U.S. Postal Service to Issue Wild Orchids Forever Stamp Feb. 21
To create a collection of stamps that celebrate the beauty of native orchids, the US Postal Service called upon the talents of SCNPS member Jim Fowler, a talented photographer and knowledgeable botanist, author of Wild Orchids of South Carolina, a Popular Natural History, Orchids, Carnivorous Plants, and Other Wildflowers of the Green Swamp, NC, and a fascinating blog.
Each stamp features a photograph of one of these nine species: Cypripedium californicum, Hexalectris spicata, Cypripedium reginae, Spiranthes odorata, Triphora trianthophoros, Platanthera grandiflora, Cyrtopodium polyphyllum, Calopogon tuberosus, and Platanthera leucophaea. Within the booklet, each stamp design is featured twice. The Wild Orchids stamps will be issued with 10 stamp designs in booklets of 20 and coils of 3,000 and 10,000. News of the stamps is being shared with the hashtags #OrchidStamps and #FlowerStamps.
Part of the largest family of plants on Earth, orchids grow in many climates and thrive under a variety of conditions. There are more than 30,000 species of wild orchids in the world, with more than 100 species native to North America. Many orchids native to North America are endangered or threatened, making sightings in their natural environment increasingly rare.
Jim will speak briefly at a dedication ceremony in Coral Gables, FL, on Feb 21, 2020, and the stamps are scheduled to be released that day.
New Native Plants Garden for Oklawaha Greenway
The Hendersonville City Council recently approved the development of a native plants garden on the Greenway in memory of Wes Burlingame, a local nurseryman, lecturer and environmentalist. For three decades, Wes enthusiastically promoted the use of native plantings in private and public gardens throughout Henderson County. As a member of the Hendersonville Tree Board, he led Native Tree Walks on the Greenway and developed its pollinator beds. Volunteers will begin planting the area around the Greenway’s red kiosk in March. Tax deductible donations for the garden can be made through MountainTrue via the Friends of the Oklawaha Greenway website at: https://www.friendsofoklawaha.org/6donate.php. Please make sure all donations are clearly marked “Friends of Oklawaha for Burlingame Memorial Garden” by using the prompt “Is there anything you want us to know?” on the last screen of the donation’s processing.
North Carolina Venus Flytrap License Plate
The North Carolina Botanical Garden is teaming up with the Friends of Plant Conservation to offer a new North Carolina specialty license plate featuring the Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula). Known around the world but only native to a 90-mile inland area around Wilmington, the Venus flytrap is a North Carolina treasure. But habitat loss and poaching are making this incredible carnivorous plant, which traps insects and uses their bodies for nutrients, harder and harder to find.
The good news: you can help us save the Venus flytrap by ordering a license plate! Proceeds from plate purchases will support efforts of the North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation, Inc. and the Friends of Plant Conservation, Inc. to conserve native plants and promote the restoration of healthy landscapes across North Carolina.
We need 500 applications by February 15, 2020, for the plate to move forward. Order yours today!
Follow these steps to order a Venus Flytrap License Plate for your vehicle:
STEP 1. Get your North Carolina vehicle registration card from the car glovebox. All of the information you need to apply can be found on your vehicle registration card.
STEP 2. Click this link to download and print the Venus Flytrap License Plate Application.
STEP 3. Fill out the application using the information on your vehicle registration card and mail the completed form along with a check or money order to:
North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation, Inc.
c/o North Carolina Botanical Garden
CB 3375
Chapel Hill, NC 27599
This book presents the geology of the Highlands-Cashiers Plateau of Western North Carolina. Using everyday language and over 100 photographs and graphics, it explores how the region’s mountains, waterfalls and other special features formed, and how geology has created both their similarities and their differences.
Asheville Citizen-Times – December 5, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Sycamore trees
Asheville Citizen-Times – November 20, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: A good time to check out ferns
Asheville Citizen-Times – October 23, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Asters
Asheville Citizen-Times – October 16, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Witch hazel
AP News – September 24, 2019
Katherine Roth – Botanical illustration: Putting a timely focus on nature
Asheville Citizen-Times – September 18, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Elegant mountains
Asheville Citizen-Times – September 4, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Plants’ fruit is the best part, even over flowers
Asheville Citizen-Times – July 24, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Cardinal Flower
The Atlantic – June 4, 2019
Gabriel Popkin – What All the Affection for Monarch Butterflies Misses
Asheville Citizen-Times – May 15, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Flame azalea
Asheville Citizen-Times – April 24, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Blue cohosh among prettiest of spring wildflowers
Asheville Citizen-Times – March 6, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Look for showy wildflower shortia now
Asheville Citizen-Times – February 13, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Get ready for wildflower season
Asheville Citizen-Times – February 6, 2019
Paul Moon – Exhibit highlights Polaroid instant film in an Instagram age.
The article describes Jay Kranyik’s “Forever in an Instant” exhibition which is on show at Mars Hill University’s Weizenblatt Gallery through February 8. Jay is a botanist and garden manager for the Botanic Gardens at Asheville,
Asheville Citizen-Times – February 6, 2019
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Native pines of WNC
New York Times -September 3, 2018
Margaret Renkl – The Last Butterfly. The Eastern monarch is in trouble, and this is the time to help (no science degree needed).
Asheville Citizen-Times – August 15, 2018
George Ellison – Nature Journal: The unique flowers of grass-of-Parnassus
Northern Woodlands magazine – June 20, 2016
Meghan McCarthy McPhaul – Jack-in-the-Pulpit, or is that Jill?
Asheville Citizen-Times – June 27, 2018
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Bittersweet displays vibrant colors from mid-summer into late fall
Asheville Citizen-Times – June 20, 2018
George Ellison – Nature Journal: A look inside the mountain laurel flower
Asheville Citizen-Times – June 6, 2018
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Yellow birch isn’t yellow and may not look like birch
Asheville Citizen-Times – May 9, 2018
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Here’s the best shrub to grow in Western NC
Club Member, Buffy Wells, won a first and two second prizes for her Azaleas at the Southeastern Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society’s Rhododendron and Azalea Flower Show held on Saturday April 28, 2018. Here are her prizewinning exhibits:
Asheville Citizen-Times – April 11, 2018 – Where can you go hiking in WNC to see spring wildflowers?
Karen Chavez writes about Jim Parham’s new book, “Wildflower Walks & Hikes: North Carolina Mountains.”
Asheville Citizen-Times – March 14, 2018
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Bird’s nest? Mistletoe? Nope, it’s witch’s broom
Asheville Citizen-Times – March 8, 2018
George Ellison – Nature Journal: The beauty and utility of bloodroot
Asheville Citizen-Times – February 28, 2018
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Where to find spring wildflowers – and why they’re there
Asheville Citizen-Times – February 21, 2018
George Ellison – Nature Journal: What’s that speck of green in the winter mountains?
Asheville Citizen-Times – January 28, 2018
George Ellison – Nature Journal: WNC vines that don’t take the winter off
Botany Nerd blog – North Carolina’s Grass-of-Parnassus Species
Transylvania Times – November 13, 2017
Owen Carson – Pondering The Past, Looking Towards The Future
Asheville Citizen-Times – October 18, 2017
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Gentians, bumblebees and blue brandy
Asheville Citizen-Times – September 21, 2017
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Hearts-a-bustin’ is a fruit of fall
Blue Ridge Outdoors – August 1, 2017
Will Harlan – Your 1 Million Acres: The Future of the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest Belongs to You.
Transylvania Times – July 20, 2017
Matt McGregor – DuPont Wildflowers, Waterfalls Inspire Book.
Article about club member Rosemarie Knoll’s book, “Wildflowers and Waterfalls of DuPont State Forest”
Asheville Citizen-Times – March 30, 2017
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Know the secrets of spring wildflowers
Asheville Citizen-Times – February 9, 2017
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Shortia a floral ‘crown jewel’ of WNC
Asheville Citizen-Times – November 30, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Meet your Christmas tree, a ‘she-balsam’
Asheville Citizen-Times – October 19, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: That iridescent purple may be ironweed
Asheville Citizen-Times – October 12, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Appreciate leaves for more than color
Asheville Citizen-Times – October 5, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: The unique qualities of the yellow birch
Asheville Citizen-Times – September 21, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Ferns en masse are a sight to behold
Asheville Citizen-Times – September 15, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: The beauty of mountain ash or rowantree
The 90-Second Naturalist for Wednesday, September 14, 2016
Exotics Spreading Like Weeds
Non-native Plants in U.S.: Widespread, and Plenty of Space to Invade. UMass Amherst researchers use new methods to survey native vs. non-native plants. January 20, 2015
Jim Fowler Photography blog
Fall orchids and other wildflowers in the Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina — 2016-09-10
Asheville Citizen-Times – September 12, 2016
Mike Cronin – Black cohosh: WNC’s next cash crop?
Asheville Citizen-Times – September 8, 2016
Karen Chávez – Emerald ash borer decimating trees in WNC
Field Guide to the Southern Piedmont
Faculty at the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg recently completed a free field guide to organisms living here in the Piedmont of the Carolinas and Georgia. The Field Guide to the Southern Piedmont is a picture-based identification guide to over 700 species in the region and it includes common animals, plants, fungi, slime molds, animal tracks, skulls and bones, rocks, minerals, and nature sounds. They created the field guide to help the general public easily identify and learn about common organisms they may encounter in their backyard or while hiking a local trail. The field guide can be downloaded as an eBook for free to any electronic device from www.uscupstate.edu/fieldguide and the picture for most species will hyperlink to a reputable website with natural history information.
Jim Fowler Photography blog
Pollination observations in the Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina — 2016-08-09 – 2016-08-16
Asheville Citizen-Times – August 24, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Use your nose to find skunk goldenrod
Northern Woodlands Magazine – May 7, 2012
Thomas K. Slayton – The Humble (yet Devilish) Hobblebush
Asheville Citizen-Times – August 17, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Of cardinal flowers and hummingbirds
Asheville Citizen-Times – August 4, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: 1,500+ plants are found only near here
Hendersonville Times-News – July 31, 2016
Peter Barr – Ulinski’s Vision Lives On
(Or see original article – Pages 1 and 2)
Asheville Citizen-Times – July 13, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: The beauty of the butterfly weed
Asheville Citizen-Times – July 7, 2016
Karen Chávez – Take a walk and talk on Oklawaha Greenway
Asheville Citizen-Times – July 6, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Among WNC flowers, small still beautiful
Asheville Citizen-Times – June 23, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Identifying WNC ferns can be a fun challenge
Transylvania Times – June 9, 2016
Park Baker – Native Americans Used Trees As Special Markers
Asheville Citizen-Times – June 9, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Lady’s slipper pollinated via ‘funhouse tunnel’
Asheville Citizen-Times – May 19, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: So how do vines know where to cling?
Bold Life – April 28, 2016
Featured an interview by Melanie McGee Bianchi with Club member Bonnie Arbuckle about the Bullington Gardens Wildflower ID workshop.
Asheville Citizen-Times – April 28, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Smokies silverbells can be lovely giants
Transylvania Times – August 20, 2015
James Lewis – Searching For The DAR Memorial Forest – Brevard NC
Transylvania Times – April 25, 2016
Article by Club member, Susan Sunflower – Arbor Day: Why are trees important?
The Talking Forest – Holmes Educational State Forest Newsletter
Volume 1, Edition 2, Spring 2016
BlueRidgeNow.com – March 27, 2016
Peter Barr – 30,000 reasons to love our mountains
Jim Fowler Photography blog
“Bloody” Wednesday at Nine Times — 2016-03-24
Asheville Citizen-Times – March 23, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Spicebush is both ornament and habitat
Jim Fowler Photography blog
Fun Day trip to upstate South Carolina with new friends — 2016-03-20
Jim Fowler Photography blog
Nothin’ but Trout Lilies — 2016-03-09
Nantahala and Pisgah Forest Plan Documents
Asheville Citizen-Times – March 2, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: Winter a fine time to spot orchids
Asheville Citizen-Times – February 20, 2016
Karen Chávez – Help the hellbenders: Don’t move the rocks
Asheville Citizen-Times – February 18, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: What are earliest spring wildflowers?
Asheville Citizen-Times – February 12, 2016
Rob Neufelt’s “Portraits of the Past” column includes material from Club members Joe and Mary Standaert’s book “Swannanoa Valley” to illustrate “Point Lookout” .
Transylvania Times – February 8, 2016
Club member Aleta Tisdale of the Brevard Philharmonic seeks used musical instruments for Transylvania County schools
Transylvania Times – February 1, 2016
Gary Peeples – Pitcher Plants
Asheville Citizen-Times – January 14, 2016
George Ellison – Nature Journal: WNC’s bamboo is often hill cane
Transylvania Times – December 15, 2015
Torry Nergart – Tagging Migrating Monarch Butterflies in Transylvania County for MonarchWatch
Submit suggestions for inclusion to wcbotanicalclub@gmail.com
