Wildflower Week 2026 Archives - Page 3 of 3 - Kentucky Native Plant Society

Save the Date! KNPS Wildflower Weekend 2026 – April 17-19, 2026

We have exciting news for all of our members and friends! KNPS is happy to announce this year’s Wildflower Weekend is scheduled for April 17th -19th, 2026, at Natural Bridge State Resort Park and the Red River Gorge Geological Area!

But wait, there is even more cause for jubilation! This year the Kentucky Native Plant Society is celebrating its 40th Anniversary! In 1986, a small group of botanists came together to form the Kentucky Native Plant Society as an organization dedicated to serving as a medium of fellowship and information exchange among botanists, both amateur and professional, to promote conservation of native plants and natural plant communities of Kentucky, to promote public education in botanical science, and to encourage botanical research in Kentucky. We are excited to celebrate four decades of KNPS with members, friends, and past board members and officers!

The event will include guided hikes Friday afternoon through Sunday, through the Red River Gorge’s beautiful natural areas, student research poster sessions, a Friday Evening Friends & Members Social, and Saturday evening presentations and KNPS Recognition ceremony.

Wildflower Weekend Volunteer Recognition

The Society has always depended on volunteers and the contributions of members and friends to accomplish our goals. Over its 40 years, hundreds of people have volunteered thousands of hours to make KNPS the outstanding organization it is. KNPS Board members serve two year terms helping to make everything the Society does, happen. At this year’s Wildflower Weekend we are going to recognize these committed volunteers. Join on Saturday evening as we recognize all of those who have generously contributed their passion, knowledge, time and labor to the society!

It takes almost 100 people to make Wildflower Weekend successful each year! If you are interested in volunteering for Wildflower Weekend 2026, please visit our Volunteer Opportunities with KNPS page.

Wildflower Weekend 2026 Logo Contest

Each year, the KNPS Board selects a native wildflower to be the focus of the Wildflower Weekend logo design. For Wildflower Weekend 2026, the Board has selected the Pink Lady’s Slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule). Pink Lady’s Slipper is a large, showy wildflower belonging to the orchid family. It has two opposite basal leaves with conspicuous parallel veins and a large flower at the end of an erect stalk. The flower is magenta to whitish-pink; sometimes the whitish pink flowers will have darker pink venation. Pink Lady’s Slipper is widely distributed across the eastern United States and eastern to central Canada, from Alabama to the Northwest Territories. In Kentucky it is found in several counties in the eastern part of the state. It can be found in several locations in the Red River Gorge area. Submissions to the logo contest can be made here until January 16th, 2026.

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Botany Blitz 2026 & Kick Off Hikes – Call for Hike Leaders

Leading up to Wildflower Weekend 2026, at Natural Bridge SRP, KNPS will be holding our 6th annual Botany Blitz 2026, which will run from Saturday, April 11th, through Sunday, April 19th. The spring Botany Blitz is a group effort to document as many plant species as possible within Kentucky during the week preceding Wildflower Weekend, and will again be hosted on the community science platform iNaturalist. Participants can use the iNaturalist mobile app in the field (or use the website if your preferred camera is not a smartphone!) to document their observations of Kentucky’s flora.

As in previous years, Botany Blitz 2026 will commence with a series of Kick Off Hikes on Saturday, April 11th and Sunday, April 12th, in parks and natural areas across the Commonwealth. These easygoing wildflower walks are led by local botanizers and naturalists who are familiar with the native flora that hikers will encounter. As the Kick Off Hikes are meant to start the Botany Blitz, we are hoping that folks who plan to participate will sign up for an iNaturalist account (if they don’t already have one) and join the Botany Blitz 2026 project, although you do not need to be an iNaturalist user to enjoy these hikes.

Call for Kick Off Hike Leaders

Although we have several Kick Off Hikes in the planning process, we are seeking more hike locations and hike leaders! If you would like to lead a Kick Off Hike in your area, please fill out and submit the form below. All hike details are up to you, the hike leader, to choose, however we have a few suggestions to guide you:

Before selecting a hike location, we recommend that you visit the official website for that location or contact the owning agency/organization to check if there are any rules or guidance regarding larger groups of hikers.
Please also consider the amount of parking at the site, the typical weekend visitation levels during peak wildflower season, and the maximum number of participants you want to set. You may want to avoid choosing locations with limited parking that can fill up quickly on weekend days.
We also recommend arranging for a friend to co-lead the hike with you. A co-lead can assist you in keeping your the group together on the trail, watch the clock to help you stay on schedule (wildflower walks are notorious for running long!), and help guide any hikers that need to leave early back to the trailhead.

If you have any questions or if you need to change any hike details after you’ve submitted this form, please email us at WildflowerWeekend2026@knps.org.

If you are willing to lead a KNPS Botany Blitz Kick Off Hike on April 11th or 12th, 2026, please submit the following information.

2026 Botany Blitz Kick Off Hike Volunteer Leaders

URL

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Name(Required)

First Last

Email(Required)

Best Phone Number to Reach You(Required)

Hike Co-Leads

If you will have any co-leads for your hike, please list their names and email addresses here.

Name of Trail

If the trail is a named trail, please enter it here.

Name of park, preserve, or natural area(Required)

County(Required)

Name of Kentucky county where the hike will be.

Day of Hike(Required)

Chose the day of the hike.

Meeting Time(Required)

The time that folks should plan on meeting.

Time Zone(Required)

The time zone of the hike.

Estimated Hike Time Length (in hours)(Required)

Please provide your best estimate of how long the hike should take to the nearest half hour.

Approximate Distance of the Hike (in miles)(Required)

Please provide your best estimate of the distance of the hike to the nearest quarter mile.

Trailhead or Parking location (if parking is not right at the trailhead)(Required)

Please provide map coordinates of the trailhead location. If parking is not available at the trailhead, please provide the coordinates of the parking area.

Habitat(Required)

Please provide 1-2 sentences describing the habitat participants will see, highlighting any attractive, unique, or rare plants that may be blooming at that time.

Accessibility Information(Required)

Briefly mention any aspects of the trail that hikers should be aware of, such as steep slopes, significant stair climbs, slick trails, etc (see the “Accessibility Information” sections for the Mammoth Cave Cedar Sink Trail and Heritage Trail for examples)

URL where hikers can view a map of the facilities and trail (if available)

Maximum Number of Participants(Required)

Please choose according to your personal preference, as well as any rules the site may have regarding large groups. Some factors to consider are: if your hike is on a broad, level trail and you can project your voice well, you may be comfortable leading a larger group. If the trail is narrow and hikers will be single file, you may want to have a smaller number of hikers since this can affect how well folks at the back of the line can hear you.

Registration Options

After the Kick Off Hike schedule is finalized and published online, participants will be able to register for the hikes on the KNPS website. However, if you are affiliated with an agency or organization that would prefer participants register for your hike through your own registration page, please let us know

Are you currently an iNaturalist user and relatively familiar with the iNaturalist mobile app?(Required)

Yes

Would you be comfortable helping to review/confirm/suggest ID's for observations in the Botany Blitz 2025 project?

Yes

Calling all Artists & Graphic Designers! Enter the Wildflower Weekend 2026 Logo Design Contest

If you are an artist or graphic designer, we would love for you to consider entering the Wildflower Weekend 2026 Logo Design Contest. This is an open design contest to come up with a logo for Wildflower Weekend 2026 (April 17-18 at Natural Bridge SRP). The logo will be used on t-shirts, hoodies, and coffee cups, as well as on all publicity about the event. The submitted designs will be presented to the KNPS membership for voting and the winner will be awarded $200 and be recognized on the KNPS website.

In June of 2022, a KNPS member posted the image on the right on the KNPS Facebook group page of a t-shirt she had found in a thrift store. Asking among several longtime members, it turns out that in the 1990s, and into the early 2000’s, KNPS produced t-shirts for each Wildflower Weekend. The KNPS Board decided to bring back this great tradition for Wildflower Weekend 2023.

The Board asked KNPS vice-president Kendall MacDonald to design a logo for the 2023 Wildflower Weekend. The beautiful image she created featured the yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum) with Cumberland Falls as the background. The image was used in all publicity for the event and was also featured on an adult t-shirt, a coffee mug, a kid’s t-shirt, and an adult hoodie that were available for sale in our KNPS Gear Shop.

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