Wildflower Weekend 2025 in Review

On Friday, April 11th and Saturday, April 12, nearly 200 members and friends enjoyed KNPS’s Wildflower Weekend, at Carter Caves SRP! With 20 hikes, workshops, poster sessions, and kid’s activities and with many of the best botanists in Kentucky in attendance, Wildflower Weekend 2025 was an unqualified success.

Wildflower Weekend 2025 Logo Contest

This is the third consecutive year that KNPS offered merchandise with a unique logo developed specifically for Wildflower Weekend via the Wildflower Weekend 2025 Logo Design Contest. This was an open design contest to come up with a logo for Wildflower Weekend 2025. The winning design (featured at the top left of this post) is a collage of violets; the rare Three-parted Violet (Viola tripartita) accompanied by the Long-spurred Violet (Viola rostrata) and the Marsh Blue Violet (Viola cucullata). The winning design was submitted by Cheryll Frank of Scott County, KY.

Wildflower Weekend Hikes

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

KNPS strives to make Wildflower Weekend for everyone who has an appreciation of Kentucky’s biodiversity, so this year we provided educational experiences about birding, bats, fungi, general naturalist subjects and wildflower ID for beginners.

As participants attended their hikes, they were also able to see the beautiful natural features Carter Caves has to offer due to its unique mix of limestone and sandstone geology. The weekend featured Natural Bridge (Kentucky’s largest limestone arch), Box Canyon, and several sandstone arches: Shangra La Arch, Smoky Bridge, Raven Bridge, Fern Bridge and Cascade Bridge.

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 four kid-centered activities, two Cave Tours on Saturday, a “Wildflower Wander: An Exploration for Young Adventurers” on Saturday morning and then, on Saturday afternoon, the “Kid’s Nature Activity,” with fun botanical and nature activities designed for the young naturalist. Carter Caves State Resort Park also has several playgrounds, a basketball court, gem mining and mini golf.

Wildflower Wander: An Exploration for Young Adventurers

Kentucky State Parks Naturalist Carey Ruff led a stroll specifically designed for children to explore the vibrant world of wildflowers and the pollinators that help them thrive!  This adventure aimed to foster a deeper appreciation for nature and enhance observation skills through interactive activities along the trail. The activity ended at the Pool Picnic Shelter area, which has a covered shelter, picnic tables, restrooms, a small playground and a basketball court.

Kid’s Activity

Environmental educator Isabel Cochran led a kid’s nature hike to Carter Caves Natural Bridge. The group identifyed spring flowers and made other exciting nature discoveries with a fun scavenger hunt! 

Cave Tours

Cascade Caverns Tour

Bright and early Saturday morning, the first private cave tour of the weekend was conducted at Cascade Caverns. Cascade Cavern is Carter Caves SRP’s longest scenic cave tour and is noted for its large chambers and many beautiful cave formations. Wildflower Weekend participants got to witness the 30-foot-high underground waterfall, the Lake Room’s reflecting pool, the Cathedral in North Cave, and the Dance Hall where a previous park owner held weekly dances.

X Cave Tour

After lunch, the second private tour was conducted in “X” Cave. The name of this cave refers to the configuration of its passages which cross in the center of the cave to form the letter “X”. Wildflower Weekend participants got to see and learn about cave highlights such as the Great Chandelier (the largest formation of stalactites in the cave), cave coral, and formations with such tell-tale names as the Giant Turkey, the Pipe Organ and Headache Rock. The experience was elevated even further by the sighting of three Little Brown Bats (Myotis lucifugus) within the cave.

Student Research Poster Sessions

For the first time at Wildflower Weekend, KNPS hosted a Student Research Poster Session! Students from the University of Kentucky, Morehead State University, Eastern Kentucky University, and Campbellsville University presented on their botanically related research. Saturday morning and afternoon, 7 students presented their research to attendees.

Click or tap on the poster images to view full size

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Zachary and Zoe McComas, University of Kentucky: Do urban forest fragments conserve insect natural
enemies within forests and surrounding landscapes?

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Wade Pike, University of Kentucky and Campbellsville University: A Comparison of Pollinator Visitation to Wild Types vs. Cultivars of Four Species of Native Flowering Plants

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Aliya Frisby, Morehead State University: Inventory of Lichens at Carter Caves State Resort Park-Tygarts State Forest, Carter County, Kentucky

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Judson Collins, Eastern Kentucky University: Effects of Pre-Transplanted Drought Stress on Transplant Survival, Reproduction, and Specific Leaf Area of Malvastrum hispidum (Pursh) Hochreutiner, Elymus svensonii G.L Church, Brickellia eupatorioides (L.) Shinners in the Kentucky River Palisades

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Allison Chavez, Morehead State University: What Are the Lichens Likin’? Evaluation of Tree and Forest Characteristics on Macro-lichen Genera Richness in Central Kentucky

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Teagan Pattinson, Morehead State University: Bryoflora of Ed Mabry-Laurel Gorge Wildlife Management Area in Northeastern Kentucky

Friday Night Members & Friends Campfire Social

It was a warm and welcoming evening at the Members & Friends Campfire Social. Old and new friends enjoyed smores and good conversation while wrapped in wool blankets and gathered around the fire. The fellowship went well into the evening, with all matter of botanical topics discussed.

Saturday Night Presentations

The first talk of the evening was “Diversity of Mosses and Liverworts at Cave Entrances at Mammoth Cave National Park” given by Morghan McCool, PhD Candidate and Bryophyte Ecologist at University of Louisville. Attendees got to learn about the bryophytes that survive and thrive in the unique micro-climates of the cave entrances of Mammoth Cave National Park. McCool also covered the diversity of mosses and liverworts, highlighted state records, specialist species, rare taxa and the importance of geology and the cave environment in maintaining these species.

The second talk of the night was “Lichens of Carter Caves State Resort Park” given by lichenologist, bryologist and botanist Dr. Allen Risk of Morehead State University. Dr. Risk gave an educational overview of lichens and the park, starting at what a lichen is and going into interesting lichen microclimates, biodiversity hot spots, species records, the effect of geology on the lichen flora, and future plans for his continued study of the area.

The keynote presentation of the evening was “Forests, Carbon and Climate Change” given by Mary Arthur, University of Kentucky professor emeritus. This presentation served as a primer on climate science, seen through the lens of forests and forest carbon cycling, to elucidate the ways in which forests and forest management impact climate.

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:

• Ellery Flynn, Wildflower Stained Glass.
• ExtraFlora, Native Plants.
• Nate Parrish, Native Plants.
• Potter’s Corner, Native Plant Pottery.
• Kentucky Native Plant Society, Wildflower Weekend 2025 Merch.
• Valerie Askren, Kentucky Hiking Books.

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 2025, KNPS had over 70 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 2025 possible. For every great experience you had at Wildflower Weekend, you can thank these generous volunteers:

• Kendall McDonald, Wildflower Weekend Lead
• Jeff Nelson, Registration
• Meaghan Petix, Volunteer Coordination
• Rachel Cook, Hike Coordinator
• Heidi Braunreiter, Raffle
• Vanessa Voelker, BotanyBlitz
• Elizabeth Burge, Member’s and Friends Social

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:

• Carter Caves State Resort Park, for being wonderful hosts
• Kentucky Wild, for donating 200 Monarch Native Seed Packets
• East Kentucky Power Cooperative, for donating 200 orchid and wildflower posters
• Rachel Waters Photography, for providing professional photography services at a modest price
• Potter’s Corner, for donating organic coffee and tea

Wildflower Weekend 2026

Wildflower Weekend 2026 will be on April 17th & 18th at Natural Bridge SRP, our longtime host and partner. In addition to all of our regular activities, we are going to be celebrating the Kentucky Native Plant Society’s 40th Anniversary.