Exciting news: our Jasmine Terrace Ocean Friendly Garden received a Bay Mini-Grant, competitive funding up to $5,000 for community-led environmental restoration and education projects in the Tampa Bay watershed.

With that grant, we're bringing a children's book to life along the walking path. The Monarch and the Manatee: Mitigating Red Tide with an Ocean Friendly Garden is a child-friendly storybook that will be installed page by page on angled aluminum post mounts along the garden path. It follows a monarch butterfly who meets a manatee struggling with red tide in Tampa Bay, teaching kids and families how gardens like ours help protect marine life by capturing the excess nutrients that fuel harmful algal blooms.

On September 19th, YOU can help install the storybook pages, plant native milkweed, and set up rain barrels. 

This project is a true community effort:

• Evan Neidich of Fox & Crow Paper Company donated $4,000 worth of illustrations.

• SCUBAnauts International, a local youth group, will help with installation.

• Wise Hands is contributing milkweed plants and rain barrels.