Healing the earth, one yard at a time.
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We Have a NEW Web Address!
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Visit Us and Bookmark
TNValleyWildOnes.org
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We're pleased to announce that we have a new website and a new address --
TNValleyWildOnes.org.
The new site has new content and easier access to native plant lists and other information that will help you garden with native plants. There's an updated list of places to buy native plants. All of our upcoming programs are now listed under the Programs & Events tab. And there are easy links to join, renew your membership and volunteer to help.
In the near future, we'll be adding a blog with plant information and other tips and observations about the native plant gardening and the natural world.
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Upcoming Programs and Events
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“The Mystery and Magic of Monarch Butterflies”
with Wanda DeWaard
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Monday, October 8, 6:00pm
green|spaces
63 E. Main St., Chattanooga TN
FREE and open to the public
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Thursday, October 18
Anytime between 5:00 and 6:30pm
at Barley Chattanooga,
across from Bessie Smith Hall
234 East MLK Blvd, Chattanooga 37403
You're invited to bring your ideas for 2019 programs, excursions and chapter activities to an informal brainstorming session. Please come anytime between 5:00 and 6:30pm to unload your bright ideas. No reservations are required.
If you're not able to attend, send subjects or ideas to Lisa Lemza at
lemzala@aol.com
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Tennessee Valley Chapter
Annual Meeting
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Saturday, November 3, 10:00am - 2:00pm
McCoy Farm & Gardens
Signal Mountain TN
Members-only, including spouses & partners
Native Seed and Plant Swap.
FREE Lunch.
Election of officers for 2019.
Preview of 2019 programs & events.
Tour the pollinator gardens at McCoy Farm.
Pre-registration is required (FREE).
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Monday, December 10, 6:00pm
green|spaces
63 E. Main St., Chattanooga TN
FREE
Members-only, including spouses & partners
Save the date!
More info coming soon.
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Two Tennessee Valley Chapter Members
Win National Photo Contest
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Bob Hulse was awarded first place in the People's Choice category
of the 2018 Wild Ones Photo Contest.
Thanks, Bob, for letting us use it!
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Donna Bollenbach received the first place award in the Flora category.
Read Donna's plant description and poem about the plant.
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Dr. Douglas Tallamy Inspires All
On September 7th, Dr. Douglas Tallamy, author of
Bringing Nature Home
, spoke to nearly 300 people in the University Center at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga. Tallamy's
Creating Living Landscapes
presentation focused on the importance of insects and native plants in the health of our ecosystems, leaving us inspired that we CAN do something that will make a difference.
Did you miss the program? Listen
HERE
to Tallamy's interview on WUTC. Or be sure to read
Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants.
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Habitat Hero
Awards Announced
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The Tennessee Valley Chapter of Wild Ones Habitat Hero Award recognizes individuals or organizations whose exemplary use of native plants demonstrate the mission of Wild Ones:
To promote environmentally sound landscaping practices which preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities.
The winners of the 2018 Habitat Hero Awards were announced on September 7th.
The Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute and W.M. Whitaker & Associates received the award jointly for their development of the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute.
Avi Askey and Overhill Gardens, in Vonore, TN, received the award for providing, for 20 years, a year-round retail source for a full range of grasses, forbs, shrubs, and trees of local provenance.
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Garden Tour Raises Over
$2,000 for School Grants
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Last month, our chapter presented the
Bringing Nature Home Garden Tour, our first-ever native plant home garden tour. The weather cooperated, and about 300 people came out to see five different native plant gardens.
Proceeds from the tour will be used for our
Seeds for Education grants that support pollinator gardens for local schools. Do you know a teacher who needs support in building a pollinator garden? We can help!
Special thanks go to our tour sponsors:
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Photo by Donna Bollenbach
at Pot Point Cabin in September 2018.
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Join Our Nature Journaling Group!
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The Nature Journaling Meetup group gets together from 9:30-11:30am on Tuesdays, outdoors in clear weather, indoors or under a pavilion in rain, to spend time in nature. Locations vary each week.
You are free to pursue whatever creative outlet you desire, whether that be writing, drawing, painting or something else. Sharing what you do is your option. This is not a group designed to provide instruction or feedback, but rather a group encouraging each other to set aside personal creative time in nature.
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Certificate in Native Plants
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The Certificate in Native Plants program is designed to expand students' knowledge of botany, ecology, conservation, and uses of native flora in the southeastern United States. Students will get both classroom education and hands-on application to increase knowledge and skills that can be applied at home, in the community, and at work. The course setting will provide a common ground for native plant enthusiasts to meet and connect with others who share their interests.
The CNP is designed to benefit both home gardeners and landscaping professionals alike. You do NOT need to be working toward the Certificate in order to register for classes.
Most CNP classes are limited to 25 participants. They fill up quickly, so register now to ensure your place.
Instructor: Walter Bland
Saturday, October 13, 2018
9 am- 12 pm (EDT)
Sixth Cavalry Museum and Chickamauga Military Park
Fort Oglethorpe GA
SOLD OUT
Instructor: Wyn Miller
Saturday, November 10, 2018
9 am - 4 pm EST
Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center
Registration for 2019 classes will be open soon!
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Fall Plant Sales & Events in the Region
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October 12-13
Vonore TN
35% off in the entire nursery!
October 20-21
Birmingham AL
Native Plant Conference
October 25-28, 2018
Memphis Horticultural Society
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Southeastern Plant Pyramid
Ellen Honeycutt, in her
Using Georgia Native Plants
blog, has developed a recommended "plant pyramid" for the southeast. We agree that this is an excellent approach for planning your own landscape. Ellen offers great ideas for how to build plant layers that support the web of life.
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Monsanto's global weedkiller
harms honeybees, research finds
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Glyphosate – the most used pesticide ever – damages the good bacteria in honeybee guts, making them more prone to deadly infections.
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Take the survey for this
citizen-scientist project
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Lawn to Wildflowers is citizen-science project focused on turning grass lawns into pollinator-friendly wildflower habitats. Citizen science is research conducted by the public in collaboration with researchers. By working with people around the country, we are growing a movement that makes the places where we live more beautiful and more environmentally friendly. In the process, we will learn how to best create habitats that promote native biodiversity.
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Bees can become addicted to pesticide-laced
foods
the same way that humans become hooked on nicotine, according to a new study.
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State of North America's Birds
This report is based on the first-ever conservation vulnerability assessment for all 1,154 native bird species that occur in Canada, the continental United States, and Mexico. The assessment was compiled by a team of experts from all three countries. Of these 1,154 species, 432 qualified for the Watch List, indicating species of highest conservation concern based on high vulnerability scores across multiple factors.
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5 Toxic Plants You Should Know - And Avoid
Plants cannot run from existential threats. They have to sit there silently and take a licking.
But they’re not stupid. Many grow armor of sorts — though how deer can devour rose thorns without leaving a trail of blood has always puzzled me. More insidiously, some plants produce chemicals that either assault your skin or make you sick if you eat them.
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The Native Plant You Wan
t
Interested in a list of "must-have" native plants? Read Ellen Honeycutt's
Using Georgia Native Plants
blog.
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Times Free Press
Front Page Highlights
the Decline of Insects
It's now front page news! Scientists are worried about the declining numbers of insects. "You have total ecosystem collapse if you lose your insects. How much worse can it get than that?" says Doug Tallamy. The article ends on a positive note, discussing habitat restoration.
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Save the Bugs,
Save Ourselves
Pam Sohn gets it!
Her opinion piece in the September 22
Chattanooga Times Free Press shares Wild Ones' message that we can save the earth, one yard at a time.
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Last month, Mike O'Brien spotted this Gulf Fritillary egg on a passionvine leaf.
Photo by Mike O'Brien.
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The Gulf Fritillary egg became this caterpillar.
Photo by Mike O'Brien.
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And finally, a newly emerged Gulf Fritillary!
Photo by Mike O'Brien.
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Female native Carolina Mantid on cosmos flower.
The female Carolina Mantid is flightless unlike the thinner male of the species. Notice her elytra (wing covers) barely extend over her thorax whereas the much larger and green Chinese Mantid has elytra that extend to the end of its abdomen or just beyond. The Carolina Mantid has a mottled grayish brown color and stripes on its front pair of grasping legs and elytra. She is about 2” long.
Photo by Mike O'Brien.
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Aromatic Snakeroot (Ageratina aromatica), blooming now.
Confirmatory ID by wildflower expert Dennis Horn (thank you Dennis).
The plant is poisonous, and is reported to have killed Abraham Lincoln’s Mother.
Photo by Mike O'Brien.
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Close-up of Dog Fennel flowers.
Photo by Mike O'Brien.
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"Like" our public Facebook page, and stay up to date on our events and interesting information about native plants and natural landscaping.
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Join our Facebook GROUP, where you can ask questions about native plants, join discussions and learn more about native plants and natural landscaping.
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