Past Events

We are pleased to have Chris Ludwig draw on his passion and knowledge of Virginia’s flora to describe native plants that can be utilized in our gardens to create natural wildlife habitat.

Chris worked for the Virginia Natural Heritage Program within the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.  There he served as Staff Botanist from 1988 to 1996 and Chief Biologist from 1997 until his retirement in 2019.  For 31 years, Chris explored the wilds of Virginia, documenting more than 1,000 rare species populations resulting in a new, richer understanding of Virginia’s biodiversity.  In 2001, he founded and served as executive director of the Flora of Virginia Project (https://floraofvirginia.org/) an organization supporting the 2012 publication of The Flora of Virginia, a comprehensive manual to the vascular plants of the Commonwealth.  Chris was a coauthor of the manual which describes nearly 3,200 plant species native to or naturalized in Virginia.

Join Wild Ones Appalachian Highlands Chapter on Thursday, September 14 at 7 p.m. for Chris’s presentation.  It will be at the Virginia Highlands Community College located at 100 VHCC Drive, Abingdon, VA.  Take Exit 14/I-81. drive toward Abingdon and turn right at the first traffic light onto VHCC Drive.  Take the first left on to Opportunity Ln. when you enter campus (do not drive down to the Higher Education Center).  We will be meeting in the Keyser-Aday Theatre on campus.  The campus map highlights parking and the Theatre.  The theatre is straight ahead from the roundabout, but you can find parking from any of the turns.