We had another awesome week of wildflower appreciation during KNPS’s 6th annual Botany Blitz! The Botany Blitz is a wildflower-focused bioblitz where participants try to document as many plant species as possible during the week before Wildflower Weekend. This year’s Blitz ran from April 11 through April 19. As in previous years, the Botany Blitz was hosted on the iNaturalist platform, which makes it easy for participants to document, share, and identify their observations through iNaturalist’s website and mobile app. We also hosted a series of “Kick Off Hikes” across the state again this year: on Saturday April 11, and Sunday April 12, several local naturalists and experienced iNaturalist users led guided hikes in preserves, parks, and other natural areas across the Commonwealth. Many thanks to the hike leaders for helping us kick off the Blitz!
This year was a great year for observations, with 50 observers making 3,511 observations of plants in 742 species, the largest number of species every observed during Botany Blitz. Observations were made across the Commonwealth, from the mountains of eastern Kentucky to the grasslands and oak-hickory forests of the Jackson Purchase. Observations were made in 45 counties in the state. In the map below, every orange square is a location where observations were made.
You can see all 3,511 observations at the KNPS Wildflower Week 2026 Botany Blitz page. Here are a few notable observations.
The Lady Slipper newsletter, and now blog, of the Kentucky Native Plant Society has been published since the Society’s founding in 1986. We occasionally feature an article from a past issue. In this article from 2014, Dropseed Native Plant Nursery owner, Margaret Shea, discusses the value of native plants to the home vegetable garden. This article ran in Vol. 29, No. 1. If you would like to see these and other past issues, visit the Lady Slipper Archives, where all issues from Vol. 1, February 1986 to Vol. 40, 2025, can be found.
How Native Plants Can Help Your Veggies
By Margaret Shea, Dropseed Nursery
Symphyotrichum novae angliae; Photo by Tom Barnes
Are you shocked to hear that there are 4,000 bee species native to the US? I was! Pests and diseases have hurt populations of imported Honey Bees over the past several years, causing farmers to worry about pollination of their crops. Many vegetables and fruits require pollination by bees, and insufficient numbers of bees can be one reason for reduced crop yield. You can increase the abundance of native bees in your vegetable patch or farm by providing them with food and habitat.
Ratibida pinnata; Photo by Nick Drozda
A couple native bees you might be familiar with are Bumble Bees and Sweat Bees. Some bees that were new to me include the Mason Bees, Adrenid Bees and Leafcutter Bees. These native bees nest in the ground, wood, or hollow plant stems. Many of the native bees are solitary and do not live in a large hive like the honey bees. Since they do not have a hive to protect, native bees tend to be less aggressive and are unlikely to sting. Having some untilled soil and other vegetation around your vegetable garden will provide habitat for these bees. Growing native plants near your vegetable garden will provide additional nectar and pollen – attracting bees and allowing their populations to grow. A source of water is also important for native bees as well as honey bees.
Lobelia puberula; Photo by Tom Barnes
Native plants that are especially attractive to bees include: Golden Alexanders, Hairy Beardtongue, Culver’s Root, Bee Balm, Slender Mt. Mint, and Smooth Blue Aster. Using a mix of species that flower throughout the season will give bees a constant source of food, and keep them near your vegetable garden throughout the growing season.
There are other insects that are good to have around your vegetable garden – and native plants can draw these species in as well. Insects like Lady Bugs and the Minute Pirate Bug are predators, eating pest insects like aphids, whiteflies and mealybugs. Other beneficial insects are called parasitoids – these insects lay their eggs in a host insect – their young eat and kill the host. Many parasatoids are wasp species, although these wasps do not sting. Parasitoids can kill pests like caterpillars and beetles. Beneficial predators and parasitoids also feed on nectar and are attracted to species including Rattlesnake Master, Boneset, New England Aster, Cup Plant, Blue Lobelia, and Yellow Coneflower. Growing these plants near your vegetable garden can help to create a balanced system, with pest insects under control. Plus, make it much prettier!!
In 2025 KNPS decided to try something new to foster a greater connection between the Society and the state’s higher education community by hosting student poster sessions to highlight the botanical (or botanically adjacent) research happening in Kentucky. The 2025 sessions were a great success, with 7 students presenting their research. Because of the success of the Student Research Poster Sessions in 2025, KNPS is again hosting these sessions at Wildflower Weekend 2026.
Join us to learn about the botanical research Kentucky’s higher education students are conducting during KNPS’s 2nd Wildflower Weekend Student Poster Session! This year we are thrilled that we have 12 students from universities across Kentucky presenting their research. The posters will be displayed in the Woodland Center all day Saturday and you can walk through and enjoy them at your own pace.
Click on the image to download the Student Poster Session Abstracts
There will be two sessions where the students will be with their posters and will be available to discuss their research and answer any questions you may have about them. Student Research Poster Session #1 will be on Saturday, April 18, from 8:00 to 9:00AM and will feature six of the students. Student Research Poster Session #2 will be on Saturday, April 18, from 12:30 to 1:30PM with the second group of six students. The students and their research topics are listed below. You can download a PDF of the full abstracts of all of the poster sessions by clicking on the image to the right.
Student Research Poster Session #1 – Saturday, April 18, 8:00 – 9:00AM
Alexander Boyken, University of Kentucky Influences of Bark pH and Hardness on Epiphytic Lichen Cover among Rural and Urban Central Hardwood Trees
Will Gibson, University of Kentucky Quantifying Habitat Characteristics of Venus Flytraps in Fire-Dominated Longleaf Pine Savanna
Isabella Gilliam, Morehead State University Species/Area Relationships of Lichens and Bryophytes within a Stream Mesohabitat at the Ed Mabry – Laurel Gorge Wildlife Management Area
Zach Hackworth, University of Kentucky Allelopathic Effects of Dahurian Buckthorn (Rhamnus davurica) on Seed Germination
Ira Hager, Eastern Kentucky University Ecology and Seed Germination of Monarda clinopodia
Savannah Merriman, Morehead State University Investigating Species Richness and Beta Diversity of Lichen and Bryophyte Communities within a Stream Mesohabitat of the Ed Mabry-Laurel Gorge Wildlife Management Area in Northeastern Kentucky
Student Research Poster Session #2 – Saturday, April 18, 12:30 – 1:30PM
Makaya Brashares, University of Kentucky Documenting Connections: A Framework For Database Deposition of Molecular Data And Interacting Taxa
Emily Campbell, University of Kentucky Effect of Tornado Damage and Post-Tornado Management on Forest Soil Microbial Communities in South-Central Kentucky
Patricia Leake, University of Kentucky Identifying Bee-Plant Interaction Networks in Diversified Organic Kentucky Farms Using Molecular Tools
Zoe McComas, University of Kentucky The Impact of Emerald Ash Borers and Purple Wintercreeper on Ash Trees in Reforested Urban Sites
Allison Neltner, University of Kentucky Field and Postharvest Production Methods of Natural Yellow and Orange Dyes from Tagetes erecta, Tagetes patula, and Cosmos sulphureus
Alexandra Taylor, University of Kentucky Genetic Diversity of Asteraceae on the University of Kentucky’s Campus
If you are attending Wildflower Weekend 2026 at Natural Bridge SRP, we would love it if you would consider helping out for an hour or two!
Amazingly, we have 80% of our volunteer slots already filled — however, there are still 13 more volunteer slots remaining. If you were considering helping out, now’s the time to sign up!
Working with other KNPS members and welcoming KNPS members/friends as they check-in to the event; no prior experience necessary!
1
Fri. April 17
9:30 pm
10:00 pm
Evening Social Clean-Up
Clean-up for evening social, put campfire out, clean-up trash, remove any KNPS signs from area + bring to lodge
1
Sat. April 18
7:15 am
8:00 am
Event Set-Up — Day #2
Open up Woodland Center; turn on lights; set up cashbox/iPad; set up student/grant posters on easels; get chairs for students and set by posters
2
Sat. April 18
12:30 pm
1:30 pm
Check-In/Registration Table
Working with other KNPS members and welcoming KNPS members/friends as they check-in to the event; no prior experience necessary!
2
Sat. April 18
4:30 pm
6:00 pm
Evening Program Set-Up
Help pack up check-in and registration tables; move cashier and KNPS table to back of room; set-up projection screen, projector, computer, + podium; move student/grant posters; set-up chairs lecture style
1
Sat. April 18
6:00 pm
6:30 pm
Raffle Sales
Raffle sales during Evening Program [must be familiar with using tablet]
1
Sat. April 18
8:30 pm
9:00 pm
Raffle Assist
Assist with raffle during Evening Program; help give out raffle prizes
1
Sun. April 19
7:30 am
8:30 am
Check-In/Registration Table
Last morning of check-in/registration — help if folks have questions or need information about their registered hikes!
2
Sun. April 19
8:30 am
10:30 am
Event Clean-Up — Day #3
Help with event clean-up tasks; packing up the Woodland Center; taking down signs/banners, etc
2
Should you have any questions or need more details about volunteering, feel free to reach out to our WW Volunteer Coordinator, Meaghan Petix (WildflowerWeekend2026@knps.org).
Thank you again for your support – we can’t wait to see everyone at Wildflower Weekend!
To begin Botany Blitz 2026 and Wildflower Week, on Saturday, April 11th and Sunday, April 12th, KNPS will host a series of Kick Off Hikes in parks and natural areas across the Commonwealth.
These mainly easy nature walks will be led by botanizers and naturalists who know the native plant species that will be encountered in each area. As the Kick Off hikes are meant to start the Botany Blitz project, we are hoping that folks who plan to participate will sign up for an iNaturalist account (if they don’t already have one) and join the Botany Blitz 2026 project.
Please fill out the form at the bottom of this page if you are going to participate in one of the First Day hikes. If you have any questions email us at WildflowerWeekend2026@knps.org.
Leading up to Wildflower Weekend will be our week long Botany Blitz 2026, which will run from Saturday, April 11th, through Sunday, April 19th. This is the sixth year for our Botany Blitz, which is an effort to document as many plant species as possible within Kentucky during the week preceding Wildflower Weekend. The Botany Blitz will be again hosted on the community science website iNaturalist, and participants will be using the iNaturalist mobile app (or website, if your preferred camera is not a smartphone!) to upload photos of budding and blooming plants they observe in local parks, state parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and nature preserves.
To participate, log in to your iNaturalist account or sign up for an iNaturalist account if you’re not already a user, and join the Botany Blitz 2026 project (just click “Join” in the top right corner of the project page). Then download the mobile app for iPhone or Android. The app is very easy to use, however we recommend taking a few practice observations to get the hang of it before the Botany Blitz begins! You don’t need to know the identity of a plant to make an observation, since the app provides ID suggestions based on your photos and geographical location. Additionally, the iNaturalist community is comprised of many knowledgeable botanists and naturalists who can review your observations and suggest alternative identifications. At the end of the Botany Blitz, we’ll tally up our combined observations to see how many species we were able to find in 2026!
In 2025 most of our Kickoff Hikes were cancelled due to storms across the Commonwealth. We still had 48 observers who made over 1,896 observations of about 393 plant species. We can do even better this year! Help us make this Botany Blitz the biggest ever!
Of course, you don’t need to wait till the Botany Blitz to start making observations on iNaturalist, and wildflowers across Kentucky are already starting to show their stuff!
For the third year, in the spirit of bringing together creative expression and love for nature, the KNPS Board sponsored a Wildflower Weekend 2026 Logo Design Contest.
Wildflower Weekend 2026 will be held at Natural Bridge SRP. Each year, the KNPS Board selects a native wildflower to be the focus of the Wildflower Weekend logo design. For Wildflower Weekend 2026, the Board has selected the Pink Lady’s Slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule). Pink Lady’s Slipper is a large, showy wildflower belonging to the orchid family. It has two opposite basal leaves with conspicuous parallel veins and a large flower at the end of an erect stalk. The flower is magenta to whitish-pink; sometimes the whitish pink flowers will have darker pink venation. Pink Lady’s Slipper is widely distributed across the eastern United States and eastern to central Canada, from Alabama to the Northwest Territories. In Kentucky it is found in several counties in the eastern part of the state. It can be found in several locations in the Red River Gorge area.
We put out a call to artists and graphic designers who were members of the Kentucky Native Plant Society in early December. The submitted designs were then presented to the KNPS membership for voting during the month of January. The membership of KNPS responded, with 130 members casting a vote. The beautiful logo featured above came out on top as the winning entry. The design, featuring the pink lady’s slipper orchid(Cypripedium acaule) and a background of Natural Bridge, was submitted by Alexandra Taylor of Lexington, KY. The logo is featured on t-shirts, hoodies, and coffee cups, as well as on all publicity about the event.
