If you are an artist or graphic designer, we would love for you to consider entering the Wildflower Weekend 2025 Logo Design Contest. This is an open design contest to come up with a logo for Wildflower Weekend 2025 (April 11-13 at Carter Caves SRP). The logo will be used on t-shirts, hoodies, and coffee cups, as well as on all publicity about the event. The submitted designs will be presented to the KNPS membership for voting and the winner will be awarded $200 and be recognized on the KNPS website.
In June of 2022, a KNPS member posted the image on the right on the KNPS Facebook group page of a t-shirt she had found in a thrift store. Asking among several longtime members, it turns out that in the 1990s, and into the early 2000’s, KNPS produced t-shirts for each Wildflower Weekend. The KNPS Board decided to bring back this great tradition for Wildflower Weekend 2023.
The Board asked KNPS vice-president Kendall MacDonald to design a logo for the 2023 Wildflower Weekend. The beautiful image she created featured the yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum) with Cumberland Falls as the background. The image was used in all publicity for the event and was also featured on an adult t-shirt, a coffee mug, a kid’s t-shirt, and an adult hoodie that were available for sale in our KNPS Gear Shop.
For Wildflower Weekend 2024, the KNPS board decided to have a Wildflower Weekend 2024 Logo Design Contest. This was an open design contest to come up with a logo. We put out a call to artists and graphic designers who were members of the Kentucky Native Plant Society. We asked the designers to submit designs that incorporated either the great white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) or the stinking Benjamin, a.k.a. red trillium (T. erectum) or both. These charismatic species are commonly found decorating the floors of the rich forests in the Natural Bridge/Red River Gorge area. We were thrilled when we received eleven gorgeous designs. The submitted designs were then presented to the KNPS membership for voting. After two rounds of voting, KNPS members selected the design created by Rick Mullenix.
Wildflower Weekend 2025 will be held at Carter Caves SRP in Carter County. The county is a hot spot of Viola diversity in Kentucky, with 13 species of Viola found in the county. One species of violet was selected to be the species around which the logo design will focus, the three-parted yellow violet (Viola tripartita). It is native to Eastern North America, being primarily found in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The species is rare throughout its range, especially so in Kentucky where it has only been reported from Carter County.
V. tripartitia‘s preferred habitat is rich, mesic forests over calcareous rocks. It is a small perennial herb that has yellow flowers in the spring. It is distinguished from other yellow violets native to the area by having leaves that are wider than long and which have a cuneate base. The leaves are typically three-lobed though unlobed leaves are not uncommon and lobed and unlobed leaves can occur on the same plant.
The focus and star of the design must be Viola tripartita . If desired the artist can also include any (or all) of the other 12 species of violet found in Carter County. The artistic rendering must be botanically accurate and any stylized representations will be rejected.
Species of Viola found in Carter County, Kentucky
Viola blanda © Armin Weise CC-BY 
Viola canadensis © Keith Bradley 
Viola cuculata © Bruce A. Sorrie 
Viola eriocarpa © Gary P. Fleming 
Viola hirsutala © Armin Weise CC-BY 
Viola palmata © Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC 
Viola pedata © Jeff Nelson 
Viola rafinesquei © Alan Cressler 
Viola rostrata © Armin Weise CC-BY 
Viola sororia © Bruce A. Sorrie 
Viola striata © Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC 
Viola tripartita © Richard & Teresa Ware CC-BY-NC 
Viola walteri_© Armin Weise CC-BY
When all designs are submitted (by January 1, 2025) the members of KNPS will vote for their favorite. The winning design will become the logo for Wildflower Weekend 2025. The winning artist will receive $200 and will be recognized on the KNPS website and in the Lady Slipper blog. We are asking that only KNPS members submit designs. If you are not a member, but are interested in submitting a design, you can join when you request the logo design packet.
To our artist members and friends please consider submitting a design for Wildflower Weekend 2025. If you have artist friends who might consider submitting a design, please let them know about the contest. Just use the form below to see the detailed design criteria.
We hope this contest will be a fun, engaging, and educational experience for all of our members and friends.
If you have questions, email us at KYPlants@knps.org
Request a Logo Design Packet
If you are interested in creating a logo design for Wildflower Weekend 2025, fill out and submit the information below. After submission, you will be redirected to a page with detailed design specifications (size, format, etc.) and procedures on how to submit your design. You must be a KNPS member to submit a design. If you are not currently a member of KNPS, you can join KNPS (at the $15 individual level) using this form. When you choose “No, I am not currently a member of KNPS” below, a new option will appear which will let you join the Society.