Apply for a Spring 2023 Lowcountry SCNPS Grant!

The Lowcountry Chapter of the South Carolina Native Plant Society is pleased to offer our Lowcountry Chapter Grant Program. Part of our mission is to promote native plants through planting, outreach, education, and the removal of exotic species. Our Lowcountry Chapter Grants Program gives us the ability to support local projects that align with this mission. There are two separate funding opportunities: one for School Projects and one for Community Projects. If your organization, community group, or school is interested in working with native plants in any capacity, we invite you to consider applying for one of our grants!

Spring applications will be accepted January 1 — February 10, 2023. For application guidelines, please refer to this Lowcountry Chapter Grant Program document. If you have questions, contact Matt Johnson (email address provided in linked document).

Community Grant Overview
Community Projects must be directed at protecting, preserving, restoring, and/or educating the public about native plants or plant communities in the Lowcountry of South Carolina (we are currently only considering projects in Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Georgetown, and Horry counties). Priority will be given to those projects involving public land, cultural significance, rare species, or the removal of invasive/exotic species. The maximum award amount for Community Grants is $1000.

School Grant Overview
School projects must be directed at educating students about native plants or plant communities in the Lowcountry of South Carolina (we are currently only considering projects in Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester Georgetown, and Horry counties). Priority will be given to those projects involving cultural significance, rare species, or the removal of invasive/exotic species. The maximum award amount for School Grants is $500.

Lowcountry: Looking Ahead to 2023

The Lowcountry Chapter of the SCNPS is excited to announce that we will return to in-person meetings in January! We will be back in our traditional location pre-COVID: the Biology Auditorium in Duckett Hall at The Citadel (2 Jones Ave, Charleston, SC 29409). Mark your calendar for these Tuesdays at 6:30 pm: 1/17, 2/21, 3/21, 4/18 and 5/16. Program speakers and field trips will be announced in the new year.

Congratulations and thanks to our Lowcountry board members for 2023:

President: Samantha Porzelt
Vice President: Austin Trousdale
Lectures: Sharleen Johnson
Field Trips: Amber Von Harten
Plant Sale Chair: Eddie Bernard
Publicity: Laura Moses
Hospitality: Jennifer Bremer
Membership: Caroline Wright
Education and Outreach: Lauren Boyd
Grants Coordinator: Matt Johnson
Representative to State Board: Montana Feix
Board Members at Large: Colette DeGarady & Katie Ellis

Lowcountry Spring 2022 Grant Announcements

The Lowcountry Chapter of SCNPS is proud to announce the next round of Community Grant Program.  There are two separate funding opportunities: one for School Projects (individual award not to exceed $500) and one for Community Projects (individual awards not to exceed $1,000).  If you have any questions, please contact Matt Johnson (email address provided in below documents).

2022 Community Grant Annoucement – Schools

2022 Community Grant Annoucement

 

Lowcountry Spring 2022 Plant Sale Pre-Order

SPRING 2022 NATIVE PLANT SALE PRE-ORDER ANNOUNCEMENT

 

Members will be able to pre-order plants between Tuesday, February 8 – Sunday, February 13.  A plant list will be posted on the SCNPS website. If you are not a current member, you will need to join on or before Monday, February 7 or renew membership online at https://scnps.org/scnps-membership on or before Monday, February 7 to participate in this pre-order.

After reviewing the available plant list, you can place your order by emailing Eddie Bernard at [email protected].  Write “Spring Native Plant Order” in the subject line, include your full name and phone number in the message and if not you, who will be picking up your order. Please also include which day you anticipate picking your plants up, either Friday or Saturday.  For each plant ordered, please include:

  • Common and Botanical Name of plant (variety if applicable)
  • Size of pot
  • Quantity

There is a minimum of 10 plants and a maximum of 25 plants per order and a maximum of 20 orders taken. You will receive an email confirming the order and stating the total cost by the end of February. Note: Quantities are not guaranteed. Orders will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis and if we reach a maximum capacity we will stop taking new pre-orders.

You will be able to pickup your pre-ordered plants at Charles Towne Landing on Friday, March 18 from 12:00pm-1:00pm or Saturday March 19 from 9am to 11am.

Cash or checks made out to “SC Native Plant Society” will be the only payment methods taken on Friday.  Cash, check or credit card will be accepted on Saturday.

If you are not able to pick up your order within these dates and times and make payment by noted methods, please do not place an order!  Final cost will be provided with confirmation email for order.

2022 SCNPS Spring worksheet for posting 1.31.22

Lowcountry Fall 2021 Grant Applications

Is your school, community, or organization interested in promoting conservation and native plants? Want to do more to help local wildlife and pollinators? The Lowcountry chapter is excited to announce our 2021 Fall Community Grants Program! This season we are teaming up with the Lowcountry Biodiversity Foundation to provide even more funding for schools and organizations throughout coastal South Carolina. For more information, please review these application forms.  Be sure to submit your application no later than September 6th!

SCNPS_Lowcountry_CommGrants_Fall2021

Download Community Grant Info

 

SCNPS_Lowcountry_SchoolGrants_Fall2021

Download School Grant Info

Bradford Pear to be banned in South Carolina!

South Carolina will become only the second state in the United States to ban the sale of Bradford pear trees and any other pear trees grown on the commonly used Pyrus calleryana rootstock.

The ban on sales of Pyrus calleryana — or Callery pear — and three species of Elaeagnus will begin Oct. 1, 2024.

Bradford pears were once touted as sterile, but it turns out that if pollen from any other Pyrus species gets into Bradford pear flowers, the trees can make viable seeds. Those seeds are then eaten by birds and other animals and spread across the Southeastern landscape, contributing directly to one of the worst invasive plant species in the region — the Callery pear.

 

Bradfore pear

Callery pears are an aggressive invasive species with stems and branches possessing large thorns. They can spread by seed or root sprouts and can quickly take over a roadside, old field, pasture, vacant lot, or forest understory.

Does this mean that homeowners have to cut down a Bradford pear tree or remove the Elaeagnus shrub growing on their property? No, but they are encouraged to do so. In fact, Clemson University runs an annual program where residents can obtain a free, native replacement tree in exchange for cutting down their Bradford pear tree. For more details, see the Clemson Bradford Pear Bounty program.

 

The noxious weed shrub Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) has sadly been promoted for “wildlife plantings”.

 

One of the South’s most overplanted trees, per The Southern Living Garden Book.

“I think the impacts of it as it gets out into the natural landscape are pretty evident,” said David Coyle, assistant professor of Forest Health and Invasive Species at Clemson. “Frankly, there are a lot better things that people could put in their yards; there are a lot of good natives they should probably plant instead.”

Not only do Callery pears have nasty thorns that can damage everything from tractor tires to livestock, but they also damage the ecosystem by crowding out native plants while providing little to no food for insects.

The ban on these plants will make them illegal to sell or trade within South Carolina. “There are several ways to attack the problem, and one of those ways is to just stop it from being sold,” Coyle said. “As part of Clemson Extension’s Bradford Pear Bounty program, we’re trying to teach consumers that there are better things to plant and, essentially, teach them not to buy those non-native species. But you can’t reach everyone that way, so we’re trying to come at it from another way and just make it illegal to sell them.”

 

Noxious weeds are weeds that have been designated by an agricultural or other governing authorities as a plant that is injurious to crops, ecosystems, humans or livestock. To read the full news release, visit Clemson News: Invasive Bradford pear, 3 other species to be banned for sale in SC.

To learn about South Carolina’s other listed species, browse the State Plant Pest List.