Large logo         
Members' Newsletter
September 2013
Healing the earth one yard at a time
 
Upcoming Events Summary


September 9
Scott Drucker
"Landscape Design Solutions with 
Native Plants"
green|spaces

October 19-20
Trip to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest 
in North Carolina


November 16
Annual Meeting
Spring Creek Retreat


See more details in 
this e-newsletter.


Past Newsletters

We are now posting 
Member Newsletters on 
the "Recent News" page 
of our website, 
so you can now access 
them at any time.



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
Design Your Landscape With Native Plants
Learn from local landscape designer Scott Drucker
Scott Drucker
 

Monday, September 9
6:00 pm

Free and open to the public.

green|spaces
63 East Main Street
Chattanooga TN

Plenty of free parking

Click here for directions

 



Scott Drucker, our September program speaker realizes that most Wild Ones already know the many reasons why we want to use native plants in our landscape. Therefore, he will start from that point and explain various design uses for native plants. Scott is a Landscape Designer and will focus on practical as well as aesthetic reasons for planting decisions, in addition to mentioning the obvious benefits towards nature in general. Expect to take away some useful and practical information that can be easily applied to your own garden regardless of whether you are starting from scratch or in the process of a renovation.

Scott is a local landscape designer and proprietor of Dream Gardens, his own design and installation company in Chattanooga.  After studying Architecture and receiving his B.A. from Tulane University and his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University School of Law, he became the coordinator at the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens where his passion for horticulture really surfaced.  Scott is a Master Gardener, lectures frequently for regional garden clubs and horticultural organizations, and is on the Board of the Chattanooga Association of Landscape Professionals.

October to Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest
Fall overnight trip, led by Leon and Pat Bates 
Joyce Kilmer
 
Saturday-
Sunday, 
October 19-20
 
Wild Ones Members & Families Only 
 
Reserve your place now. Limited space available.

 
 

The Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is an approximately 3,800-acre tract of publicly owned virgin forest in Graham County, North Carolina, named in memory of poet Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918), best known for his poem "Trees." One of the largest contiguous tracts of old growth forest in the Eastern United States, the area is administered by the US Forest Service
 
A walk through Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest is a journey back in time through a magnificent forest with towering trees as old as 400 years. Some enormous yellow-poplars are over 20 feet in circumference and stand 100 feet tall. The floor is carpeted with a garden of wildflowers, ferns, and moss-covered logs from fallen giants. 
 
The memorial forest is an outstanding example of a cove hardwood forest -- a forest characterized by rich, thick soils; abundant moisture; and a variety of flora. In 1935, the regional forester wrote the Chief of the Forest Service that the forest was one of the "very few remaining tracts of virgin hardwood in the Appalachians...(and) we ought to buy it to preserve some of the forest original growth in the Appalachians."   

The only way to see the impressive memorial forest is on foot. The Joyce Kilmer National Recreation Trail covers 2 miles and has two loops: the 1�-mile lower loop passes the Joyce Kilmer Memorial plaque, and the upper �-mile loop swings through Poplar Cove, a grove of the largest trees.

 

We will also travel The Cherohala Skyway, located in southeast Tennessee and southwest North Carolina. The 40+ mile-long scenic Skyway passes through the Cherokee and Nantahala national forests, connecting Tellico Plains, Tennessee with Robbinsville, North Carolina. The beautiful "drive among the clouds" rises from a low point of just under 900 feet  at Tellico Plains to a high point of just over 5,400 feet on the slopes of Haw Knob near the Tennessee-North Carolina state line.

 

Leon and Pat Bates are members of our Wild Ones chapter, and you won't want to miss the opportunity to see these beautiful areas with the two of them.  Leon is a frequent leader of hikes at the annual Greater Smoky Mountains Wildflower Pilgrimage, and you'll be amazed at what you'll see and learn by taking a walk in the woods with him.

 

We will carpool and leave Chattanooga on Saturday morning, October 19, returning on Sunday afternoon.  We have a reserved block of rooms for Saturday night at the Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham in Robbinsville NC.  Room options include (1) one queen bed or (2) two queen beds.  Room prices range from $63-$99, depending upon the number of people in each room.  Room reservations are available on a first come-first served basis by emailing Nora. Please indicate if you are sharing a room with another Wild Ones member.  


Tennessee Valley Wild Ones Annual Meeting
Mark Your Calendar!
Spring Creek Retreat
Spring Creek Retreat near Reliance TN


Saturday, 
November 16


10:00am meeting
12:30pm lunch
1:30pm hike

 
Free to Wild Ones members



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.
 
At the morning meeting, we will announce our 2014 programs and preview plans for the March 2014 Symposium.  We will be selecting our 2014 "Native Plant of the Year," and we will elect officers for 2014.  We will also have a native plant seed and plant swap.
 
Lunch will be provided, and then Leon Bates will lead us on an easy hike in the nearby Cherokee National Forest.
 
Save this date on your calendar.  
More details will be coming soon!

We thank Beverly Inman-Ebel, Wild Ones member, 
for inviting us to spend the day at her beautiful retreat property. 
 
Opportunities for Wild Ones Members
Are You Interested in Getting More Involved or Joining the Board?

At our annual meeting on November 16th, we'll be electing officers for 2014.  The following Board positions will be elected this year: Vice-President, Treasurer, Members-at-Large (2 of the 3 positions). If you're interested in running for any of these positions, we invite you to let us know.

Also, please consider serving as a co-chair for either the Membership Committee or the Public Information & Education Committee.  Co-chairs for these committees are also voting Board members.

And...we also need volunteers to assist with (1) database management, (2) member communications, (3) newsletter and website, or (4) marketing & public relations.

If you're interested in joining a fun group of people who help plan programs and activities for our Chapter, please email Nora.  
Job descriptions are available.


Butterfly Garden Installation 
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.  

Now it's almost time to install the plants!  We are planning to do this on Friday and Saturday, October 11 & 12.

If you're interested in volunteering to help, please email Nora, and we'll let you know the details.

 
 Help Establish a Native Plant Garden
at the UTC Challenger Center


The Tennessee Valley Chapter of Wild Ones has been invited to partner with the UTC Wildlife Club to enhance the wetland area at the Challenger Center site on the UTC campus. 

The first meeting will be on October 2 at 1:30pm.  If you're interested, please email Sally.
 
Photos from the Field
Mike O'Brien, our Tennessee Valley Wild Ones member, continues to take some amazing photos this summer.  In the following two photos, Mike spotted a female Southern Dogface Butterfly.  The pink coloration is the "rosa" form, more common in the fall.
Southern Dogface female
Southern Dogface Butterfly, female, "rosa" form
 

Southern Dogface dorsal view
Female Southern Dogface Butterfly
in a rare dorsal view (from above)
Notice the poodle...the black spot is the eye.
 
Mike photographed an Old Tawny Emperor Butterfly,
attracted to the salt on an old sweaty t-shirt.
Old Tawny Emperor

 

Mike spotted this lovely mushroom in the woods.  
It was about 5-6" tall.
Mushroom

 

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.