Wildflower Weekend 2026 Logo Contest

Wildflower Weekend Hikes and Workshops

Hike leaders and co-leaders highlighted the botanical diversity of Natural Bridge SRP with many hikes covering the weekend’s classic subjects: woody plants, wildflowers, bryophytes and ferns. Additionally, the weekend offered a variety of more beginner and advanced botanical hikes, featuring subjects such as the wildflowers and geology, evolutionary relationships of wildflowers and ferns, hemlock ecology and treatment, spring wildflowers and their bug friends, and lichens.

As participants attended their hikes, they were also able to see the beautiful natural features Natural Bridge has to offer due to its sandstone geology. The weekend featured Natural Bridge arch, Nada Tunnel, and several other notable arches: Rock Bridge, Whittleton, Gray’s. 

The hikes of wildflower weekend are one of the most important parts of this KNPS tradition. KNPS could not do this without the donations of time, experience, knowledge and expertise of all of our hike, workshop and lecture leaders. KNPS would like to extend our thanks to the following hike leaders:

Kid’s Activities

We have always tried to make Wildflower Weekend a family friendly event (kids 12 and under attend free). This year we offered two kid-centered activities: “Rainbows and Besties,” a wildflower and pollinator hike on Friday with Tina Brouwer (director of Red Oaks Forest School), and “Kid’s Nature Activity” wildflower hike on Saturday afternoon with Isabel Cochran, which featured fun botanical and nature activities designed for the young naturalist.

We also provided a table filled with art supplies, a scavenger hunt and magnifying glasses from Trees Lexington, and a naturalist book for children from Kentucky State Parks to utilize throughout the weekend.

Student Research Poster Sessions

View or download the Wildflower Weekend 2026 Student Research Poster Session Abstract Booklet below.

Friday Night Members & Friends Campfire Social

The picnic tables were filled during the Members & Friends Campfire Social. Old and new friends enjoyed smores and good conversation while enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. The fellowship went well into the evening, with all matter of botanical topics discussed.

Saturday Night Presentations

The first talk of the evening focused on the history of KNPS and botany in KY given by Dr. Ron Jones, professor emeritus of Eastern Kentucky University, as part of the 40th anniversary of the organization. He spoke about how KNPS was conceived and changed throughout time. Dr. Jones included many fascinating details about many members of Kentucky’s botanical community. The presentation included a beautiful tribute to those founding members who have since passed away.

This led into the recognition ceremony for previous officers and board members of KNPS. Thanks to the KNPS planning committee and Dr. Jones, a yearbook of the former officers and board members was created (see pdf below). These, along with a native plant (donated by Judson Collins of ExtraFlora, Tyson Gregory of UK Arboretum, and Jess Slade of Kentucky Natural Lands Trust) and thank you note drawn by KNPS president Kendall McDonald, were given to each person as their name and positions served were announced. 

Book Signings

KNPS was able to host book signings for two books at Wildflower Weekend, by authors Ethan Tapper, and Dan and Judy Dourson.

We would like to thank these authors for providing our participants with the chance to own a signed copy of these great written works.

Raffle

Thanks to many generous donors, the raffle was full of wonderful prizes this year! KNPS is very grateful to the following people for aiding us in our fundraising efforts:

Special Thanks to Volunteers, Donors and Our Host

Kentucky Native Plant Society and the events it hosts, such as Wildflower Weekend, are almost completely volunteer based. KNPS relies on many partners, professionals, and members of the public to be able to continue to host Wildflower Weekend for over 35+ years. At Wildflower Weekend 2026, KNPS had over 30 volunteers contribute hundreds of hours on the planning committee, advertising the event, handling registration, working the weekend, or leading hikes, workshops or giving presentations. We would like to thank everyone, no matter how small their contribution, for helping us make this wonderful event possible.

A HUGE thank you to our Wildflower Weekend planning committee leads for all of their hard work. These dedicated members volunteered hundreds of hours for half a year to make Wildflower Weekend 2026 possible. For every great experience you had at Wildflower Weekend, you can thank these generous volunteers:

Wildflower Weekend has turned into a massive event and we could not pull it off without the help of our in-person volunteers. We are very appreciative of the generous donations of time and labor from the following people:

Kentucky Native Plant Society would like to thank the following:

• Natural Bridge State Resort Park, for being wonderful hosts
• Kentucky Wild, for donating Monarch Native Seed Packets
• East Kentucky Power Cooperative, for donating orchid and wildflower posters
• Alexandra Taylor, for providing photography services
• Viktor Halmos, for donating coffee for volunteers

By Alan Abbott, KNPS Field Trips Coordinator

KNPS organized four Botany Blitz Kick-Off hikes in four different Kentucky counties on April 11th and 12th this year.

In McCreary County, Tyson Gregory from the University of Kentucky Arboretum led a group along the lower trails of Blue Heron Mining Community. The group identified a number of blooming plants, including Pinxster Azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides), Primrose-Leaf Violet (Viola primulifolia), and Yellow Trillium (Trillium luteum). In Kentucky, Yellow Trillium is limited to only a handful of counties on the Cumberland Plateau.

In Cumberland County, Park Naturalist Coti Groce led a hike at Dale Hollow Lake. Plants seen in bloom included Southern Stoneseed (Lithospermum tuberosum), Showy Orchid (Galearis spectabilis), and Cumberland Spurge (Euphorbia mercurialina). Cumberland Spurge is mostly found to the south of Kentucky and these plants are near the northern edge of its range.  

In Bullitt County, KNPS Field Trip Chair Alan Abbott guided a group through the main trail at Pine Creek Barrens.  Highlights included Eastern Shooting Star (Primula meadia), Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra), and Yellow Stargrass (Hypoxis hirsuta). Many American Columbo (Frasera caroliniensis) plants appeared likely to flower this year.  

In Campbell County, Botany and Plant Ecology professors Dr. Maggie Whitson and Dr. Richard Boyce met approximately half a dozen people at the Northern Kentucky Field Research Station at St. Anne’s Woods and Wetlands. Plants seen in bloom included Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum), Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium reptans), and Common Pawpaw (Asimina triloba).  

The events were part of KNPS’s Wildflower Week Botany Blitz on iNaturalist.

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.