The Milkweed Are Coming!

We just received word today that the 1,500 milkweed plants we ordered from Monarch Watch in January will be arriving later this week, most likely this Friday, May 17.  The plants are being loaded onto a semi-trailer headed to Lone Oak, just outside of Signal Mountain where we will hold them until we make them available for sale or as a donation.

The plants were grown from seed collected in the wild and grown at Monarch Watch's ecological restoration greenhouse in Kansas.  The five milkweed species we selected are native to this area and grow in a variety of conditions including dry, wet, sun and shade.  (The poster shows the five species plus their growing requirements.)

Why get all this Milkweed?  This year, Wild Ones partnered with Monarch Joint Venture and Monarch Watch’s Bring Back the Monarchs program to present our Wild for Monarchs Campaign. As part of this campaign, Wild Ones chapters like the Tennessee Valley Chapter are encouraging landowners to plant Monarch Waystations to provide both the nectar plants for the adult butterflies but more importantly plant Milkweed -- the only source of food for the Monarch caterpillars.  The news from Monarch migration watchers has been particularly dire, with one of the smallest and therefore worst winter migration counts on record.

The first public event for redeeming Milkweed coupons or purchasing milkweed plants will be at the Chattanooga Area Food Bank teaching pavilion during that organization's Garden Tour July 1 and 2.  After that, we hope to make milkweed plants available at chapter events and other public venues.

For more information about the "Bring Back the Monarch" campaign, go to the Monarch Watch website.  The Wild Ones also has information about the "Wild For Monarchs" campaign and we will announce public events on this website as well as through our facebook group.

May Events

May 4 Members' Picnic

at the Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center at Reflection Riding

Saturday, May 4th

10:00 am until ...

Members Only.

Bring your lunch.

Drinks will be provided.

At 10:00 am, Michael Green will lead us on a walk at Reflection Riding to see wildflowers and other blooming plants. Michael has extensive knowledge about the history of the property and the region...his outings are always fascinating!

After the walk, we'll take time for a spring picnic outdoors together.

Even though the weather forecast is for rain on Saturday, we'll still have this event.  Bring your umbrella and we'll take a walk to see what's in bloom.

David Haskell, author of The Forest Unseen

Presented by the Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center

Friday, May 3rd

7:30 p.m.

UTC Benwood Auditorium

Cost: $5

A special evening is in store when David Haskell, biology professor at Sewanee, comes to Chattanooga on May 3rd. Haskell's book The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch In Nature is a Pulitzer Prize finalist.  

In his book, Haskell uses a one-square-meter patch of old-growth Tennessee forest as a window onto the entire natural world. Visiting it almost daily for one year to trace nature's path through the seasons, he brings the forest and its inhabitants to vivid life. Beginning with simple observations--a salamander scuttling across the leaf litter, the first blossom of spring wildflowers--Haskell spins a brilliant web of biology, ecology, and poetry, explaining the science binding together ecosystems that have cycled for thousands--sometimes millions--of years.

The New York Times describes The Forest Unseen as "...a welcome entry in the world of nature writers. He thinks like a biologist, writes like a poet, and gives the natural world the kind of open-minded attention one expects from a Zen monk rather than a hypothesis-driven scientist."

Monarch Way Stations

Presented by the Tennessee Aquarium

SOLD OUT!

Sunday, May 5th

2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Discover the fascinating behavior of the Monarch from butterfly expert and Earth Kinship educator Wanda DeWaard.  Go on a guided butterfly walk at the Tennessee River Gardens and learn to create a monarch way station with a milkweed plant to take home.  

Member Visit to Sunlight Gardens

Opportunity to purchase native plants

Thursday, May 9th

Members only

We're organizing a group of Tennessee Valley Wild Ones to take a road trip to Sunlight Gardens in Andersonville, TN.  Nursery owner Andy Sessions (one of the speakers at our March Symposium) will be on hand to help us with plant selections.   All members receive a 10% discount on plant purchases!

We will depart Chattanooga at 8:00 a.m. and will return in the afternoon. Please email us to reserve your spot for this trip.  Travel plans will be emailed to you once you register.  This trip is for Wild Ones members only.

For more info about Sunlight Gardens, click here to visit the website.

April Events Bursting in Flower

If you can't find an April event that strikes your fancy, you don't have spring fever!  Starting with the April 1 meeting at Chattanooga Arboretum and Nature Center, we will have an action-packed month of tours, treks and hikes.

Monday, April 1 at 6:00 p.m. we will gather at the Visitor Center Auditorium at the Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center at Reflection Riding for a presentation by Jim Brown from the American Rhododendron Society.  Although the cold weather has slowed down the blooming of the rhododendrons and azaleas, we still plan to visit the garden after the presentation.  This meeting is free and open to the public.

Reflection Riding will also be the stage for the 26th Annual Spring Native Plant Sale that starts Friday, April 5 and goes through Sunday, April 7.  The Tennessee Valley Chapter of the Wild Ones will have a display, so stop by and say hello.

Herbalist Holli Richey will lead a member-only hike at the Shirley Miller Wildflower Trail on Saturday, April 6.  This hike is currently full.

Leon Bates will lead a tour on Wednesday, April 10 of the Jackson County, Alabama arboretum with a possible side trip to the Huntsville Botanical Gardens.  This is a member-only trip; email us to make reservation.

On Saturday, April 13, we will be heading up to Overhill Gardens native plant nursery in Vonore to look at Avi Askey's huge selection of native plants including perennials, shrubs, trees and grasses.  Wild Ones members will enjoy the 10% discount Overhill Gardens extends to our group.  This is a member-only trip; email us to make reservation.

Plant rescues will continue through the year, so stay tuned for more details and announcements for future rescues.  You can also visit the "Meetings and Events" page on this site for more announcements.

Natural Landscaping Expert to Keynote March 9, 2013 Symposium

Botanist and author Tim Spira will be a featured speaker at TVWO's second annual native plant and natural landscaping symposium scheduled for Saturday, March 9, 2013 from 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. in the Chattanooga State Humanities Auditorium.

The symposium entitled Natural Landscaping: Getting MORE with Less will provide practical information about using native plants and getting MORE birds & butterflies, biodiversity, beauty, and a health environment with LESS watering, maintenance, lawn area, and chemicals.  

Tim Spira, Ph.D., is a plant ecologist, native plant gardener, hiker, and professor of botany at Clemson University where he teaches field botany, plant ecology, and the natural history of wildflowers.  He's the author of the award winning book, Wildflowers and Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

Spira will reveal the multi-layered tapestry of plant life in the Southern Appalachian Mountains by discussing representative wildflowers within the context of their natural communities, including little known features of their natural history. Particular attention will be given to wildflowers that make attractive additions to woodland wildflower gardens. 

Rather than organizing plants, including trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, by flower color or family characteristics, as is done in most guidebooks, Tim takes a holistic, ecological approach that enables the reader to identify and learn about plants in their natural communities. This approach, according to Spira, better reflects the natural world, as plants, like other organisms, don't live in isolation; they coexist and interact in myriad ways. From a practical perspective, the community approach is appealing because that's how we encounter plants in nature; moreover, wildflower identification is made easier as you become familiar with the species associated with particular habitats.

Four additional speakers will join Tim Spira at the symposium.  Details and registration information are available on this website...click on 2013 Symposium tabs above.

January Meeting & Presentation

Ailing Soils: Drastic and Natural Remedies
Dennis Bishop to share valuable tips for your landscape.

Monday, January 28, 2013
6:00 p.m.
green|spaces
63 East Main St.
Chattanooga TN

Free and open to the public.

Dennis Bishop, Arboretum Curator at the Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center (and a TVWO member) will be the guest speaker at the January meeting of the Tennessee Valley Wild Ones.  In Dennis' presentation, Ailing Soils: Drastic and Natural Remedies, we will look at options for the restoration and maintenance of damaged and depleted soils.  Dennis will show slides of the work done at Card Cove Farm to restore their soils, and he will also talk about the natural cycles that can maintain soils once they are restored.

November Events

Urban and Suburban Meadows
Special Video Screening

Monday, November 5, 2012
6:00 p.m.
green|spaces
63 E. Main Street
Chattanooga TN

Free and open to the public

For details, click on the "Meetings and Events" tab above.







Tree ID 101
An Introduction to our Southeastern Forest
A program of the Chattanooga Arboretum and Nature Center

November 6-8, 2012 - 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Cost: $150
Books and materials provided.
For details, click on the "Meetings and Events" tab above.

October Events

Beneficial Native Plants     
Learn why some local native plants are so good for us  

Guest Speaker: Holli Richey

 

Monday, October 1, 2012

6:00 p.m.

 

green|spaces

63 E. Main Street

Chattanooga TN 

 

Free and open to the public.

For more details, click on the "Meetings and Events" tab above.

 

SPECIAL ADDED EVENT!

Ecology and Invasives: Greenway Case Study

Members-Only Learning Walk

 

Program Leader:

Dr. Richard Clements

 

Friday, October 12, 2012

2:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Dr. Richard Clements, Professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences at Chattanooga State, will lead us on a 2.5 mile walk at the North Chickamauga Creek Greenway. There are excellent examples of relatively undisturbed areas and highly-disturbed areas, demonstrating how exotic invasive plants can take advantage of any openings or opportunities.  This event will be an excellent opportunity to learn how to identify and deal with invasive plants.

Spaces for this members-only event are limited, so advance registration is required.  

Directions will be sent to you when you register.