Seven Species To Watch For During the Wildflower Weekend BotanyBlitz

By Vanessa Voelker, Botanist with the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves

While you’re admiring the usual spring flora during the week leading up to Wildflower Weekend, here are a few infrequent to rare native plants to watch for across Kentucky. In past years, iNaturalist observers have helped to document new populations of these seven uncommon to rare native species in the state. With a little luck and a sharp eye, you may be able to help us document even more!

Spotted mandarin (Prosartes maculata, Special Concern)

Spotted Mandarin range in Kentucky

Blooming period: April

Where to find it: High quality mesic forests in the eastern part of the state. Most iNaturalist observations of Spotted Mandarin in Kentucky come from the Red River Gorge area, however it is known to occur in a number of counties throughout the Cumberland Plateau ecoregion.

What it looks like: This perennial species is in the Lily Family, and like its relatives, its leaves have parallel venation. When in bloom, Spotted Mandarin can be easily distinguished from its more common cousin Yellow Fairybells (Prosartes lanuginosa): both species have similar foliage and nodding flowers, but the blooms of Spotted Mandarin are white with purple speckles, while those of Yellow Fairybells are greenish-yellow.

Click here to view all iNaturalist observations of Spotted Mandarin in Kentucky.

Spotted mandarin: Photo by @wildflowerenthusiast5
Spotted mandarin: Photo by @pbkelly

Sweet pinesap (Monotropsis odorata, Threatened)

Sweet Pinesap range in Kentucky

Blooming period: March-April

Where to find it: Scattered counties of eastern Kentucky. Sweet pinesap is usually found in upland woods with dry, acidic soil under oaks and pines, often in areas where Rhododendron species and Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) also like to grow.

What it looks like: If it seems familiar, you may be noticing its family resemblance to the more common Ghost Pipes (Monotropa uniflora) and Pinesap (Monotropa hypopitys). Like its relatives, Sweet Pinesap lacks chlorophyll and is parasitic on underground fungi that associate with tree roots. It is an inconspicuous perennial that stands no more than 4 inches tall, sometimes not even rising above the leaf litter, and its flowers and fleshy stems are violet to rosy, covered by bracts that turn brown. The common name derives from the sweet, delicate fragrance of the flowers, which is described as being similar to cloves, nutmeg, or cinnamon. The lovely, unusual flowers and sweet fragrance make this species a real treat to behold, although you may actually smell Sweet Pinesap before you see it.

Click here to view all iNaturalist observations of Sweet Pinesap in Kentucky.

Sweet pinesap: Photo by @tararoselittlefield
Large cluster of sweet pinesap: Photo by @hbraunreiter

False mermaidweed (Floerkea proserpinacoides)

Blooming period: April

False Mermaidweed range in Kentucky

Where to find it: This species is absent in most of Kentucky, and is restricted to the counties of the Cincinnati Metro area. On iNaturalist, it has been spotted at Gunpowder Creek Nature Park in Boone County, as well as St. Mary’s Cemetery and Lincoln Ridge Park in Kenton County. However, it might be found in any suitable habit in that area. Look for it in low woods near springs or small streams, as it prefers higher quality woodland habitats with consistently moist soils.

What it looks like: The first leaves to emerge are distinctively 3-parted. As the stem elongates, later leaves are 5- to 7-parted compound, and its 3-parted flowers are miniscule and greenish. Although it can be locally abundant, this diminutive annual is quite inconspicuous, and can be mistaken for a variety of dainty, similar-looking wildflowers, such as Catchweed Bedstraw (Galium aparine) and Harbinger of Spring (Erigenia bulbosa). Check it out “hiding in plain sight” in front of Sessile Trillium in this observation from Grant County.

Click here to view all iNaturalist observations of False Mermaidweed in Kentucky.

Three-parted young leaves of false mermaidweed: Photo by @kemper
Later leaves, photo by @micahfreedman
False Mermaidweed in full glorious bloom: Photo by @jackstenger

Forkleaf toothwort (Cardamine dissecta)

Blooming period: March-April

Where to find it: Forkleaf Toothwort prefers oak-hickory forests and rocky calcareous woods. In Kentucky, this species is found in the lower center of the state, with several populations having been observed on iNaturalist in the Mammoth Cave area. It is one of the less frequently encountered Toothworts, and there are currently only 14 observations of this species in Kentucky on iNaturalist!

What it looks like: Flowering stems have two highly dissected leaves, with lobe segments that are very slender and untoothed. The whole plant is hairless, and like related Toothworts, the flowers are white to pinkish with four petals. Forkleaf Toothwort may be most likely to be mistaken for the very common Cutleaf Toothwort (Cardamine concatenata), which has three whorled stem leaves that are moderately dissected with coarsely toothed lobes.

Click here to view all iNaturalist observations of Forked Toothwort in Kentucky.

Forkleaf toothwort: Photo by @thomashulsey
Forkleaf toothwort: Photo by @vvoelker

Glade Violet (Viola egglestonii, Special Concern)

Blooming period: March-April

Glade Violet range in Kentucky

Where to find it: As the common name suggests, this species is at home in the dry rocky soils of limestone glades and barrens. In Jefferson County, this species has been spotted in open glade areas along hiking trails at McNeely Lake Park.

What it looks like: Glade Violet is a “stemless” blue violet: the lobed leaves and flower stalks arise from the base of the plant at ground level, rather than branching off of a stem. The flowers are blue-purple with a striped white throat. This species might resemble other lobed-leaf violets like Early Wood Violet (Viola palmata) or even Arrowleaf Violet (Viola sagittata), but its strict preference for dry, open glade habitats can help to distinguish it from similar violets that prefer shadier, woodland settings.

Click here to view all iNaturalist observations of Glade Violet in Kentucky.

Lobed leaves of glade violet: Photo by @tararoselittlefield
Glade violet: Photo by @heididam_b

Carolina Silverbell (Halesia tetraptera, Endangered)

Blooming period: April-May

Carolina Silverbell range in Kentucky

Where to find it: Moist soils in wooded floodplains, forested streambanks and ravines, in the westernmost corner of the state. On iNaturalist in Kentucky, this species has been spotted in Land Between the Lakes, and on loess bluffs along the Mississippi River including at Metropolis Lake State Nature Preserve, just west of Paducah.

What it looks like: Carolina Silverbell is a large shrub or small understory tree. The simple, ovate leaves may not necessarily draw the eye, but while in flower this species is quite noticeable: the clusters of 2-5 white, bell-shaped flowers drooping from its branches are highly ornamental. This species is endangered in Kentucky, and any new observations of it would be a very exciting find during the BotanyBlitz.

Click here to view all iNaturalist observations of Carolina Silverbell in Kentucky.

Carolina silverbell in bloom: Photo by @jeff85
Carolina silverbell flowers and foliage: Photo by @jeff85

Nodding Rattlesnakeroot (Nabalus crepidineus, Special Concern)

Blooming period: August-September

Nodding Rattlesnakeroot range in Kentucky

Where to find it: Low woods near forested streams, uncommon in the state but scattered throughout. On iNaturalist, populations of this species have been discovered in Louisville area public parks such as Cherokee Park and Harrod’s Creek Park. In the Cincinnati Metropolitan Area, it has been spotted at St. Anne Woods and Wetlands in Melbourne and Devou Park in Covington.

What it looks like: Ironically, although Nodding Rattlesnakeroot blooms in late summer, it is far more likely to be observed in the spring. This species forms large, densely vegetative colonies, but plants without sufficient sun exposure don’t often don’t flower, and all or most of the plants in those colonies typically senesce by June. A cousin to Lactuca (lettuces), a lush colony of Nodding Rattlesnakeroot in April can look like a forest floor covered in salad greens. Although there are a few similar-looking Rattlesnakeroot species in the state, a key differentiating feature of Nodding Rattlesnakeroot’s spring foliage are its broadly “winged” petioles (leaf stalks). Because it is most visible during a narrow window of time early in the year, this species is somewhat overlooked throughout its range, so keep an eye out – you may be the next botanizer to make a new county record!

Click here to view all iNaturalist observations of Nodding Rattlesnakeroot in Kentucky.

Young “salad greens” foliage: Photo by @vvoelker
The broadly “winged” petiole as seen on a larger leaf:
Photo by @owenkathriner

Vanessa Voelker is a botanist with the Plant Conservation Section at the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. Originally from central Illinois, Vanessa worked as a lab tech for the USDA before fleeing the lab for the woods and honing her skills as a botany technician in Missouri and Indiana before coming to Kentucky in 2020. When she isn’t in the field, Vanessa is active on iNaturalist (@vvoelker) and is always happy to help with plant identification and offer pro-tips for differentiating between tricky species.

Let the Earth Breathe

By Anne Milligan and Stephen Brown

Reviewed by Susan Harkins

Let the Earth Breathe book cover

When asked how to design a new garden, my favorite response is: Keep your camera with you everywhere you go. When you see something you like, take a picture of it. Later, match the looks you love to your property while considering sun, water, soil, and grading. It’s the best advice I can give because someone with no idea what to do needs a bit of inspiration before they can start buying plants.

If you’re thinking of restoring your property to nature—using native plants—and you need encouragement or inspiration, then Let the Earth Breathe should be one of your first resources. It will complement your stack of pictures because you’re following the authors on their journey while you start your own. This isn’t your ordinary gardening book with lots of information on culture, botany, and so on. The book does include a lot of information about the native plants they chose, but plant culture isn’t the focus of this book. Instead, this book chronicles one family’s journey back to nature.

The book starts with an introduction to the importance of using native plants and why you should avoid invasives. The rest of the book shares the route they took to return their new property to nature using native trees, shrubbery, and wildflowers. Throughout the book, you’ll see patches of gorgeous plants and some hardscapes. In fact, this book has inspired me to assess my yard for hardscape and that intention quality that appeases neighbors. Every fall and winter, I plan better paths but somehow that just hasn’t happened. After working my way through Let the Earth Breathe, I’ve decided that this is the year!

Their journey begins in 2010 when they put in a rain garden filled with native plants that love moist soils. Their reason for the rain garden was to help retain runoff. The book ends in 2016, but trust me, their journey has just started.

You gain the benefit of their decisions and as you turn each page, you get the joy of viewing beautiful swatches of their rebounding yard. So, back to what I said at the beginning—this book will inspire and encourage you. I know that I said, “Ooooo, I want to do that…” every time I turned a page.

Read how the authors did it knowing that you can do it too.  

You can purchase this book by visiting lettheearthbreathe.org.

Anne Milligan and Steve Brown

Anne Milligan is a former Clinical Social Worker, an artist, singer/musician, and landscape designer. She and her husband, author and historian Stephen A. Brown, live in Southeast Jefferson County. Their Kentucky native plants sanctuary has been featured in The Louisville Courier-Journal and the Louisville Magazine.

Susan Harkins is the Managing Editor of The Lady Slipper. In real life, she is a technical journalist with 35 years in the IT industry, but her passion is native plants. A long-time member of the Capital Area Extension Master Gardener Association, she enjoys using her publishing skills to share her love of Kentucky’s native flora and fauna.

Kentucky Native Plant Suppliers and Contractors

By Rachel Cook, Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves

Are you a native plant nursery or contractor in Kentucky? Our website features a list of plant nurseries in our region that grow and sell native plants. The plant nurseries list has been extremely helpful and served as an important resource for native plant enthusiasts looking to grow their own native plants. We are working to improve this list to provide the most up-to-date information to our community.

This year we are adding contractors who work with native plants to this list. This will include landscape designers, invasive species removal specialists, habitat restoration specialists and more businesses that have a focus on native plants. We hope that updating and adding in related contractors that we can promote further habitat management and conservation throughout the state. This will serve as a the most complete collection of professionals in KY that work in plant conservation and restoration.

Moving forward, we plan to have this form featured on our website so that new businesses can send in submissions throughout the year. This will allow the list to be more readily updated and easy to navigate for both native plant enthusiasts and businesses.

If you are interested in having your business featured, we invite you to fill out this form on our website: https://www.knps.org/native-plant-supplier-form/.

If you have any questions, please contact KYPlants@knps.org or Rachel Cook at rcook@ky.gov.

Rachel Cook is a Botany technician at the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. For any questions, she can be reached at rcook@ky.gov.

KNPS Native Plant Stewardship and Biodiversity Awards 2021

The Kentucky Native Plant Society recently began formally recognizing individuals by honoring their work with Native Plant Awards in association with the annual Kentucky Botanical Symposium. These individuals are recognized for their outstanding contributions in advancing KNPS’s mission: to promote education, preservation and protection of Kentucky’s Native Plants and Natural communities. The recording from the Kentucky Botanical Symposium awards session is included below.

2021 Native Plant Stewardship Award – Jeff Nelson and Liz Neihoff

Jeff and Liz among the natural areas in western Kentucky, among the bald cypresses of Metropolis Lake SNP and their woodland restoration.

The recipients of the 2021 Native Plant Stewardship award are Jeff Nelson and Liz Neihoff. Jeff and Liz are most deserving of this award for numerous reasons. First, they both have worked over the past 30 years on an inspiring restoration project in McCracken County, Kentucky, converting their 10 acre property from farmland to native woodland. The stewardship of their property serves as inspiration to the many small scale landowners across Kentucky and the Country. They have documented and shared many of the interesting native plants on social media that have been restored on their property, educating and inspiring thousands of people with their actions and knowledge of our native plants. Their dedication and perseverance in removing invasive species and promoting the return of native plants is notable and reminds us all even the actions of just a few can make an significant impact on restoring our native plants and communities. Beyond their own restoration projects, they serve as preserve monitors at Metropolis Lake SNP, helping out the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves in rare plant monitoring, invasive species management, and trespassing issues. They are also active in rare plant monitoring and surveying in western Kentucky, documenting rare grassland remnants and rare plants along roadsides in western Kentucky and working with folks to ensure they are protected. Last, their work with the Kentucky Native Plant Society, in particular Jeff’s work as website master, general IT guru, board member, membership chair has been instrumental in the success and advancement of the Kentucky Native Plant Society and its mission.

Where’s Liz? Jeff sometimes shares photos of their restored native woodland with Liz hiding somewhere in the background. We love trying to find Liz, and also enjoy her poetry that often accompanies their native plant posts.

Jeff Nelson was born in San Francisco, CA, and grew up in Sunnyvale, CA. He received a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Liz Neihoff was born at home in rural McCracken Co, KY. She received a B.A. in Sociology from San Jose State University in San Jose, CA. Jeff, Liz, and their son Aaron moved from California to McCracken Co., Kentucky, in 1987. After building their house on their 10 acres, the family has spent the last 30+ years restoring the property from farmland to a native woodland. Jeff was employed as the IT Director of the Paducah Independent School District for 15 years, retiring in 2008.  Liz was self employed for many years as a gardener and landscape designer and has spent much of the past 30+ years removing exotic invasive species from their 10 acre restoration. They have been members of the Kentucky Native Plant Society since the early 1990s and Jeff has been on the Board of KNPS since 2017. Since 2019, they have shared responsibilities as Nature Preserve Monitors at Metropolis Lake SNP in McCracken Co. As lifelong amateur naturalists, Jeff and Liz love exploring Kentucky and learning about the rich diversity of the Commonwealth’s many ecosystems.

Jeff’s educational posts on social media and the Kentucky Native Plant Societies’ Facebook page, always sharing their knowledge and interesting native plant finds to other native plant enthusiasts in the region.

2021 Native Plant Biodiversity Award – Anne Milligan and Stephen Brown

Anne Milligan and Stephen Brown’s “yarden” in Jefferson county and Anne Milligan displaying their new book “Let the Earth Breath.”

The recipients of the 2021 Native Plant Biodiversity award goes to Anne Milligan and Stephen Brown for their work on converting their backyard “yarden” into a native plant oasis, starting a seed swap movement in the Louisville area, and chronicling their work in a new book and website.

Anne Milligan and Stephen Brown currently reside in semi-rural southeast Jefferson County, Kentucky. Anne is an oil painter and Stephen Brown is an author and historian. Over the past 12 years, they have transformed their yard into a native plant sanctuary and have inspired thousands of folks along the way. Many of you all know of Doug Tallamy’s work promoting native plants and gardening (https://homegrownnationalpark.org/tallamys-hub-1). We in Kentucky are just as proud of the work of Anne and Stephen, they are so inspirational and passionate about using native plants in our yards and serve as a reminder of how the power of just a few individuals can start a movement and inspire others to join them. Due to the tremendous success of their backyard native plant gardens, and realizing the amount of native seed they were producing, they decided to share their love of native seeds by starting Facebook groups and social media campaigns for native seed swaps in Jefferson county. This has been so inspirational to watch this movement grow as they brought together 100s of folks in the region to participate in their native seed swaps gatherings and start native plant restorations projects in their own yards. They have chronicled their work in a new book and non profit organization called Let the Earth Breath http://www.lettheearthbreathe.org/, and we encourage everyone to visit their website, read their book, and join in the native plant gardening and native seed swap movement.

http://www.lettheearthbreathe.org/

Native seed swaps and social media pages and posts help inspire thousands of people to use native plants in their gardens.

2021 KNPS Botanical Symposium Videos

“Coming Together to Discuss Current Botany Projects: Conservation and Collaboration in Kentucky and Beyond”

On Wednesday, December 8, KNPS held our second virtual Botanical Symposium. Close to 90 folks were able to attend online to hear and see several presentations about our native plants and plant communities. We know that there are many who would have liked to participate, but were not able to do so. Here are videos of all of the presentations.

Download a list of presenter contacts and links discussed in the presentations as a PDF.

Kentucky Native Plant Society and Office of Nature Preserves Updates: Current projects and opportunities.

Length 39:55

Plants of Concern: Monitoring Rare Plants of Southern Illinois
Chris Benda, Botanist and past president of Illinois Native Plant Society

Length: 24:36

Reversing Declines in Grassland Biodiversity
Brittney Viers, Quail Forever/NRCS Tennessee

Length: 32:55

Wetland Monitoring in Kentucky
Brittany White, Wetland Biologist, Division of Water

Length: 25:03

Update on the Tennessee-Kentucky Plant Atlas Project
Dr. Joey Shaw, University of Tennessee

Length: 27:16

KNPS Announces 2022 Research Grants for Students and Citizen Scientists!

Did you know that the Kentucky Native Plant Society offers small grants to help defer the costs of botanical research, inventory and native plant restoration? Since 2012, KNPS has awarded $8,100 to students working in these areas. Another $750 was awarded in prior years. The total number of grants awarded in any given year is based on the number of proposals received, the quality of proposals and available funding. The graph below shows the kinds of projects that have been funded.

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The second type of grant is new and is open to anyone. It will fund

1.  native plant inventory, or

2.  rare and native plant restoration.

Native plant inventory grants are limited to Kentucky locations and successful applicants will receive a maximum of $250. Rare and native plant restoration grants are awarded to applicants working with native Kentucky plants, preferentially those which are globally rare (G1, G2). Successful applicants will be awarded a maximum of $500. All rare and native plant restoration grants require coordination with the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves (OKNP) and the Kentucky Native Plant Conservation Alliance coordinators prior to application.

A grant proposal must include:

  1. A current curriculum vitae;
  2. A proposal (not to exceed two single-spaced typed pages) describing the proposed research and the role the grant would play in the research;
  3. An itemized budget;
  4. A letter of recommendation from the applicant’s major professor or project director; and
  5. Indicate whether the grant request is for a student research grant, a native plant inventory grant or a rare and native plant restoration grant.
  6. If the grant is for rare and native plant restoration, include a letter of support from OKNP.

Budget items typically funded include travel to research sites and supplies such as herbarium paper and lab consumables. No personnel time will be funded.

All Grant Proposals are due by April 1st, 2022.

If you are interested in applying for any of the KNPS grants, visit the Grants page at the KNPS website. If, after reading the grants page, you have any questions, please email them to: grants@knps.org

Reforesting in the Bluegrass

By Beate Popkin, President, Wild Ones: Native Plants/Natural Landscapes, Lexington Chapter

In 2015, I began to visit Hisle Park in northeast Fayette County on a regular basis. Every time I drove out there, I was mystified by a property on Briar Hill Road where a very large number of young oaks grew in a dense plantation. In the winter and early spring, a house became visible at the end of a long curving driveway. What contrast to the surrounding pastures where horses grazed in expansive fields! Who created this planting and for what purpose?

Ann Whitney Garner

Then, in the summer of 2020, I met Ann Whitney Garner, the owner, and she invited me to her farm. On that first visit I drove through the opened gate with intense expectation and followed the driveway in awe at the extent of the plantation. The trees growing in rows stretched almost up to the residence. Ann Whitney showed me the garden, chicken coop, barn and small tree nursery behind the house, then took me through a small natural woodland to a substantial creek, David’s Branch, that forms the rear border of the property.

A view from the entrance gate.

She and her husband Allen Garner bought this 20-acre lot in 2006. In 2008, they moved with their three school-aged children into their newly constructed home and engaged a landscape contractor to design and install the plantings typical of Bluegrass residences: many boxwoods, cherry laurels, which are now dead, and more than 500 liriope plants, which Ann Whitney has since dug up and discarded.

The Garners do not come from farm backgrounds, yet they wanted to use their land for some kind of agrarian activity that would reduce the amount of mowing on their empty space. They knew that they did not want horses. They considered a vineyard but found out that their land was too alkaline. They played with the idea of growing corn or organic tobacco but had to acknowledge that they would get no return on their investment of money and effort.

They knew that they cared about nature, and Ann Whitney anticipated the moment when her children would go to high school and then college, and she looked forward to a new kind of work. She couldn’t exactly define what it would be, but she wanted to work on her property. In 2010, she had an epiphany: “Why don’t we grow what’s supposed to be here,” she asked herself and her family. She had walked her property almost daily pondering what she observed: the way bush honeysuckle and winter creeper intruding from the perimeter suppressed the regeneration of plants, and the possibilities offered by the large expanse of open space. It occurred to her that the property called for trees, because that is what Nature would plant on it. Trees would create wildlife habitat, beauty and—in the very long term—financial value.

The Kentucky Division of Forestry helped her move forward with her project providing several forest management plans, offering tree seedlings for a very reasonable price and eventually loaning her a mechanical tree planter. During the first year she ordered and planted 100 trees: many redbuds, some pecans, sycamores, and bur oaks. Then she put in an order of 300 trees, including many bald cypress for a low-lying area.

Oaks planted with the help of a mechanical tree planter.

Then, in 2013, the Garners took a big plunge ordering 5,000 oak seedlings, 1,000 each of swamp white, bur, northern red, Shumard and chinquapin oak. They chose oaks knowing that they would be slow-growing and not immediately overwhelm them with labor-intensive management tasks. They also assumed that an investment in oaks can provide a financial return in the distant future when selective harvesting for some kind of a niche market may become feasible. Also, Ann Whitney had taken note of Doug Tallamy’s argument in Bringing Nature Home, that oaks are immensely valuable as habitat trees and a food source for a huge variety of caterpillars thereby sustaining a large bird population.

When they ordered their 5,000 oaks, the Garners knew from experience that this number could not be planted with shovels, and that is where the mechanical tree planter came in. Hitched to a tractor, it carves grooves in the ground where individual workers riding on the machine place bare root plants at regular intervals. The entire Garner family participated in planting the oaks which turned into a surprisingly efficient and gratifying project.

Encouraged by their success with the oaks, they embarked on their last large planting endeavor two years later by installing 1,000 tulip poplars in a remaining empty space behind the house. Ann Whitney had observed how fast the poplars grew and decided she wanted to speed along the development of a canopy cover on at least part of the property.

With the restoration of the Bluegrass underway, birds became more abundant, and the soil began to absorb water more readily due to the expanding roots that channel it into the ground. But with the planting done, new questions arose: How does one live as a good steward on a property into which one has invested so much time, energy and money? Does the property lend itself to other uses that are still compatible with the goal of sustaining Nature?

In 2019, Ann Whitney started a tree nursery. Having handled thousands of tree seedlings over almost ten years, she concluded: “I can do this myself.” She studied up on propagation techniques and collected seeds of native trees growing in the Bluegrass.

Nursery trees tucked in for the winter.

She wants to inspire other property owners to follow her example restoring the Bluegrass, creating habitat for wildlife and helping the soil heal. She would like to make resources available to help them get started, and first and foremost among these are young trees. At this point her nursery has a number of native species available in 3- and 5-gallon containers. Her website is at https://www.fieldstoforest.com/.

Many landowners in Kentucky live on properties that they do not imagine ever returning to agricultural use. In Fayette County a single residential house can be built on 20-acre lots outside the urban service boundary with the official explanation that it serves agricultural activities, even though there is rarely any evidence of them. Instead, one drives past large lots with a house in the distance, possibly a few trees here and there, but otherwise with the ground covered in turf grass subject to a relentless mowing regime. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Ann Whitney Garner let her land speak to her. She walked on it and she worked on it. And she reflected on what she saw. She considered agricultural ventures. She became interested in ecology reading about plants and the animals they sustain. She sought professional advice and consulted with local arborists and biologists. Now, more than ten years after the big decision was made to reforest her land, she says: “I just know this is what we are supposed to do on this kind of property.”

Plants Mentioned in this Article

Buxus sempervirens – boxwood

Carya illinoinensis – pecan

Cercis canadensis – redbud

Euonymus fortunei – wintercreeper

Liriodendron tulipifera – tulip poplar

Liriope muscari

Lonicera maackii – bush honeysuckle

Platanus occidentalis – sycamore

Prunus laurocerasus – cherry laurel

Quercus bicolor – swamp white oak

Quercus macrocarpa – bur oak

Quercus muehlenbergii – chinquapin oak

Quercus rubra – northern red oak

Quercus shumardii – shumard oak

Taxodium distichum – bald cypress

Beate Popkin is the owner of Living Gardens, a Landscape Consulting business in central Kentucky. She is also the President of the Lexington Chapter of Wild Ones, Native Plants/Natural Landscapes, an environmental advocacy group. She lives in Lexington where she manages a number of native plant gardens on public and private ground.