BotanyBlitz: A Community Science Event
Wildflower Week 2021

Wildflower Week 2021 is shaping up to be an amazing series of native plant related activities. The centerpiece of the week will be our community science project, the 2021 BotanyBlitz. From Saturday, April 10, through Saturday, April 17, we are encouraging everyone to visit parks and natural areas throughout the Commonwealth, find and photograph plants, with an emphasis on natives in bloom, and upload them to the KNPS Wildflower Week 2021 BotanyBlitz project.

xxxxxxxxAn example of an iNaturalist observation

A botany blitz is an event where anyone who joins the project on iNaturalist can use a camera (or cellphone) to snap a picture of a plant, in a given area (in this case all of Kentucky), during a given time frame (in this case April 10-17), and then upload the image (called an Observation) to their iNaturalist account. At the end of the week, we will have a gallery, a map showing the locations, and totals by numbers, species, and by each person, of all the great plants we found! Expert botanists and people with a keen identifying eye will be able to add comments to your specimens on why they agree or disagree with a certain identification, so we can all learn better ways to ID plants in the future.

If you do not have an iNaturalist account, please consider setting one up and then joining the BotanyBlitz project. It’s easy and fun and each observation contributes to our knowledge of the plants of Kentucky. Nick Koenig recently wrote an article showing the simple steps to join iNaturalist and the BotanyBlitz project and a short video of how to make and upload an observation. Check it out HERE!.

If you are not already familiar with iNaturalist, take a look at the site and some of KNPS’ other projects, such as the Kentucky Botanists Big Year 2021.

We are hoping that we can get at least one observation from every county in Kentucky. Won’t you join us and show the rest of us what native plants are blooming in your county?

Botanical Drawing: Flower Portraits in Pencil
Wildflower Week 2021

When: Wednesday, April 14th from 5:30PM-8:30PM EDT
Location: Online Live Class via Zoom
Instructor: Amy Tipton

As part of KNPS’s Wildflower Week 2021 activities we are incredibly excited to be able to offer this botanical drawing class.

Plants offer an unending supply of interesting shapes, textures, and details for artists to discover and translate to the page. Botanists and artists alike must develop skills of seeing plants deeply. Amy will help introduce participants to critical exploration of plant forms. An understanding of basic plant parts and floral arrangement will be discussed briefly to assure accurate representations of the selected subject specimen(s). Once the participants choose a plant/flower to draw, they will learn how to select an interesting composition, capture the subject’s proportions, create a line drawing, and complete their plant portrait with a range of values created through an exploration of different types of mark. A live Zoom format will offer opportunities for students to ask questions.

Sign Up and Zoom Registration

You can sign up for the class and get other information (supplies needed, etc.) at Amy’s KNPS Wildflower Week Botanical Drawing (Flower Portraits in Pencil) page.

Instructor

Amy Tipton is the Assistant Director of the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens. She holds a Masters of Science degree from Eastern Kentucky University, where she studied native plant ID and plant ecology under the guidance of Dr. Ron Jones. Amy holds bachelor degrees in Drawing and Art History, as well as an MFA in Printmaking.  She enjoys botanical drawing and contributed over 50 pen and ink line drawings to Jones’ Plant Life of Kentucky. Amy has been a recipient of the Ophelia Anne Dowden Education Grant from the American Society of Botanical Artists.

Amy has taught for over 20 years.  Some of her past teaching posts have included instructing University-level drawing, art appreciation, and ecology, and 7th grade science as a National Science Foundation Fellow.  She often presents talks for those interested in native plants.  Since her arrival at UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens in July of 2018, Amy has taught Wildflower ID, Native Tree ID, Native Shrub ID, Botanical Drawing I and II, Pressing Plants for Science and Art, and Botanical Watercolor for the Certificate of Native Plant Studies program. Amy has previously served on the board and strategic planning committee for the KNPS, and currently is active with the North Carolina Native Plant Society.

Opening & Closing Sessions
Wildflower Week 2021

Opening and Closing Sessions

Wildflower Week 2021 is going to kick off with an opening session on Saturday, April 10, and end with a closing session on Saturday, April 17. Both sessions will be virtual, and presented on Zoom. In order to participate in either or both sessions, fill out the registration form below.

Opening Session, April 10, 2021, 4PM-6PM EDT

Closing Session, April 17, 2021, 4PM-6PM EDT

    • Winners of BotanyBlitz 2021
    • Highlights of finds
    • KNPS activities for the remainder of 2021

Wildflower Trivia Night on Zoom
Wildflower Week 2021

“What is the Kentucky state flower? One point for the general name and one point for the common name of the specific species and one point for the full scientific name. There about 30 different species of this type in Kentucky.” (*answer below)

Join with other native plant enthusiasts for a Wildflower Trivia Night on Zoom, organized and presented by the staff of The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky.

As a part of Wildflower Week, The Arboretum will host a wildflower-themed trivia night on Tuesday April 13 at 7:00 p.m. EDT. This “ephemeral” event will take place on Zoom so you can join us from the comfort of your own couch! You and your team will be quizzed on Kentucky native wildflowers, botany, and flower-inspired pop culture. Don’t be intimidated if you are not an expert! All plant lovers, regardless of their knowledge level, are guaranteed to have fun and be challenged.

Pre-registration is required as space is limited! Please call (859) 257-9339 or send an email to Arboretum@uky.edu with your name, email address and phone number. Register with a friend to be on the same team or register by yourself and meet some new friends who also love plants!

*Answer to trivia question: Giant goldenrod (Solidago gigantea)

Virtual Field Trips During
Wildflower Week

Besides all of the other great events during Wildflower Week 2021 , we have scheduled a virtual field trip for every day of the Week. Each day the video of the virtual hike for that day will be posted on our website at 8:30AM. The video will be available for viewing from then on. You can see all of the posted videos at our Virtual Field Trips page, so bookmark that page and check in each day.

Sat. 10th– Ferns of Anglin Falls – Join Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves botanist Rachel Cook on a virtual hike through John B. Stephenson Memorial Forest State Nature Preserve. While this Preserve is known for its beauty, Anglin Falls, it also has a great diversity of ferns with 32 species!

Sun 11th– Wildflowers of Cove Springs Park

Mon 12th– Spring Flora of Glades and Barrens at Embry Lay – Join Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves botanist Tony Romano for a tour of spring flowers and flora in a rare glade and barrens habitat complex. We’ll explore plants adapted to thin soils, fires, and grassland openings.

Tues 13th– Trilliums of Kentucky – Trilliums are an unforgettable genus of spring wildflowers with their three leaves, petals and sepals, habitat preferences, interesting floriferous smells, and pollination and seed dispersal strategies. Join Tara Littlefield and family as they explore Kentucky’s Trillium diversity across Kentucky

Wed 14th– Wildflowers of Crooked Creek State Nature Preserve

Thur 15th– Wildflowers of an Heritage Land Conservation Fund site TBD.

Fri 16th– Neat Flora of Dry Outcrops and Woodlands in the Kentucky River Valley – Cedar, ash, oaks, and honeysuckle aren’t the only things inhabiting the dry, rocky, steep habitats above the Kentucky River. Join Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves botanist Devin Rodgers for a tour of some of the neat flora adapted to these sunny, erodible, rugged, beautiful places.

Sat 17th– Early flowering plants of upland seeps, grasslands and woodlands in the Cumberland Plateau – Join Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves staff Tara Littlefield and Forest Service staff David Taylor and Claudia Cotton on a hike to see what is blooming in the upland grasslands, woodlands and seeps of the Cumberland Plateau.

Countdown to Wildflower Week 2021!

Wildflower Week Starts April 10

The snow has melted, the days are getting warmer, we’re excited to celebrate the glory of spring and we hope you’ll join us for a virtual Wildflower Week from April 10-17. If you’re as ready as we are to get outside and explore natural areas for our favorite spring bloomers, head over to iNaturalist to join our Wildflower Week 2021 BotanyBlitz! A BotanyBlitz is citizen-science event that focuses on finding and identifying as many plant species as possible in a select area for a specific period of time. This particular Blitz is a state-wide event that will run for the duration of Wildflower Week, and it’s a great outdoor activity and easy to do while social-distancing! All you need to do to participate is log in or sign up for an iNaturalist account (a quick and easy process), navigate to the project page and click the “Join” button near the top right corner, then just upload plant photos you take during the week. If you aren’t sure how to identify everything you see, fear not! KNPS members will be watching the observations roll in, and are more than happy to help identify all the plants you aren’t familiar with. We encourage everyone to post their wildflower observations on iNaturalist for this botanyblitz, we’d love to see what’s blooming in your part of the state.

We also have a number of events already planned throughout the week:

  • On Saturday April 10, all are invited to attend the KNPS Spring Meeting & Wildflower Week Kick-Off Zoom meeting. Register here to attend both the Kick-off and Closing meetings!
  • Then on Monday April 12, we’re looking forward to watching a virtual hike with Park Naturalist Samantha Evans to Natural Bridge State Resort Park in the Red River Gorge area.
  • Tuesday April 13, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves Botanist Tara Littlefield will take us on a virtual hike of Cumberland Plateau acid seeps of eastern Kentucky, a rare habitat that OKNP is helping to restore. Later that evening, you can test your botanical knowledge by attending a wildflower trivia contest hosted by The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky.
  • Make sure to sign up for Wednesday’s live Zoom class on Botanical Drawing, lead by Assistant Director of the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens Amy Tipton.
  • And on Sunday April 17, join us again on Zoom for our Closing Session, and to hear the BotanyBlitz Results!

Additional virtual as well as local events will be added between now and the Kick-Off date, so make sure to bookmark our official Wildflower Week 2021 info page to find out how to register for various events and check for updates.

Mark your calendars now, and we’ll see you on April 10!

Harbinger of spring (Erigenia bulbosa), doing what it does best.

KNPS Wildflower Week 2021 BotanyBlitz

Nick Koenig

Hello, native plant lovers! The Kentucky Native Plant Society is super excited to host a virtual Wildflower Week (April 10 to April 17) jam-packed with workshops, wildflowers, and iNaturalist. We are hoping to have a large group of botanists and plant enthusiasts from around the state join the KNPS Wildflower Week 2021 BotanyBlitz collection project on iNaturalist.

Here’s the webpage link!

https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/knps-wildflower-week-2021-botanyblitz

A BotanyBlitz is an event where anyone who joins the iNaturalist project can use a camera to snap a picture of a plant, in a given area (this case Kentucky), and in a given timeframe (this case April 10-17). At the end of the week, we will have a map and totals by numbers, species, and by each person of all the great collections we found! Additionally, expert botanists and people with a keen identifying eye will be able to add comments to your specimens on why they agree or disagree with a certain identification, so we can learn better ways to ID plants in the future. 

Below are instructions to join the iNaturalist project and how to use iNaturalist. If you have any questions or would like to be more involved, please contact wildflowerweek@knps.org

Happy Botanizing!

App Instructions:

  1. Download the iNaturalist App (both iPhone and Android)
  2. Create/Sign In to your account.
  3. Click “More” (three dots)
  4. Click “Projects”
  5. Search “KNPS Wildflower Week 2021 BotanyBlitz”
  6. Join Project!

Computer Instructions

  1. Click the following link to the KNPS Wildflower Week 2021 BotanyBlitz iNaturalist Collection Project:
    1. https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/knps-wildflower-week-2021-botanyblitz
  2. Create/Sign In to your iNaturalist Account:
  1. Join the Project!

How to Use iNaturalist in the Field:

If you would like to learn more about how to use iNaturalist, check out the following video: