Native Plant Initiative of Greater New Orleans

Native Plant Giveaway - Lower 9th Ward
2023-01-28 09:00 - 12:00 UTC | 1235 Deslonde Street, 1235 Deslonde Street, New Orleans, LA, 70117, United States
The Lower 9th Ward Homeownership Association and Neighborhood Association are partnering with NPI to give away 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.

UNO Urban Bird Trail - Quadrant Tree Planting, Work Day 2
2023-01-28 09:00 - 13:00 | UNO Woodlot
The Urban Bird Trail at UNO’s campus will be expanded with additional plantings of native trees to an open quadrant adjacent to previous plantings at the Woodlot. Bring Gloves, shovels and good cheer as we work alongside area youth to enhance the wildlife habitat at this lake front haven.

Membership Meeting
2023-03-25 09:00 - 12:00 | UNO Administrative Building Native Garden, 6650 Milneburg Road, New Orleans, LA, 70148, United States
Our first Membership Meeting of the year will start in the native gardens at UNO’s Administration Building (6650 Milneburg Road) where a full sun garden is a riot of blooms and a Courtyard garden soothes with a sedge mix. We will walk from there over to the Woodlot and Quadrant where NPI has been involved in recent native tree plantings and invasive removals. Adjacent to the Woodlot, there is a newly planted native garden at the Fine Arts Building that we can have a look at too. There will be some seating at the Admin Building, but you might throw a lawn chair in the car if you have one handy.

SPRING IN THE SWAMP
2023-04-09 09:30 - 16:30
Saturday, April 8, & Sunday, April 9
9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Barataria Preserve of Jean Lafitte
National Historical Park and Preserve
6588 Barataria Blvd.
Marrero

GIRL SCOUTS TRAILBLAZING ECO BADGE DAY, April 29th
2023-04-29 10:00 - 13:00
Saturday, April 29
10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Bayou Segnette State Park
7777 Westbank Expressway
Westwego
Join the International Crane Foundation and Girl Scouts Louisiana East to help scouts earn credit towards Outdoor & Environmental Stewardship badges. NPI volunteers are invited to speak about the importance of native plants and to hike with the scouts at the park. Email NPI to learn more.

MEMBERSHIP MEETING, Longue Vue (rescheduled)
2023-06-03 09:00 - 11:00
Saturday, June 3rd, 9am – 11am
Longue Vue House & Gardens
7 Bamboo Rd., New Orleans
Our May 6th Meeting was rained out, so we were able to reschedule this opportunity to meet and see the great wild garden at Longue Vue. So….if you need some gardening inspiration, this is the meeting for you! Tour the beautiful gardens of a historic New Orleans home. Bring a friend and help NPI grow! Learn more about Longue Vue at the link. We will meet in the parking lot. Parking is tight, so carpool if you can!

Webinar: "Working with the Weeds" Jennifer Prout
2023-09-19 18:30 - 20:30
Some volunteer plants are great to keep in the garden and work with. Other unwanted weeds can be easier to eradicate when you understand their weaknesses. Learn how weed management is accomplished at the Big lake Native Plant Trail gardens in New Orleans City Park and other projects by horticulturist Jennifer Prout. Register on Zoom HERE

Fall Garden Festival October 7th and 8th
2023-10-07 - 2023-10-08 | City Park Botanical Garden
Come see us at the New Orleans Botanical Garden’s Fall Garden Fest. Our display will feature lots of information about native gardening.

Membership Meeting at Big Lake Native Plant Trail
2023-10-28 09:00 - 11:00 | Big Lake, City Park, 7 Freiderichs Ave
Come out to see the trail and the great work NPI and City Park volunteers have been doing out there. We will tour the various areas of the trail for a fun and easy morning.

Membership Meeting at Rosa Keller Library
2023-11-18 09:00 - 11:00 | Rosa Keller Library, 4300 S Broad Avenue, New Orleans, LA, 70125, United States
The Sunflowers and Asters should be in full glory. Come join us for our final meeting of the year! Stay tuned for details, but we will likely do some light maintenance in the gardens, demonstrations and learning, new board elections, plant swaps and giveaways and more.

T-shirt Pick Up Day
2023-11-19 08:00 - 17:00
A PICK-UP day for your T-shirt Order is scheduled for Saturday, December 16th, from 8am-noon at 5315 St Anthony, New Orleans LA.

Deadline to Order NPI T-shirt
2023-12-01 17:00
In order to expedite processing and ship out in time for the holiday, the deadline for online ordering is 5 pm Friday, December 1st. A PICK-UP day is scheduled for December 16th, from 8am-noon at 5315 St Anthony, New Orleans LA. We do not anticipate making any subsequent orders in the near future, so NOW is your chance

UNO Work Day
2023-12-02 09:00 - 12:00 | UNO Fine Arts Woodlot, Founders Road, New Orleans, LA, United States
Join volunteers from Orleans Audubon and UNO to continue work at the UNO Woodlot. We’ll be removing small invasive trees, mulching newly planted trees and clearing pathways to make this bird sanctuary more user friendly for people and the birds. Bring water, gloves, clippers, loppers (if you can). We recommend wearing long pants and close-toed shoes with socks. Find us at Founder’s Road and Levee Road on UNPO Campus.

LNPS Annual Conference
2024-02-23 08:00 - 2024-02-25 17:00 | Wesley Center, Woodworth, LA, 2350 Methodist Pkwy, Woodworth, LA, 71485, United States
This is the DEEP DIVE into the native plants of Louisiana. Presentations include Pollinator Research, Bluebonnet Swamp, Cajun Prairie Species and Research, Spiders and native plants and more. Special vendors will have native plants, printed artwork and apparel for sale and the Silent and PLant Auctions are not to be missed! All details and registration information at LNPS.org.

Volunteer in the Garden - Keller Library
2024-03-09 09:00 - 12:00 | Rosa Keller Library, 4300 S Broad Avenue, New Orleans, LA, 70125, United States
We will meet at 9am on Saturday, March 9th to keep the Keller garden some TLC. Kelleye and Mariah from Whimscapes Landscaping will be leading this volunteer date where we will do a Spring clean up, weeding, cut-back and plant in some new annuals to keep the show going. We will simultaneously be holding the first Native Plant Giveaway program of the year, so all volunteers are sure to walk away with some great plants as well. This is a great opportunity to learn about maintaining your own native garden and just get out in the sunshine and help us continue to showcase the beauty of native plants to the Broadmoor neighborhood.
Keller meeting
Keller library

Native Plant Program - Giveaway @ Rosa Keller Library
2024-03-09 09:00 - 12:00
Our first of several Native Plant Distribution Events will be March 9th at the Rosa Keller Library in New Orleans at 9am. We have over 1000 plant plugs to share, so beginning at 9am, we will give visitors several great native pollinator plants including Gulf Coast Penstemon, Clasping Coneflower, Tall Coreopsis, Lemon Bee Balm. Simultaneously, we will be holding a volunteer day in the garden at the library where we will be cutting back, weeding and planting some of these same native species into the garden for Spring color. Giveaway UNO NPI
We are grateful for the support of a BTNEP grant that makes The Native Plant Program possible!

Leonidas Neighborhood Green Infrastructure Event - Native Plant Giveaway
2024-03-23 12:00 - 15:00
Come see us at the first ever Leonidas Neighborhood Green Infrastructure Event on March 23rd, 12-4pm in the schoolyard of the former Johnson/Lycee School @ 1800 Monroe@ Hickory. We will be distributing FOR FREE several native flowering plant species including Louisiana Irises, Gulf Coast Penstemon, Clasping Coneflower, Tall Coreopsis, Lemon Bee Balm and perhaps others.Giveaway UNO NPI
We are grateful for the support of a BTNEP grant that makes The Native Plant Program possible!

Spring Garden Show - New Orleans City Park
2024-04-06 - 2024-04-07 | New Orleans Botanical Garden, 5 Victory Ave, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70119
NPI will participate once again in the New Orleans Spring Garden Show at the Botanical Garden. Back again are FREE native plants, multiple species will be available as supplies last. Come See Us!FGF 2022 Garden Show
The Native Plant Program is made possible with the support of a BTNEP grant. Thank you BTNEP!

Membership Meeting at Big Lake Native Plant Trail
2024-04-13 09:00 - 23:00 | Big Lake, City Park, 7 Freiderichs Ave
Meet, greet, swap, and learn! Discover the ins and outs of the iNaturalist website and app from Will Reinhardt, living collection manager of LSU’s Hilltop Arboretum and professional in residence in the Landscape Architecture Program. iNaturalist allows us all to be citizen scientists by sharing observations and photos for use by researchers worldwide. After Will’s presentation, we’ll walk the native plant trail to see what’s in bloom and practice our new iNaturalist know-how. The meeting will also feature a plant and seed swap, so bing some natives to share. Bring a friend, too—NPI meetings are open to everyone! Location is the New Orleans City Park Big Lake Native Plant Trail, on Friedrichs Avenue near the swan boat rentals (if you’re facing the building, the trail is just to your left).

NPI at Earth Day Celebration at UNO
2024-04-22 11:00 - 14:00 | University of New Orleans, LA, United States
NPI volunteers will have a table at UNO for Earth Day celebrations on Monday, April 22 starting at 11am. UNO will also be conducting tours of the various native gardens and solar farm on campus.
Tables will be set up under the lake-facing overhang of the library.

Mississippi Native Plant Society Meeting with Doug Tallamy and Tammy Greer
2024-05-03 - 2024-05-05
An upcoming Mississippi Native Plant Society Meeting will include a Doug Tallamy appearance/presentation on Friday evening as well as a demonstration and presentation and tour of a Medicine Wheel Garden on the USM campus. A very rare and great opportunity!
Agenda and Directions attached here.
Directions_to_Cochran_Center
2024 MISSISSIPPI NATIVE PLANT SOCIETY SPRING MEETING

Spring Meeting - Gretna City Park
2024-06-15 09:00 - 11:00 | Gretna City Park, 3201 Claire Ave, Gretna, LA, 70053, United States
Come see Gretna City park with us! We will be given a tour of some of the newest features of this large-scale flood mitigation project that increased the capacity of existing ponds, included more than 300 new trees, and created mainly native planted areas throughout the park. The wetlands, bog gardens, bioswales and other gardens are full of native irises, grasses, and pollinator friendly wildflowers meadows.
NPI member Katie Clark will also be demonstrating tips and tricks for great nature photography.

Night Out with Natives - hosted by Urban Conservancy
2024-06-21 18:30 - 19:30 | Big Lake, City Park, 7 Freiderichs Ave
Kick off your Solstice eve by joining us for drinks and nibbles, native plant love, and great company at Night Out with Native Plants!We’ll gather at the native plant trail on Big Lake for a guided tour from Tammany Baumgarten of the NPI Native Plant Initiative of Greater New Orleans and a scavenger hunt to test your knowledge and make new discoveries.Bring a date, bring friends, or come solo to join the native plant community. Then off to your other evening plans!Friday, June 21, 6:30-7:30-ish pm, at the native plant trail in City Park, on Big Lake by the boat house.

Medicinal Plants for Gardens of the Southeast - LSU - Hilltop Arboretum
2024-06-25 18:30 - 20:00 | Hilltop Arboretum, 11855 Highland Rd., Baton Rouge, LA, 70810
At this workshop, Jennifer Blanchard will share her two decades of experience in botanical research and environmental sciences studies and her enthusiasm about propagation and the use of native medicinal plants in the landscape. Learn about the value-added benefits these plants provide to human health and the environment as we indulge in a tea-tisane tasting from plants grown at Hilltop. Leave inspired by a palette of plants that you may introduce into your garden to promote your own well-being!
Register at lsu.edu/hilltop$10 for students, LMNGBR & Hilltop members$15 for non-members

For more information about this event, please contact us at LSU Hilltop Arboretum at 225-767-6916, visit www.lsu.edu/hilltop, or email hilltop@lsu.edu
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Greaux Native Extravaganza 2024
2024-06-29 10:00 - 12:00
Rose Garden & Pet Center will present June 29, from 10am to noon, their FIRST EVER “Greaux Native Extravaganza” – A one-day event with local horticulture presentations, games, refreshments, and OF COURSE native plant sales… all to encourage our local community to GREAUX NATIVE!
Members of the following organizations will be in attendance or have an educational display at this event:
Acadiana Native Plant ProjectGreater New Orleans Native Plant InitiativeBarataria PreserveDana Brown Associates (in association with NGICP)
Rose Garden & Pet Center is located at 5420 Lapalco Blvd, Marrero

Botanica: Gardens, Landscapes, and Plant Medicines in South Louisiana
2024-07-31 09:00 - 2026-05-10 16:00 | Cabildo/Louisiana State Museum, The Cabildo, 701 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70130, New Orleans, Louisiana
Cabildo/Louisiana State Museum. Until Sunday May 10, 2026
This exhibition explores the cultural meaning of Louisiana medicinal plants and how historically based understandings of them are evolving under the threat of climate change and land loss. Guest curators Rachel Breunlin and Monique Verdin collaborate with herbalists, artists, gardeners, and scholars to place into context stories of historical and contemporary gardens and natural environments.
Botanica is rooted in a series of interviews conducted by Rachel Breunlin and Monique Verdin as part of the Bayou Culture Collaborative, which operates under the auspices of the Louisiana Division of the Arts Folklife Program and the Louisiana Folklore Society. The Collaborative seeks to document cultural traditions as Louisiana faces land loss and a changing environment. As part of that project, Breunlin and Verdin interviewed a range of gardeners and plant specialists, including Tammy Greer, a United Houma Nation medicine wheel steward; mutual aid medicine makers from the Bvlbancha Collective; and Maypop Herb Shop folk herbalist Rachael Reeves. Through these interviews, excerpted at listening stations, along with historic and contemporary artifacts, photographs, and paintings from the Louisiana State Museum’s collection as well as from a few private lenders, the exhibition explores the history and understanding of medicinal plants, such as yaupon, Auricularia (jelly ear) mushrooms, and cleavers, in a range of rural and urban communities that draw on different cultural traditions, including those of Native peoples, Louisiana French cultures, and African Americans. Botanica weaves together these strands to immerse museum visitors in a world of Louisiana plants, traditional healing cultures, and the people, past and present, who make up those cultures.
This exhibition will be open at the Cabildo until May 10, 2026.

Seed Packing for Mardi Gras with Grounds Krewe
2024-08-24 11:00 - 13:00 | NOLA Brewing, 3001 Tchoupitoulas
NPI is again partnering with the sustainable Mardi Gras throw non-profit, Grounds Krewe to provide native flower seeds to grow in their peat pot throws. We have gathered and dried the seed and need help packing those seeds in to envelopes. Stay tuned for sign ups.

The Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation Society Tour of Eunice Prairie and Fall meeting
2024-09-07 08:00
The Cajun Prairie Habitat Preservation Society will be having our annual peak blazing star tour of the Eunice Prairie at 8:00 AM on Saturday, September 7th. The prairie is located at 650 E Magnolia in Eunice (parking lot: 30.4988, -92.4079).
The tour will be followed by our “fall” meeting — starting at 10:30 AM — and we’re glad to say we’re again being welcomed by the Acadian Baptist Center over in Richard, LA (between Eunice and Church Point) 1202 Academy Dr, Eunice, LA. The meeting will be preceded by talks and followed by lunch in their dining room — and I have no doubt that it’ll be just as good as last time!
The Acadian Baptist Center has about 90 acres planted with a variety of native species, comprising a range of different plant communities — including a significant prairie planting that we’ll be sure to check out again!
Hopefully we will get a good show of Liatris (épinette de prairie), Arnoglossum (plantain chauvage) and Silphium (plante-boursole). As always, please bring plants to donate to the plant auction!

BTNEP Native Plant Giveaway | Saturday, September 14, 2024, 8 - 12 pm
2024-09-14 08:00 - 12:00
Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP) will give away native plants at the BTNEP native plant nursery/Nicholls Farm, 906 Thoroughbred Park Dr., Thibodaux, LA 701301

Creating Overwintering Habitat for Beneficial Insects
2024-09-15 13:30 - 15:30
