We have exciting news for all of our members and friends! KNPS is happy to announce this year’s Wildflower Weekend has been scheduled for April 12th-14th, 2024 at Natural Bridge State Resort Park!
But wait, there is even more cause for jubilation! This year we are celebrating 35 years of Wildflower Weekend! That’s right! Naturalists and nature lovers from all across Kentucky have been gathering in the spirit of botanical appreciation, fellowship and education at Wildflower Weekend since May 1989! We are proud to host this year’s event at Natural Bridge SRP, the original location of the very first KNPS Wildflower Weekend (scroll down to page 3).
Help Us Celebrate with Your Photos!
To help celebrate our 35 years of Wildflower Weekend, we are planning to put together a montage of photos from prior Weekends that we will show during the Saturday evening talks. It would be great if everyone would look through their old Wildflower Weekend photos and pick out a few that you would like to share. If any of our longtime members have actual photos from the days before digital cameras a scan of those would be extra special.
This year, in the spirit of bringing together creative expression and love for nature, the KNPS Board decided to have a Wildflower Weekend 2024 Logo Design Contest. This was an open design contest to come up with a logo for Wildflower Weekend 2024. The logo will be used on t-shirts, hoodies, and coffee cups, as well as on all publicity about the event.
We put out a call to artists and graphic designers who were members of the Kentucky Native Plant Society in early December. We asked the designers to submit designs that incorporated either the great white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) or the stinking Benjamin, a.k.a. red trillium (T. erectum) or both. These charismatic species are commonly found decorating the floors of the rich forests in the Natural Bridge/Red River Gorge area. The submitted designs were then presented to the KNPS membership for voting during the month of January.
We did not know what the response would be so we were thrilled when we received 11 gorgeous designs, well beyond our expectations! The members of KNPS responded in kind, surpassing our expectations as we received nearly 140 votes, by far the biggest response we have ever received for an online poll. Voting came down to a nail-biting close race, and we had to have a runoff between the top two designs. At the end of the runoff, the beautiful logo featured above came out on top as the winning entry. The design, a contemporary interpretation of the iconic Trillium species crafted into a logo with a care-free and breezy sentiment of Spring, was submitted by Rick Mullenix of London, KY.
Rick Mullenix, Winner
“I have been a graphic designer for 19 years, and am a new member of the KNPS. I appreciate being part of this group and look forward to learning a lot. This design was a joy to work on. It is in the style of a badge design, I felt this would work well across the different mediums it would be printed in. My goal was to evoke a breezy, spring-style feel with the colors and the layout. Even though the trilliums both had distinct parts, I loved seeing the different interpretations of them in all the submissions.”
On Saturday, October 28, 2023, KNPS members and friends came together for a day of botanical education and exploration at John James Audubon SP, in Henderson, KY. The forests and wetlands around Audubon State Park was the home of the famed naturalist, ornithologist, and painter, John James Audubon, and the park museum features the largest collection of original Audubon art in the world in addition to personal artifacts about his life.
The surrounding forest along the bluffs of the Ohio River is mature, almost old growth in nature with some trees more than 200 years old. Approximately half of the property has been dedicated as a State Nature Preserve. At least 61 species of trees and more than 200 wildflowers have been documented from the site. The north facing, mesic forests are dominated by American Beech, sugar maple, and American basswood whereas the more south facing slopes are dominated by sugar maple, various oaks, and tulip tree. At least 169 bird species have been observed in the park.
When: Saturday, Oct. 28, 10:00 a.m. – 4:15 p.m. CDT Where: John James Audubon SP, Henderson, KY
Mark your calendars and plan to meet up with other KNPS members and friends as we head to western Kentucky for the Society’s 2023 Fall Meeting, on Oct 28th, at John James Audubon State Park, in Henderson. We will learn about and explore the old growth forests and wetland plant and animal communities in and around John James Audubon State Park and the nearby Sloughs Wildlife Management Area.
Audubon State Park was the home of the famed naturalist, ornithologist, and painter and the park museum features the largest collection of original Audubon art in the world in addition to personal artifacts about his life. The surrounding forest along the bluffs of the Ohio River is mature, almost old growth in nature with some trees more than 200 years old. Approximately half of the property has been dedicated as a State Nature Preserve. At least 61 species of trees and more than 200 wildflowers have been documented from the site. The north facing, mesic forests are dominated by American Beech, sugar maple, and American basswood whereas the more south facing slopes are dominated by sugar maple, various oaks, and tulip tree. At least 169 bird species have been observed in the park.
Mark your calendars and plan to meet up with other KNPS members and friends as we head to western Kentucky for the Society’s 2023 Fall Meeting, on Oct 28th, at John James Audubon State Park, in Henderson. We will learn about and explore the old growth forests and wetland plant and animal communities in and around John James Audubon State Park and the nearby Sloughs Wildlife Management Area.
John James Audubon State Park Wetlands, video via Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves.
We are still in the planning process, but the basic outline is set. There will be a meeting in the morning, from 10am to noon, with talks and updates from KNPS. After lunch there will be walks to look at some of the plants and plant communities that occur at the state park and wildlife management area. All of the talks and walks will be finalized by next month’s Lady Slipper
Morning session: 10am CDT, in the Audubon Theater in the John James Audubon Museum and Nature Center at John James Audubon SP in Henderson, KY
10am – Welcome and KNPS Updates – KNPS Board
10:45am – One or more talks on plants native to the area and the special plant communities they are part of.
12noon – Lunch on your own. There are no food facilities in the park, so we are recommending that people bring lunch and we can all picnic on the lawns and other park facilities.
1pm – 4:00pm – Afternoon Walks – We are still finalizing our walk schedules, but as of right now, the plan is to have two sets of two walks that folks can choose from. Walks will be led by experts who know the plants and birds in and around the park.
1pm – 2:15pm – 1) A walk through the old growth forest or 2) a birds and botany walk in the Audubon Wetlands
2:30pm – 3:45pm – 1) A walk through the old growth forest or 2) a carpool/caravan to Sloughs WMA for a walk in the wetlands.
The forest along the bluffs of the Ohio River is mature, almost old growth in nature with some trees more than 200 years old. At least 61 species of trees and more than 200 wildflowers have been documented from the site. The north facing, mesic forests are dominated by American beech, sugar maple, and American basswood whereas the more south facing slopes are dominated by sugar maple, various oaks, and tulip tree. At least 169 bird species have been observed in the park.
The 650-acre Audubon Wetlands was added to the park by the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation fund in 2016. The highlight is a bald eagle nest and heron rookery, as well as habitat for waterfowl and amphibians. The Friends of Audubon, a local nonprofit, has installed a wheelchair accessible boardwalk through the wetlands with plans to install more.
Summer storm clouds over Sloughs WMA
Sloughs WMA consists of a diverse mix of seasonally flooded grain crops and natural “moist soil” vegetation, natural marsh, seasonally flooded bottomland forest, and natural depressions or “sloughs,” that contain flooded stands of bald cypress lined with buttonbush thickets.
Please Let Us Know if You Are Going to Join Us
This event is open to KNPS members and friends alike. There is no cost for the event, but in order to plan effectively, we are requesting that folks pre-register for this event. If you are likely to attend, please fill out the registration form HERE. Thanks, hope to see you there!
John James Audubon SRP, Oct 26 2022, photo by Haley Owens
Save the date for the KNPS 2023 Fall Meeting at John James Audubon SP, in Henderson Co., KY, on Saturday, October 28. There will be a KNPS member and friends meeting in the morning, with informative talks and updates about the Society. After a break for lunch, there will be hikes, led by experienced botanists and naturalists that know the park, to look at the plants and plant communities that occur at the state park.
John James Audubon State Park is located just south of the Ohio river in Henderson County in western Kentucky. The park preserves the peaceful woods where John James Audubon walked as he studied the subjects of his paintings. The park museum features the largest collection of original Audubon art in the world in addition to personal artifacts about his life.
The surrounding forest along the bluffs of the Ohio River is mature, almost old growth in nature with some trees more than 200 years old. Approximately half of the property has been dedicated as a state Nature Preserve. At least 61 species of trees and more than 200 wildflowers have been documented from the site. The north facing, mesic forests are dominated by American beech, sugar maple, and American basswood whereas the more south facing slopes are dominated by sugar maple, various oaks, and tulip tree. At least 169 bird species have been observed in the park.
The 650-acre Audubon Wetlands was added to the park by the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund in 2016. There are bald eagles nesting and a heron rookery, as well as habitat for waterfowl and amphibians. The Friends of Audubon, a local nonprofit, has installed a wheelchair accessible boardwalk through the wetlands with plans to install more.
We have just begun the planning process for the 2023 Fall Meeting. If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or questions, email us at KYPlants@knps.org.
On April 14th & 15th, over 150 KNPS members and friends came together at Cumberland Falls SRP for the Society’s 34th Annual Wildflower Weekend. For the first time since Wildflower Weekend began in 1989, the event was held in a different location from Natural Bridge SRP. This change from years past gave us the opportunity to discover botanically, ecologically, and geologically unique areas of Kentucky as we explored Cumberland Falls, Natural Arch Scenic Area, & the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area.
Rest assured, we are not abandoning our friends at Natural Bridge SRP, who have hosted Wildflower Weekend for over 30 years. KNPS plans to now alternate Wildflower Weekend locations between Natural Bridge SRP in even numbered years, and other Kentucky parks in odd numbered years. Planning has already begun for next year’s Wildflower Weekend 2024 and to pique your interest for April 2024, enjoy the following images and discussion of Wildflower Weekend 2023.
Wildflower Walks
Wildflower walks and hikes are the defining activities of every Wildflower Week. This year, beginning at noon on Friday and running through the end of the day on Saturday, we enjoyed a record number 19 wildflower walks, led by 30 of the best botanists and naturalists in the country. Exploring the amazing diversity of the plant communities in Cumberland Falls state park, Natural Arch Scenic Area, & the Big South Fork National River & Recreation 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.
Friday Night Members & Friends Campfire Social
Friday night was our campfire social. Dozens of KNPS members and friends came together for an evening of fun, fellowship, and s’mores around the campfire next to the Cumberland River.
During the social, James Kiser, naturalist, hike leader, and Sat. night speaker, took several groups out to search the cliff face for salamanders. The searches were great fun and successful as the groups made multiple observations of several different species of these shy, nocturnal amphibians.
Green salamander (Aneides aeneus)
Red salamander (Pseudotriton ruber)
Long-tailed salamander(Eurycea longicauda)
Saturday Night Presentation & Raffle
On Saturday evening we came together for a KNPS update, evening talks, and our annual raffle. An overflow crowd filled the Moonbow Room at the Cumberland Falls DuPont Lodge.
James Kiser
James Kiser gave a fascinating presentation on “Southern Kentucky Landscape Features and Associated Rare Species“. The number and diversity of rare species in McCreary and nearby counties is much higher than in many other parts of Kentucky and James explained how the variety of landscape features likely leads to this. James is a senior biologist with Stantec Consulting Services. He grew up along the base of Pine Mountain in Letcher County, Kentucky, received a B.S. degree from Morehead State University and completed courses toward a Master’s Science Degree at Eastern Kentucky University. James moved to the Big South Fork area in McCreary County in 2003 when he took a biologist position with the Daniel Boone National Forest. He is an old fashioned Naturalist spending the last 32 years studying the flora and fauna of Kentucky.
Chris Benda
After a short break the group came back together to listen to an informative and fun talk by Chris Benda, the Illinois Botanizer. Chris’s talk was “Botanical Humor: You Never Knew Plants Were So Funny“. Chris kept the group laughing, while at the same time presenting a wealth of interesting botanical observations. Chris is a botanist and past president of the Illinois Native Plant Society (2015-2016). Currently, he works as a Researcher at Southern Illinois University, where he coordinates the Plants of Concern Southern Illinois Program and teaches The Flora of Southern Illinois. Besides working at SIU, he conducts botanical fieldwork around the world, teaches a variety of classes at The Morton Arboretum and leads nature tours for Camp Ondessonk. He has research appointments with the University of Illinois and Argonne National Laboratory, and is an accomplished photographer and author of several publications about natural areas in Illinois. He is also known as Illinois Botanizer and can be reached by email at botanizer@gmail.com.
The Bidwell’s with Bob Van Hoff’s carving.
The evening ended with the annual raffle. The grand prize of the raffle, as has been the case for many years, was a beautiful carving by KNPS member, Bob Van Hoff. This was a hand-carved, hand-painted depiction of a flowering pink lady-slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule) at three stages of inflorescence development. The winners of the carving were Mary Alice and Chris Bidwell, long time members of KNPS. Besides the carving, we also raffled off over 30 native plants. The plants were generously given to KNPS by our partners Ironweed Nursery in Waddy, KY, Dropseed Native Plant Nursery, in Goshen, KY, and The Arboretum at the State Botanical Garden of Kentucky, at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY.
Discussions about next year’s Wildflower Weekend 2024 are already happening. Dates are not set yet, but be thinking about the first half of April as the general time-frame. If you have any thoughts about how the event could be made better, we would love to hear from you. If you would like to lead or co-lead a walk next year, let us know. KYPlants@knps.org.
