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Members' Newsletter
November 2013
Healing the earth one yard at a time
 
Upcoming Events Summary

November 16
Annual Meeting
Spring Creek Retreat

See more details in 
this e-newsletter.


New Website!

Our chapter has a 
new website!

Check us out at 
wildones.org
 


Quick Links








Benefits of Membership in the Tennessee Valley Chapter of Wild Ones

 $10 discount for the 2014
native plant symposium 
presented by the 
Tennessee Valley Chapter 
of Wild Ones.
 

Invitations to
MEMBERS-ONLY EVENTS:
    
*"Landscapes in Progress" garden visit programs   

*Guided Native Plant & 
Wildflower Walks  
 
*Native Plant Rescues 
 
*Native Plant Nursery Visits 
 
 
 
E-mail notices about 
upcoming local native plant EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS 
and events.
 
 
Special DISCOUNT OFFERS 
from local landscapers 
and nurseries, 
including  
Sunlight Gardens and 
Overhill Gardens.  
Show your Wild Ones 
membership card to receive 
10% off at these nurseries.
 
 
BECOME INVOLVED 
with a group of
 local gardeners
 interested in 
native plant landscaping.
 
 
PLUS all the benefits of a 
national Wild Ones membership, including the 
New Member Handbook 
with practical ways 
to add native plants to 
your landscape ...
AND the quarterly 
Wild Ones Journal. 
 
Upcoming Events
Tennessee Valley Wild Ones Annual Meeting
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Spring Creek Retreat

The Tennessee Valley Chapter of Wild Ones will hold its first Annual Meeting on Saturday, November 16 at the Spring Creek Retreat, a 20-acre paradise surrounded by a fifty foot wide mountain creek and bordered by the Cherokee National Forest.
  
This special event is FREE for members of the Tennessee Valley Wild Ones only.  You must sign up in advance by November 13, so that we can order food for everyone.  Click HERE to sign up for the Annual Meeting.
 
Here's the schedule for the day:
 
10:00am Meeting
The Year in Review
"Native Plant of the Year" (see below)
2014 Program Preview
2014 Symposium Preview
Election of 2014 Officers (see info below)
Native Plant and Native Plant Seed Swap (see info below)
 
 12:00pm Lunch
Flank Steak
Lemon Pepper Trout
Acorn Squash Casserole
Fresh Broccoli
White Northern Beans
Green Salad
Bread
Brownies
Sweet and Unsweetened Iced Tea
Coffee
 
1:00pm Hike
Leon & Pat Bates will lead us 
on an easy hike in the nearby Cherokee National Forest.
 
 
Driving Directions
Spring Creek Retreat is approximately 65 miles from downtown Chattanooga.  The drive is about one and a half hours.
Click HERE for driving directions from Hamilton Place Mall. 


"Native Plant of the Year"
In 2013, we were "Wild for Monarchs" and our chapter 
focused on the importance of planting Milkweed, 
the only host plant for Monarch butterflies.  
For 2014, it's up to YOU to help decide 
what our chapter's "Plant of the Year" will be.  
Please click here to learn how you can nominate 
YOUR favorite native plant!


Election of 2014 Officers
The Nominating Committee has proposed the following 
Wild Ones members for 2-year Board positions for 2014-15:
Vice-President - Stella Twilley
Treasurer - Juan Gonzalez
Member-at-Large - Cheri Hubbard
Member-at-Large - Valarie Adams
At the Annual Meeting, additional nominations 
from the floor are welcomed.

The following Board positions will continue through 2014 
and will be open for new members to serve in 2015-16:
President - Sally Wencel
Secretary - Nora Bernhardt
Member-at-Large - Leon Bates

The appointed co-chairs of the Public Information & Education Committee (Louise Gilley and Lucy Scanlon) 
and the chair of the Membership Committee 
also serve as voting members of the Board.


Native Plant and Native Plant Seep Swap
Bring a native plant or native plant seed to the Annual Meeting.  We'll swap with each other.  This is a great way to share something from your garden and to get something new in return.

We thank Beverly Inman-Ebel, Wild Ones member, 
for inviting us to spend the day at her beautiful retreat property. 
 
Our FIRST 
Native Plant Demonstration Garden!
The Butterfly Garden at Reflection Riding
The Tennessee Valley Chapter of Wild Ones has been involved in designing and preparing the site for a native plant butterfly garden at Reflection Riding.  
 
In mid-October, Dennis Bishop organized a couple work days, and over 30 different types of plants, grasses and shrubs were planted, from red buckeye and spicebush to aster and coreopsis. Laurel Krishock built a beautiful arbor that will support vines such as coral honeysuckle, pipevine and passionflower.  By next summer, there should be lots of happy butterflies.
 
Our chapter has also committed funds to create educational signage that will be installed in the garden.  It will be a great place for adults and children to learn about butterflies and the native plants that support them.

If you're interested in joining a group of Wild Ones who will maintain the garden, please email Nora.  Beginning in this spring, we will have a regular schedule for keeping the garden looking beautiful.  This will also be a great opportunity to learn about growing plants for your own pollinator garden and to have fun with fellow Wild Ones.

We are grateful for this outstanding partnership with the Chattanooga Arboretum & Nature Center.

Planting Day
 

Paola and the "babies" she raised for the garden.
 

Juan hard at work.
 

Laurel at work planting.  Check out the arbor!
 

The Butterfly Garden will really enhance the Visitor center at Reflection Riding.
 
The Wild Ones Trip to the
Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and
the Cherohala Skyway
On October 18-19, Leon & Pat Bates led a group of Wild Ones on an adventure to the Smokies.  The first day, we traveled along the Cherohala Skyway to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, one of the largest contiguous tracts of old growth forest in the eastern U.S. On the two-mile hike, we saw tulip poplar trees that were over 350 years old.  The fall colors were beautiful!

 

Karen and Valarie...and Lucy on the backside of a huge tulip poplar.
 

Along the Cherohala Skyway.
 

On Day 2, we stopped at Snowbird Lodge for some beautiful views.
 

An American Chestnut leaf (green) that was growing from an old stump, and the bright red Sassafras leaf.
 

As usual, Leon pointed out all sorts of interesting plants...
here is running cedar.
 

We found a big patch of Nodding Ladies Tresses (a native orchid), right along the Cherohala Skyway.  
These are about 8" tall.
 

Wild Ones: Native Plants. Natural Landscapes is a national non-profit organization with over 50 chapters in 13 states that promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities. Please read more information about Wild Ones at www.wildones.org.

 

We offer guest speakers, field trips and other special events throughout the year, as well as an annual native plant and natural landscaping symposium in early spring.