KNPS is taking our message of the importance and value of native plants on the road this summer. With the help of some wonderful volunteers, the Society had booths at two festivals the first weekend of August.

On August 1, KNPS participated in the CRAVE Food + Music Festival in Gatton Park, in downtown Lexington. We were grouped near fellow environmental and sustainability organizations like Seedleaf, FoodChain, and Live Green Lexington. It was a great place to chat with like minded individuals and share our information with passers-by. KNPS Outreach Chair Alexandra Taylor, KNPS Vice President Rachel Cook, and KNPS member Viktor Halmos staffed the table and KNPS Volunteer Coordinator Meaghan Petix helped Alexandra with outreach material preparations. 

Meaghan and Rachel helped Alexandra create a Native Plant Personality Quiz to have as an interactive piece of the tabling experience for adults. We also had plenty of coloring pages for kids. The coloring pages were created by KNPS member Bonnie Nance and show native plants with native pollinators. The group also handed out plenty of wildflower seed packets. 

Overall, the event was quite successful with many people attending early in the day before the weather changed. We interacted with a few people who had heard of KNPS but many who hadn’t! We got lots of native seeds out into the hands of these folks and hope to hear back from some people who may be interested in getting more involved! 

On August 1st & 2nd KNPS enjoyed being part of the 30th annual Hummingbird Festival at the Woodlands Nature Station in the Land Between the Lakes, in Trigg County. For 30 years, the Hummingbird Fest has celebrated the beauty of hummingbirds, plants, and pollinators at the Woodlands Nature Station! With as many as two hundred hummingbirds a day passing through the Nature Station’s backyard, August is a great time to see the ruby-throated hummingbird.

Woodlands Nature Station staff, scientists, local artisans, native plant sellers, other conservation organizations, and KNPS all had booths in the Nature Station’s backyard. More than 1,500 visitors, over 2 days, came through to watch hummers and butterflies and other pollinators buzzing about the native gardens, got an up-close look at the hummingbird banding station, learned how to create habitat in their own backyard, shopped for native plants and avian inspired art, and enjoyed games and crafts with the kids!

Favored with wonderful, early August weather, we enjoyed spending time with hundreds of visitors that were interested in learning about native plants in Kentucky. It was great that our table was set up next to the Ironweed Native Plant Nursery and Firefly Native Plant nursery. They had many of the plants we discussed with folks for sale in their booth. To focus our discussions, we prepared a handout, “Kentucky Native Plants to Attract and Feed Hummingbirds”. You can download a copy of the handout by clicking on the image next to this text.

Everything that the Kentucky Native Plant Society does is done by dozens of volunteers who give hundreds of hours of their time each year to make our Society’s activities happen. This event was no exception. Our Volunteer Coordinator, Meaghan Petix, put out a call for folks to help with tabling. KNPS members, Al & Sue Lake, Dianne Benjamin, Toni Riley, Liz Neihoff, Bonnie Koblitz, Phyllis & Dent Morris, and Jeff Nelson stepped up and helped Festival visitors learn about the Kentucky Native Plant Society and its mission to promote education, preservation, and protection of our native plants and native plant communities.

Every year, we get invitations to set up a booth at conservation oriented events around Kentucky. KNPS’s new Outreach coordinator, Alexandra Taylor works with our Volunteer coordinator, Meaghan Petix to select appropriate events and locate volunteers willing to help staff the Kentucky Native Plant Society table at these events. We are already looking at two events coming up in late summer and early fall. We hope to have a table at the National Public Lands Day at Cumberland Falls SRP on Saturday, September 26 and at the Plants and Pollinators Day Native Plant Sale & Educational Event at the Train Depot in Louisville on Sunday, October 11. If you think you might be interested in helping out at either of these two events, or other events when they occur in your neighborhood, just send an email to Meaghan at Volunteers@knps.org. You can also visit the KNPS Volunteer Opportunities page to express your interest in tabling at events or other ways to help KNPS achieve its mission. If you or your organization is planning a conservation oriented event and would like KNPS to participate, please email Alexandra Taylor at Outreach@knps.org.

Do you have a native plant garden and want to share? Many of our KNPS members have brought their love of native plants to their home gardens. It is so wonderful to experience how pollinators and wildlife interact with natives from the comfort of our homes. Even more so, it can be an invaluable learning experience to see species from when they emerge in the spring through the fall.

We are often asked what species are best for garden settings. The KNPS Outreach and Social Media committees are interested in your gardens! If you would like to have KNPS share pictures of your garden, please email 2-5 photos with your name, where in the state your garden is located, and any other information you would like to share to Outreach@knps.org

Here are some example photos from board member Heidi Braunreiter’s amazing garden in central Kentucky.