Celebrate native plants
The seventh annual North Carolina Native Plants Week is underway, running Oct. 16-22, and Audubon North Carolina is encouraging people to celebrate by planting native species in their own yards or gardens. Plants require less water this time of year, but they also still have enough time to establish before colder winter weather.
Get schooled in the Smokies
Catch a doubleheader in mountain education with a pair of programs offered through the University of Tennessee Smoky Mountain Field School Saturday, Aug. 19.
Notes from a plant nerd: A lily so superb
Right now, throughout Southern Appalachia, and especially along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Balsam Gap in either direction, one of the most beautiful and iconic flowers in all of Appalachia is in bloom.
Venus flytrap will not be listed as threatened or endangered
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has decided not to pursue listing the Venus flytrap as a threatened or endangered species after an evaluation determined that, due to current protections and active management, populations are likely to remain stable into the future.
Notes from a plant nerd: The plant nerds are coming!
If you find yourself on the campus of Western Carolina University in the summer around the third week of July, you might notice a large and slightly odd group of people walking around.
Notes from a plant nerd: Trilliums, Trilliums, Trilliums
Trilliums are some of the most beautiful and iconic wildflowers in the world, and the Southern Appalachian mountains are filled with many different trillium species.
Notes from a plant nerd: St. John’s wort
Among the many plants that signify the start of summer, perhaps none is more showy than St. John’s wort (Hypericum spp.)
Notes from a plant nerd: World, lose strife
For the past few years, whenever I encounter the whorled loosestrife growing along a trail or roadside I have been saying its name out loud, and slowly. Like a prayer: “World, lose strife.”
Native Plants Act gets unanimous Senate approval
The N.C. House of Representatives is considering a bill titled the North Carolina Native Plant Act after it unanimously passed the Senate May 3.
Floral delight: Native plants expert leads Parkway tour in search of rare species
“When we get out, we’re going to walk across the street and I’m going to show you the most sacred spot,” Larry Mellichamp said as he began his botanical tour of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The spot in question wasn’t a gravesite or a cultural landmark or even one of the many breathtaking overlooks spread along the Parkway’s 469-foot length. Rather, it was a seemingly dead end — a face of rock bordering the north side of the road, slick with water seeping from within, partly shrouded by flourishing vegetation.
