The Alice Zawadzki Fund Bolsters NCNPS Conservation Efforts By Kelly Gage and Debra Murray Giving Tuesday is November 28, your opportunity to help preserve sensitive mountain peaks, beautiful wildflower meadows, and other native habitats before they are lost. Give to the NCNPS Zawadzki Land Conservation Fund by Dec 31 2023, and your donations will be […]
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Promoting the enjoyment and conservation of North Carolina’s native plants and their habitats
through education, protection, cultivation, and advocacy since 1951
Articles in the Fall 2023 Native Plant News archive include:
Giving Tuesday Starts Annual Campaign •
Calling on Volunteers for Wetlands Monitoring Program •
Come to the October Marshall Native Gardens Festival • Chlorofiends! What’s Up With ‘Sterile’ Cultivars • Charlie Winterbauer Blazes a Trail on the Coast • William Lanier Hunt, A Plantsman Deserving of Honor • Another Successful Annual Meeting and Picnic •
Cullowhee ’23, Inspiring and Informative
We Understood the Assignment: Then and Now
Seventy-two years ago, we called ourselves The North Carolina Wild Flower Preservation Society and we understood the assignment: Educate, Protect, Cultivate, and Advocate. It’s still the same, but we say it differently today— Do something. Here’s what we know: Plants connect us. Here at the NC Native Plant Society, we are plant enthusiasts. Our Society is all about their importance. Native plants stabilize us and ground us to the world of healthy ecosystems. What Can You Do? Here are some options for individuals and for groups. Giving Tuesday: November 28, Giving Tuesday, launches the annual NCNPS fundraising campaign. Your gift to the NCNPS Alice Zawadzki Land Conservation Fund helps protect the earth. Set a reminder to make a generous gift through December 31; donations will be used to permanently protect wild lands. Nominate someone: Find your favorite person or project and match it to one of our awards to make your nomination. Remember, you can make a nomination for an award at any time of the year. Put some sweat equity in: Join a volunteer monitoring program to collect scientific data and conduct research. Join Carolina Wetlands Association scientists and others at three critically important North Carolina wetlands. Meet your friends: Bring the kids to the State Fair area where the Society has a demonstration garden space and covered booth maintained by Margaret Reid (Triangle) Chapter volunteers. Parking is near our location. NCNPS members from across North Carolina are invited to spend time at the booth greeting fair visitors. The State Fair is in Raleigh from October 12-22. Bring the kids: Meet friends at a native plant festival — here’s one October 14, the Marshall Native Gardens Festival at the Madison County Public Library in Marshall. Find out: What’s Up With ‘Sterile Cultivars’? And why we should avoid them. And what’s a cultivar? What happens when we try to breed sterility into invasive plant species? Lisa Lofland Gould offers some explanations in her article. Write botany articles: Make a difference and write a botany article or write about the ways you help our environment. Send your ideas for our quarterly statewide newsletter, Native Plant News, to Andrea Thunem, editor, newsletter@ncwildflower.org.
Take a step: Advocate for native plants. Plant more native plants in your own containers, in your yard, on your school’s campus, at your Home Owners Association garden, at your place of worship. Here’s how to apply for a habitat certification sign for your own native plant area of your garden.
Get educated: Watch some NCNPS videos on native plants. We have lots to choose from. For more ideas, read our newsletter and visit our website.Do something. As one person or in a group. On behalf of the Society. For the good of our ecosystems. We’re in it together and we’re grateful for it.
Andrea Thunem is editor of the North Carolina Native Plant Society’s Native Plant News and a member of the NCNPS Southern Piedmont chapter. A retired journalist and landscape designer with a passion for native plants and environmental sustainability, she loves working with people to present their stories about the holistic nature of plants, people, earth, and connections. Email her at newsletter@ncwildflower.org
Calling on Volunteers for Wetlands Monitoring Program
By Chase Bergeson We’re looking for volunteers to collect scientific data and conduct research in some of North Carolina’s wetland areas. Volunteers will be trained on site by Carolina Wetlands Association scientists and engineers from North Carolina State University (NCSU). This is not only a chance for volunteers to contribute to scientific data and […]
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Come to the October Marshall Native Gardens Festival
By Rita Pelczar Do you love native plants? Then don’t miss Marshall Native Gardens Native Plant Festival on Saturday, October 14, from 8:30 am until 4 pm, rain or shine, located on the grounds of the Madison County Library in Marshall. We’ll have kids activities, live music, docent-led garden tours, talks on native azaleas, plant […]
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Chlorofiends! What’s Up With ‘Sterile Cultivars’?
By Lisa Lofland Gould Native plants are the backbone of ecosystems; sterile cultivars are not the ecological equivalent. Some questions to consider are: What’s a cultivar? Why should we avoid sterile cultivars? And what happens when we try to breed sterility into invasive plant species? The topic of sterile cultivars of invasive plants is […]
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Charley Winterbauer Blazes a Trail on the Coast
By Shelagh Clancy All photos courtesy of Charley Winterbauer Southeastern North Carolina is home to unique flora and fauna. We’re thankful it’s also home to Charley Winterbauer, co-chair of the Southeast Coastal Chapter of the NC Native Plant Society. Charley knows our natives well and is committed to our delicate environment and the community of […]
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William Lanier Hunt, A Plantsman Deserving of Honor
By Margot Ringenburg Who was William Lanier Hunt and why is our award for environmental education named in his honor? Who received the William Lanier Hunt Award award this year? In answer to the second question, it was given to Karen Linehan, a lifelong educator at the Friends School of Wilmington. This distinct honor, the […]
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Another Successful Annual Meeting and Picnic
By Margot Ringenburg We’re all in for native plants, whether we educate, advocate, cultivate, or protect. The annual meeting was the place to get the gist of who we are, meet old and make new friends, buy much-sought plants, eat and have fun. Here’s the story of what we accomplished last year. The 2023 NCNPS […]
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Cullowhee ’23, Inspiring and Informative
By Craig Maxwell The 39th annual Cullowhee Native Plant Conference kicked off with more than 400 attendees, setting a record for the conference. That morning, some boarded buses headed for guided hikes through the mountains, while others attended all-day workshops on subjects from botanical illustrations to stone casting. The annual event at Western Carolina […]
Read MoreResources and Events
Search the plant gallery, find recommended landscaping plant nurseries, and much more on our website.
View past chapter programs on our YouTube channel.
Meet other native plant geeks at events across the state.
Volume 21 Issue 3 Fall 2023
North Carolina Native Plant Society
P.O. Box 9507
Greensboro, NC 27435
Copyright © 2023 North Carolina Native Plant Society. All rights reserved.
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