2021 Virtual Wildflower Week Closing Meeting & Thanks!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our 2021 Virtual Wildflower Week! This was a new experience for us hosting a virtual week-long event, but with the help of many people, it was a great success! Special thanks to our website guru Jeff Nelson, our video editor Kendall McDonald, and the iNat extraordinaire Vanessa Voelker!

Here is a recording of the closing meeting on Saturday, May 17th in case you missed it!

The centerpiece of our Wildflower Week was a state-wide BotanyBlitz on iNaturalist from April 10th – April 17th. More than 100 members joined the project and posted over 3,200 observations of Kentucky plants within a one week span! Over 450 different species were photographed. Observations were posted in over 60 counties ranging from Carlisle County in the west to Pike County in the east.

Distribution of iNatuarlist observations from the 2021 KNPS BotanyBlitz April 10th -17th

We also posted virtual field trips throughout the week. If you didn’t get a chance to see them, you can still see them on our website or take a gander at our YouTube channel. The most popular video was by our very own Tara Littlefield, along with her kids Estella and Henry, teaching us about Kentucky Trillium species. Thank you to all those who submitted videos!

We hope you enjoyed this virtual event!

-Heidi Braunreiter, KNPS Vice President

Wildflower Week 2021

In lieu of an in-person Wildflower Weekend, the Kentucky Native Plant Society will host a virtual Wildflower Week! This will include virtual events from April 10th through April 17th, including a week-long, statewide BotanyBlitz on iNaturalist. This is an opportunity to broaden our spring wildflower scope to the entire state of Kentucky and allow us to highlight natural areas across the state!  If you would like to host a virtual event at your Natural Area to be included in our Wildflower Week schedule, let us know! Events can include virtual hikes (pre-recorded or live), talks on wildflowers you can find there, or feel free to think up something fun!

Also, if you would like to be more involved in the planning process of Wildflower Week 2021, please reach out to us. We have been brainstorming ideas to make this event as interactive as possible and would greatly appreciate input from KNPS members!

To be included in our schedule or to get more involved, email us at
WildflowerWeek2021@knps.org

Would you like a PDF of the Flora of Kentucky?

Alan Weakley’s newly released 2020 edition of the Flora of the Southeastern United States is available for download from the North Carolina Botanical Garden website.

Go here to get your copy today: https://ncbg.unc.edu/research/unc-herbarium/flora-request/

To customize your flora, simply click on the state flora option at the bottom of the form and choose Kentucky. Enjoy botanizing!

Weakley’s Flora is also available in an app called FloraQuest. The app allows mobile identification of over 7,000 plant species in a 14-state region through an interactive interface.

Check it out here: http://www.floraquest.com/

2020 Wildflower Weekend Schedule of Activities

WILDFLOWER WEEKEND 2020 HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

The schedule of activities for this year’s Wildflower Weekend has been released. Click on this link to see it in PDF format.

KNPS’ 2020 Wildflower Weekend is scheduled for April 3 & 4. Presented each year in partnership with Natural Bridge State Resort Park. This event offers wildflower hikes Friday and Saturday, led by some of the best botanists in the state. These hikes will explore the region’s rich natural history and resources in the state park and the Red River Gorge. Hikes topics include wildflowers, ferns, woody plants, bryophytes, fire ecology, plant identification 101, and more.

Friday evening, there will be a social to meet your fellow native plant enthusiasts. Saturday morning, we will have a book signing for a recently published children’s book, Wake Up, Woods, with author Mike Homoya present for signing. Directly after the booking signing will be a kid’s creek walk. We are also offering an outdoor yoga class Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening, talks will be given in the Woodland Center. See PDF for a full schedule.

Our keynote speaker Saturday evening is Mike Homoya. Mike is a recently retired botanist and plant ecologist who worked for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Natural Heritage Program since 1982. He discovered, inventoried, and assessed natural communities and surveyed for rare species. He shared his knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm about plants by authoring several books, teaching at the collegiate level, and serving as president of professional science associations.

His most recent publication is a children’s book titled Wake Up, Woods. Mike will give a presentation Saturday evening on the rare plants and natural communities along the Ohio River, from Cincinnati to the Mississippi River. You will also hear from three of our student grant recipients who will present on their graduate research projects.

This event is open to the public and kid-friendly. Registration is on-site at the Hemlock Lodge in the lobby. Admission is $10.00 for adults, $3.00 for ages 12-17, free for ages 12 & under. Discounted KNPS memberships will be available.

If you would like to volunteer and help out with the registration desk, please sign-up here: Volunteer Signup Sheets for the 2020 Wildflower Weekend.

Kentucky Botanists Big Year 2020 iNaturalist Project

Help us spread the love of botanizing throughout Kentucky! Find the most plant species in Kentucky in 2020 by making observation on iNaturalist and help contribute to a better understanding of the diversity, distribution, and conservation status of our state’s flora. Check out the project here.

One of the world’s most popular nature apps, iNaturalist helps you identify the plants and animals around you. Get connected with a community of over 750,000 scientists and naturalists who can help you learn more about nature! What’s more, by recording and sharing your observations, you’ll create research quality data for scientists working to better understand and protect nature.

2020 Nature Summit

Kentucky Nature Preserves, in partner with KNPS and other conservation agencies, is throwing  the first annual Nature Summit at Pine Mountain State Resort Park. This event will be April 24th-26th and will be a gathering of naturalists of all ages to celebrate and explore the biodiversity in the Pine Mountain region.

Join us for hikes, presentations, children’s activities, and exclusive night time field trips all led by the experts! Some field trips have limited space and require sign-up with registration. Others occur on park property all day long and do not require sign-up. There is something for everyone, so bring the whole family!

Kentucky Native Plant Society has helped put together the hike at Bad Branch State Nature Preserve on Saturday, April 25th: Join KNP botanist Heidi Braunreiter and Cumberland Falls SRP Naturalist Olivia Immitt, on a hike through Bad Branch SNP. This preserve protects the largest concentrations of rare and uncommon species known to the state! We’ll pass babbling brooks and hemlock groves through a deep ravine on our way to a 60-foot waterfall that crowns the natural beauty of this site. Learn about rare plants, medicinal plants, and the overall forest ecology of the area. This field trip requires sign-up with registration.

Click here to register and see a full schedule of the Kentucky Nature Summit. All participants must register to attend. An email regarding field trip sign-up will be sent to you once you have registered.

Kentucky Botanists Big Year 2019 Winners!

Congrats to our iNaturalist project winners! For the Kentucky Botanists Big Year 2019 project, we awarded prizes to the top five people in three categories:

Most Observations:

Kendall McDonald, winner in two categories of the iNaturalist Project: Kentucky Botanists Big Year 2019
  • Joey Shaw
  • John Abrams
  • Tara Littlefield
  • Kendall McDonald
  • Elsa Wachter

Most Observed Species:

  • Tara Littlefield
  • John Abrams
  • Joey Shaw
  • Elsa Wachter
  • Kendall McDonald

Most Identifications:

  • Mikayla Groce
  • Dwayne Estes
  • Margaret Carreiro
  • Richard Abott
  • John Abrams

Prizes will be given out Saturday, April 4th at our 2020 Wildflower Weekend at Natural Bridge State Resort Park during the evening speaker session. Each winner will receive a KNPS mug with the project name and their winning category on it!

Check out the project on iNaturalist to see where you ranked: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/kentucky-botanists-big-year-2019