FLEMING ISLAND – The February Garden Club of Fleming Island’s February meeting featured Bob Warren’s “Life-Cycle Gardening” presentation.

With more than 50 years of gardening experience, Warren focused on the benefits of butterfly gardening, the types of butterflies, their life stages and growing plants to attract them.

The University of Florida offers information on butterfly gardening at its website: gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/design/types-of-gardens/butterfly-gardens.

As spring approaches, it’s a busy time for the garden club. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Florida Federation of Garden Clubs, and its annual convention will be in Jacksonville with lots of workshops, speakers and activities such as a flower show, art show, corsage workshop and much more. Many Fleming Island members are planning to attend.

The Fleming Island club will talk about butterfly release at its April 27 meeting, while the May 21 meeting will feature a garden event.

The club is also organizing an event, in addition to getting ready for the Clay County Agriculture Fair, where there will be a display table in the horticulture building from April 4-14.

Every month, the Garden Club of Fleming Island maintains the Fleming Island Library’s gardens and donates to the food pantry. For January, we gave the food pantry $175 and 188 pounds of food, including produce from a member’s garden. A sleeping bag was also donated.

The March meeting will include a hands-on, fee-paid floral design workshop is for members and, therefore, is not open to the public.

Regular meetings will resume on April 8, at 10 a.m. at the Fleming Island Library Meeting room at 1895 Town Center Blvd.

Lou-Ann Johanboeke and Margaret McDowell will give an overview of the butterfly release program.