North Carolina
Native Plant Society
Southern Piedmont Chapter
Virtual Meeting
May 9, 2021 2:00pm
The Hunt for Charlotte's Treasure Trees
with
Patrick George and Brett Dupree
In this newsletter... Southern Piedmont Chapter May Meeting
Video: Magnolia macrophylla at Redlair Preserve
City Nature Challenge
Volunteer Opportunities
Native Plant Events for June and July
Join US NCNPS Handouts
UNCC Native Plant Studies Classes
Follow Us on Social Media
The Hunt for
Charlotte's Treasure Trees
with
Patrick George and Brett Dupree
Southern Piedmont Chapter Meeting
May 9, 2021 2:00pm
Virtual Meeting Free
Open to the Public
Not available to attend on Sunday? Register anyway and we will send you a recording of this fun meeting when available.
Mecklenburg County had a program to identify its unique Treasure Trees from the late 1980s into the 1990s. Owners of these special trees were given a certificate and the trees were marked with special Treasure Tree tags. What happened to the original treasure trees when the program was forgotten? Join us as we hear from Patrick and Brett about their recent efforts to revive the program and the challenging two-year hunt to locate and document the original trees. They will also discuss the new certification program for Charlotte's Treasure Trees.
Patrick George
I was first introduced to the wonder of trees by my mother who told me at the age of 4 if I planted "the helicopter" maple seeds that they would turn into trees. They grew roots in my heart and my future was determined. Plant a tree with your children and grandchildren.
I grew up in CLT climbing trees to the point that my parents worried. I took a gap year between high school and forestry school to travel and learned how to climb working for Asplundh. I dropped out of NC State Forestry school in my junior year because I realized I wanted to be an arborist who cared for trees, not harvested them. A year later in 1979 I started Heartwood and that's been the last 42 years. Back in 2009 I could see how much canopy we were losing and started "The Queens Crown" to help identify trees around Charlotte so folks could identify with individual trees. Then TreesCharlotte was formed to plant trees to regrow the crown.
Brett Dupree
The Tree Hunter
I have always loved the outdoors. I spent a lot of time during college hiking all over the NC mountain forests, and in the last 10 years I grew fascinated with the Coast Redwoods. My wife and I made three trips out there in the span of 5 years. In 2018, I started noticing a few of the old Treasure Tree tags on big trees around the Myers Park area. I started digging around, and found my way into the new committee that was in the process of trying to revive the original program. I taught myself as much as I could about tree identification and all of the formal measurement techniques, and I read a couple of really amazing books. In the last two years, I took on a personal quest to try and find every one of the original 123 program trees (living or dead) and help to raise awareness about their unique ecological significance to our area.
The Charlotte region is home to another unique tree. Andre Michaux discovered the Bigleaf Magnolia Magnolia macrophylla in Gaston County in the 1700s. Today Redlair Preserve near Gastonia is a place where these beautiful trees are studied and conserved. This presentation sponsored by the North Carolina Botanical Garden and the Friends of Plant Conservation talks about these magnolias and the Preserve.
Volunteer Opportunities
National Trails Day Festival
The 5th Annual National Trails Day Festival,hosted by the Carolina Thread Trail & Catawba Lands Conservancy on Saturday, June 5, 2021 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm atTuckaseegee Park in Mount Holly. In 2019, more than 2000 people attended this festival celebrating nature and outdoor activities. Our chapter will display plants, share NCNPS information, and set up a Pollinator Math game. Share your love of native plants, gardening, and the NCNPS with local families!
The Southern Piedmont Chapter in partnership with Reedy Creek Nature Center is interested in starting a seed library.
What’s that? From the seed libraries website, “A seed library is a place where community members can get seeds for free or for a nominal fee and is run for the public benefit. Many seed libraries are open in public libraries and community centers.” Some focus on seeds for growing food or ornamental gardens. Our library would focus on native plants of the Piedmont and would be free.
We are currently looking for volunteers who are be interested in helping us to get this project off the ground. We would like to create a small committee to spearhead this effort. The library would be located at Reedy Creek Nature Center and we are looking at premiering it in the fall/winter of 2021.
We were inspired by the NCNPS Blue Ridge Chapter's new seed library at the Daniel Boone Native Gardens. Read more about their library here.
If you would like to learn more about seed libraries before committing, please follow this link: http://seedlibraries.weebly.com/ There is also a seed summit taking place on April 17th that you can sign up for to learn more. It will be recorded and available for 2 weeks if you are not able to attend on that date.
Guidelines for Ethical Wild Seed Collection NCNPS supports the use of native plants in landscaping and ecological restoration, and encourages the collection and sharing of seeds, spores and cuttings from native plants on your own property. We must, however, recognize the sensitivity of these plants as well as the wild environments in which they grow. With the goal of plant conservation and maintaining healthy native plant populations in mind, NCNPS has developed the following guidelines for the ethical collection of native plant propagules from natural areas.
The Southern Piedmont Chapter will not meet over the summer but you can join other native plant enthusiasts in a couple of special events in June and July. Find information about the NCNPS Annual Meeting/Picnic and the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference below. See you in August!
NCNPS Annual Meeting/Picnic
June 5, 2021 Hagan Stone Park
Greensboro NC
The very best part of this event is that you can shop for high quality native plants that you might not find elsewhere. There will also be an auction of 35 special native plants. NCNPS will provide the food. Bring your potted native plants for donation. This will be a members-only event. Find more information at this link.
The Cullowhee Native Plant Conference July 16-17, 2021
This is the premier native plant conference in the southeast. Normally held at Western Carolina University, the conference will be virtual this year. Follow this link to learn details about the conference as they become available.
Join Us.
Get to know your fellow native plant enthusiasts.
Don't miss any of our members-only hikes and events.
Annual membership only $25 for individuals and $35 for families.
NCNPS has four handouts to help you select native plants for your garden. They are Favorite Native Plants for the Garden, A Native Plant Color Palette for the Garden, Native Groundcovers for the Garden and Ferns. You can download a copy of these handouts at this link: https://ncwildflower.org/native_plants/handouts/
UNCC Certificate in Native Plant Studies
UNCC Botanical Gardens has new classes in its Native Plant Studies certificate program. They include basic and advanced botany, sustainable gardening, landscape design, soils and wildflower ID. Click on this link for more information and to register for classes.
