Jeff Nelson, Author at Kentucky Native Plant Society

From the Lady Slipper Archives: Remnant Prairies at WKWMA

The Lady Slipper newsletter 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. This one, about remnant prairie ecosystems in western Kentucky, first appeared in the winter of 1995, Vol. 10, No. 4. If you would like to see other past issues, visit the Lady Slipper Archives, where all issues from Vol. 1, No. 1, February 1986 to Vol. 38, 2023, can be found.

Remnant Prairies at West Kentucky Wildlife Management Area

by Charlie Logsdon, West Kentucky Wildlife Management Area Supervisor [at the time of this article, 1995]

The history of the land and people that have inhabited the area of what is now West Kentucky Wildlife Management Area (WKWMA) would be suitable for a Michenor novel. West Kentucky Wildlife Management Area is about 6,700 acres in size and is located about 12 miles north west of Paducah . Long before European contact the area was frequented by mound builders, Chickasaws and other native Americans.

Continue reading →

Bonnie Reid (1959-2024)

Bonnie Reid
August 12, 1959 – July 4, 2024

We were sad to hear of the passing in July of Bonnie Reid, a landscape architect and arborist in the Bluegrass Region. For most of 1986, she worked with Julian Campbell at the University of Kentucky to collect seed, cuttings and diggings of trees and shrubs for the planned Kentucky State Arboretum. In that year also the KNPS was formed.

Bonnie was very interested in native plants and the Society. She was one of few licensed female arborists and an early proponent of using native plants in landscaping, specializing in perennial displays. Her clients included some of the old horse farms, often surrounded by ancient ashes and oaks. Even in town, her life connected auspiciously with the native flora. Working in the garden of Joan Gaines on Gratz Park, she discovered a small patch of running buffalo clover and called Julian, who helped to grow the plant and collect seeds. We thank her family and friends for donating to KNPS in her honor.

Obituary

Purple Fringeless Orchid (Platanthera peramoena A. Gray): A Small Restoration Success Story

**^{Purple fringeless orchid (Platanthera peramoena) – Photo by Pat Ranval}**

By Jeff Nelson, KNPS President

The purple fringeless orchid (Platanthera peramoena A. Gray) is one of Kentucky’s 40+ native, terrestrial orchids. It is widespread in Kentucky, though uncommon. The species is found in moist forests, woodlands, meadows, and thickets, as well as in marshes and swamps. It grows from 1’-4’ tall, producing 2-5 spreading leaves along its stem. In early to mid-July the plant bears an inflorescence of multiple, showy, pink or purple flowers.

In 2016, I came across a single volunteer specimen of P. peramoena growing in moist woods on our 10 acres in SW McCracken county, Kentucky. At the time I am writing this, in early July of 2024, there are fifteen plants, twelve of which are flowering. In this post I am going to go through the processes that led to the (so far) successful expansion of this population of orchids.

Continue reading →

Ballard WMA Field Trip

By Jeff Nelson, KNPS President

On Saturday, June 15, a group of KNPS members and friends enjoyed a field trip to the Ballard WMA in Ballard county in far western Kentucky. Ballard Wildlife Management Area is 8,000 acres located in the Ohio River bottomlands ecoregion in far western Kentucky. The WMA is mostly wetland with 39% of the acreage in wetland, 28% forest, 27% open land, and 6% open water. Much of the wetland is comprised of rare, cypress-tupelo swamps and sloughs which many Kentuckians have not had the opportunity to experience. The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves lists cypress-tupelo swamp as a state endangered ecosystem.

Continue reading →

Wildflower Weekend 2024 in Review

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.

Wildflower Walks

Wildflower walks and hikes are the defining activities of every Wildflower Week, but this year we also included hikes about fire ecology, geology, birds, herps, butterflies, pollinators, reptiles and more! Beginning at noon on Friday and running through the end of the day on Saturday, we enjoyed a record number 25 flora and fauna walks, led by over 30 of the best botanists, zoologists and naturalists in the country. Exploring the amazing diversity of the plant communities in Natural Bridge SRP and the Red River Gorge Geological Area, participants learned about and enjoyed dozens of native plant species, the fauna associated with them, and the amazing geology and hydrology that surrounds them.

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.” These new additions to Wildflower Weekend were enjoyed by all who participated and brought in several new faces to our annual gathering.

Continue reading →

KNPS’ New Events Calendar

We are happy to announce that we have a new events calendar for the Society and, hopefully, all conservation related events in our Commonwealth and our region. You can view the calendar here. We are currently putting in all scheduled events for KNPS, but we want this calendar to be so much more for the native plant community. So we are hoping that individuals, clubs, and all conservation oriented organizations in our region will post their events to the calendar. To facilitate this we have created the form below to let anyone submit an event. Alternatively you can just send the info about your event to KYPlants@knps.org. Thank you.

Events Calendar Submission Form

Continue reading →

Field Trip to the Ballard WMA – June 15, 2024

Date of trip: 06/15/2024
Time: 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM (approx.) Central Time
Location: Ballard County
Difficulty of hike: Easy – We will caravan/carpool on the gravel roads in the wildlife management area, stopping to view a variety of native plants and habitats. At a couple of the stops, we will walk distances of under a 1/2 mile.

^{Swamp Candles (Lysimachia terrestris)}

Join KNPS President, Jeff Nelson and KNPS member and Ballard WMA employee, Gerald Burnett, as as we explore the native plant ecosystems in the wetlands and river bottoms of the Ballard WMA in Ballard Co.

Ballard Wildlife Management Area is 8,000 acres located in the Ohio River bottomlands ecoregion in far western Kentucky. The WMA is mostly wetland with 39% of the acreage in wetland, 28% forest, 27% open land, and 6% open water. Much of the wetland is comprised of rare, cypress-tupelo swamps and sloughs which many Kentuckians have not had the opportunity to experience. The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves lists cypress-tupelo swamp as a state endangered ecosystem.

We will caravan (carpooling as much as possible) around the WMA, stopping to examine the botany of Ballard’s diverse ecosystems. We should see several uncommon, wetland plant species. In particular we hope to see the rare swamp candles (Lysimachia terrestris), a more northerly species that in Kentucky is only found in two far western counties. Although we will not be hiking any distance, we will be taking walks of less than 1/2 mile at a couple of stops, all on the road or trails. We will walk into areas off the road to get a better view many of the plants. There is likely to be some muddy spots where we will be walking, so be prepared.

Registration is Required

Please fill out the form below to register for this field trip. This trip will be limited to 20 people.