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MANAGER / LANDSCAPE DESIGNER / GARDEN CONSULTANT
UF Florida Master Naturalist, UF/IFAS Florida-friendly Certified Professional, UF/IFAS Florida Water Steward, UF/IFAS Water Resources Program Advisory Committee, BFA Art Studio, BA Art History, Graphic Designer
Annie has been part of Florida Native Plants Nursery since 2010, working alongside her family to grow both the nursery and a deeper appreciation for Florida's native landscapes. As manager and lead landscape designer, she oversees everything from day-to-day nursery operations to full garden designs for residential and community clients.
With a background in art and design and more than 15 years of hands-on experience in ecological horticulture, Annie approaches every project as both a designer and a naturalist. One of her favorite things is hearing back from clients as their gardens evolve, watching spaces fill in, bloom, and come to life.
Annie holds certifications through the University of Florida's Master Naturalist, Florida Water Stewardship, and Florida-Friendly Landscaping programs through UF/IFAS, and serves on the advisory committee for the Sarasota County Water Resources Program. Her interests extend into bioregional herbalism and edible and medicinal plants, which she weaves into garden designs whenever the opportunity arises. She also creates native wildflower arrangements through her eco-floristry project William's Wildflowers, taking on a small number of select events each year.
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C0-OWNER / FOUNDER / MANAGER / GROWER
B. S. Wildlife Biology, M. A. Ecology
Laurel has a degree in wildlife biology from Oregon State University and a degree in systematics and ecology from Indiana State University. She taught biology at Roosevelt University in Chicago. She also worked as a mammalogist at the New York Zoological Society (Bronx Zoo) and at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. She is a Florida Master Gardener, a Florida Master Naturalist and a former National Landscape Design Critic for the Florida Garden Club.
Since moving to Venice, Florida in 1994 with her husband and three children, Laurel's interests have been channeled into preserving the natural environment. She served two terms as vice-president of the Florida Native Nursery Association, Chair of the State Education Committee for the Association. and Vice-President of the Manasota Chapter of the Florida Grape Growers Association. A former member of the board of directors for the Friends of the Rails to Trails Park in Sarasota, she sat for many years on the Sarasota County Parks Board, was vice chair for the Sarasota Tree Advisory Council and is a past president of the Friends of Oscar Scherer Park, Inc.
She also served two terms as a Sarasota County Planning Commissioner and is the former chairman of the City of Venice Planning Commission.
Laurel has designed native plantings for natural areas for homeowners as well as homeowner associations focusing on native plant restoration and mitigation work for wildlife habitat. She has worked on native plant designs for numerous school sites and on state, county and city lands.
Laurel is on the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens' Speaker's Bureau and Sarasota's Peace Center Speaker's Bureau. She presents programs and seminars on Florida native plants, natural Florida landscaping and eco-gardening to groups and societies throughout Southwest Florida.
With her former nursery partner, Dan Walton, Laurel wrote “Natural Florida Landscaping” published in 2007 by Pineapple Press and available at the Nursery and on Amazon.
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NURSERY / INVENTORY MANAGER
Brian keeps Florida Native Plants Nursery running smoothly behind the scenes, managing our plant inventory, coordinating orders with our growers, and jumping in on the retail floor whenever needed. He brings 15 years of warehouse and sales management experience to the job, which means our plants are in good hands from the moment they arrive to the moment they go home with you. That includes the many plants we propagate and grow right here at the nursery.
Brian is relatively new to the world of native plants, and he'll be the first to tell you so. He loves connecting with customers over a shared love of the outdoors, nature, and gardening, because it means both learning from and helping out, whether they're just discovering Florida natives for the first time or have been gardening with them for years.
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NURSERY / COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Briar joined Florida Native Plants Nursery in 2025 and quickly took on managing communications and the many office operations that keep the nursery running, while also serving as one of our main points of contact with customers. She has a knack for matching people with plants they'll love.
Briar is newer to the world of Florida natives and embraces that wholeheartedly, approaching every interaction with genuine curiosity and a desire to make sure everyone who visits leaves with plants that bring both beauty and function to their landscape. Her passion for connecting people with native plants is rooted in a deeper care for adding much needed habitat for Florida's wildlife to the home garden.
Tim Cash, Founder of Florida Scrub Growers (1954-1993)
Tim Cash
(1954-1993)
FOUNDER OF FLORIDA SCRUB GROWERS
Tim founded Florida Scrub Growers, a native plant nursery in Old Miakka Florida, in 1982. He wanted to grow local species of native plants and use them in landscaping instead of exotics. This was unheard of at the time and native plants were not widely available. To do this he bought ten undeveloped acres in Old Miakka and devoted much of his time to collecting local seeds from surrounding hammocks, wetlands and scrub and growing plants for the landscape market. He was especially inspired by the scrubby flatwoods plants found on the ESLOC Old Miakka site across from the nursery. He envisioned using many of the plants adapted to this upland community in local landscaping.
Tim was a visionary with a real sensitivity for the environment. He gave lectures and educated everyone with whom he came in contact. He helped found the Sarasota-Manatee Native Plant Society. He worked with Sarasota County on wetlands mitigation projects and donated mangroves and other aquatic plants to the Sarasota Bay Estuary projects. He provided many of the original native plantings for the Florida House, Sarasota County’s sustainable living educational site.
Tim was a leader in the evolution of butterfly gardening and provided butterflies and butterfly plants for the Gulf Coast World of Science.
Tim gave generously of his time to the Historic Old Miakka Community where he lived. He helped roof the Methodist Church and Old Miakka School house and was active in the local volunteer fire department. Tim died on Oct. 2, 1993.
All that remember Tim remember his passion for what he did. He shared what he learned and generously gave his time to educate others and promote the use of native plants. He said his goal was to recruit enough people to return Florida to a more natural state.
The owners of the Florida Native Plants Nursery (formally Florida Scrub Growers) are honored that the Old Miakka Park Loop Trail was named for Tim Cash, our founder, on the 25th Anniversary year of the founding of our nursery.