Native Plants

Plant Walks

Plant Walk at Wild Meadow Farm

Wild Meadow Farm will host an easy, half-mile, two-hour nature walk at their farm in Delco on August 15. On past walks they’ve discussed plant ID and uses, wildlife, and local history. The walk will start at 9:30 a.m. sharp to beat the heat. Find them on Instagram @WildMeadowFarmNC. Email them at WildMeadowFarmNC@gmail.com to RSVP and get directions.

Cameron Museum Nature Trails

The 9.3-acre campus of Cameron Museum of Art has nature trails for you to enjoy. Stroll along the pond and follow the trail from the museum front door north to the campus’ historic woodlands. On the trail you can see native plant and animal life. You can also walk along the fruit grove planted in 2011 in honor of Paul W. Phillips, the Museum’s Senior Security Guard. The orchard contains white and black muscadine grapes, peach, pear, fig, apple, plum and blueberry plantings.

“Leaderless” Green Swamp Native Plant Walk

In order to beat the heat the SE Coastal Chapter of the Native Plant Society will conduct an Early Bird plant walk Saturday, August 14 at 8 a.m. at the Green Swamp. Armed with iNaturalist and some group common knowledge the group will explore the Green Swamp for no more than 90 minutes. Google maps is a good source to find directions to its location in Brunswick County.

For those in Wilmington who would like to car pool, a convenient meeting place is the Burger King located on 3rd Street between Wooster Street and Dawson Street. Poolers will meet at 7 a.m., depart promptly at 7:15. The easiest way to coordinate the pooling is to arrive at the Burger King with the willingness to drive or ride. It all can be sorted out in the parking lot.

If going directly to the Green Swamp, meet in the parking lot off of route 211. Bring bug spray and good walking shoes.

The group asks that all participants be fully vaccinated. Contact Charley Winterbauer at cewinterbauer39@gmail.com to sign up for the walk.

Fun for Kids: It’s Owl Good at Airlie Gardens

For the ninth year in a row, Airlie is excited to host its Annual Art Exhibit, July–December 2021! They invited artists, or teams of artists, to decorate, paint or otherwise adorn one of 10 oversized four-foot tall, fiberglass owl models. These owls will be placed throughout the grounds for guests to enjoy as part of their garden experience. Artist designs were selected based on creativity, craftsmanship, use of materials, the ability to appeal to all age groups, outdoor sustainability, and durability.

The Green Swamp looks different as the seasons change. This the Shoestring area, showing flowers in bloom in June.

Local Native Plant Society Resumes Community Plant Walks

After a year of staying isolated, the local chapter of the Native Plant Society has resumed their plant walks. If you would like to be informed on the walk schedule and other plant-related activities, go to www.ncwildflower.org and join the state-wide NC Native Plant Society. Based on your address, you will automatically be assigned to a local chapter. For the SE portion of the state, that is the Southeastern Coastal Area Chapter. Individual membership costs $25/year ($15 for students). You may come on a walk at no charge before joining to see whether this activity is one you might enjoy.

Recommended Reading

For those considering going a walk through the Green Swamp, Charley Winterbauer, co-chair of the local Native Plant Society chapter, recommends this book by James Fowler: Entitled Orchids, Carnivorous Plants, and Other Wildflowers of the Green Swamp, North Carolina. He considers it an invaluable resource to learn about Native species are those that occur naturally in an area. They are better adapted to local conditions requiring less care once established. Native plants support our native wildlife, in particular our birds, butterflies and bees (pollinators). Introduced plants may this diverse ecosystem. become invasive, outcompeting the natives and not providing the food and cover our native wildlife depends on.

Questions? Email cewinterbauer39@gmail.com.

First Post-Pandemic Plant Walk

After a couple of weather-related cancellations (one for thunderstorms and one for threat of thunderstorms), the NC Native Plant Society–Southeastern Coastal Chapter held its first plant walk since the pandemic—a successful morning plant walk through the Herbert Bluethenthal Memorial Wildflower Preserve.

This walk was led by Dr. Darin Penneys, who identified plants and explained their growth habits. He pointed out several native plants that would work in residential gardens—good substitutes for some of the nonnatives currently overused in yards. Penneys is a an evolutionary biologist studying angiosperms (plants that flower); he is Assistant Professor of biology and marine biology at UNCW.

The preserve is an oasis in the middle of the UNCW campus, lush and full of native plants. It is open to the public, and is a short walk from Visitor Parking Lot M. Ringed by a hurricane fence, the gate to its entrance faces Price Drive.

Local Native Plant Society Chapter Welcomes New Co-Chair

Krystyna Ochota has joined Charley Winterbauer as co-chair of the NC Native Plant Society Southeastern Coastal Chapter. Ochota is the Brunswick County Consumer Horticulture Program Assistant and Master Gardener Coordinator for NC State Cooperative Extension. She was an Extension Master Gardener Volunteer in Brunswick County, including a member of the volunteer leadership team, and eventually was hired by Cooperative Extension in Bolivia, NC.

Ochota engages in planning and implementation of the Extension Master Gardener program for Brunswick County. She also engages in education of the public on a variety of horticultural topics, by various means (telephone, email, in-person, video, etc.). Ochota (along with Horticulture Agent Tom Woods, and Natural Resource Agent Amy Mead) enjoys coaching consumers to approach their landscape in a holistic manner, taking into account the larger view of habitat and ecology.

Darin Penneys identifies plants along (and off) the trail through the Bluethenthal Preserve at UNCW.

Valerie Robertson

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