The Coral Gables Garden Club began the Red Mangrove Project in 2013 to restore mangroves to our coastal area.
The club planted 300 pups in the bay and won the National Garden Club's First Place Award for the 2013-2015 theme "Making a Difference" for this project. We also won the Project of the Year Award by the Miami Dade Council of Garden Club Presidents.
Thanks to our committee chair, Commissioner Rhonda Anderson, the club continues to grow pups. She spearheaded the Red Mangrove project in 2020, producing 800 trees that the not-for-profit Mang organization has planted in Florida and throughout the Caribbean.
This New Year of 2022, the club joined forces with boy scout troop seven and the City of Coral Gables to grow over 1500 mangrove pups. Once sprouted in about six months, the final destination of these pups will be the Florida coastline. Mangroves are the first line of defense for our coastline against storms; they filter water and provide a healthy habitat for our native wildlife in and out of the water.
The collection of these mangrove pups began in November 2021 for the 2022 planting with Commissioner Anderson's leadership, continued through January, sorting over 5000 propagules.
On January 8th, they were planted and are now being stored at the temporary nursery behind the boy scout troop clubhouse on the Granada gold course.Â
Below are pictures from the November and December collections after high tide at the Matheson Hammock Park. Over 5000 propagules were collected during these two dates and transported to Commissioner Anderson's home, kept in watertight containers.
Rhonda Anderson in the background.
