News

Southwest Chapter Events & Activities

Coming Up

Friday, January 19, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. OR Saturday, January 20, 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
Growing Native Plants from Seed 
In-person workshop with Bill Daniels of Indiana Native Seed Communities

This must-attend workshop for all native plant enthusiasts is open to both beginners and seasoned native seed propagators. It will provide the guidance necessary to grow your own natives from seed. In addition, this is a train-the-trainer workshop providing attendees with tools to then share these skills within your own community. You will have the opportunity to practice your newly learned winter sowing skills and take home the product of your work.

The workshop will be hosted by Wesselman Woods. It is being offered free of charge to all INPS-SW members.

We are excited to welcome Bill Daniels as our featured presenter. Bill retired in 2019 from a work-life spent primarily in horticulture and environmental, health and safety, and now spends much of his time collecting and preparing native plant seeds for propagation and teaching others how to do it. He is a Master Gardener, the Program Leader for Native Seed Communities (a project of the Indiana Native Plant Society) and a co-leader for the all volunteer led and supported Sycamore Land Trust native plant nursery. Bill’s other areas of interest include vocal music and the effects of our food choices on biodiversity loss.

Located at The Nature Center at Wesselman Woods, 551 North Boeke Road, Evansville, IN, 47711  No registration is required. No fee; however, donations are gladly accepted and appreciated!

Past Events

November 2023
SW-INPS Chapter Meeting

There will be no formal education presentation at this meeting, but plenty to discuss. Topics include reports about the INPS Annual Conference held in Bloomington a few weeks ago, we will discuss changes to the plant sale, and most importantly, we will begin planning for 2024. Your opinion on the educational topics you want for yourself as well as other members will be a significant focus of the meeting as will be a discussion on what types of outreach education/activities we should offer the general public.

September 2023
Fall Native Plant Sale

The Southwest Chapter is changing how we accept donated plants for the sale. The guidelines are listed below. Volunteers are needed on Friday 9/1 and the day of the sale. Follow this link to see volunteer opportunities.

Plant Donation Guidelines

1. We will accept only plants that are on the list provided. If you have a plant you wish to donate that is not included on the provided list, please contact us so we can evaluate if we can accept it.
2. Once you have determined that you have approved plants, please send a list of your plants to Tim Thompson (inps.sw.secretary@gmail.com). He will print plant stakes for your donations (no more labels to peel!). If you have a known cultivar, please include that information. Submit your label request list no later than 5:00 pm on Sunday, August 27. No label requests will be honored after this time, and we will not accept unlabeled plants. Please send a spreadsheet or table with donor name, botanical name, common name, and quantity of each. Example:

3. Once you receive your printed plant stakes, write the price on the back of the label before putting the labels in each pot. We are aiming for $4, $6, $8, and $10 plants. A very small plant might be $2 and a large, well-developed plant may be $14 (or more if it is exceptional). Use your best judgement and remember our primary goal is to educate and get native plants out in the community. Please keep prices to even numbers.
4. Please bring your plants to the Display Garden on Friday, September 1, between noon and 5:00 p.m. Our team of plant experts will confirm identity before the plants go out to sale on Saturday. If you are unable to drop plants off during the above timeframe, please contact us so we can make other arrangements.

June 2023
Spring Native Plant Sale

The sale took place at the SWIMGA Display Garden, 3501 E. Lloyd Expressway in Evansville, near the Evansville State Hospital Grounds.

Megan Ritterskamp, President of the SW Chapter, stated “Our spring native plant sale is our most popular annual event. It comes at a time of year when people are eager to get outside and work in their gardens. We always have a wonderful selection of plants to choose from. Interest in native plants continues to grow, but it can still be difficult to find native plants at most local nurseries. The INPS-SW spring sale is a great one-stop shop for native trees, shrubs, grasses, and perennials.”

Volunteer native plant enthusiasts will be on hand to answer questions and provide guidance on plants and planting. After stocking up on plants, individuals and families are also invited to stroll the SWIMGA Display Garden, a free self-guided activity offered by our local Master Gardeners association.

March 2023
People for Pollinators

Our presenter will be Elyse Talley with People for Pollinators/UE ChangeLab, with a fascinating look at the importance of native bees and our role in their survival (and their role in ours).

Bees are important pollinators of three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants, and yet many people know very little about what they look like or how they live. In this talk, we will explore the lifecycle of bees, how to differentiate them from other flying insects, and what resources you can provide to help them thrive in your yard. We’ll also address some common misconceptions about bees and do some fun giveaways in the process. Come join us to learn what all the buzz is about!

Saturday, January 21, 2023

Please join us at the Koch Event Lodge at Mesker Park Zoo and Botanic Garden, January 21, 2023 at 9:30am (note: this is a change in venue). Our new vice president, Misty Minar, has arranged for our admission fee to be waived and will have the tram waiting at the front gate at 9:15am to transport anyone that would rather not walk to the lodge. We will provide some light refreshments, things to nibble and things to sip.

If you plan to bring seeds to swap or share, please bring seeds either in small envelopes or in bulk with small envelopes to put seeds in. We will have a supply of envelopes and markers available to share, but if you have your own please bring them. It is our hope that members will grow seeds and offer any surplus of plants for our plant sale in the spring.

Saturday, June 4, 2022

*****PLANT SALE UPDATE*****
Greg Gordon, Plant Sale Coordinator

Save the date for our Native Plant Sale on June 4!

If you have plants to contribute, try to get them dug and in pots at least a week or two before the sale so we can be assured they survived the dig. As soon as you have a good idea how many you will have, please request labels from TJ Thompson (teejaytee@gmail.com).

Friday, May 27, 2022

Thanks to Dr. Cris Hochwender we have an opportunity to do a dig at the UE Native Plant Garden. (The native garden is located behind the Koch Science Building–follow the sign on Weinbach to the Peters-Margedant House right next to it.) It will be at 8:00 A.M. on Friday, May 27 followed by a potting party at my house 5818 Washington Avenue in Evansville. This is a good opportunity for some of you to get involved in a fun activity and to tour the UE Native Garden. Email me (greggordon11@yahoo.com) if you can help. We had some great volunteers at the last potting party–thanks to Anne Butsch, Kate Lynch, Susan Cooper and Teresa Oser.

We will need someone to babysit these plants for a week.

Please let me and TJ know what plants you will be bringing so we can include it in our marketing. It would be good to know as many as possible by next Saturday’s meeting.

Some plants we really need:

• Any kind of milkweed (except tropical)
• Little Bluestem, the INPS perennial of the year
• Orange Trumpet vine
• Coral Honeysuckle
• Native ferns
• Native coneflowers
• Switchgrass
• Wild Petunia
• Blue Vervain
• Culver’s Root

Thanks for all your involvement,

Greg Gordon

Saturday May 21, 2022,  9:30am

Happy May, members!

This month we have assembled an amazing panel of experts to answer all your native plant questions! We are thrilled to be able to meet again in person at the Browning Room of Central Library this Saturday morning May 21 at 9:30. It will be a “hybrid” meeting—both in-person and online. Central Library is located at 200 SE Martin Luther King Blvd in Evansville, IN. For those who would prefer to join us remotely, you’ll find a link to the Zoom meeting below the agenda.

(NOTE: Covid is on the rise again in our community. The library is still asking patrons to mask at this time. We are respectfully asking members to bring and wear a mask to this meeting. We will have a few masks on hand for those who forget. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of other members, some of whom have family members with compromised immune systems).

AGENDA FOR MAY 21st MEETING SW CHAPTER OF INPS
Call to Order – Paul Bouseman, President
Approval of Minutes –Tim Thompson, Secretary
Educational Presentation—Panel Discussion: Native Plant Sources in our Area with Will Drews, Knox County SWCD; Julie Smith, Goldfinch Nursery; Tom Guggenheim, Bur Oak Tree Service; Karen Elling, New Image Gardening; Donnarae Wolston, Ancient Roots Nursery
Other Business:
Plant Sale Discussion: Greg Gordon (see memo, below)
Doug Tallamy presentation update: Megan Ritterskamp
Rainbarrel Auction/School Pollinator Garden: Tim Thompson
Adjourn

Saturday March 19, 2022,  9:30am

Hello INPS-SW Members!

We are thrilled to be able to meet in person March 19 at the Browning Room of Central Library at 9:30.  It will be a “hybrid” meeting—both in-person and online (if the technology comes through for us!). Central Library is located at 200 SE Martin Luther King Blvd in Evansville, IN. For those who would prefer to join us remotely, please email southwest@indiananativeplants.org for the Zoom link.

NOTE: The library is still asking patrons to mask at this time. Though the rate of COVID-19 infections has dropped dramatically in recent weeks, it is not gone. We are respectfully asking members to bring and wear a mask to this, our first in-person meeting in two years. We will have a few masks on hand for those who forget. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of other members, some of whom have family members with compromised immune systems.

AGENDA FOR MARCH 19^th MEETING SW CHAPTER OF INPS

   Call to Order – Paul Bouseman, President

   Approval of Minutes –Tim Thompson, Secretary

   Treasurer’s Report and 2022 Budget overview– Pam Drach, Treasurer

Educational Presentation—Hans Schmitz, Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative: “The Judicious Use of Herbicides in Controlling Invasive Plants.”  The topic of herbicides always sparks a lively discussion within our ranks.  Here’s your chance to get accurate information about herbicide usage from an expert!

Other Business:

INPS Bus tour of Southwest Indiana April 19-21 Tuesday-Thursday: Paul Bouseman

INPS request for auction items (see below for more information):  Paul Bouseman

Plant Sale Discussion & Volunteer sign up: Greg Gordon

Doug Tallamy presentation update: Megan Ritterskamp