On Friday, April 12th and Saturday, April 13, nearly 200 members and friends enjoyed KNPS’s 35th Wildflower Weekend, at Natural Bridge SRP! With more hikes, workshops, and kid’s activities than we have ever had and with many of the best botanists in Kentucky in attendance, Wildflower Weekend 2024 was an unqualified success.
Wildflower Walks
Wildflower walks and hikes are the defining activities of every Wildflower Week, but this year we also included hikes about fire ecology, geology, birds, herps, butterflies, pollinators, reptiles and more! Beginning at noon on Friday and running through the end of the day on Saturday, we enjoyed a record number 25 flora and fauna walks, led by over 30 of the best botanists, zoologists and naturalists in the country. Exploring the amazing diversity of the plant communities in Natural Bridge SRP and the Red River Gorge Geological Area, participants learned about and enjoyed dozens of native plant species, the fauna associated with them, and the amazing geology and hydrology that surrounds them.
In addition to our usual “all things botanical” hikes, we had hikes concentrating on birds, reptiles and amphibians, geology, fire ecology, and pollinators and butterflies. There were also a couple of workshops, “Non-Native Invasive Species Management” and an art workshop, “Reflecting on Nature through Artmaking.” These new additions to Wildflower Weekend were enjoyed by all who participated and brought in several new faces to our annual gathering.
We have always tried to make Wildflower Weekend a family friendly event (kids 12 and under attend free). This year we had a great kid centered activity, “Junior Botanist Adventure for Kids!” on Saturday morning. This was so well received, that we hope to offer even more activities for kids at next year’s Wildflower Weekend.
KNPS Vice President Kendall McDonald and Outreach Committee Chair Kelsey Burge at the WW2024 registration table. Photo courtesy of Pat Berla. 
Hike leader and hikers preparing to head out. Photo courtesy of Pat Berla 
Meeting in the lobby of the Hemlock Lodge to start an afternoon hike. Photo courtesy of Pat Berla 
Wildflower and Geology Car Tour of Red River Gorge – Led by Dr. Ron Jones, retired professor from EKU (on the left) and Mark Sweet, owner of ProComp Services (in the yellow cap) Photo courtesy of Pat Berla 
Wildflower and Geology Car Tour of Red River Gorge – Led by Dr. Ron Jones, retired professor from EKU (on the right) and Mark Sweet, owner of ProComp Services (in the yellow cap) 
Bishop’s cap (Mitella diphylla Photo courtesy of Pat Berla 
Red trillium (Trillium erectum) Photo courtesy of Pat Berla 
Great white trillium (Trillium grandiflora) Photo courtesy of Pat Berla
Friday Night Members & Friends Campfire Social
Of course, we had our Members & Friends Social on Friday evening with a campfire, s’more fixings, and a community gathering of like-minded nature lovers and botanists. Temperatures were cold, the main access road was flooded, and the forecast was stormy, but that did not stop many people from adventuring out to fellowship together. There was great discussion of plants, animals, hiking tales, and more as the group enjoyed the evening.
Saturday Night Presentation & Raffle
On Saturday evening, we gathered in the Woodland Center for a round of thanks to those who made the weekend possible, a commemorative video for the 35th anniversary of Wildflower Weekend, an update on the BotanyBlitz, and a short KNPS member meeting. The evening continued to the main program, which featured several great talks by a variety of experts.
We heard from one of the recipients of the KNPS Pollinator Garden Grant, the Liberty Hall Historic Site in Frankfort, KY. This site is a staple in the capital, providing a beautiful public garden free to visitors year round. Liberty Hall used the funds received from KNPS to begin their conversion of the garden into a native plant garden, starting with a planting of native flowering shrubs that benefit local pollinators.
Dr. Mary Arthur gave a very interesting presentation on Fire in the Cumberland Plateau. She spoke on the intertwining roles of humans and fire on the hardwood forests of the Cumberland Plateau, and how modern fire ecologists and land managers are tasked with harnessing that knowledge in order to apply fire as a disturbance agent in the sustainable management of upland forests.
The next speaker, Dr. David Brown of Eastern Kentucky University, gave an enlightening and encouraging presentation on Giant Cane Ecology and Restoration Methods. Dr. Brown works with partners, faculty and EKU students to restore Giant Cane populations at a Bluegrass Woodland restoration site called Taylor Fork Ecological Area. This research is worthy of recognition on its own, but the project should also be recognized as being one of the only hands on land management and restoration educational opportunities for college students in Kentucky. The decade long giant cane restoration has yielded 95% survival of the species and presented some potential in giant cane being used to control non-native invasive species.
Our last speaker was Dr. Kristen Wickert, or more commonly known as the social media naturalist with the handle “KayDubstheHikingScientist.” Dr. Wickert gave a fascinating talk on three broad categories of fungi relationships with plants: “the good, the bad, and the ugly” aka symbiotic, decomposer and pathogenic relationships. In addition to her talk, Dr. Wickert sold and signed copies of her new book “The Plants of the Appalachian trail: A Hiker’s Guide to 398 Species.”
As we always do, we ended the evening with a raffle featuring prizes that included native plants from many local native plant growers, a paper sculpture of Hepatica by Vanessa Voelker, a Bob VanHoff wood carving of a Lady Slipper orchid, and Wildflower Weekend 2024 merchandise.
Special Thanks
Kentucky Native Plant Society and the events it hosts, such as Wildflower Weekend, are almost completely volunteer based. KNPS relies on many partners, professionals, and members of the public to be able to continue to host Wildflower Weekend these last 35 years. At Wildflower Weekend 2024, KNPS had over 50 volunteers serve on the planning committee, advertise the event, handle registration, work the weekend, or lead hikes, workshops or give presentations. We would like to thank everyone, no matter how small their contribution, for helping us make this wonderful event possible.
Wildflower Weekend 2025
Discussions about Wildflower Weekend 2025 are already happening! We are excited to announced that Wildflower Weekend 2025 will be held at Carter Caves State Resort Park on April 11th-13th, 2025! If you have any thoughts about how the event could be made better, we would love to hear from you. If you would like to lead or co-lead a walk next year, let us know.