Meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month at various locations TBA.
When winter is at its half-way point, native gardeners who have banned turf grass and evergreen foundation shrubs from their property may yearn for something green in their landscapes. A walk or drive in the country immediately makes clear what is missing from the urban and suburban environment: the Eastern Red Cedar, which is the only evergreen tree native to the Bluegrass region. These oval-shaped trees grow by the thousands along our roads and in abandoned fields that are reverting to forest.
They are not actually Cedars, their botanical name is Juniperus virginiana. Most Kentuckians think of them as weed trees, because they are so common. They establish themselves as the first succession tree in an area disturbed by fire or construction, which is why we find them in such abundance along the Interstates. Other trees eventually join them and will shade them out over time, but it takes quite a few decades for a mature forest to spread the kind of canopy that deprives the Cedars of needed light. Cedar wood is extremely hard and resistant to decay. We can find Cedar skeletons in our forests made of beautifully veined wood that has been dead for years but whose structure is still intact.
Juniperus virginiana grows happily in the inner and outer Bluegrass. It is hard to imagine a plant better suited at creating a visual link between our suburban landscapes and the countryside beyond. It seems to me that a clump of 3 or 5 Cedars, well situated in a sunny front yard, will be more effective than any other plant at embedding our gardens in our regional environment.
-- Beate Popkin, President
All new members and those renewing at the "wilder" or "wildest" level will receive a free DVD of the updated how-to film Wild About Wildflowers.
Contact Linda Porter for more information about Membership.
These are some places you can visit in and around Central Kentucky to see native habitat and vegetation. Some are only open by appointment. Others have scheduled guided tours. If you know of another place that belongs on this list, send it to Eve Podet.
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Do you have a favorite to recommend? Let me know the title and author and I'll add it.
List of Favorite Native Plants for the Central Kentucky area, compiled by the Lexington Wild Ones Chapter.
Bringing Nature Home by Douglas Tallamy
Native Trees, Shrubs, and Vines by William Cullina
Trees & Shrubs of Kentucky by Mary E Wharton, Roger W Barbour
Wildflowers and Ferns of Kentucky by Thomas G. Barnes and S. Wilson Francis
Gardening for the Birds by Thomas G. Barnes
How to Find and Photograph Kentucky Wildflowers by Thomas Barnes - Book Review
Growing and Propagating Wildflowers By Harry Phillips
Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley and the Southern Appalachians by Dennis Horn and Tavia Cathcart
Designing Gardens with Flora of the American East by Carolyn Summers - Book Review |
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President: Beate Popkin Vice-President: Connie May Treasurer: Mary Carol Cooper Secretary: Caroline Johnson Publicity: Betty Hall and Ann Bowe Website maintenance: Eve Podet
Team Leaders
Members and friends of our club who have questions about gardening with native plants in central Kentucky can ask us for advice via e-mail. A Wild Ones member will respond to you and address your issue.
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