Chapter Events

Dr. Shannon Bell, Professor of Sociology, Virginia Tech, is the project director of The Forest Botanicals Region Living Monument, which celebrates the historical and present-day traditions and relationships that many different Appalachian peoples have long held with the bountiful medicinal herbs and forest foods that can be found growing wild throughout the Appalachian woodland understory. 

She will talk about why the monument was created, and the histories of Appalachian peoples' longstanding relationships with our woodland medicinal plants and forest foods. 

More information about the Living Monument and an online exhibit can be found here: https://forestbotanicalsregion.vt.domains/exhibits/show/online-exhibit

Dr. Bell is an environmental sociologist and Appalachian Studies scholar whose current research projects focus on forest-based traditions and lifeways in Central Appalachia.

Discover how ecological landscaping with native plants can make your landscape more resilient and help address the climate crisis. This webinar will highlight practical, evidence-based approaches to designing and maintaining landscapes that build resilience to climate change and support native biodiversity. Join Wild Ones for a free webinar, “EcoBeneficial Landscape Strategies for the Climate Crisis,” featuring environmental horticulturalist and ecological landscape designer Kim Eierman.

Fall is a wonderful time to collect seeds and prepare your native plant garden for winter. Sharon Burnham, President of the Roanoke Region Chapter, will give an overview of seed collection methods and preservation, along with the best practices for trees, shrubs, and perennials to help them – and the insects we love – have a successful winter.

You must register through the Salem Library.

Join us for our regular Board meeting. We welcome your input on governing our Chapter.

With so much information out there, what are the digital resources you should know and rely upon? Kathy Sink, Wild Ones Member and Master Naturalist, is an Ambassador for the Flora of Virginia App. She'll demonstrate what it is and what you can do with it. 

We'll also review other apps such as INaturalist/Plant Net and their companion app Seek, VT Tree, Google image search, the Virginia Wildflower App, and others.

Finally, we'll introduce you to some online resources such as the Flora of Virginia, and useful plant ranges maps such as the BONAP and USDA Plant Range Map.

Details coming soon! 

Not all annual meetings are boring! We have plenty planned to hold your interest, including multiple plants to give away, an overview of our year, and voting on new members for your Board of Directors.

And food! Bring a dish to share, and we'll provide drinks. If you can, bring your own plate and utensils for a more sustainable potluck.

We will also be giving away two memberships to a non-member who has attended at least three meetings this year.

Note that this date is a week earlier than our usual meeting and will start at 6 pm for the potluck.

Details coming soon!