Tag Archive for: Plant Sale

Celebrating 35 Years of RIWPS

– This article by Karen Joy Asher first appeared in WildfloraRI, Winter 2022

It all began sometime in 1986 when Lisa Lofland Gould, botanist, educator and author, gathered a few interested people at ASRI’s Eppley Refuge for a workshop in wild plant gardening. She told them about a wildflower club to which her mother belonged. This group had three primary interests: growing wild plants, working toward their conservation, and going on walks to see them in their native habitats. They were intrigued. “The seed had been planted and the ground was fertile,” Lisa said. “People were ready for it.” In its first year RIWPS had about 50 members. The next year, about 100. Today, we number more than 650 members.

The mission of RIWPS today is essentially the same as then. We are well-known for the plants we grow for our plant sales, our naturalist-led botany walks throughout the state, and our educational programs.

Plant Sale

The RIWPS plant sale has earned its reputation as “The best native plant sale in Rhode Island.” The first one was held in the back yard of founding member, Betty Salomon. Back then, members dug plants from their gardens, both native and nonnative, for the sale. Over time, the plant selection evolved to include more native plants, ferns, and shrubs, and non-native plants were gradually eliminated from the inventory.

Few retail nurseries carried native plants, so as word about the sale spread, crowds increased. Soon people were lining up before the sale opened to get first pick. Then RIWPS decided to allow members into the sale half an hour before the public. There was always a membership table at the plant sale, so eager plant shoppers could join on the spot. An information booth, “Ask the Experts,” provided advice and assistance.

This year we added native shrubs to the inventory; they were supplied on consignment from Morningstar Nursery in South County. We filled up the back of a pick-up truck, and the owner wished us luck. He expected that many would come back unsold. RIWPS sold every single one. In addition, Dorothy Swift, long-time leader of Seed Starters East, made sure we had plenty of azaleas, mountain laurels, and rhododendrons available.

WildFloraRI

RIWPS’ first newsletter invited its members to a “Pot Party”—asking our members to bring in small plastic flower pots to restock Seed Starters’ supply. The newsletter was a mix of scholarly articles and news about the society. In the pre-computer days  it was typed; it had no photographs and few illustrations. Articles included “The RI Natural Heritage program” by Rick Enser, DEM botanist; “Competition” by Irene Stuckey, Botany Professor at URI; and “Thoughts on Herbicide” by URI Professor Larry Englander.

Today, the newsletter is called WildFloraRI and the photos are in color. The quality of the content has remained high, and the layout and design exemplary.

RI Spring Flower & Garden Show

One of the highlights of the RIWPS calendar every year was the RI Flower and Garden Show held at the Convention Center, a tradition that continued for 22 years, ending in 2016. Landscape architect Judy Ireland designed the exhibit and Jules Cohen chaired the show committee for many years. The committee of creative, devoted, and very hard-working volunteers essentially created a natural woodland on a bare cement floor in a huge open space in less than a week, year after year. Barney Webster of Nelumbo Water Gardens added the ponds, streams, and seeps.

Many visitors said our gardens brought back childhood memories of walking in the woods. Children delighted in finding the hidden animals and birds in the trees or hiding behind a rock. The sounds of the forest, which played on a continuous loop in the background, added to the charm. So spectacular and so realistic was the RIWPS garden it regularly received awards for Best in Show, People’s Choice, The Roger Swain Award for Design and Execution, and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Gold Medal among others.

Walks, Talks & Programs

RIWPS is known for its excellent walks and talks. Gilbert George led one of the first ones at Parker Woodland in Greene, RI, to collect seed. For many, the walks provide a way to safely explore RI’s outdoor spaces and learn about our native flora. One man I met on a walk said he went from seeing everything as one big mass of green to noting the individual plants and trees, each with its own story.

Over the years we’ve sponsored many talks by experts in the field. Some examples: “The Importance of Maintaining Species Diversity,” “Meadow Gardening,” “Making A Habit of Restoration,” and “New England Plant Conservation.” More recently we’ve had Doug Tallamy speaking on his book, Nature’s Best Hope.

 In the past RIWPS sponsored several garden tours. The first ones featured gardens in northern RI, each chosen for its uniqueness and beauty, followed the next year by gardens in the southern RI.

In the early days there was an education committee. The members, led by Ethel Halsey, put together “Plant Discovery Boxes,” designed to assist elementary school teachers in sharing the world of plants with their students. The boxes contained books, games, posters, and other age- appropriate teaching materials.

Wild Plant Week was celebrated by RIWPS for many years. When the RI State Legislature officially declared the second week of May Wild Plant Week, members were asked to bring a live native plant (dug from their own garden and potted up) to their local library to be placed prominently on a library table accompanied by a small sign saying, “Do You Know This Wildflower?” Library visitors would guess, then check the back of the sign for the correct answer.

Over the years RIWPS has sponsored several Native Plant Conferences: In 2011 “Eco-System Gardening with Native Plants”; in 2013, “Challenges of a Changing Landscape: From Your Garden to the New England Forest”; and in 2015, “Growing Awareness: Planting Bio-Diverse and Resilient Landscapes,” including renowned guest speakers Uli Lorimer, then the Curator of Native Flora at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden; Claudia West, the ecological sales manager at North Creek Nurseries; and landscape architect Larry Weaner.

Publications

One of our first publications was a compendium of Cultivation Notes 1987-1997. In 1995, RIWPS member Gil George self-published “Botanical Survey Check List of the Naturalized Plants, Shrubs, and Trees of Rhode Island by Cities, Towns, and Counties”, a comprehensive work by a self- taught botanist. Gil’s work was an important source of baseline data for the Vascular Flora of Rhode Island, published in 1998 by the newly formed RI Natural History Survey.

The first RIWPS Coloring Book was published in honor of RIWPS 10th Anniversary, in 1998. It featured 31 of Rhode Island’s best-known native plants from early spring through late fall. All were illustrated by RIWPS members. Ten years later it was revised and reprinted; it is still in print and available today. This introductory field guide encourages children and their parents to go outdoors to find these plants in real life.

Creative Collaborations

The Society has always collaborated with other environmental groups including the Native Plant Trust (formerly the New England Wildflower Society), the Audubon Society (the RIWPS office was once located there) and particularly the RI Natural History Survey, also co-founded by Lisa Lofland Gould. We co-sponsor the annual Lisa Lofland Gould Native Plant Program with RINHS and the URI Master Gardeners.

And the collaborations have reached beyond environmental groups. In 2018 RIWPS collaborated with the RI Historical Society and the Brown University Herbarium on an exhibition at the John Hay Library entitled “Entwined: Botany, Art and the Lost Cat Swamp Habitat,” a show featuring the mid-1800 botanical illustrations of Edward Peckham. Also in 2018 Trinity Rep performed a new play, “Native Gardens,” that told the story of neighbors with very different gardening styles. A RIWPS article, Grow Wild! Use Native Plants in Your Garden, was published in their playbill. RIWPS set up a display in their lobby and handed out our plant sale flyers—helping us spread our message to so many Rhode Islanders.

Scholarships/ Grants

In 1992 RIWPS began offering a scholarship for an undergraduate enrolled in a four-year college in Rhode Island or a Rhode Island resident from an out-of-town college with a goal related to native plants and their habitats. Scholarships were awarded for “Studying the genetics of Pink Lady’s Slipper,” and “Studying ribosomal DNA in Sea Lavender.” Over the years the scholarship evolved into a grant that was available to everyone, not just college students. The grant has grown from the original $500 to $2,500 available annually for worthy native plant endeavors.

Fundraising Fun

RIWPS members have always enjoyed each other’s company. We could talk about plants all day long. In the very early days members would get together for informal picnics. Family BBQs, and the occasional Herbal Tea Party. These events usually included plant sales and raffles as well as garden tours.

In 1997 the Harvest Dinner and Auction was born. It was held at URI’s Alton Jones campus in West Greenwich. It included a silent auction, a live auction, and a gourmet dinner buffet. Live auction items included such treats as a half-day botanical inventory of your property by Hope Leeson and a botany walk and lunch with Anne Wagner for the winner and three friends. The Harvest Dinner went on for several years with a switch in venue to the Yawgoo Clam Bakes & Barbecues in Exeter.

RIWPS has kept up with the times. Our newsletter is now printed in full color. The plant sale now sells only plants native to our ecoregion. We set up our first website around 2008 when our office was located in Peacedale. We started an E-Newsletter in the early 2000s;  it was a whole new way to keep in touch with our members and other interested folks. We’ve never looked back.

 

RIWPS has had a real impact on the environment in RI. Through our plant sales hundreds of thousands of native plants are growing in people’s gardens across the state. The pollinators are thanking us. We should be proud that today using native plants in your garden has gone from being a fringe interest to something many people are trying to do. Clearly, we were right all along. RIWPS was founded by visionaries who understood the importance of native plants in the environment. Today, the majority of the population agrees with what we knew all along, native plants rock!

 

2023 Fall Native Plant Sale

A giant thank you to the Pawtuxet Village Farmers Market for hosting us on Saturday, August 26, 2013 for our most successful fall sale yet!

Tag Archive for: Plant Sale

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