Only 48 hours after Hurricane Milton made landfall on Oct. 14, more than 100 volunteers gathered on the Tampa campus, ready to assess the damage and jumpstart recovery efforts.
According to the Director of the Environmental Conservation Outreach, Research, and Education (ECORE) System, Nicole Brand, and her staff – the damage to the USF Botanical Gardens was especially devastating. The property was forced to close for the remainder of October, postponing its signature Fall Plant Festival.
“It was an extreme hit,” said Brand. “In our native gardens alone, we lost about 90 percent of our biodiversity.”
The southwest area of the Botanical Gardens flooded beyond the property’s fence line, lifting and relocating the medicinal garden plots. (Photo courtesy of Nicole Brand)
Several old, irreplaceable trees fell due to Hurricane Milton's estimated 120 mph winds. (Photo courtesy of Nicole Brand)
The category 3 hurricane uprooted trees and flooded Lake Behnke, killing a significant percentage of plants in the native plant wildflower meadow and the medicinal gardens. The storm also destroyed many rare and endangered specimens collected for conservation and uprooted or severely damaged decades-old, irreplaceable trees that had to be removed.
While it will take some time for the gardens to fully recover, the outpouring of support from volunteers who arrived just days after the storm passed — and who continue to show up — will allow the Botanical Gardens to reopen to the public on Nov. 1 and host the fall festival the following weekend.
The Botanical Gardens' beekeeping station in 2023 (left) and the damage left behind by the hurricane (right). (Photos courtesy of Corey Lepak and Nicole Brand)
Fall Plant Festival 2023
Dr. Craig Huegel assessing damage to a tree near the Plant Shop's greenhouse. (Photo courtesy of Nicole Brand)
But there is still work left to be done. The Botanical Gardens needs volunteers to help make the upcoming plant festival a success, which draws more than 8,000 visitors and plays a crucial role in supporting the garden’s operating budget.
“It actually accounts for one-third of our entire operating budget,” said Brand. “We bring in numerous vendors, and they’ve been growing plants for weeks, so it is really a service to us both.”
Continued volunteer efforts will be essential to the Gardens' rebuilding, and the staff is ready for the journey ahead.
“Our hearts go out to everyone who has endured so much loss,” said Kimerbly Boucireb, senior gardener on staff.
“It’s difficult to exhume the motivation necessary to rebuild and replant with the lingering weight of the knowledge of how quickly decades of work and love can be destroyed. That weight is significantly less when we help one another rebuild, together, as a community.”
The Fall Plant Festival is scheduled for November 9 and 10 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Register as a volunteer for this event.