Native Plant Festival 2021
The Native Plant Alliance will host its 6th Annual Native Plant Festival on Saturday, September 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the New Hanover County Arboretum. This free, family-friendly festival celebrates Cape Fear area native plants and helps attendees learn how to incorporate them into their own garden plans. There will be activities for adults and children, native plant vendors throughout Pender and New Hanover County, and displays and presentations by local horticultural experts
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• At the Arboretum: gardening presentations and exhibitor tables.
• In the community: plants can be purchased at various growers around the region.
• At the Pine Valley Library: stories for the children read outside at 10 a.m.
• Anywhere in Pender, Brunswick or New Hanover Counties: BioBlitz challenge to photograph as many wild plants as you can from September 11 to 19.
For the 2021 Festival, presentations and exhibitor tables will return to the grounds of the New Hanover County Arboretum. The plant sale will remain spread throughout the area, with an online (and print) map guiding people to visit growers of native plants throughout the area. Activities at the Arboretum will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; plant sellers will be able to set their own hours and may be open longer than from 10–3.
Here’s a link to the online map of who’s where, selling plants the day of the Festival: https://bit.ly/3hcHnYe
Vendors of native plants will be the Arboretum Ability Garden (Heather Kelejian), Five Oaks Nursery & Tree
Farm (Wil Massengill), Going Native Gardens (Joyce Huguelet), Grizz’s Nursery (Michael Gore), Lloyd’s Nursery (Lisa Brinkley), Lumber River Nursery (Jep Whitlock), Shelton Herb Farm (Margaret Shelton) and—new this year—Above the Briery (Karen Mulcahy), Flytrap Jones (Richard “Flytrap” Jones), Sorrell’s Lawn Care & Nursery (Christina Sorrell) and Wild Meadow Farm (Chris Dean and Maria Ortado). See the map to see where you can find these folks and their plants on Saturday. The online map is at https://bit.ly/3hcHnYe and the printed map is inside the program guide, available at the Arboretum and all the other Festival sites.
Twenty educational exhibitors and vendors will offer information on native and invasive plants, soil, water, trees, bees, and birds, and many will have activities to engage children. Extension Master Gardeners will be on hand to answer gardening questions.
Hourly gardening presentations by horticultural experts will be held in the Arboretum’s Education Center on a variety of plant-related topics. Some speakers will be live and others remote; all presentations will be available via Zoom for those who prefer to watch from home.
Speaker Schedule:
10–11 How plants communicate: The hidden fungal network beneath our feet: Jess Jarvis (via Zoom)
11–12 Using Native Plants to Restore and Enhance Natural Habitats: Amy Long (in person)
12–1 Some Lovely and Fascinating Natives of Carolina Beach State Park: Amanda Chapman (via Zoom)
1–2 Carnivores, Ferns, and Protected Species, Oh My!: Jess Roach (in person)
2–3 Enhancing Communities Through Nature: Andy Wood
3p.m. Coastal Landscaping Initiative Presentation: Gloria Putnam
Zoom link for all speakers:
Go to zoom.us and enter
Meeting ID: 953 784 2189
Passcode: Natives
New this year: iNaturalist expert Morgan Freese is organizing a Native Plant BioBlitz plant scavenger hunt event for the week leading up to the festival. To participate, folks take pictures of native plants (preferably in the wild) and post the photos on the iNaturalist app, which can be used on a phone or a computer. Photos taken from September 11–19 will qualify, and there will be prizes for most observations and most species photographed.
No iNaturalist experience is required—the organizers will hold at least one Zoom training to walk you through the “how-to” of providing identification help. Sign up at https://bit.ly/3wVSMR3 to receive updates on the BioBlitz as the festival grows closer. You may also contact Morgan Freese directly with questions at morgan.freese@ncaquariums.com.
Admission is free; donations are welcome. Free parking will be available on site.
The Native Plant Festival is organized by the Native Plant Alliance and sponsored by: New Hanover County Arboretum, NC Cooperative Extension, Extension Master Gardener Volunteers, Southeast Coastal Chapter of NC Native Plant Society, and Cape Fear’s Going Green. This year’s Festival co-chairs are Carol Bales and Lloyd Singleton.
