A new calendar year has begun and as each day becomes a bit longer it is a good time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future. 2022 was my first year as President of our Society and was also our first chance to come together for in-person events after 2 years of the COVID pandemic.
KNPS activities for the year began with Wildflower Week 2022, a week of native plant activities, culminating in our first, in-person, Wildflower Weekend since 2019. We began the week with around a dozen wildflower walks in locations across the Commonwealth, from McCracken Co. in the west to Letcher Co. in the east. These walks were billed as “iNaturalist Tutorial Hikes” and had two goals. To help people utilize the iNaturalist app for plant identification and to get folks participating in our second, week-long BotanyBlitz. A BotanyBlitz is an event where participants try to document as many plant species as possible within a certain geographical location during a set period of time. The KNPS Wildflower Week 2022 Botany Blitz began on April 2, 2022 and ran through April 9, 2022. During that week, participants made over 4,500 observations of 537 different species of Kentucky plants, including 6 species that are listed as rare in KY.
Planning is now well on its way for our third annual BotanyBlitz on iNaturalist from April 8th-15th, 2023. As in prior years, BotanyBlitz allows us to broaden our spring wildflower scope to the entire state of Kentucky and allows us to highlight natural areas across the commonwealth! If you work/volunteer at a natural area in Kentucky and would like to partner with us to host a wildflower hike at your site to kick off the BotanyBlitz week, please send an email to: WildflowerWeekend2023@knps.org
From April 8th, 2022 through April 10th, 2022, over 100 native plant enthusiasts came together to enjoy KNPS’ first, in-person, Wildflower Weekend since 2019, Wildflower Weekend 2022. Although temperatures were cool and skies were damp at Natural Bridge SRP, spirits were high as folks dressed for the weather and enjoyed 14 different native plant walks led by an incredible group of expert botanists. Saturday night, a large group of KNPS members and friends met in the Woodland Center for presentations by Ted Brancheau, Nick Koenig, and the keynote speaker, Mike Homoya.
Planning has already begun on Wildflower Weekend 2023 and the dates have been set for April 14th – 16th, 2023! For over 30 years, Kentucky Native Plant Society has partnered with Natural Bridge State Resort Park to offer guided hikes to explore Kentucky’s rich natural history and resources in the Red River Gorge. This year, Kentucky State Parks has offered to host our annual Wildflower Weekend at another of Kentucky’s beautiful state parks: Cumberland Falls State Resort Park. We are excited to hike new trails, see new wildflowers, and increase access to this event for members in a different part of the state. Save the dates and watch your email in early March for details on the hikes and registration procedures.
Field trips to quality natural areas in Kentucky have always been an important part of the educational mission of KNPS. Field trips in 2022 explored native plant communities that most of us have little experience with, from the Ohio River bottomland, cypress-tupelo swamps to the limestone barrens of central Kentucky. We hope to explore more of Kentucky’s rich diversity of native plant life in 2023. If there is an area in Kentucky that you think would be a good candidate site for a field trip, or if you would like to help by leading or co-leading a field trip this year, just send us an email at FieldTrips@knps.org.
We were thrilled to be able to have workshops again. In May of 2022, we were presented a workshop, Plant Family Identification Motifs: patterns for simplifying the complexity, led by Dr. J. Richard Abbott, Assistant Professor of Biology at the University of Arkansas. This workshop filled up fast when offered and was very well received, with one participant saying, “Just wanted to drop a line that this class was fantastic!” We hope to offer more workshops going forward.
We closed out the year’s activities with our 2022 Fall Meeting at Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park on Saturday, October 15th. On a beautiful fall day dozens of KNPS members and friends came together at Blue Licks Battlefield for our first in-person Fall Meeting since 2019. Blue Licks is one of the few locations in the world (three counties in KY and one county in IN) where the globally rare goldenrod, Short’s goldenrod (Solidago shortii) can be found. The day began with presentations about Short’s goldenrod by Dr. Carol Baskin and Jess Slade. In the afternoon the group, led by KNPS Vice-President Heidi Braunreiter and Immediate Past President Tara Littlefield, explored a limestone glade community in the park. The group saw Short’s goldenrod in bloom, along with two other species of native goldenrod, gray goldenrod (S. nemoralis) and tall goldenrod (S. altissima). Other native species of note that were in bloom included Great Plains lady’s tresses (Spiranthes magnicamporum), white gentian (Gentiana alba), and agueweed (Gentianella quinquefolia). It was wonderful to come together and share our love of Kentucky’s native plants. For one person’s experience, be sure to read Kristin Bailey Wilson’s post about the day, KNPS 2022 Fall Meeting Provides Information and Community.
2023 is already shaping up to be a banner year for the Kentucky Native Plant Society. We are kicking off the year with the annual Kentucky Botanical Symposium, on Thursday, January 26th from 9:00AM-11:30AM EST. This is one event that we continue to present virtually. Be sure to follow the link and register for this great event. April 8-16 will bring Wildflower Week 2023, with plant ID hikes, BotanyBlitz 2023, and Wildflower Weekend. We plan to offer several field trips throughout the year and we are hoping to set up at least one workshop.
The mission of the Kentucky Native Plant Society is to promote education about, appreciation for, and conservation of our native flora. Everything that KNPS does in support of this mission is planned, organized, and implemented by volunteers from our membership. Nothing happens without members’ willingness to help out. Regardless of whether you are a long time advocate for Kentucky’s native plants or if you are just getting started in your journey of exploration with native flora, we would love for you to become more involved with the Society. If you can help KNPS out this year, please take a minute to submit the form below.