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Native Plants Reach a Local Landmark with UNO Certification

At 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 6, at the University of New Orleans (UNO) Amphitheater garden, the Louisiana Certified Habitat Program will reach a landmark when the Native Plant Initiative of Greater New Orleans (NPIGNO) certifies the 100th New Orleans area habitat. The certified habitat program recognizes Louisiana efforts to preserve and promote the state's natural heritage via native plant gardens which benefit wildlife and natural ecosystems (https://www.lnps.org/certifiedhabitat/). Home gardeners, businesses, schools, and other institutions that landscape with plants native to Louisiana can apply for certification through the program. A native plant expert counts the number of species or estimates the percentage of native plant species on the property to assign a certification level. Levels are bronze (25 native species or 25% native plants), silver (50 native species or 50% native plants), and gold (75 native species or 75% native plants). Over 250 properties have been certified statewide. 

"We are so pleased to have the UNO native plant gardens as our 100th New Orleans area certified habitat," said Tammany Baumgarten, president of NPIGNO and of the Louisiana Native Plant Society. "UNO reaches such a wide range of people, from students to faculty to staff to community members, and it is truly becoming a showcase for the beauty and benefits of native plants."

Earlier this year, Chris Belser, assistant professor of the UNO counselor education, and a team of students installed the fourth native plant garden on campus at the Amphitheater near the Earl K. Long Library, an area heavily used by students, faculty, and staff. The student team, led by Emily Miller, Arden Kleinpeter, and Genesis Santiago, researched plants, mapped the garden design, and recruited volunteers for planting and maintenance work. 

"Gardens like the one at the Amphitheater benefit native birds, insects, and other wildlife, and they benefit humans too," said Belser who is also a Master Gardener in New Oreans with the LSU AgCenter. "Many studies have demonstrated that time outside in nature makes us healthier mentally and physically. We're adding signage to provide tips to encourage 'unplugged' outdoor lunches, breathing exercises, and other easy ways to enjoy and enhance time spent in the UNO native plant gardens." 

The Amphitheater garden is part of an overall sustainability project spearheaded by Belser and funded by an internal grant from UNO's Office of Research. His project is part of a larger campus greening effort and,is the third Louisiana Certified Habitat on campus. UNO’s first certified habitat was part of a Privateer Pocket Park installed at the Administration Building (http://www.uno.edu/sustainability/news#22-06-14/bird-mural) . The second certified habitat was part of a Privateer Pocket Park installed near the Fine Arts building (http://www.uno.edu/sustainability/news#22-11-22/audubon-mural). These pocket parks have native plants, environmental art painted by students, and seating to encourage the campus to enjoy nature. Privateer Pocket Parks implemented by Carol Lunn, Assistant Vice President for Research and Economic Development at the UNO Office of Research and UNO Garden Club advisor. Baumgarden, NPIGNO, and the Louisiana Native Plant Society have all contributed to helping UNO add native plants to campus. 

Another native plant project on campus is an Urban Bird Trail (https://www.uno.edu/news/2021-09-23/grant-create-urban-bird-habitat-uno-campus-and-support-environmental-education) funded by a $34,000 US Fish and Wildlife Service Urban Bird Treaty program grant through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Liz Sigler, Assistant to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development Center and Director for Center for Undergraduate Research and Creativity, Grant Writer John Bishop, and campus and community partners like UNO TriO Upward Bound and the Orleans Audubon Society provided gardening muscle and know-how for the project, which has provided extensive native tree plantings campuswide as well as efforts to mitigate non-native invasive plants in the campus woodlot near the Fine Arts Building. 

As part of an Earth Day Celebration, students and UNO Garden Club members also planted a native garden adjacent to student housing at  Pontchartrain Hall North with plants sourced by Lunn and Baumgarten. 

More information about these and other environmental sustainability projects at UNO are athttps://www.uno.edu/sustainability/news and via Instagram #KeepUNOBeautiful.  

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Chris Belser, Assistant Professor; Coordinator, Counselor Education Graduate Programs; ctbelser@uno.edu, 504-280-5864..

Carol Lunn, Assistant Vice President for Research and Economic Development; Advisor, UNO Garden Club; Keep UNO Beautiful; clunn1@uno.edu or KeepUNOBeautiful@uno.edu, 504-280-7155.

Liz Sigler, Assistant to the Vice President for Research and Economic Development; Director, Center for Undergraduate Research and Creativity; esigler@uno.edu or birding@uno.edu; Instagram: @birdsofuno; Facebook: @birdsofuniversityofneworleans, 504-280-7153.

Tammany Baumgarten - President, Native Plant Initiative of Greater New Orleans; President, Louisiana Native Society, tammany@baumgardens.com, 504-616-9344.

 

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Land, water, plants, and animals: the "heritage" part of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival isn't only focused on human-created culture in 2023. Jazz Fest coordinator Laura Renee Westbrook took the long view and invited area native plant advocates to provide native plants and remind fest-goers that without its natural environment, the unique culture of Louisiana wouldn't have the flair and flavor loved by so many. "The Louisiana's Natural Heritage tent and Peace Garden at Jazz Fest feature artists, conservationists, mentors, and stewards of all ages who work to preserve our lands and waters and help their cultural and natural communities survive and thrive," Westbrook said. 
"The exhibit at Jazz Fest will include dozens of native Louisiana trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants designed to highlight the beauty of our native plants and emphasize the critical wildlife benefits and ecosystem services they provide," said Tammany Baumgarten, president of the Native Plant Initiative of Greater New Orleans and of the Louisiana Native Plant Society. "Native plants protect our coastline, clean our air, feed the pollinators whose work feeds us, and provide homes and food for birds, butterflies, and animals who give us joy."
"The exhibit will also provide a veritable verdant oasis on the festival grounds," said horticulturist Lilith Dorsey, who is working with Westbrook and Baumgarten to create the exhibit. "It'll be the ideal spot for people to immerse themselves in the natural world for a while and remember that at its heart, Louisiana's rich cultural heritage of music, food, literature, and art grows straight from the earth and its sublime bounty."

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The wild garden we call Louisiana is a beautiful and busy place in April: native iris, sage, and primrose in bloom; birds building nests in bald cypress, pine, magnolia, and oak trees; bees and butterflies visiting flowering shrubs and reminding us of the pollinators' role in the berries we'll enjoy this summer and fall. To celebrate this bounty and to promote the plants that make Louisiana unique, Gov. John Bel Edwards has proclaimed April 2023 as Native Plant Month in the state.
In December, garden clubs from throughout the state sent a letter to Governor Edwards in requesting the proclamation. The letter cited the 2,500 native plants of Louisiana, their importance in preserving the state's fragile ecosystems, and the need for native plants to be enjoyed, protected, and promoted. The Louisiana proclamation request is part of an effort by the Garden Club of America to promote native plants by establishing a Native Plant Month in all 50 states https://www.gcamerica.org/nnpmi
"Protecting native plants in the wild and incorporating them into our gardens is a win for everybody," said Blanche Dee McCloskey president of The New Orleans Town Gardeners https://www.notgclub.org. "They've evolved with our state's birds, bees, and butterflies for thousands of years so they're a crucial part of the ecosystem, and because they've adapted to our Louisiana climate and soils, native plants are usually easier to grow in our home gardens. Our local nurseries and garden centers are leading the way by growing native plants and trees and making it easier for Louisiana gardeners to find natives for their home gardens."
"Native plant advocates across Louisiana applaud the work of the state's garden clubs and of Gov. John Bel Edwards in proclaiming April as Native Plant Month," said Tammany Baumgarten, president of both the Native Plant Initiative of Greater New Orleans https://www.npi-gno.org and the Louisiana Native Plant Society https://www.lnps.org. "Whether native plants are growing in our gardens, along the roadside, or in parks and preserves, they make our lives more beautiful, our crops more productive, and our state more resilient."
Read the Proclamation here: PROCLAMATION-Native Plant Month 2023 (1)

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UNO has recently completed the terms of a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant which enabled  the purchase and planting of certain areas of campus that are now part of their Urban Bird Trail.  NPI helped coordinate, plan and implement the plantings along with volunteers from Upward Bound Youth Group, Orleans Audubon, Master Naturalists, UNO students and other proactive citizens just wanting to contribute to the birding habitat on campus.  In addition to the Woodlot and Quandrant that were part of this volunteer effort, UNO has installed native gardens at two prominent locations on campus, the Administration Building and Fine Arts Building.  Below is a list of the numerous native species that can be seen at these locations on campus.

UNO Native Plantings

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Saturday, Jan. 28th,  9am – 12 pm, 1235 Deslonde St., Lower 9th Ward, NOLA Hosted by Lower 9th Ward Homeownership Association and Neighborhood Association

Sunday, Feb. 5th, 10am-1pm, 615 Opelousas Ave., Algiers Point, NOLA. Hosted by Algiers-Berhman Community Garden

Saturday, Feb. 11th, 10am-12pm, 1855 Duels Street, 7th Ward, NOLA.  Hosted by Healthy Community Services

These great community partners are helping us with the next three Native Plant Giveaways!  We will be distributing two of our favorite species of native flowering plants, Cardinal flower and Lemon Bee Balm.

Cardinal flower will grow in part shade and likes plenty of moisture.  It loves rain gardens or just plain wet areas of the landscape and hummingbirds LOVE it.  Cardinal flower is a short-lived perennial, meaning that it will come back year after year for a few years, but not forever.  This plant relies on the re-seeding of it's many very fine seeds for its longevity.  If happy, it will produce offspring in addition to the original plant for a long time in your garden.

Lemon Bee Balm, Monarda Citriodora, is a favorite with all sorts of pollinators and people too.  It blooms in the Spring for a long period of time and will set lots of seed that produce offspring the following year.  It likes a normal garden in a sunny area.

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Native seeds and "Ancestral Soil" will be a unique throw in the Chewbaccus Parade this Mardi Gras

The Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus is indeed saving the galaxy with the native Wildflower seeds of Clasping Coneflower (Dracopis amplexicaulis).  The Vampiric Council of New Orleans sub-krewe will be handing out these one of a kind treasures during the parade on January 28th.  They containing NPI-donated seeds of Clasping Coneflower, one of the easiest and earliest  native wildflowers that we can grow here.  If you were lucky enough to receive these gems from your local parading vampire, simply scatter your seeds onto the soil, or into your garden in a sunny spot as soon as possible and enjoy the beautiful flowers and many pollinators that will visit them!

Dracopis

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Lobelia cardinalis, Cardinal flower, is one of the most impressive and striking native plants for your late summer garden. This short-lived perennial plant occurs naturally in moist locations, along stream banks, swamp edges, and low woods. In our gardens, they are easily grown in average moist garden beds, but
are also the ultimate rain garden plant. In nature, they are usually found in somewhat shaded situations. In gardens, they seem to be able to handle quite a lot of sun as long as the soil is kept moist enough. One of the most fascinating things about our native plants is how they can be synched so precisely with the wildlife that uses them (not so with non- natives from other parts of the globe.) In this case, the ultra- rich, super-vivid red flowers of this plant appear in late summer, from July to October, on elongated 2-5 foot spikes. These plants in bloom are absolutely showstopping...for people AND our migrating hummingbirds.

Cardinal flower is a plant of highly disturbed areas. In nature, these disturbances can be caused by river or stream flooding, animal grazing, trees toppling…. situations that expose earth to the fine seeds of cardinal flower and allow them to germinate. For that reason, these are plants that “move around,” are rarely in the exact same place for more than a few seasons and rarely live past a few seasons in one exact spot. In our gardens, we can account for that and be sure to always have Cardinal flower in our gardens by replanting new plants now and again and/or creating small, disturbed conditions and exposed areas for Cardinal flower seeds to take hold. If you have a large property, taking seed from the plant and scattering it here and there in places where it is likely to be happy can be rewarding too.

Cardinal flowers make lots of very fine seeds, about the size of granulated salt. The spot on the upright stalk where each flower bloomed becomes a pod full of seeds. It is very important for the seeds to be mature and the stalk dry when you collect it. Because the plant blooms from the bottom to top of the stalk, often the top pods are still green while the bottoms have turned brown. Luckily, the plant holds itself upright and the pouches hold their content of seed without spilling while you wait for the entire stalk to dry. When ready, cut the stalk(s) and place in a large paper bag to bring inside for more drying time. At some point (this was a nice January task for me), the stalks can be pulled out onto a large tray and turned upside down. Many of the seeds will spill out of the dried pod, then the pods can be
crushed to release the rest. From here, it is fairly easy to scrape away most of the chaff and package up your seeds. Bam! As general rule, you can wild sow seeds at the general time of year when nature would have done so herself, so you can fling around Lobelia cardinalis seeds all winter long. I have sown them in trays and in the wild most months of the year, so don’t overthink it. The important thing is to get those seeds out there. Don’t “save” your seeds. Plant them. You’ll have even more next year!

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June 11th-12th

The French Market Creole Tomato Festival honors Louisiana's produce, farmers, and our unique cuisine of which the Creole tomato is a star.  Tabling at this fest was a great fit as we honored our unique native plants by giving away seeds and educating folks about their importance.  It was a blast as you can see from our smiling volunteers!  Thanks to the volunteers who helped table the event.  Contact NPI if you are interested in tabling or volunteering for other projects!

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This time of year brings such joy to native gardeners as pollinator activity on native plants really picks up and progression of flowering in the garden marches on from one species to the next.  As early species decline and start to set seed, we have an opportunity to collect ripe seed from our plants to propagate ourselves and/or distribute to the community.  NPI packages and gives out native seeds at our meetings and events all over town. We participated in a Memorial Day weekend Storm Sweep event at the lakefront and gave out lots of seeds there and this weekend we will be giving out over 400 packets of native seeds at the Creole Tomato Fest!  Here are some native plants producing seed right now, what to look for and how to collect. Contact us for guidelines if you are collecting extra seed for NPI distribution.

Dracopis

Clasping Coneflower, Dracopis amplexicaulis - This is one of our earliest and easiest native wildflowers to grow.  Once you grow it, it’s likely that it will always pop up somewhere in your sunny garden from the many seeds it produces. Seed heads should be completely dry and shatter fairly easily when raked with a fingernail. Paper bags are best for dry storage.  Only pack in plastic when COMPLETELY DRY.

 

 

Dracopis seedhead

 

 

 

 

 

Spiderwort, Tradescantia -

Spiderwort flower heads

Spiderworts bloom in a cluster of several flowers at the tips of the stems.  The individual flowers bloom in succession, not all at one time, which means they dry and seed matures in succession too.  For this reason, to collect seed, you must wait until almost all of the flowers in a terminal cluster have finished and turned brown before pulling off that clump to save seed.  Spiderworts are fleshy and the seed pods and leaves surrounding the seeds can hold a lot of moisture.  After you pull the end clusters off, leave them out in a flat pan to dry thoroughly before storing in a paper bags. Only pack in plastic when COMPLETELY DRY or you will have a bag of moldy yuck in no time. After harvesting the seed, cut the plant down for a neater look to the garden.  Spiderwort looks unattractive at this stage.

Spiderwort seeds drying on tray

 

Gaillardia

Gaillardia pulchella, Blanket flower - Wait for it, …. wait for it, ……this is a plant whose flower heads fade and dry but must be completely brown/gray before the seeds are ripe and easily collected.  The seed heads should shatter easily when raked with a fingernail.  If they do not, they are not ready to harvest yet.

 

Seedheads should shatter easily when ready

 

Gaillardia....not ready yet

Coreopsis tinctoria, Tickseed - Another super easy, early native flower.  Wait until seed heads are completely brown and dry before breaking apart. Paper bags are best for dry storage.  Only pack in plastic when COMPLETELY DRY.

Coreopsis tinctoria
Coreopsis tinctoria seeds
Coreopsis tinctoria seedheads