Santa Rosa County residents are invited to take part in a Arbor Day Celebration scheduled for Friday, January 15 at the Milton Garden Club location at 5256 Alabama Street in Milton. The event is free and open to the community and no registration is required, according to a press release with the Santa Rosa County Public Information Office.
This will be the first time the garden club, the UF/IFAS Extension Office and the Florida Forest Service have collaborated for an Arbor Day event. The celebration will begin at 10:30 a.m. with a bonsai class presented by Bob McConnell, an advanced bonsai instructor. According to the press release, McConnell will lead a one hour program guiding the novice on how to plant bonsai trees.
The event will conclude with brief history of Arbor Day at 11:30 a.m. presented by Ian Stone, a forester with the forest service. The celebration event will be one of several Arbor Day-themed events that week. Stone said the forest service will also be planting 10 live oak trees at the Santa Rosa Soccer and Horse Complex on Joppa Road in Pace earlier the same day.
The live oak trees and the seedlings are made available through Arbor Day Foundation grant funding, Stone said. This year around 800 tree seedlings including bare root eastern redbud, flowering dogwood, swamp tupelo and river birch trees, will be given away at the Milton Garden Club.
“They usually have to be planted right away,” Stone said. “(The seedlings) actually do well when the roots are planted young.”
Stone suggests planting the tree seedlings immediately either in the ground or a pot.
Although the cooler temperatures are ideal for planting tree during the winter season, Stone said this beginning of this winter has been odd due to the warmer weather and recent amount of rainfall.
“Hopefully, we will get some winter weather real soon,” he said.
Regardless of the current weather, Florida’s Arbor Day is in January for a good reason, Stone said.
“The best time to plant trees is in winter because the seedling can then go in winter dormancy,” Stone said.
The warmer and drier seasons of the year can become stressful to the roots, he said.
For those who have questions about planting the seedlings, Mary Derrick, a residential horticulture agent with the extension office will also be on hand to answer any questions.
Derrick said the goal of planting seedlings is to not plant too deeply or expose the any of the root system.
Adding any of these trees to a piece of property is worthwhile, Derrick said.
“This is a way to invest in the future,” she said. “I have heard many older people say that they may not be able to see these trees fully grown, but somebody else will.”
Frances Andrews, a member of the Milton Garden Club, hopes for a great turnout at the event, adding it will make the community aware of the club.
“The club is open to the public and we encourage others to be a part of it,” she said. “We also have flower shows.”
Andrews said this Arbor Day event is unique to the City of Milton.
“What a better way to celebrate Arbor Day than in Milton which is part of the USA Tree (City) USA,” Andrews said.
For the past 20 years, Milton has been affiliated with the Arbor Day Foundation’s ‘Tree CityUSA’ community. In which the city has met the four standards established by the foundation and National Association of State Foresters. The standards include having a tree board or department, a tree care ordinance, a community forestry program with annual budget of at least $2 per capita and an Arbor Day Observance and proclamation.
WHAT: 2016 Arbor Day Celebration Tree Giveaway and Bonsai Class
WHEN: Begins at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, January 15
COST: Free to attend, no registration required
CONTACT: For more information contact Mary Derrick by calling 623-3868 or by emailing maryd@santarosa.fl.gov
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This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton Garden Club hosts Arbor Day celebration, tree giveaway