Free and open to the public.

The plant sale will be in the upper parking lot

at Grace Episcopal Church, 20 Belvoir Ave., Chattanooga TN.

Plenty of free parking spaces available.

The event will be held rain or shine.

Participating Nurseries:

Reflection Riding

Tennessee Naturescapes

Thomas Nursery

Hixson High School Horticulture Science Program

Carolina Wild

Wild Plant Rescue



Medicine of Place:

Identifying Medicinal Herbs of the Southeast

with Christina Gibson

Monday, October 9, 2023

6:00 p.m. EDT

green|spaces

63 E. Main St., Chattanooga TN

Free and open to the public

The Southern Appalachian region has been described as “The Apothecary of North America” and it’s true: medicinal plants and mushrooms are all around us, both native and non-native, from the cracks in the sidewalk to the nearest forest and field. In this presentation, herbalist Christina Gibson will share some of her favorite local herbs that she reaches for often in her own apothecary. She’ll explain some of their traditional and modern uses, and discuss the opportunities for health sovereignty that open up when we learn as a community to identify, protect, and cultivate our own medicine bio-regionally: our medicine of place. 

Southeastern Grasslands Conservation

in the Chattanooga Region

with Zach Irick

Monday, November 13, 2023

6:00 p.m. EDT

green | spaces

63 E. Main St., Chattanooga TN

Free and open to the public

More CNP classes will be announced soon!



Tennessee Valley Chapter

Members-Only Events

Upcoming Calendar of Events

To view all upcoming programs, classes and events presented by the Tennessee Valley Chapter of Wild Ones, click below:

More Programs, Classes & Activities

Interesting Information

A Viable Alternative to Conventional Lawns?

Cornell Botanic Gardens is testing sustainable options for replacing your backyard grass. The bonus: They don’t need to be cut more than twice a year.

Read more in this article from the New York Times.

A Native Replacement for Invasive Sweet Autumn Clematis

Clematis terniflora, commonly called sweet autumn clematis, was brought to North America as an ornamental plant in the late 1800s. Often utilized in the landscape on trellises or along fences, it has escaped cultivation due to its vigorous spreading habit and prolific self-seeding. Its adaptability enables its aggressiveness, as little deters its motivation for movement. Luckily, there is a native Clematis that is comparable to Clematis ternifolia, offering potential for replacement in the trade. Clematis virginiana is commonly found in moist woodland edges east of the Mississippi. Though they look alike in flower, these two Clematis can be easily distinguished from one another by the differences in their foliage. 

Read more.

Pollinators in the woods?

The place of wild bees in a changing forested landscape

Join Kass Urban-Mead, Xerces Pollinator Conservation Specialist, for an adventure exploring how wild bees use the woods--from the leafy forest floor to the top of the canopy. Her presentation covers the changing nature of forests in our landscapes and how this is likely to affect different groups of bees. She highlights ways in which forest management for healthy, diverse, climate-resilient woods is crucial not just for birds and other wildlife, but also for the bees.

View the Presentation

Xerces Society Downloadable Fact Sheets and Info:

Nesting & Overwintering Habitat for Pollinators

Save the Stems: How to Create Habitat for Stem-Nesting Bees



5 Ways to Increase Nesting Habitat for Native Bees

Pollinator Conservation Resources: Southeast Region

Pollinator-Friendly Parks

Bird Migration Forecasts

When, where, and how far will birds migrate? How many birds passed last night? BirdCast's tools help you explore the answers to these and many other questions about bird migration.

Learn More.



The Beekeepers Who Don't Want You to Buy More Bees

In recent years, beekeepers, as well as a broad variety of leading conservationists, have come to a new conclusion about the benefit of honeybee hives. One beekeeper said, “If you overcrowd any space with honey bees, there is a competition for natural resources, and since bees have the largest numbers, they push out other pollinators, which actually harms biodiversity. I would say that the best thing you could do for honey bees right now is not take up beekeeping.” That’s a jarring message, and not just because honey bees play a crucial role in the food chain, pollinating about one-third of the food consumed by Americans, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Read the New York Times story.



We've Been Overlooking a Major Part of Climate Change,

and It's Sending Warning Signs

The Earth is heating up, and not just its atmosphere and oceans. The soil itself is getting warmer, too, leading to more extreme soil heat around the planet – along with unclear but ominous consequences for surface dwellers like us.

Read more.



Photos from the Field

Green Lynx Spider

The Green Lynx spider is a predatory hunter on foliage and flowers and is not an orb weaver. In this photo on Coralberry, she has captured a bee to eat while guarding her tan egg sac below her, which resembles a tan sand spur. When observing her recently, Mike watched her move her egg sac over a foot away to a higher location. She uses threads of her silk to slowly hoist it up between the branches and reattach it.

She will remain guarding the egg sac until the spiderlings hatch out in about 10 days. They will remain with her guarding them for several days while they molt and grow a bit. Then they will “balloon” away, each one on a long thread of their silk, hoping to catch a good wind to whisk them away to new habitats. They will over-winter in the leaf litter and brush. 



Photo by Mike O'Brien.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Caterpillar

Mike was fortunate to be able to photograph this very clear view of the ventral side of an Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly caterpillar recently, and it shows the anatomy of its three pairs of thoracic true legs, four pairs of abdominal prolegs, and one pair of anal claspers (prolegs). These caterpillars are often found hanging on to twigs, but a clear view of how they are attached often eludes us. This amazing photo this helps to see that. The head end is at the top of the photo. 

Photo by Mike O'Brien.

Eastern Black Swallowtail

(1) Caterpillar on day-one of pupation on Flowering Fennel

(2) Chrysalis

Photo by Mike O'Brien.

American Lady butterfly and a female Carpenter Bee

nectaring on Sedum flowers



Photo by Mike O'Brien.

Male Ruby Throated hummingbird perched above his “claimed” feeder

These photos demonstrate how the colors of his throat change from black to varying shades of red proportionally with the amount of reflected light falling upon them. Hummingbirds will soon leave our area on their migration to winter in Mexico to Central America.

Photos by Mike O'Brien.

White-banded Crab Spider on mint flowers

This is a watch and wait predator and can often be found hunting on flowers at this time of the year. The spider measures about 1/2” across the tips of its extended front two pairs of legs, which it uses to grab its prey. The rear two pairs of legs hold on to the plant. It can be white, yellow or pinkish in color. This is a female of the species. 



Photo by Mike O'Brien.

Robber Fly eating a small fly it has caught

Robber flies are also called assassin flies. They are powerfully built, bristly flies with a short, stout proboscis enclosing the sharp, sucking hypopharynx. The name "robber fly" reflects their expert predatory habits; they feed mainly or exclusively on other insects and, as a rule, they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight. They are a voracious predators of flying insects and are good for the garden. 

Photo by Mike O'Brien

Orange Jewelweed flower (Impatiens capensis) 

A native North American plant, this self-seeding annual plant favors bottom lands, creeks and wetter areas. It typically grows 3-5 feet in height, and its seed capsule bursts open at the slightest touch to eject its seeds. It is a mid- to late-summer bloomer.

Photo by Mike O'Brien.

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