Midlands Fall Native Plant Sale, Oct 29 & 30

The Midlands Chapter is excited to host its first native plant sale, and honored to partner with Historic Columbia Foundation during their fall sale.
Historic Columbia is actively working to replant many of its gardens with native species. They are generously sharing space at the Robert Mills House with SCNPS for this sale, so shoppers can select from both groups’ plant offerings.

See a list of plants available for sale.

Location: Robert Mills House, 1616 Blanding St., Columbia (Enter parking lot on Henderson Street between Blanding and Taylor or park on nearby streets)

Friday, October 29:
9:00-9:30   volunteers only
9:30 – 10:00   members and volunteers
10:00 am – 4:00 pm   general public

Saturday, October 30: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Note: Thursday, October 28 is reserved for Historic Columbia Foundation members only. To join, visit https://www.historiccolumbia.org/support/membership

Please plan to pay by credit card and mask up when you can’t stay 6 feet apart. Bring a cart or wagon if you think you might be tempted to get more than two hands can hold.
For questions or if you’re interested in volunteering (and getting an early opportunity to shop) please contact mnpspresident@gmail.com.

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

July 20 Going Native to Attract Beneficials

Upstate Program:  Going Native to Attract Beneficials

Join the Upstate Chapter on Tuesday, July 20, at 7pm for a timely presentation on attracting beneficial insects.  Drew Jeffers, our presenter, is a Spartanburg County Extension agent.

The Zoom link is: Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84388373145?pwd=c3JxUDVFUERhWlhSVEJ5MDBoRGM2QT09

 

Meeting ID: 843 8837 3145

Passcode: 725876

Join the virtual gathering at 6:30 pm for socializing.  The meeting will start at 7:00 pm hosted by Dan Whitten.

 

Jeffers has wide ranging experience.  He says, “I am a native of the mountains of eastern Tennessee. I have a B.S. in Agriculture and Plant and Soil Science, and M.S. in Plant and Soil Science from the University of Tennessee. My thesis project focused on woody tree and shrub liner production. I have worked as an herbaceous perennial grower for Zelenka Nurseries, a production manager for Brussel’s Bonsai Nursery, a bedding plant grower for Van Wingerden International, and an Integrated Pest Management(IPM)coordinator for Costa Farms – Costa Carolina.

Chat with your fellow SCNPS members and learn how to draw more beneficial insects into your landscape.

Upstate Program: Flower Color and Pollinators

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February 18 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

Did you ever wonder how so much variation in flower color is maintained within species? Have your heard of ultraviolet ‘nectar guides’ on flowers?  On Tuesday, February 18, at Tri-County Technical College 7600 US 76, Pendleton in, Matt Koski, Assistant Professor at Clemson University, will discuss his research on flower color evolution. He will offer some explanations of the forces affecting floral evolution.

Koski grew up in Michigan and became fascinated with flowering plant diversity during field courses as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Later, he worked as a botany intern for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the high desert and Sierra Nevada, and then conducted field work on tropical forest community dynamics in Puerto Rico.  He discovered that flower color variations are due not only to pollinators, but to environmental factors as well.

DETAILED DIRECTIONS TO OCONEE HALL/ PARKER AUDITORIUM:
As you enter the campus at the traffic light (the south entrance), the driveway you want is to the left.  HOWEVER, you cannot turn left as you enter.  Please drive ahead to the first place you can make a u-turn and head back toward the traffic light.  Just before the light, turn right onto the one-way access road in front of the buildings.  You will pass Miller Hall, Anderson Hall  and Pickens Hall before coming to Oconee Hall on the right.  You may park in any of the student/faculty spots along the one-way drive.  There are also two  parking lots just past Oconee Hall.  Lot H-1 and Lot H-2 are available for us in the evening.   Please go to https://www.tctc.edu/media/2966/pendleton-campus-map.pdf and print a map of the campus.  There will be signs  marking the meeting entrance.

The program starts at 7:00 pm and is free and open to the public.  Arrive at 6:30 for socializing and refreshments.

Upstate Blackwell HP work morning RESCHEDULED

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NEW DATE

Due to the very wet weather prediction for this coming Saturday, the Blackwell HP work morning has been postponed to the following Saturday, January 18.  All other information remains the same, as you can see below.
We hope you will come out on this new date to pull, pummel, and pulverize some Privet!  The Bunched Arrowhead will appreciate you for “taking out” the non-native competition.

THE DETAILS REMAIN THE SAME

NPS along with and Naturaland Trust is holding a work morning to remove invasive plants (Privet mostly) from a newly acquired addition to Blackwell Heritage Preserve near Travelers Rest.  The new property contains two federally protected plant species. It was saved from development through cumulative collaborative efforts by Upstate Forever, the Southern Environmental Law Center, SC Native Plant Society, Greenville County, Naturaland Trust, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Heritage Trust Program of the SC Department of Natural Resources.  (Details at https://www.upstateforever.org/news/ultrarare-plant-habitat-protected-in-travelers-rest)  Thanks also to local residents who raised the alarm about the proposed development and the harm it threatened to the Preserve and the surrounding community.  They joined with conservation groups to fight the proposed development.

The work morning is now Saturday, January 18, 9am to no later than Noon.  Wear long sleeves and long pants.  There is poison ivy on the site.  Wear gloves, bring shovels or mattocks as we will be pulling up and digging up privet.  Some of the ground is damp, so wear shoes or boots that you can get muddy.

DIRECTIONS

Directions:  From Greenville and points south:  Head up Poinsett Highway towards Travelers Rest and take Highway 25 north.   Just as you leave the Travelers Rest business district, turn right on Blue Ridge Drive. Continue up Blue Ridge Drive.  The parking area will be on the left in the pasture on the Heritage Trust property, marked with blue paint on the trees on the left side of the road.

From north of Travelers Rest:  take Highway 25 south and turn left on Blue Ridge Drive, before entering the Travelers Rest business district.  Then follow directions above.

To sign-up for the work party and receive any last-minute information, please contact Virginia Meador at vmeador@camperdown.org

Upstate Privet Pull at Blackwell Heritage Preserve

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Blackwell Heritage Preserve Work Morning Scheduled

NPS along with and Naturaland Trust is holding a work morning to remove invasive plants (Privet mostly) for a newly acquired addition to Blackwell Heritage Preserve near Travelers Rest.  The new property contains two federally protected plant species. It was saved from development through cumulative collaborative efforts by Upstate Forever, the Southern Environmental Law Center, SC Native Plant Society, Greenville County, Naturaland Trust, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Heritage Trust Program of the SC Department of Natural Resources.  (Details at https://www.upstateforever.org/news/ultrarare-plant-habitat-protected-in-travelers-rest)

The work morning will be Saturday, November 9, 9am to no later than Noon.  Wear long sleeves and long pants.  There is poison ivy on the site.  Wear gloves, bring shovels or mattocks as we will be pulling up and digging up privet.  Some of the ground is damp, so wear shoes or boots that you can get muddy.

There may be follow-up work days later in November.

Directions:  From Greenville and points south:  Head up Poinsett Highway towards Travelers Rest; take Highway 25 north;, right as you leave the Travelers Rest business district, turn right on Blue Ridge Drive. Continue up Blue Ridge Drive.  The parking area will be on the left in the pasture on the Heritage Trust property, marked with blue paint on the trees on the left side of the road.

 

From north of Travelers Rest:  take Highway 25 south and turn left on Blue Ridge Drive, before entering the Travelers Rest business district.  Then follow directions above.

 

To sign-up for the work party and receive any last-minute information, please contact Virginia Meador at vmeador@camperdown.org

Lowcountry 2019-2020 Grant Opportunities

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The Lowcountry Chapter is pleased to offer two opportunities for grant funding during the 2019-2020 program year.  For the first time, we will be dividing project types into school projects (up to $500 maximum award) and community projects (up to $1,000 maximum award).  Please review the criteria below and contact Mary Conley with any questions or submissions.

School-Project-Criteria_FINAL_August-2019-1
 Community-Project-Criteria_FINAL_August-2019-1

Upstate Program: What Happened to the Bobwhite Quail?

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Bobwhite Quail, an iconic favorite of both hunters and bird watchers are increasingly rare in South Carolina.  Michael Small, biologist, will discuss the decline of Quail at the July Native Plant Society meeting and offer suggestions to reverse the trend.  The meeting  is set for Tuesday, July 16 at 7pm at Landrum Depot, 211 Trade Avenue, Landrum, SC.

The dramatic decline in Quail populations is linked to changes in land use.  For much of the 20th century, the Southeast was a diverse mosaic of habitats.  These habitats included row crops, native grasslands, fallow fields and forest, ideal areas for Quail.  However, land use has changed.  Vacant land is being rapidly developed.  Farming practices have eliminated many of the “edge” areas that quail prefer.

Michael Small, a biologist with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, will offer suggestions for landowners to increase the amount of ideal Quail habitat on their property.  Habitat edge, where a field meets a forest, pond or fence row is often better for quail than a uniform habitat.  To enhance the “edge effect”, large fields can be divided into several small fields.  This allows  more buffer areas between fields.  Good quality edge habitat includes gradual transition zones with diverse plant communities of different types and heights, including native grasses, legumes and shrubs.  Often, some fairly simple steps, like changing mowing schedules, can get things going in the right direction of Quail.