October Updates

Greetings all!

It is a FANTASTIC month for natives all around so get ready! Cardinal Flower is in full bloom at Burden and Frenchtown, along with Bear's Foot and Crownbeard and a number of others. Activities abound. 

Cardinal Flower on the Burden Woods Trail

Our Field Trip this month will be to Maypop Hill Nursery / Gloster Arboretum on October 17th. Maypop Hill is our nearest and dearest native plant nursery, run by Betty Miley, a co-founder of the Capital Area Native Plant Society and long-time native planter. Gloster Arboretum, just down the road, boasts a number of rare and unusual plants for our region, including wild Mountain Laurel, Silky Camelia and Bigleaf Magnolia. You're in for a real treat with this one.

A carpool group will leave Baton Rouge around 7:00 a.m. to arrive at Maypop Hill Nursery around 8:00. We will tour the property while waiting for stragglers and then head on to Gloster Arboretum around 9:00. We will return to Maypop Hill for lunch, where Betty Miley will provide Taco Soup. You can bring chips, appetizers, desserts, etc. as pot luck. On the way back some folks might want to visit the Mary Ann Brown Preserve, which is not far.

Heres the flier:

Plant Fest @ Hilltop Arboretum Oct 3-4

CANPS has teamed up with Hilltop Arboretum and First Graphix, LLC to help label native plants so that you can be sure what you are buying is native. Look for plants with "Certified Native" tag, for plants native to Louisiana. There is an outstanding selection of regional natives at this sale and you don't want to miss it. CANPS will have a table to provide additional information on Saturday, October 3rd. Volunteers are welcome but sign up soon at http://goo.gl/forms/96wT9GMvRK.

More info on Plant Fest at: https://sites01.lsu.edu/wp/hilltop/events/plantfest-2/ 

Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), a wildflower of rich woods, for sale at Hilltop

CANPS Board Meeting Oct 7th @ Hilltop Arboretum from 6-7pm

We have our board meetings on the first Wednesday of every month. We are exploring a permanent business meeting location at Hilltop Arboretum. This time around we will be planning for fall activities, discussing membership dues/benefits and fall leadership elections. 

Central South Native Plant Conference Oct 29-31st @ the Birmingham Botanic Gardens, Alabama 

A few members will be driving up to this AMAZING conference for Oct 30-31. Treat yourself and come along to meet the movers and shakers of Central-Southeastern native plant movement. Inspiring talks, exquisite native landscaping and field trips to pristine habitats that you will remember for years to come. RSVP at http://goo.gl/forms/96wT9GMvRK.

More info at: http://www.bbgardens.org/central-south.php 

The native plant propagation program (next workday Oct 18th 4-6pm @ Burden Botanic Gardens) has picked up and we are in full-force fruit and seed collecting mode. If you have fruit or seed in your garden or see some on roadsides, please help us gather them up. For an upcoming fall flowering meadow mix we will need ironweed, boneset, blue mistflower and crownbeard in bulk. Remember to only take 10% of fruits and seeds and leave the remaining 90%  for wildlife and the general health of the plant population. Read more about the ethics of seed collecting at http://canps.weebly.com/exchanging-and-collecting-seeds.html 

As usual, we cannot possibly fit all of the events out there in one blast. Please check: http://canps.weebly.com/calendar.html for additional events.

Best wishes,

Matthew and Lauren

Capital Area Native Plant Society

Carolina Crownbeard (Verbesina walteri) at Blackwater Conservation Area