Happenings Quarterly Newsletter of AZNPS, the Arizona Native Plant Society
March 2008 – May 2008
Our mission is to promote knowledge, appreciation, conservation,
and restoration of Arizona's native plants and their habitats.
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Happenings is a forum to promote all chapter news and activities throughout the state in one place. Summaries of the board meetings, committee updates, and information pertaining to the annual meeting will also be presented here. Deadlines for submission are February 1st for March-May events, May 1st for June-August events, August 1st for September-November events, and November 1st for December-February events. Please contact your chapter president or program coordinator to contribute any relevant information.
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Arizona Botanists Meeting, Feb 8-10, 2008
Dr. Richard Felger (center) of the Drylands Institute honors two scientists from the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Dr. Tom Van Devender (left) and Dr. Mark Dimmitt (right), with the Arizona Botanist Award, celebrating a lifetime of achievement in Arizona botany. Just one part of a great 2008 meeting.
Update on the AZNPS State Board Meeting held February 8, 2008 In Phoenix
The winter board meeting was held on February 8, 2008 in Phoenix at the Desert Botanical Garden (DBG). In attendance were Mark Bierner (Director at Large, Acting President), Wendy Hodgson (Director, Education and Interpretation Committee), Jessa Fisher (State Recording Secretary and Flagstaff Chapter President), Carl Tomoff (Prescott Chapter President), Doug Green (Director, Membership and Chapter Development Committee and Phoenix Chapter President), Ken Morrow (State Treasurer), Karen Reichhardt (Director at Large), Nancy Zierenberg (Administrative Assistant), Richard Strandberg (Tucson member), and Katherine Rink Callingham (DBG Illustrator/Instructor). Highlights:
* Chapter Officers Elected! At long last, several officers have been elected for chapters in need of new leadership. Doug Green, already a very active AZNPS board member, is the new Phoenix Chapter President. Doug Ripley has been elected Tucson Chapter President. Shawn Pollard is the new Yuma Chapter President. Several other Yuma offices have been filled as well; please see the Yuma Chapter update on page 5 for more officers elected.
* Recruitment of Officers: The board is looking to recruit new officers who are members of AZNPS. Special talents requested are people with law, computer, fund raising or native plant nursery experience. Being on the State AZNPS Board is rewarding and exciting! If you are interested or know of a potential candidate, contact Barb Phillips at bgphillips@fs.fed.us
* PAPAZ (Plant Atlas Project of Arizona): The PAPAZ (formerly the Parabotanists training program) continues to move along, led by Wendy Hodgson. The requirements are currently being standardized so that each chapter can work independently and plan their own collecting programs. Keep PAPAZ on your radar as the project develops! See page 10 for Tucson event.
* The Plant Press: The spring issue of The Plant Press will be on “Gardens & Neighborhoods: Providing Native Plant Habitats in Managed Settings.” If you have something to contribute for future issues or ideas for themes, please contact The Plant Press editor Barb Phillips at bgphillips@fs.fed.us
* Membership and Chapter Development Committee: The board voted unanimously that Chair Doug Green work to get AZNPS represented on The Governor’s AZ Invasive Species Advisory Council.
* Spring Board Meeting: The next board meeting will be held on Sunday, May 4th at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum in Globe. Some topics will be: brochures, taglines, and the website. This meeting is open to all AZNPS members! Please do join us and give us your input. Contact acting facilitator Mark Bierner for info: bierner@ag.arizona.edu
* Bonus: Feb. 9 at the Arizona Botanists Meeting, the silent auction of botanical books
(donated by the estate of Ginny Saylor) brought in over $800 to AZNPS! Thank you all, and we are happy to have them in circulation again, being used.
Flagstaff Chapter
President—Jessa Fisher, nightbloomingcactus@yahoo.com or (928) 814-2644;
Treasurer—H. David Hammond (928) 523-7242
All talks begin at 7:00 p.m. on the 3rd Tuesday of the month and are held at room 314 of the Biology Building on the NAU campus (unless a room change comes about, which we will alert you to by email). All walks meet at 10:00 a.m. on the 3rd Sunday of the month at the Arizona State Credit Union, corners of Beaver and Butler Aves., unless otherwise noted. Come prepared with sun protection, water, food, and a car or gas money for carpooling. Join our chapter email events listing! Please let me know if you are receiving Happenings but are not yet on our local email list! Thanks, and see you soon! --Jessa
Evening Program Talk: Tuesday, March 18 Plants of Northern Arizona Forests: A Comprehensive Field Guide for the Mogollon Plateau Coniferous Forest Bioregion in Arizona, presented by Mare Nazaire. Mare received her M.S. (2005) from the University of New Hampshire in Plant Biology where she studied the flora of peatlands in northern New England. Since then she has been employed as a botanist with Northern Arizona University (NAU) Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI), as a botanist/field ecologist with Pacific Biodiversity Institute, and currently as a research specialist with National Park Service-Southern Colorado Plateau Network/NAU. She is one of three editors (along with Judy Springer and Mark Daniels) working on the field guide at ERI. The field guide, initiated in 2000, includes family treatments, descriptions of over 1000 species, botanical illustrations, dichotomous keys, and a botanical glossary. Mare will talk about its inception and history, the objectives, the research, writing, and layout of the field guide, its current status as well as future direction and anticipated completion. Editors note: This guide is AMAZING! I use my draft copy all the time! JF
Workshop: Saturday, March 22 Writing Botanical Keys, led by Mare Nazaire. Mare will instruct workshop participants on how to write dichotomous keys for field identification purposes. Botanical keys written during the workshop may be considered for inclusion in the field guide. Participants should bring a hand lens, ruler, forceps, and a notebook, and snacks or a lunch. Meet at 10:00 at our regular evening lecture meeting location, Biology building room 314.
Evening Program Talk: Tuesday, April 15 NANSA- the Northern Arizona Native Seed Alliance, presented by Janet Lynn. NANSA is a volunteer group involving people from several area governmental agencies, private institutions, and non-profits working to produce local native seeds for restoration projects. Janet Lynn is the NANSA Coordinator.
Morning Field Trip: Sunday, April 20 Schuerman Mountain Plant Walk led by Jean Searle. When Jean retired to Sedona, an interest in native plants led to an interest in botany, to leading botany walks weekly for the last 20 years, to giving talks to local groups on plant-related topics, and to teaching a course about Native Plants of the Region at Yavapai College. Schuerman Mountain features interesting plants (115 species on our list) and great views. Winter precipitation has been favorable so far (early Feb.) so the plants should be looking good.
Flagstaff, cont.
Walking distance about 2 miles. Bring lunch. In Sedona meet at 11 a.m. at the trailhead, or in Flagstaff at our normal field trip meeting location at 10 am.
Directions: Drive to Sedona via Oak Creek Canyon (Hwy 89A). Stay on Hwy 89A going west through Sedona. Counting from the intersection of Hwy 89A and Hwy 179 (the third traffic light as you come into town and known as 'The Y') go four miles to the intersection of Hwy 89A and Upper Red Rock Loop Road (traffic light). Turn left onto Upper Red Rock Loop Road. Red Rock High School is on your right. Turn right into the THIRD high school parking area entrance. In a short distance, just before the yellow gate, turn left into the trailhead parking area. Red Rock or Golden Age Pass required. If you don't have a pass, or have any trip-related questions, contact Jean Searle by email or phone: jeansearle@aol.com or 928-282-4484.
Evening Program Talk: Tuesday, May 20 Plants and Petroglyphs of Petrified Forest and Mesa Verde presented by Jessa Fisher. During the summer of 2006, Jessa worked on the National Parks/ USGS mapping program, exploring and mapping plant communities in the backcountry of two national parks. She will share photos from her explorations. Jessa has held many plant related jobs in her 6 years of living in Flagstaff. Currently she is the Assistant Herbarium Curator for the Arizona Ethnobotanical Research Association (AERA).
Morning Field Trip: Sunday, May 25 Plants and Petroglyphs of Petrified Forest led by Jessa Fisher. This is a great time of year to see spring annuals blooming at this geologically spectacular National Park. Prepare for an all day fieldtrip. NOTE TIME CHANGE- we will meet at 8:00 am at our normal meeting place for the 1 hour 45 minute drive to the park. Bring a park pass if you have one. Walking will not be strenuous.
OTHER FLAGSTAFF HAPPENINGS
Volunteer Coordinator and Publicity Coordinator Needed: As the Flagstaff President, I get several requests all season from different groups in the Northern Arizona area hoping to coordinate with us on weed pulling and other fieldtrips and events. Sometimes they would like a speaker at an event. I can't do it all, though! I would love to have a volunteer coordinator whom I could refer these calls to, and who could organize AZNPS volunteers for these important events. As well, it would be great to have someone helping me with publicizing our talks and fieldtrips. Interested? Or interested in volunteering in a different capacity? Please do contact me at nightbloomingcactus@yahoo.com and we can connect for our upcoming season.
2008 Native Plant Garden Contest: The 2007 Native Plant Garden Contest was a huge
success! We had eleven entrants from all over the greater Flagstaff area. In August, we held
an evening presentation slideshow featuring the gardens, gardeners, a proclamation from the
Mayor and the Coconino County Board of Supervisors, and an announcement of the winners.
We then held a garden tour in conjunction with the Flagstaff Xeriscape Council. Look for an
article on the whole event in the upcoming Plant Press!
We are looking for judges for the 2008 contest who have experience with garden design and
native plant gardening and identification. You must be able to participate in judging sessions
during the month of July, and attend the celebratory events in August. If you are interested in
being a judge or entering your garden in the contest, please contact garden contest coordinator
Elaine Ferris at (928) 527-3702.
Yuma Chapter
Shawn Pollard is the new Yuma Chapter president. Meetings are held at 7:00 pm on the first Thursday of each month at the BLM office (2555 East Gila Ridge Road). Field trips meet the Saturday following the meeting at 8:30 in the BLM office parking lot, unless otherwise noted. For more information contact: yuma@aznps.org or aznpsyuma@yahoo.com. Season- October to May.
Yuma Chapter Update: The Yuma Chapter is participating in several projects to promote native plants this year (reported in previous Happenings). Members of the society have been volunteering their time to develop a checklist of plants in the Yuma Conservation Garden. The garden has been in existence for at least 50 years. Extensive mature cactus plantings include cardon, saguaro, senita, organ pipe, and a myriad of smaller opuntias, hedgehogs and mammallarias. The garden displays a series of habitats including a desert tortoise enclosure, roosting cliffs for visiting turkey vultures, a pond for domestic and wild ducks, pigeons and doves. The garden is open to the public and hosts environmental education field trips for local Yuma students and offers Tea with a Tortoise as a special event each year. We elected new officers! In addition to Shawn, Bruce Rittenhouse is the vice-president, Delores Gauna is the secretary, and Winfred Wong will be the new treasurer. Thanks for volunteering!
Evening Program Talk: Thursday, March 20 The Yuma Conservation Garden presented by Val Morrill.
Evening Program Talk: Thursday, April 17 The Yuma National Heritage Area Wetlands and Revegetation Projects presented by Mark Winterowd.
Morning Field Trip: Saturday, March 15 Tinajas Altas led by Tom Pratt et al.
Morning Field Trip: Saturday, March 22 or 29 (stay in contact for final date) Telegraph Pass Floristics Survey
Morning Field Trip: Saturday, April ? April field trip is undecided- stay in contact for final date.
Prescott Chapter
President: Carl Tomoff (928) 350-2255 or ctomoff@prescott.edu.
Event: Saturday, April 26 Grow Native! Plant Sale
We will open our season with an invitation to attend the Highlands Center for Natural History’s spring Native Plant Sale. Not only will native plants be available, educational programs and workshops will be presented. A vendor’s fair will also add interesting opportunities to meet people and learn about other organizations. Members-only preview and free entry from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Open to public 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. with $5 admission. This is a fund raiser; proceeds benefit the educational programs of the Highlands Center.
Members will be notified by e-mail or phone of other programs that may be scheduled during May. Please contact Cheryl Casey (928-776-2962 or botanist.cac@gmail.com) with your ideas and suggestions. Thanks for helping move our chapter forward.
Phoenix Chapter
President—Doug Green (480)998-5638 or azbotman@yahoo.com; Treasurer—Suzanne Cash, (602)942-0727 or roxiep@msn.com; Postcards—Sandy Zetlan, (602)363-6098 or sandy.zetlan@emcmail.maricopa.edu Regular meetings of the Phoenix chapter of AZNPS are at 7:00 pm on the second Tuesday of each month in Webster Hall at the Desert Botanical Garden.
Evening Program Talk: Tuesday, March 11 Plants of the Mazatzal Mountains presented by Theresa Price. Theresa, a grad student at ASU, will present a program on her project, the plants of the Mt. Ord region in the Mazatzal Mountains of Arizona. Theresa, from Iowa, is obtaining a Master of Science degree in applied Biological Sciences from ASU.
Evening Program Talk: Tuesday, April 8 Plants of the Patten Collection presented by Marilyn Wurzburger. The Special Collections Librarian for Arizona State University library will present a program on ancient herbal publications known as the Patten collection. These books were published in Europe; some are 300 to 400 years old. This will be followed by a tour of the ASU plant herbarium led by Dr. Les Landrum, Herbarium manager.
Evening Program Talk: Tuesday, May 13 Plants of the Valle Grande Caldera presented by Elizabeth Makings. Elizabeth is the Assistant Herbarium Manager at ASU, and will present a program on her plant research being done on the plants found in the Valle Grande Caldera located in North central New Mexico.
Also in May members of the Yuma chapter meet with
members of the California Native Plant Society at Nobel Canyon, CA for a joint
plant walk. The desert chaparral was in spectacular bloom and we didn’t hike
far as there were so many plants to stop and look at. We were also inspired by
the California NPS’s to try a native plant sale. We will be selling native
plants in October at the Yuma Tree and Landscaping Expo. Please contact
Mar-Elise if you are interested in helping.
Tucson Chapter
Monthly programs are held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month from September through May, beginning at 7:00pm at the Arizona Game & Fish Office, 555 N Greasewood (west side of road between Speedway & Anklam). Look for the ANPS sandwich board that marks the driveway. We generally have raffles for native plants or related books at each meeting, so be prepared! For information about the Tucson Chapter, please email nzberg4@cox.net
JOIN OUR CHAPTER E-LIST
To keep up with the latest, join the chapter e-list. Send me your e-mail and I will add you to the AZNPS Tucson Chapter information service letting you know from time to time about events, conferences, outings, workshops, and volunteer opportunities in our area. Send to: Nancy Zierenberg at nzberg4@cox.net to be added, or subtracted!
Volunteer Work Day: Saturday, March 1 Buffelgrass Eradication Day organized by PAG (Pima Association. of Gov'ts.). For one day, your help will make a difference in the future of our community’s ecological and economic sustainability. Don’t forget to wear your AZNPS tee shirts! To find out more information about buffelgrass, go to www.buffelgrass.org. Registration for this event can be done through this website. Follow the links and sign up to join a listed group weed pulling.
Tucson, cont.
Field Trip: Saturday March 8 Ironwood Forest National Monument Wilderness Wildflower Wander led by Alison Iaso Isenberg from AWC and Nancy Zierenberg. Meet at the I-Hop on Cortaro Rd. (on the east side of I-10, perhaps 1/4 mile east on Cortaro) at 8:30am. We will carpool to the monument from there. This is a joint field trip with the Arizona Wilderness Coalition (AWC). Plan on being out at least half day. Bring your lunch or snacks, water, hats, field notebooks, binoculars (to look for bighorn), etc.
Evening Program Talk: Wednesday, March 12 Wildflower Photography and Website Creation presented by T. Beth Kinsey. Beth originally started her wildflowers website (http://www.fireflyforest.com/flowers/) in 2003 as a creative outlet and a way to teach herself web design. “I have always loved plants and had just recently taken an undergrad class at the U of A on the plants of the Sonoran Desert, so I decided to focus my website on our local wildflowers.” She will share some of her experiences and what she has learned about wildflower photography in the Sonoran Desert, the challenges of plant identification for a non-botanist, and the creation of a wildflower website.
Tanya Beth Kinsey has lived in Tucson since 1993. She began photographing wildflowers in 2003 to create her Wildflowers of Tucson, AZ website). She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Arizona and is currently completing a Master of Public Health degree at the University of Arizona, Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health.
Workshop: Thursday March 20 Herbarium Training Workshop, Part II led by Phil Jenkins. Meet at the U of A herbarium at 9am. (Herring Hall, 1130 E. South Campus Dr.) Bring three native plants to press (you can keep them fresh in a plastic baggy in the refrigerator). If they are herbaceous plants get the roots to tell if they are annual or perennial, or if they have rhizomes. If they are ferns you have to have the root scales. No scraps! Take good notes about location, habitat, flower color. If it's a bush or tree make sure it is at least flowering, and fruiting at the same time if possible. Make notes about the bark. We'll make some attempts at identification before pressing, but it will still be possible after it is dried. Take pictures if you’d like, but most of all, take good field notes on your collections and bring those. After the plant is dried, we'll decide on part IIB, when we take our plants from the press, make labels, mount them and accession them.
Field Trip: Saturday, March 29 Plants and Geology of the Rosemont Valley, Santa Rita Mountains. Members of Save the Scenic Santa Ritas, and representatives from Pima County and AZNPS will lead the half-day tour. We'll visit the beautiful rolling oak grasslands of the Rosemont Valley, an area targeted for an open pit copper mine by a Canadian company. A mixture of Forest Service and private lands, the area boasts 4 different plant communities (woodland, grassland, limestone scrub and riparian gallery forests), and fascinating geologic features. The Pima pineapple cactus, an endangered species, is found in the mostly native grasslands. Numerous priority vulnerable and listed wildlife species are also found throughout the area.We'll drive about 4 miles on dirt roads through the riparian gallery forest, grassland and woodland habitats, to limestone scrub, where we'll take short hikes to some of the limestone outcrops and copper mineralized sites. Meet at I-10 and Houghton Road (north side) to carpool. High clearance vehicles required. RSVP required to Lainie Levick at lainiel@comcast.net
Tucson, cont.
Evening Program Talk: Wednesday, April 9 Protecting our Riparian Habitats presented by Ann Audrey. The City of Tucson has a history of watercourse and riparian habitat protection, implemented through three separate regulatory authorities: Watercourse Amenities, Safety and Habitat (WASH) Ordinance (Article VIII, Tucson Code, Chapter 29), the Environmental Resource Zone (ERZ) Ordinance (Section 2.8.6 Tucson Land Use Code, Chapter 23), and the Floodplain, Stormwater and Erosion Hazard Management regulations (Article 1, Tucson Code, Chapter 26). In November 2006, Development Standard 9-06 (formerly DS 2-13) was adopted by the Tucson Mayor and Council to provide more consistent application of watercourse ordinances. Since that time, a number of development projects have undergone consultation with City staff from the Office of Conservation and Sustainable Development (Ann’s employer) and Development Services Department to discuss proposed impacts, strategies to reduce impacts, and mechanisms to mitigate final impacts. The Mayor and Council-appointed Resource Planning Advisory Committee began meeting in Feb. 2008, with the goal of developing an ordinance to address protection of riparian habitat within the City. In addition, this ordinance is likely to address carbon sequestration and heat island mitigation in the urban environment.
Fieldtrip: Saturday April 26 Basic Plant Identification of Sonoran Desert Plants led by
Robin Llewellyn, Wildlife Biologist and Sandy Zetlan, Biologist. Take an easy morning walk, learn to identify some common Sonoran Desert plants, and hear about the natural history of your unique Sonoran Desert. We will walk for 2-3 hours in both upland and wash habitat so we can observe many different species. With the winter rains now we’ll have a good chance of seeing a variety of blooming trees, shrubs, and spring wildflowers. Bring water, snacks, hat, sunscreen, and sturdy shoes. Meet at 7:30 am at the Red Hills Visitor Center, Saguaro National Park West, 2700 N. Kinney Road (about a mile north of the Sonora Desert Museum). The specific trail is TBA. Any questions? Please contact Robin at robinia2@msn.com
Evening Program Talk: Wednesday, May 14 A botanical foray to Cañón Los Anegados, in Sonora Mexico presented by Michael Chamberland.
(This is our traditional end-of-season pot luck. We’ll start this meeting at 6pm with a social and dinner. Please bring a dish to share. Beverages provided.)
A joint field trip between
the AZNPS (Tucson Chapter) and the Sonora Native Plant Society converged on
Cañón Los Anegados, in the Sierra El Aguaje in November 2007. Eleven members
of the Tucson Chapter traveled to Hermosillo, Sonora. There they met with
Jesús Sánchez-Escalante who came with a bus full of college students on this
journey into the Sierra El Aguaje. The Sierra, located near San Carlos in
southwest Sonora, is perhaps best known as the site of Nacapule Canyon, a
relictual tropical oasis. Cañón Los Anegados is nearby, in the more remote
western side of the mountains. Those who had previously visited Nacapule
remarked that Cañón Los Anegados surpassed it, both in scenery and botanical
extravagance. The canyon, walled in by high cliffs of rhyolite, is home to
rock figs (Ficus palmeri),
elephant trees (Bursera spp.), and
palms (Brahea brandeegeei).
Characteristic Sonoran Desert vegetation of saguaro and organ pipe cactus
thrive outside the canyon. In this presentation we will view the many
fascinating plants encountered by the AZ Native Plant Society, within the
canyon, and at other stops on the journey from Tucson. Michael Chamberland is
the Curator of Horticulture at the Tucson Botanical Gardens. He has a special
interest in cacti & succulents, and also carnivorous plants. Previously he
has worked at the Herbarium at the University of Arizona, and at the U.S.
National Arboretum in Washington DC.
Tucson, cont.
OTHER TUCSON HAPPENINGS
Weekly Plant Walks at Sabino Canyon Meet up with member Joan Tedford and others for nature walks (plants, birds, everything!). They are every Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. to until about 11:30, through the end of April. Meet in front of the Visitor Center. Walks are primarily along the roads.
Spring Book & Plant Sale at Desert Survivors Nursery Saturday, March 15
Tucson Chapter will be at Desert Survivors on Saturday from 8am – 2pm during their Spring Plant Sale (both Sat. & Sun.) with tables of mostly used plant related books to sell at good prices! This is a fundraiser for our chapter, so if you have books (of any kind) you’d like to donate for this event, please bring them with you when you come by!
Tucson’s First Blossom Festival – Arizona State Centennial Celebration in 2012.
The Governor has appointed a planning team to coordinate events around the state. Tucson Chapter would like to begin partnering with other conservation organizations to enhance the current downtown revitalization by highlighting our state tree, the Palo Verde. We visualize a street lined with native blue and foothill palo verde trees, with underplantings of a variety of native sping-flowering shrubs where the celebration will take place. Besides the Governor’s emphasis on our social heritage, we would like to see a celebration of all that is, and was, natural to our Tucson basin. This is a wonderful chance to capture and work to restore the essence of Tucson. Those interested in working toward this, please contact Nancy Zierenberg, nzberg4@cox.net
Please also see Conservation Committee events below!
The Conservation Committee continues to crank away on a variety of projects in southern Arizona; Here in Tucson, we meet monthly on the fourth Wednesday at 6:30 pm. Contact conservation@aznps.org for more details.
State Conservation News: A reminder that this committee is not just for Tucson but is statewide. We’d be happy to expand elsewhere in the state if people are interested in starting up new projects. Please email conservation@aznps.org to get on the email list or announce what you or your group is doing for conservation in your area.
Evening Program Talk in Tucson: Wednesday, March 5 The Plant Atlas Project of Arizona (PAPAZ); what the heck is it and where are we now? A special presentation by Wendy Hodgson
5:30--7pm at the Tucson Game & Fish office. A light dinner will be provided.
The presentation will provide an overview on what the project is, which is largely based on the very successful San Diego County Plant Atlas (www.sdnhm.org/plantatlas/), to enlist the help of
Conservation Committee, cont.
volunteers to document the plants from selected areas within the vastly diverse state of Arizona. The program's goals, methods and challenges will be discussed with plenty of time for
questions and possibly answers. The presentation augments Southern Arizona's chapter's timely eagerness in getting the program off the ground in this part of the state. This is an exciting program with great potential and requires a lot of work and dedication for its success. Wendy is always a hoot to work with, and she’ll help us hone our skills for collecting plant data when we go out in the field.
Weekend Field Trip, Friday - Sunday, April 4-6. Camping field trip to Ruby, AZ to expand on the Plant List begun last fall and to work on herbarium collection. We had so much fun last fall botanizing in Ruby that we are going out to do it again! We expect to pick up many spring annuals this trip. We’ll meet at the townsite by 4pm Friday evening to set up camp. (Ruby is located about 12 miles past Arivaca, off I-19) You’ll need to bring your own food, water and gear. There are maintained pit toilets at the site. We’ll start botanizing Sat. morning. Other items to bring besides personal gear: your plant press and field notebook. Using knowledge and direction obtained from the special presentation on Plant Atlas Program of Arizona (PAPAZ) (March 5) and from the herbarium workshops, we’ll be making plant collections for the U of A herbarium. We’ll be camping on sand between the pond and the lake. There is very refreshing swimming available in the lake, so you may want to bring a suit. If you want to fish, you’ll need to pay the $12 fee! Plan on botanizing again Sunday morning. We’ll recap afterwards and people can leave as they wish.
For more information contact Nancy Zierenberg in Tucson at 882-7663 or nzberg4@cox.net
Yard Tour: Saturday, April 12, 2008 "Wild in the City” Tucson Yard Tour
The BIG EVENT of the SPRING is the “Wild in the City” Garden Tour! This tour will showcase gardens in Tucson that create native wildlife habitat in the city, including pollinator gardens, backyard ponds, tortoise food gardens and shelter designs, lizard habitat, and riparian bird habitat and attractants. This self-guided tour will provide opportunities to meet with the gardeners, wildlife experts, to ask questions and discover how you can reconnect your yard to the larger wildlife spaces in Pima County. There are six gardens to see and tour fee ($6 for individuals, or $10 per group of two or more) covers the costs of plant lists for each site, and will assist efforts of the Arizona Native Plant Society’s Conservation Committee.
Buy your tickets the day of the tour at The Nature Conservancy campus (1510 E. Fort Lowell), between 11-4pm. This is the starting point for the tour. The Arizona Native Plant Society will be on hand at this site and all five sites to assist you with your questions and provide information. Tucson Audubon Society will join us here to talk about urban wildlife habitat restoration. Learn the recipe for urban lizard habitat at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m.
If you’d like to help, please get in touch! Call Julia Fonseca at 792-2690. For more information on the yard tour, check out http://www.aznps.org/chapters/tucson.html.
Master
Class Workshop with Wendy Zomlefer: Scientific Illustration with Pen and Ink. Thursday-Saturday / March 13-15 / 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
REGISTER NOW!
*Member of Desert Botanical Garden: $340 / *Non-Member: $425
The Garden is pleased to welcome artist
Wendy Zomlefer, author and
illustrator of the Guide to Flowering Plant Families, a book used across the country at colleges and
universities, as well as in our own program at the Garden.
This workshop will focus on the scientific illustration component of botanical art and will continue to strengthen your pen and ink skills. Students should bring completed plant sketches ready to ink in. The instructor will also provide constructive criticisms of plant sketches when needed. Pre-requisite: Scientific Illustration I: Pen and Ink (formerly known as Pen and Ink I). Bring a tonal plant drawing from a previous class. You will learn how to transition a drawing into pen and ink.
Please call 480-481-8146 to register or you may also register online at www.dbg.org; or link to: http://www.dbg.org/index.php/education/botartandillprogram/botanicalartillustration
Thank you and welcome to all our new members!
TUCSON FLAGSTAFF
Carolyn Anderson (Oro Valley) Mary Mastin (Grand Junction, CO)
Hari Nam Elliott Lynne Nemeth
Cherie Ann Gossett Megen Swan
Stephen Hansen Denise Van Keuren (Provo, UT)
Ann Hedlund Hap Williams (Grand Canyon)
Robert W. Hungate
Kendall Kroesen PHOENIX
Lainie Levick
Ann C. Martin Desert Tree Farm (Commercial)
Daniel Martin Jennifer Johnson
Mary Price and Nick Waser Patricia A. Mead
Duanne Rogers (Green Valley) Kathy and Al Parker (Athens, GA)
Maureen Rogers (Ventura, CA) David Winkler
Robert Shatz and family
Peter Young (Bisbee) PRESCOTT
Barbara Yusup (Marana)
Antoinette Lee Howard (Pr. Valley)
Philip and Sue Smith