KNPS pollinator garden grant program in pilot stage

By Susan Harkins

We have exciting news — KNPS is partnering with horticultural education groups across the state to provide funds and educational support for pollinator gardens. 2023 is a pilot year so we can find partners throughout the state and work out the kinks. 

We’re partnering with organizations with an education mission because the success rate of grant gardens is small. With a two-year educational support commitment from our educational partners, we hope to improve the success rate. 

The partnership includes three parties:

  • The Kentucky Native Plant Society as grantor will provide funds for the purchase of native plants and seeds. 
  • The grantee will be the owner or caretaker of the garden. The site should have education as part of its mission and offer public access, within reason.
  • An educational partner will provide education and continued support for at least two years. 

Currently, each grant is $500. KNPS and educational partners can assist with purchasing plants. The grantee will use their volunteers to prepare, plant, and maintain the garden.

The five pilot sites

Currently, we have five pilot sites in the works. Two are in Frankfort and three are at or near Eastern Kentucky University.

Gerrard County High School

Kelly Watson, Ph.D. and the associate director of Eastern Kentucky University’s Division of Natural Areas supplied the education component for this new pollinator garden on school grounds. The KNPS grant of $500 was used to purchase native plants from Ironweed Native Plant Nursery in Waddy.

On May 17th, Kelly worked with two shifts of students: One was an Agriculture/Horticulture class (taught by Natasha Parsons), and a second group of students is part of GearUp, working with Amy Whitt. Kelly will continue to support these groups in maintaining the garden to secure its success. 

Students planting the outside classroom.
Students planting the outside classroom.
Students planting the outside classroom.
Students planting the outside classroom.

Science for Sustainable Living Initiative

Kelly Watson serves as the educational partner for this pollinator garden outside the EKU science building and the plants were purchased from Ironweed Native Plant Nursery. EKU has two gardens here that are used as outdoor classrooms and during the campus pollinator workshops, which occur twice a year. 

The gardens were established two years ago through a grant from Novelis, using seeds from Roundstone Native Seed Company. The groups caring for these gardens have battled invasives since then. By adding mature plugs, the group hopes to tilt the tables a bit more in favor of the natives. 

In May, a group of group of summer student interns (they get paid!) and Kelly spent six hours weeding preparing the gardens. The gardens were planted on May 31 and June 2. 

Volunteers planting the pollinator garden.
Volunteers planting the pollinator garden.
Students planting the outside classroom.
Student volunteers.

EKU Scholar House

Kelly Watson is providing the educational partner for this large outdoor classroom space and plants were purchased from Ironweed Native Plant Nursery. This site already has three large, raised beds and they’re currently working to create a larger outdoor classroom space. 

On June 1, EKU Scholar House and EKU Sustainability Office hosted a planting event. Volunteers helped plant the classroom space and children visited educational tables with games and activities. One table taught the children how to plant a seed, and the children took their small pots home! 

Students help volunteers plant their new garden classroom.
Students help volunteers plant their new garden classroom.
Teachers and volunteers lead the planting.
Teachers and volunteers lead the planting.

Second Street School

Connie Lemley of Frankfort facilitated the grant for the group. The plants were purchased from Ironweed Native Plant Nursery and the Capital Area Extension Master Gardeners (CAEMG) will provide educational support to ensure the garden’s success. 

On Saturday, June 3, Eagle scout candidate Sam Curry and his fellow scouts planted a pollinator garden at Second Street School in Frankfort, Kentucky. The spot is concrete bound by sidewalks and Second Street, so it will receive a lot of traffic.

First, the group removed a large knock-out rose and turf before planting. Sam has a large number of volunteers to help maintain the garden over the summer. From there, the school’s volunteers, under Connie’s direction, will resume care using Sam’s educational and maintenance plan for guidance. 

A before shot of the Second Street School pollinator garde plot.
A before shot of the Second Street School pollinator garden plot.
Second Street School volunteers.
Second Street School volunteers.
Eagle scouts and the newly planted pollinator garden.
Second Street School scout volunteers.

Liberty Hall Historical Site

Anna Campomanes, the garden curator for Liberty Hall in Frankfort, secured a grant to restore an historical garden that is available to the public. CAEMG is the educational partner. 

Anna decided to supplement an existing historical garden with native shrubs. CAEMG visited the site and provided a list of sun-loving native shrubs that would fit the garden nicely and attract pollinators. Many people don’t think of native shrubs when they think of pollinators, so this is a unique opportunity. 

Planting is scheduled for fall. Liberty Hall hopes to host a public workshop for planting shrubs that day. This will give KNPS and CAEMG the opportunity to promote native shrubs as pollinators to the public! 

Going forward

It’s an auspicious start, and the commitment and enthusiasm from the grantees are infectious! We plan  regular updates throughout the summer, so watch for more information in The Lady Slipper. 

Wetland Plant ID Workshops, Space Still Available

[THESE WORKSHOPS HAVE COMPLETED]
Some spaces are still available in both of the upcoming KNPS workshops. There will be both a beginner level and an intermediate level, Wetland Plant Identification workshop at John James Audubon State Park in Henderson, KY on June 27th for the Beginner class and June 28th-29th for the Intermediate class! The workshops are field courses, exploring the Ohio River wetlands and learning how to ID the plants that are found there. The workshops are conducted in sequence and interested parties can sign up for just the Beginner workshop, just the Intermediate workshop, or both. To register for the workshops, use the form at the bottom of this page.

The Beginner Wetland Plant ID workshop will be one day long, on June 27th, from 9AM CDT – 5PM CDT. The Beginner workshop will cover basic flower structure, leaf arrangement, etc. while highlighting plants as we go. It will be less technical with a focus on demystifying the nomenclature so as to be able to start keying plants out. The instructor will introduce C-values, wetland indicator status, and the basics on how to see the landscape in a broader, phytological way. There is a $25 registration fee for this workshop.

The Intermediate Wetland Plant ID workshop will be held over two days, June 28-29th, from 9AM CDT – 5PM CDT each day. This workshop is aimed towards individuals with some prior experience in field identification of wetland plants and will focus on how to identify more complicated genera and groups (i.e. graminoids and asters). An understanding of basic floral morphology (petals, sepals, tepals, stamens, etc.) is more or less expected. We will be looking at keys and getting a bit deeper in the descriptive elements of the flora.In addition to Audubon State Park, there may be a visit to other close natural areas. There is a $75 registration fee for this course.

Courses will take place from 9am-5pm CDT each day and have a 1-hour break for lunch (bring your own lunch). You will need to bring a notebook, loupe or hand-lens, phone or camera, pencils, and preferred reference book if you’d like. Remember that these are field courses and may get into wet areas, so please wear appropriate clothing and bring water.

If you have any questions, email us at KYPlants@knps.org

*About the Instructor

Nathanael J. Pilla is a botanist for Midwest Biological Survey, LLC. He also is an adjunct professor at University of Notre Dame, hosts the YouTube series, Botany and Beer, and is part of the Chicago Wilderness Alliance Steering Committee. Nathanael is well versed in the terrestrial and aquatic flora of the Midwest bringing his knowledge and charisma with him in and outside the workplace. He has experience in botanical research and identification, hands-on resource management, project management and plant identification, and his written work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals. He recently co-authored the book, Wildflowers of the Indiana Dunes National Park, which was published through Indiana University Press. When he is not botanizing, he spends his time writing and singing ridiculous songs.

Registration Form for Workshops

Use this form to register for the workshop. The Intermediate workshop is now full, You can still sign up for the Beginner workshop on June 27th .

Field Trip to Lilley Cornett Woods, June 17, 2023

Date of trip: June 17, 2023
Start time: 10AM EDT
Location: Lilley Cornett Woods, Letcher Co., KY
Difficulty of hike: Medium difficulty, approximately 1.5 miles

Join us for a hike at one of the most notable natural areas in Kentucky and a registered national landmark, EKU’s Lilley Cornett Woods.  Located in Letcher County, Lilley Cornett Woods is an old-growth forest, a forest that has not undergone any man-made changes in 150 years. During your hike LCW guides will provide you with an educational experience on various topics ranging from the 12 characteristics of old growth, mixed mesophytic forest, diverse flora and fauna native to Appalachia, and most notably LCW’s incredible “big trees.”

The Shop Holler trail is LCW’s shorter trail at approximately 1.5 miles with medium difficulty. Plan to be on the trail for about 3 hours with the guide, while you traverse the mountainside through different forest communities. This is LCW’s most popular trail due to its shorter length, but don’t be fooled, you will be amazed by the diversity of the area and be able to truly understand a mixed mesophytic forest.

No pre-registration is required for this hike. You will meet, register, and sign waivers at the Visitors Center. From the parking lot the Visitors Center building is on the hill, up the sidewalk. Hike leaders will be outside the Visitor’s Center waiting for you.

Lilley Cornett Woods is located at 91 Lilley Cornett Branch, Hallie, KY. Driving Directions.

If you have any questions, email us at KYPlants@knps.org

KNPS 2023 Fall Meeting, Save the Date, Oct. 28

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.

Two Wetland Plant ID Workshops – June 27th and June 28th & 29th

Beginner Wetland Plant ID

When: Tuesday, June 27th, 2023
Time:  9am-5pm Central Time
Where:  John James Audubon State Park, Henderson, KY. Meet at the Museum parking lot.
Cost:  $25
Bring your own lunch. This is a field course, so please wear appropriate clothing and shoes and bring water.

Instructor: Nathanael J. Pilla*

Intermediate Wetland Plant ID

When: Wednesday & Thursday, June 28th & 29th, 2023
Time:  9am-5pm Central Time
Where:  John James Audubon State Park, Henderson, KY. Meet at the Museum parking lot.
Cost:  $75
Bring your own lunch. This is a field course, so please wear appropriate clothing and shoes and bring water.

Instructor: Nathanael J. Pilla*

KNPS is delighted to offer two new workshops this summer. We will be offering both a beginner level and an intermediate level, Wetland Plant Identification workshop at John James Audubon State Park in Henderson, KY! The workshops are conducted in sequence and interested parties can sign up for just the Beginner course, just the Intermediate course, or both.

The Beginner Wetland Plant ID workshop will be one day long, on June 27th, focusing on learning botanical lingo and key features of common wetland plants in Kentucky. There is a $25 registration fee.

The Intermediate Wetland Plant ID workshop will be held over two days, June 28-29th. This workshop is aimed towards individuals with some prior experience in field identification of wetland plants and will cover more challenging taxa with an emphasis on grasses, rushes, and sedges. In addition to Audubon State Park, there may be a visit to other close natural areas. There is a $75 registration fee for this course.

Courses will take place from 9am-5pm CDT each day and have a 1-hour break for lunch (bring your own lunch). You will need to bring a notebook, loupe or hand-lens, phone or camera, pencils, and preferred reference book if you’d like. Remember that these are field courses, so please wear appropriate clothing and bring water.

*About the Instructor

Nathanael J. Pilla is a botanist for Midwest Biological Survey, LLC. He also is an adjunct professor at University of Notre Dame, hosts the YouTube series, Botany and Beer, and is part of the Chicago Wilderness Alliance Steering Committee. Nathanael is well versed in the terrestrial and aquatic flora of the Midwest bringing his knowledge and charisma with him in and outside the workplace. He has experience in botanical research and identification, hands-on resource management, project management and plant identification, and his written work has appeared in peer-reviewed journals. He recently co-authored the book, Wildflowers of the Indiana Dunes National Park, which was published through Indiana University Press. When he is not botanizing, he spends his time writing and singing ridiculous songs.

Registration Form for Workshops

This form is used to register for either or both of the workshops. You can sign up for either one of the two courses (Beginner on June 27th or Intermediate on June 28th-29th) or you can sign up for both.

Wildflower Weekend 2023 in Review

Jeff Nelson, KNPS President

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.

Wildflower Week Botany Blitz Winners and Highlights

By Vanessa Voelker

We had another awesome week of wildflower appreciation during KNPS’s 3rd 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 8 through April 15. 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 “First Day Hikes” across the state again this year: on Saturday April 8, several local naturalists and experienced iNaturalist users lead 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!

And without further ado, this year’s winners of the Botany Blitz are:

  • For the categories of both Most Species and Most Observations, @spenner swept first place with 276 species and 420 observations.
  • For the category of Most Identifications, @tgregory74 took the top spot with 733 ID’s.

Congrats to both for excellence in botanizing! A few more Botany Blitz stats as of the writing of this article (these numbers may change over time):

If you’re not an iNaturalist user or have never participated in a blitz before, here are a few words from folks in the Botany Blitz leaderboards for Observing and Identifying, regarding what they enjoy about the platform and events like the Botany Blitz:

@spenner: “I had the good fortune this year of already having a family hiking trip planned to McCreary County during the Botany Blitz. I definitely tested the patience of my family with my constant stopping to take pictures, but what an incredible place to look for wildflowers! One highlight of many was seeing and learning more about the different violets. My yard, of course, has loads of the Common Blue Violets (Viola sororia), and I see quite a few Cream Violets (V. striata) at a couple of nearby locations. But that’s largely it at my usual haunts. So to see ten species of violets in bloom in two days in McCreary was a delight. I doubt that I can pick a favourite, but I was impressed by how many nooks and crannies on rock walls would have a tiny lovely Sweet White Violet (Viola blanda) growing in them.”

@tgregory74: “Whether I’m ID’ing other people’s observations, or learning how to ID new plants, iNaturalist has been a great outlet for me to botanize even when I’m not able to go out into the field. As someone fairly new to iNaturalist, I thought the KNPS 2023 Botany Blitz was a fun way to work through some genera I’ve had confusion with (looking at you Viola…), and learn about plants I don’t typically see in my area (inner Bluegrass). The Wildflower Weekend hikes were a blast and I saw a lot of cool plants that I had never seen before, but by far my highlight of the week was getting introduced to some populations of Bird’s foot violet (Viola pedata) in the wild and realizing how charismatic and beautiful that species is. My runner up species would probably be the Long-spurred violet (Viola rostrata). I know it’s seemingly everywhere once you get into sandstone-based substrates, but we don’t have that species in the inner Bluegrass so it’s a delight every time I find one.”

@ktuttlewheeler: “Wildflower Week is something I look forward to every year. I’m always on the lookout for cool plants but this is a great opportunity to really devote some time to it. Going to Cumberland Falls let me check out plants in part of the state I haven’t spent much time in, and it was really exciting to see some plants I hadn’t seen before like native azaleas (Rhododendron sp.) in bloom, Eastern teaberry (Gaultheria procumbens), and a bunch of different ferns.”

@coleperry: “I live in the OH-KY-IN tri-state, so the Blitz gave me a reason to try some new parks & locations in my home state of KY. I also love the opportunity to review my familiar, local trails: taking stock of everything I can differentiate. I’ll enjoy doing this yearly! I was also pleased to spot Azure bluets (Houstonia caerulea) & Smooth rockcress (Borodinia laevigata) for the 1st time. Plus I worked on several species differentiations that have been tripping me up :)”

@captbillp: “I have derived much pleasure in communicating with experts and citizen scientists on iNaturalist; with the mutual benefit of learning and discovering more about the natural world. As an older member of society I would encourage young people to embrace this beautiful planet, and work hard to maintain the good in it.”

@m_whitson: “Between many rainy days and the hectic end of the semester, April can be a frustrating month, because the wildflowers call, but I can’t always get outside. Identifying Kentucky Botany Blitz observations lets me enjoy what’s blooming around the state without having to stray far from my computer. I particularly enjoy seeing observations of Long-spurred violet (Viola rostrata), because it isn’t a common species in my area and the long spurs are adorable. I’d love to see what pollinates it!”

And finally, here are a few photos from the Botany Blitz to admire, thanks to all the participants for making this another great week of botanizing!

Pinxter Flower (Rhododendron periclymenoides) photographed by @riparian_paparrazi (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/154852074)

Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) also featuring Stella, Henry, and their hiking cat Benson, photographed by @tararoselittlefield (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/154219048)

Fire Pink (Silene virginica) photographed by @dakotaross (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/155043091)

Blue Eyed Mary (Collinsia verna) photographed by @spenner (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/155089708)

Maidenhair Fern (Adiantum pedatum) photographed by @reupurtbones (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/155113211)

Pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) @ktuttlewheeler (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/155172883)

Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia) photographed by @sbrockway (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/154720935)