Butterflies and Native Plants: Making Connection by Linda Cooper

Name: Butterflies and Native Plants: Making Connection by Linda Cooper
Start: 2026-03-19T07:00:00-04:00
Location: Harry P. Leu Gardens

Schedule

Thu, 19 Mar, 2026 at 07:00 am

UTC-04:00

Location

Harry P. Leu Gardens | Orlando, FL

In Orange Audubon's Thursday March 19th in-person program, long-time butterfly expert Linda Cooper will present Butterflies and Native Plants: Making Connection. March is a great time to add some new plants to your landscape, and Linda will advise on which you might try first.
Some great local resources to help you pick the best native plants to create bird habitat are:
- Bird and Butterfly-friendly plants flyer: http://orangeaudubonfl.org/festival/a...
-- Florida Native Plant Society and its chapters: https://www.fnps.org/
-- Florida Association of Native Nurseries https://www.fann.org/
About our presenter:
Linda Cooper was born and raised in Tampa and moved with her family to Winter Haven in 1965 when her two children were toddlers.
She and her late husband Buck married in 1987 and were resident naturalists at Street/Audubon Nature Center in Winter Haven for 13 years as full time volunteers, living on the grounds, hosting Audubon events and giving programs for groups.
They moved to Haines City to focus on traveling and butterfly conservation when they left the Center in 1998.
They received Florida Audubon’s Cruikshank Award for their commitment to environmental education; FL Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Award for their contributions to wildlife conservation and preservation of Florida’s natural heritage and Green Horizon Land Trust’s Blazing Star Award.
Linda edited Lake Region Audubon Society’s Eagles View newsletter for many years as well as writing for Florida Native Plant Society’s newsletter, Butterfly Gardener magazine and American Butterflies publication.
She and Buck developed butterfly checklists for Circle B Bar Reserve; Colt Creek, Lake Kissimmee, Lake Louisa and Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Parks; Van Fleet and Withlacoochee State Trails; Disney Wilderness Preserve and Bok Tower Gardens based on their year long surveys.
Linda continues to travel to the Lower Rio Grande Valley each fall for the influx of Mexican butterflies and to reconnect with the butterfly enthusiasts who come to view them. She is a field trip leader for the Texas Butterfly Festival as well. In 2018 she was honored to be a field trip hostess for the National Butterfly Center’s first trip to view wintering Monarch butterflies in Mexico.
She continues butterfly counts for the North American Butterfly Association’s 4th of July Butterfly Counts and compiles 5 local counts, participates in 5 additional counts as well as surveys large public land holdings to gather information of butterflies especially skippers. Some of the surveys she and Buck started have been ongoing for 30+ years.