Memorials - Page 21 of 57 - Kentucky Native Plant Society

Find native plants at Native Roots Nursery pop-up events

By Susan Harkins

Contact Native Roots Nursery via their Facebook page and email.

This photo shows a beautiful butterfly on a buttbush bloom. — Photo: Lizzie Darling

Lizzie Darling started her native plant adventure in 2021, when she and her husband moved into a new home in Louisville. She noticed that many of the plants growing in their neighborhood were cultivars and even invasives, such as Japanese honeysuckle and winter creeper. After researching their origins, she learned that these plants prevented a more robust natural ecosystem from developing. Lizzie wanted a native habitat for wildlife and insects to thrive.

There are many reasons to plant natives Lizzie says. They’re beautiful, low maintenance, and hardy. They’ve adapted to the region, so nature supplies what they need. That means they need no fertilizer and little to no supplemental water once established. Natives provide food and shelter for wildlife thanks to their symbiotic relationship with the ecosystem. Consequently, natives require no pesticides to support good health. Finally, natives usually have deep roots that prevent erosion and water runoff, while enriching the soil for life beneath the surface. It’s a win for humans, flora, and fauna alike.

Yes, you’ll see the occasional insect having lunch, but in a balanced system, plants withstand the picnickers quite well.

In 2022, she began transforming her Louisville property, but was disappointed to find few natives at neighborhood nurseries. Dropseed Native Plant Nursery and Ironweed Native Plant Nursery proved to be excellent sources to meet her needs. But still looking for options closer to home and finding none, she decided to grow natives herself.

This photo is of Lizzie Darling, owner of Native Roots Nursery. — Lizzie Darling, owner of Native Roots Nursery.

This past winter, she began growing native plants from seed and removing nonnative invasives and improving her wildlife habitat.

She joined several gardening groups this past spring and found many local gardeners looking for natives. That’s when she began growing them to sell, after acquiring her nursery license. Now, she supplies plants for local companies, such as Native Oasis, who designs and maintains native plant landscaping.

Native Roots Nursery is sold out for the 2023 season but watch for their pop-up events come spring. They also sell at local markets throughout the Louisville area. To keep up with her pop-up and local market events, like her Facebook page.

President’s Message – August, 2023

**^{Liz & I enjoying the shade of a massive pecan (Carya illinoinensis) on a hot day at Ballard WMA.}**

Hello fellow native plant enthusiasts. I hope everyone’s summer is going well and that you have been able to get out into Kentucky’s natural areas to enjoy our native plant communities. August is definitely a good news, bad news month. The good news is that many species of native plants are in full flower and the butterflies and other pollinators are taking full advantage of the bounty. The bad news is that August can be brutally hot and humid, making enjoying the extensive blooms a bit difficult. Whenever I can in August, except for those days when the heat index is in triple digits, I brave the heat, get out early, bring plenty of water, find shade when I can, and enjoy the beauty and diversity of Kentucky’s native plant communities. I hope you can as well.

I am absolutely thrilled by the success of KNPS’s two Wetland Plant ID workshops at John James Audubon SP at the end of June. The workshops were well attended with 26 participants, despite some challenging weather. Be sure to read about the workshops and see images from the field, also in this month’s Lady Slipper: Wetland Plant ID Workshops, A Great Success! An enormous thank you has to go out to Rachel Cooke who conceived, planned, and organized this great event. And thanks also to Nathanael Pilla of Midwest Biological Surveys who did such an amazing job of teaching.

Workshops are one of the ways the Society fulfills its mission of education about our native plants and native plant communities. Workshops generally are narrowly focused, usually with a single instructor. Most workshops involve a mix of classroom instruction and field work, with an emphasis on hands-on experience for all of the participants. We are already talking about workshops that KNPS might offer in 2024. If there are native plant-related topics that you think would make a good workshop or if you would be interested in presenting a workshop (or know of someone who is) please use the comment form at the bottom of this article to let us know.

Be sure to save the date for the KNPS 2023 Fall Meeting at John James Audubon SP, in Henderson County, 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 explore the plants and plant communities that occur at the state park. Along the bluffs of the Ohio River is mature, almost old growth forest with some trees more than 200 years old. Along the Ohio River the 650-acre Audubon Wetlands allows visitors to explore the forest and wetlands of the The Wabash–Ohio Bottomlands ecoregion. This will be the first time since 2012 that one of KNPS’ annual meetings will be hosted in the western end of the state. As a resident of this end of Kentucky, I’m looking forward to welcoming KNPS friends and members from all over the Commonwealth to western Kentucky.

Everything that the Kentucky Native Plant Society does, such as Wildflower Weekend, the Fall Meeting, workshops, field trips, symposiums, and more, happens through the efforts of volunteers giving of their time and creativity. You can help KNPS accomplish our mission, of promoting education about, appreciation for, and conservation of our native flora. If you have ideas for new things that the Society could be doing or thoughts about doing old things better, we want to hear from you. If you want to be more active in areas such as organizing events, leading field trips, helping with membership, writing and editing articles for the Lady Slipper, helping with the website and social media, and more, we want to hear from you. Let us know if you want to help using the comment form below.

Starting this month I am adding a comment form to the bottom of these President’s messages. Please use this form to ask questions, make suggestions, volunteer to help the Society, or just vent if you need to. Your comments will go directly to my email account. Thanks.

Comment Form

View native plants and wildlife at KDFWR WMAs

By Geoff Roberts, KDFWR

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources manages tracts of public land throughout the state for recreational use. These Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) are largely managed for hunting and fishing, although many of them also offer opportunities for hiking and wildlife viewing. In total, the 88 WMAs that stretch the commonwealth from Paducah to Pikeville and many stops between account for over 500,000 acres of public land.

This photos shows a F&W boundary sign on a WMA. — You can view native plants and wildlife on WMAs. Photo: KDFWR

Kentucky’s WMAs are likely not foreign to many sportswomen and men throughout the state as an estimated 19% of Kentucky hunters utilize these lands during various hunting seasons. Those individuals who do not hunt or fish may not be as familiar with the opportunities that these areas present and are encouraged to explore the possibilities at their local WMA or plan a trip to a management area of interest.

While virtually all of Kentucky’s WMAs can be explored on foot, nearly 60 offer hiking opportunities with defined trails, many of which occur in conjunction with Kentucky State Parks. An additional 15 management areas offer specific wildlife viewing opportunities for those hoping to catch a glimpse of land mammals, waterfowl, songbirds, and birds of prey. Many WMAs have a blend of terrain and habitat types, offering the chance to explore woodland, grassland, and wetland areas with varying degrees of ruggedness.

This photo shows a F&W employee viewing a field in a WMA. — Fish and Wildlife staff maintain WMAs. Photo: KDFWR

Fish and Wildlife staff implement specific management strategies for different WMAs. Some offer wildlife food plots and pollinator plantings while others serve as important habitat for migratory songbirds and waterfowl.

A listing of Kentucky’s WMAs, including detailed descriptions and pertinent info for visitors, can be found on the KDFWR website at www.fw.ky.gov. Specific features, including hiking trails, wildlife viewing, horseback trails, and picnic areas, can be filtered to allow individuals to search for a specific management area that offers desired amenities. An interactive map allows for easy and strategic planning.

Outdoor and wildlife enthusiasts may also be interested in Kentucky Wild, a KDFWR program that supports conservation of Kentucky’s native species not hunted, fished for, or trapped. Kentucky Wild is a membership-based program in which funds from paying members contribute to conservation projects aimed at helping vulnerable wildlife including songbirds, raptors, freshwater mussels, bats, and pollinators. More information can be found at https://app.fw.ky.gov/kywild/.

Geoff is a program coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources who loves sharing his passion for wildlife and the outdoors with others. A lifelong Kentuckian, Geoff enjoys birding, hiking, bass fishing, and exploring the state’s many outdoor opportunities in his free time.

Beargrass Thunder offers more than native plants

By Susan Harkins

The native plant movement is alive and well throughout Kentucky, so much so that finding native plants can be difficult. Fortunately for those in the Louisville area, Beargrass Thunder sells native plants and more.

This photo shows a planting of native flowers. — Plant native wildflowers.

Beargrass Thunder evolved from a YouTube channel for hobby gardening and urban placemaking in Louisville. They joined the Kentucky Proud family as a certified plant nursery and seed seller in 2021. Besides selling plants and custom seed mixes, they can install native yardens at your property. According to owner Jody Dahmer, a yarden is a native food, meadow, or pollinator planting.

Jody answered both an opportunity and a need when he started Beargrass Thunder. Neighbors in their Louisville community were fined for growing heirloom vegetables and flowers. He started Beargrass Thunder as a way to challenge Louisville’s restrictive, 90-year-old weed ordinance that outlawed plants taller than 10 inches.

It took three years, but the effort was successful. Louisville repealed the outdated ordinance in March 2022. The Louisville area is seeing a massive trend towards native plants with help from Beargrass Thunder and Native Plant Alliance, which steers suburbs and HOAs toward native plant landscaping in the greater Louisville area.

Jody said, “It has given us an opportunity to educate as well as influence the many ways governments maintain properties — switching from clearcutting and mowing to more fuel- and labor-efficient wildflower meadows and creek restorations. Once you know you have other options than mowed grass, it is very easy to change budgets! We have even had an HOA change their rules to allow gardens and native plants!”

In addition to changing minds and ordinances, Beargrass Thunder collects and shares localized varieties of wildflowers, vegetables, and fruit trees, which they share with members of the community as part of the Louisville Seed Bank. The seed bank is hosted by Louisville Tool Library on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 1227 Logan Street in the Shelby Park neighborhood.

You can find Beargrass Thunder at many Bernheim Arboretum events, neighborhood events, and other local businesses in the area. To make an appointment to purchase plants or seeds, or consult, contact Jody at jody@beargrassthunder.com. To keep up with their public events, follow Beargrass Thunder on your favorite social media platform:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2lrt1jkYLI75I3JSOATUgw
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beargrassthunder/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beargrassthunder

Native warm-season grasses can benefit cattle and wildlife but require good management

Jonathan Omar Cole Kubesch^1,2, Lauryn Jansen¹, Dillon P. Golding^1,3,4, Makayla Bryant¹, Frank Reith^1,2, and Derek Hilfiker^1,2

Virginia Tech School of Plant and Environmental Sciences; Blacksburg, VA
Country Home Farms; Pembroke, VA
Virginia Tech Urban Horticulture Center; Blacksburg, VA
Hoot Owl Hollow Farm, Woodlawn, VA

Today, most Upper South pastureland consists of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). Tall fescue grasslands suit cattle production needs for much of the year with few inputs and tolerate mismanagement more effectively than many other forage species (Kubesch et al., 2022a). However, tall fescue (TF) is limited in that the warm summer months are suboptimal for the cool-season grass, and the toxic endophyte in most tall fescue can lead to undesirable cattle effects. Cattle might have reduced performance in terms or gain, milk production, or reproduction, as well as elevated heat stress.

Native warm-season grasses (NWSGs) are warm-season grasses suited to producing forage during the heat of summer, when TF is not under optimal conditions for growth, which peaks in spring and fall. Examples of these species include big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans). Additionally, NWSGs can improve environmental outcomes over TF through wildlife benefits as well as improved drought resilience (Keyser et al., 2019; Keyser, 2021). Our position on the utilization of NWSGs in the Upper South for grazing is that NWSGs can complement existing TF grazing systems where management and infrastructure are available to transition between spatially separated TF and NWSG stands.

Spatially explicit TF and NWSG stands are requisite in order for the use of these respective species to be sustainable over a production lifecycle. Cool-season grasses outcompete warm-season grasses during the spring and fall, and the inverse occurs in the summer (Keyser, 2021). Portions of acreage for the TF and NWSG components of a grazing system have been used rather than a composition basis.

NWSG grass stands have been suggested to make up between 10-30% of Upper South farm acreage in a recent synthesis (Keyser, 2021). Given recent experimental work where heifers had the ability to select tall fescue or NWSG portions of a paddock over most of a grazing season, the 30% of acreage in NWSG seems more reasonable than the 10% value. However, given that converting from one forage to another forage results in 1+ year of lost forage production (Keyser, 2021), a piecemeal transition strategy like that suggested for organic forage production might be more practical (Kubesch et al., 2022b).

30% of farm acreage might be the long-term goal, however, that goal can be accommodated through converting smaller tracts over time. In a series of farm case studies, producers converted approximately 5-10% of their acreage to NWSG stands as trials for potential expansion (Virginia Cooperative Extension [Case studies]). Seeing as these conversions are already at smaller scales than what may be the long-term target, a piecemeal approach seems to be the most logical process. Conversions of select paddocks within grazing management units might also constrain the conversion process. Any forage establishment carries the risk of failure, and as such, establishing NWSGs during the conversion process can create additional risks (Kubesch et al., 2022b). In addition to the stand failing to result in enough viable plants for forage production, establishing stands can risk soil erosion, weed encroachment, nutrient leaching, water quality decline, and minor habitat loss for insects. The preference for perennial sods is in part to mitigate these environmental constraints, maintain forage production with minimal inputs, and to reduce establishment failure risk (Keyser, 2021; Case Studies; Kubesch et al., 2022b).

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Field Trip to Ballard WMA, July 29, 2023

Date of trip: July 29, 2023
Start time: 9AM CDT
Location: Ballard WMW, Ballard Co., KY
Difficulty of hike: Easy. We will car pool/caravan on the gravel roads in the WMA, getting out to walk short distances on flat terrain. Conditions will be hot and humid.

Join KNPS President, Jeff Nelson, as as we explore the native plant ecosystems in the wetlands and river bottoms of the Ballard WMA in Ballard Co.

Ballard Wildlife Management Area is 8,000 acres located in the Ohio River bottomlands ecoregion in far western Kentucky. The WMA is mostly wetland with 39% of the acreage in wetland, 28% forest, 27% open land, and 6% open water. Much of the wetland is comprised of rare, cypress-tupelo swamps and sloughs which many Kentuckians have not had the opportunity to experience. The Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves lists cypress-tupelo swamp as a state endangered ecosystem.

We will drive as a caravan around the WMA, making several stops where we will get out and observe the botany of Ballard’s diverse ecosystems. We will carpool as much as possible to reduce the number of cars in the caravan, but anyone who prefers to drive themselves is perfectly welcome to do so.

We should see several uncommon, wetland plant species. We hope to find Carolina spiderlily (Hymenocallis occidentalis) in flower.

Although we will not be hiking any distance, we will be taking walks of less than 1/2 mile at a couple of stops, all on the road or trails. We will walk into areas off the road to get a better view many of the plants. There is likely to be some muddy spots where we will be walking, so be prepared.

There are no bathroom facilities or water available at the WMA. It will be hot and humid. If conditions are such that the heat index will be over 100, we will cancel the trip. We will email you on Friday the 28th if the trip is canceled.

This should be a great field trip with many native species in flower, some that are rare or uncommon in KY. If you have any questions, just email us at KYPlants@knps.org. Register for this field trip using the form below.

Registration Form

Field Trip to Fleming WMA, July 29, 2023

Date of trip: July 29, 2023
Start time: 10AM EDT
Location: Fleming WMA, Fleming Co., KY
Difficulty of hike: Difficult, approximately 2 miles and 2 hours. Given the heat and terrain this could be a challenging hike.

Explore a part of Kentucky’s wilderness with KNPS!

Join us at Fleming Wildlife Management Area on July 29th at 10AM for a two-hour hike. The WMA has an oak-hickory forest mixed with flatwoods and small wetland openings, which means we might spot orchids and wetland plants.

We’ll meet in the main parking lot shortly before 10AM. Look for the hide leader, Alan Abbott. The hike begins at 10AM. It’s two miles and should last two to three hours.

Consider bringing bug spray, and we suggest wearing tall boots. Given the heat and terrain this could be a challenging hike.

This is a joint event between KNPS and the Kentucky chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (KYBHA), another group focused on conserving and exploring Kentucky’s natural landscape. Registration for this hike is required. Members and friends of KNPS can use the form at the bottom of this article to register. Members and friends of of KYBHA can RSVP on their Event page, KYBHA Plant ID Walk.

All WMAs are owned and maintained by the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources and open most of the year to the public. In a coming issue, you’ll learn more about these WMAs and how you can visit to enjoy Kentucky’s flora and fauna.

Register for this field trip

KNPS members and friends can register for this hike using the form below. Because this is a joint field trip, we are limiting signups to 5 people.