Signs of spring first come in the darkest days of winter
Hello fellow plant enthusiasts! I hope everyone is doing OK in this New Year. While I have no profound words to offer to anyone about the state of our state, our country, our world, I can offer a mechanism of coping. I have often used the natural world as my escape and every time it pulls me out of whatever anxiety has taken hold. I’m sure many of you do this as well. I am beyond lucky and grateful to live and work in the natural areas of Kentucky through my profession of plant conservation and also my private life as a landowner. I enjoy daily walks to observe the passing of time as told by nature. Even in the darkest days of winter, there are signs of spring that show us a future of flowers.
woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) 
Spring Beauty (Claytonia americana) 
Garlic mustard (Alliaria petiollata), non native but still a sign of spring 
Cluster of Cranefly orchid (Tipularia discolor), more of a sign of summer flowers! 
Cranefly orchid (Tipularia discolor) showing off the beautiful purple color of the underside of basal rosette 
Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria)
2020 Recap
Despite the challenges of this past year and having to cancel many of our annual planned events/field trips/workshops/meetings, KNPS still accomplished the publication of our monthly online newsletter-the Lady Slipper. Let’s all give a big thanks to Susan Harkins and Nick Koenig for organizing this effort and all the authors of the great articles submitted from our friends, partners and colleagues about all things native plants. Many of us still had a big year of plant observations as seen through our Kentucky Botanist’s big Year 2020 on iNaturalist. In next month’s newsletter, the winners of most observed plants will be announced!
We joined Zoom and organized our first online fall meeting and Kentucky’s Botanical Symposium which was attended by over 120 engaged native plant enthusiasts. What a success! In case you missed it, recorded versions of the symposium talks will be available on our website, www.knps.org by the end of the month. Many of the talks highlighted current projects led by the plant conservation section at the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves (OKNP), Projects included the monitoring of rare plants and communities on Kentucky’s state nature preserves, the statewide grassland and pollinator habitat monitoring program, rare plant propagation projects, and recent interesting botanical discoveries. If anyone would like to get more involved in any of these efforts please reach out and join our emerging plant conservation alliance which focuses on conserving rare plants by increasing efforts through partnership.
A new year and planning
January has always been the month of planning for me. A time of resolutions, of planning projects and dreaming of which natural areas I will explore or what target plants I’ll be searching for in the coming field season. For KNPS, our board will be continuing with our strategic planning process this winter/spring through zoom meetings. We have decided to continue with postponing in person meetings at least through the first half of 2021 due to Covid restrictions but are planning some virtual events for our members and friends, more to come soon. But there are still many ways to contribute to our efforts and find opportunities to learn about native plants and get out in nature.
Opportunities
As always, reach out it you would like to get more involved in any of our committees, contribute to the newsletter, apply for one of our grants, would like to volunteer or partner with us on any of our ongoing projects or have any questions in general. And a special request to our partners who are organizing events involving native plants in 2021, please submit them to us so we can add them to our online native plant events/activities calendar.
For the Love of Kentucky’s Plants,
Tara Littlefield