclub@gmail.com Come out and visit as many clubs are featured.
The Villages Butterfly Garden Club - Events Updated our Events page on the website to include the Expo, Mulch and Pruning days.
We are now posting the entire newsletter on our website. On our Plant Sales page is information on organizations holding plant sales. The Villages Butterfly Garden Club - Plant Sales The Sumter County Master Gardeners are having their plant sale Mar 21-22. More information on our website.
Watch for Field Trip survey in your email box. Looking at April 23rd, but that date may not be the final date. May is not a good month for the bus companies due to graduation and schools needing buses. The nursery, Eden of Wings, is only open Thursday through Sundays. Cost would be around $30 which covers the renting of the bus. We will stop for lunch with a variety of restaurants. We need 34 people to fill the bus. This would be a great place to buy your butterfly/pollinator plants. Eden of Wings is a native and pollinator nursery. Eden of Wings - Plant Nursery & Farm
Feb 15 – Our next workday in the garden – 10am
We will be working in the garden. NO pruning until March 15th. We will be pulling weeds. Also, we noticed all the leaves that have fallen due to the frost. These are great mulch and request that they be raked into the gardens.
March 15 – Pruning day – starts 9am
April 19 – Mulch day – starts 9am
There is a place in New Hampshire called The Caterpillar Lab that has been on my radar. They have a free video available to watch on caterpillars. Very interesting! You need a ticket. On their website at the bottom of the list is the free ticket. This is available until late March to view the video. FILM | The Caterpillar Lab
Next meeting will be March 20th – Fish Hawk Recreation Center – 1:30 Our speaker will be Gary Babic.
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January 2026
Newsletter for The Villages Butterfly Garden Club
Greetings Everyone We hope you had a great holiday season. The Leadership Team is working hard behind the scenes getting ready for our next meetings.
Our January 16th meeting will be held at Fish Hawk Recreation Center at 1:30 – 3:20. Sue Allie will be our speaker talking about "What Do You Know About Butterflies”. I am sure you will learn something new. We will also have our plant raffle. We have a nice passionvine that would be worth $30 at a nursery included in the plant raffle that someone donated!
The club needs new people for our leadership team due to the recent personnel who have moved on. We desperately need someone who will find speakers for the club. We have lists of speakers from the past. Could that person be YOU?
We have been informed that there is a walking group who has the recreation room before us. The Recreation personnel sets up the room and the room may not be ready until 1pm. The doors may be closed until then. Please do not bother the Recreation Center personnel. For right now Sue Allie is in charge as she signed the Recreation room papers.
Thank You! There were many people who assisted us with setting up during the December meeting. Now that we are short of leadership personnel and may not have the room until 1pm, help is greatly appreciated. Carrie may need assistance with the raffle plants and getting them into the meeting room. Sometimes we may be short of the few leadership people we do have. We may seat you at a table to hand out pamphlets or help the new people attending the meeting etc.
We have upcoming events we participate in. At the end of February or beginning of March, we have the Outdoor Expo at Everglades Recreation Center where we will have a booth. The booth needs to be manned and we appreciate two people for shifts of four hours. Basically, we hand our brochures and information on our club. More news on this later as information is provided to us. This is a way to advertise our group.
On the third Sunday of each month at 10am, we will have people working in Fred’s Garden at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. If you want to come and help us or learn what we are doing, we are making this time available. We do need volunteers to work the garden. It is a great way to meet new people and satisfying to work side-by-side. Our first date is Jan 19th. See you there.
To keep the garden in great shape, mark your calendars – Our pruning day will be March 15th at 9am and the mulch day will be April 19th at 9 am.
Our next meeting is at Fish Hawk Recreation Center on February 20th.
