Upcoming Events

Members only!  Steele Creek Park, Civitan Shelter, Bristol

Benefits of being an official Wild Ones member!  This is an opportunity to thin out your flower beds (especially native plants) and bring your labeled plants (or seeds) to swap/share.  Most of us will take home more than we bring!  You will be charged $2 at the gate for parking.

Winged Deer Park Disc Golf- open to both members and non-members.

Join us as we walk with JCP&R naturalist, Connie Deegan to explore one of the largest patches of naturalized bluebells in East TN. This area also has a large enough population of Spring Beauties to support the specialist Spring Beauty bee

Table event at Spring Open House

Citizen Science using iNaturalist.

The tour is open to the public. Please, invite friends to join us! Guests are also invited to attend the meeting following the tour. It will be a great chance to learn about our chapter. Our tour will be led by Christy Shivell of Shy Valley Farm. Shy Valley Farm is a local nursery that focuses on wildlife friendly, low maintenance, and useful native plants, herbs, and heirloom tomatoes. Christy is a very knowledgeable native plant person who designed the garden.

Please note: The museum will be closed when we are there so will be no access to restrooms. Plan accordingly!

Free admission and open to the public!

Plants and their Pollinators with ETSU’s Arceo-Gomez Plant Lab - 10:00 Nature and conservation-based art show and sale - 10:00 to 4:00 Nature crafts for kids - 11:00 to 1:00 Monarch Conservation and Monarch Waystations - 2:00 Up Close and Personal with Nature - 3:00

Walk with us and learn more about the importance of native pollinators and native plants.

Learn more about our Wild Ones Chapter all day.

I announced monthly meetings for members to share photos of their gardens or ask questions for more experienced members.  I had hoped to start this series on July 20 but a week with grandsons took priority!  We also have changed to second Thursdays.  Please send a photo or two with plant names to me so we can gather them for Zoom.  We will email specifics on connecting to Zoom.  Join us with your questions! 

Join the Appalachian Highlands Chapter at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, August 13th for a tour of a rain garden at the Blue Ridge Discovery Center (BRDC).  In addition, see restored and newly constructed wetlands.  Bring a lunch at noon and discuss the plants used in establishing these wildlife friendly native gardens.

BRDC sponsors a variety of naturalist classes for all ages and the Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally.  The BRDC is located at the site of a restored girl’s school built in 1925.  The website is www.blueridgediscoverycenter.org 

Directions:  The Blue Ridge Discovery Center Address: 66402 Whitetop Rd, Troutdale, VA 24378.  From I-81, take Exit 35 (Chilhowie), go south on RT 762, passing Hardee’s.  Follow this for 3.6 miles to the flashing light at intersection.  Keeping straight (the road becomes RT 600), crossing Iron Mountain and in 7.6 miles to the parking at the BRDC Schoolhouse.

Join Wild Ones Appalachian Highlands Chapter for a tour of this wonderful nature park. Walk will be lead by WOAH member, JC Parks and Rec Naturalist, Connie Deegan. Expect to see migrating monarchs, dragonflies, migrating birds and many native plantings! This event, sponsored by WOAH is free and family friendly.

Take a look at the many species that visit or call Jacob’s Nature Park home.

eBird Hotspot.

Directions: Park and meet by the Outdoors Classroom at 1919 Ocala Drive in Johnson City. Additional parking at Rich Acres Baptist Church at 1245 King Springs Rd.

(NOTE: This event begins at the park’s back entrance at 1919 Ocala Drive. Navigation apps may lead you to the park’s nearby King Springs Rd front entrance by default.)

Join us via Zoom for a discussion with Katherine Kilbourne, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, State Plant Pathologist, about invasive plants in our area including questions and answers to your concerns. She defines invasive plants (difference between aggressive and invasive), our top plants of concern, different methods of invasive plant removal, TN regulated plants and how plants get on the regulated plant list and how grass root efforts really help!

Monthly Chapter General Zoom Meeting   (Zoom sign-in info coming soon)

We will start our Zoom meeting with a discussion by Mel Kelly describing how to store seed collected this fall for planting next spring.  This will be followed by general discussion.  We encourage members to share photos of their gardens or ask questions for more experienced members.  Please send a photo or two from your garden with plant names to me ([email protected]) so we can consolidate them for the meeting. 

The Chapter Fall Seed and Plant Swap is a benefit of being an Appalachian Highlands Chapter member!  We encourage you to come Saturday, October 22, even if you don’t have seeds to share or you have never been to a swap.  Gardeners love to share their excess and to describe what they have.  If you have extra, please bring your labeled native plant seeds and plants.  Most of us will take home more than we bring! 

Robin Feierabend, Chapter member and member of Friends of Steele Creek Park, will lead a tour of the Nature Center and pollinator garden starting at 3:00 at the Nature Center.

The Swap will start at 4:00 at the Civitan Shelter, rain or shine.  The Shelter is covered with restrooms nearby.  You will be charged $2 at the gate for parking. 

Join us for a presentation by local landscape architect Trevor Curtis of Bricks & Ivy Landscape Design (bricksandivy.online) as he discusses the American landscape. A graduate of Virginia Tech, Trevor believes in working with nature instead of fighting against it. Why should you use Natives? What are some of the common mistakes homeowners make? Native trees, shrubs, grasses, and perennials will be recommended for your garden along with where to purchase them. He will offer sustainable environmentally friendly solutions to your landscaping questions!!

A time to celebrate our first year as the Appalachian Highlands Chapter.  A slide show will run of our “Year in Review” along with a few words by our President on our accomplishments we have achieved together.  More to follow on refreshments but plan to bring your favorite hors d'oeuvre.  Also, if you have any photos of your garden or native plants, please send them to the Chapter email [email protected] to be included.  

The Summit building is set back from Volunteer Parkway with an access road between Eastman Credit Union and Bank of Tennessee.  There is a cut-through the Parkway divide for a left turn if you are coming from the downtown Bristol area.  There is adequate parking in the front of the building.