Jeff Nelson – KNPS President
Hello fellow native plant enthusiasts. I hope everyone’s spring is going well and that you have been able to get out into Kentucky’s natural areas to enjoy our native plant communities. Last week I went down to the Ballard WMA in Ballard, Co. and saw one of my favorite spring natives, American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) in full bloom. Note the long racemes. Wisteria frutescens is generally described as having racemes 2″-6″ long and many of the ones on this plant were longer than that. This likely means that this specimen is W. frutescens var. macrostachya. Some taxonomists consider this variety a separate species, Kentucky wisteria (Wisteria macrostachya). American wisteria has been sold in the nursery trade for many years and many cultivars are available. One of the most common of these cultivars is sold as Kentucky wisteria ‘Blue Moon’. Regardless of its taxonomic uncertainty, I hope you too get an opportunity to see this beautiful native growing wild in Kentucky.
Photo courtesy of Pat Berla
Last month, on Friday, April 12th and Saturday, April 13, nearly 200 members and friends enjoyed KNPS’s 35th Wildflower Weekend, at Natural Bridge SRP! With more hikes, workshops, and kid’s activities than we have ever had and with many of the best botanists in Kentucky in attendance, Wildflower Weekend 2024 was an unqualified success.
In addition to our usual “all things botanical” hikes, we had hikes concentrating on birds, reptiles and amphibians, geology, fire ecology, and pollinators and butterflies. There were also a couple of workshops, “Non-Native Invasive Species Management” and an art workshop, “Reflecting on Nature through Artmaking”.
We have always tried to make Wildflower Weekend a family friendly event (kids 12 and under attend free). This year we had a great kid centered activity, “Junior Botanist Adventure for Kids!” on Saturday morning. This was so well received, that we hope to offer even more activities for kids at next year’s Wildflower Weekend.
Of course, we had our Members & Friends Social on Friday evening with a campfire, s’mores fixings, and a community gathering of like-minded nature lovers and botanists. On Saturday evening, we gathered in the Woodland Center for a short KNPS member meeting, followed by several great talks by a variety of experts. As we always do, we ended the evening with a raffle featuring prizes that included native plants, nature inspired art, and Wildflower Weekend 2024 merchandise.
Almost 50 KNPS members and friends volunteered hundreds of hours of their time making Widlflower Weekend 2024 an amazing event. Everything that the Kentucky Native Plant Society does, such as Wildflower Weekend, the Fall Meeting, workshops, field trips, symposiums, and more, happens through the efforts of volunteers giving of their time and creativity. You can help KNPS accomplish our mission of promoting education about, appreciation for, and conservation of our native flora. If you have ideas for new things that the Society could be doing or thoughts about doing old things better, we want to hear from you. If you want to be more active in areas such as organizing events, leading field trips, helping with membership, writing and editing articles for The Lady Slipper, helping with the website and social media, and more, we want to hear from you. Just send me your thoughts using the comment form below.
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