line drawing of western larch Clark Fork Chapter

 

The Clark Fork Chapter serves the greater Missoula Area and west-central Montana.

For more information contact one of our co-presidents:

Anne Garde

329 S. 4th West

Missoula MT 59801

Madeline Mazurski

5278 Elk Ridge Drive

Missoula MT 59802

 

Project Budburst Information is at the bottom of the page

Interested in Native Plant Landscaping in our area? Click here
 
Here is a link to a new page featuring the UM Native Plant Garden

Programs: Held 2nd Thursday of the month (with exceptions).

  • Thursday December 8, 6:30 pm. Molly Galusha, long-time MNPS member, invites us to Our Annual Christmas Potluck at the Buttercup Café just off the UM Campus at 1221 Helen Ave. (between University & McLeod). Bring plates, utensils and a dish to share. Don't forget to bring a few of your favorite digital pictures from this year on a thumb drive or disk (no more than 10, please). Call Peter (728-8740) or Kelly (258-5439) if you have questions.
  • Monday January 9, 7:30 pm. Madeline Mazurski has been designing native landscapes for nearly two decades. She and Poody McLaughlin will show us how "Native Plants Will Bring Birds to Your Yard." Rm 123 Gallagher Business Bldg, UM Campus. This will be a joint meeting with Montana Audubon (note the different day and place).
  • Tuesday January 31, 7:30 pm. Herbarium Night. Rm 303, Botany Bldg., UM Campus. They don’t have flowers, but they’re still pretty. Botanist Peter Lesica invites you to “Feel Those Ferns.” Rm 303, Botany Bldg., UM Campus.
  • Thursday February 9, 7:30 pm Maria Mantas has been working for The Nature Conservancy to curtail subdivision in the Swan and Blackfoot valleys as part of “The Montana Legacy Project: Conserving Biodiversity at the Landscape Level in Western Montana.” Rm L09 Gallagher Business Bldg, UM Campus.
  • Tuesday February 28, 7:30 pm. Herbarium Night. Rm 303, Botany Bldg., UM Campus. You’ll be in clover if you come to hear Heritage Program botanist Scott Mincemoyer present “The Genus Trifolium in Montana.” Rm 303, Botany Bldg., UM Campus.
  • Thursday, March 8, 7:30 pm Everyone has bought native plants from Kathy Settevendemie. Come and hear her tell about “Seeds, Seedlings and Gardens - Growing Montana Native Plants in the Blackfoot.” Rm L09 Gallagher Business Bldg, UM Campus.
  • Tuesday March 27, 7:30 pm. Herbarium Night. Rm 303, Botany Bldg., UM Campus. This will be a work night. Come for an hour or two and help put things in better order than they already are. Rm 303, Botany Bldg., UM Campus.
  • Thursday April 12, 7:30 pm. Can you remember the names of those wildflowers? You haven’t seen them for nearly a year. Get an early-season refresher when Clark Fork Chapter photographers show slides of Western Montana’s Forest Wildflowers. Rm L09 Gallagher Business Bldg, UM Campus.

Field Trips and Events  For updates check below or call Kelly @ 258-5439. Events could be canceled due to weather.No pets please!

Clark Fork Chapter mushroom hike
 Clark ForkChapter members enjoy a robust schedule of hikes every year.
Here a few members relax in the midst of searching for mushrooms.
(Peter Lesica photo)
Thinking about Spring? Preparations are underway for the 2012 Clark Fork Chapter's Annual Native Plant Sale. Seeds will be germinated and seedlings will potted up by Clare Beelman (clare.beelman@gmail.com, 728-0189), who, alas, does not have an appropriate space for growing 30+ flats of gorgeous, native plants. If you would like to enjoy an early spring by growing seedlings indoors, starting around February, please contact Clare. Seedlings will need to be grown at typical room temperature under grow-lights with their needs closely attended. A grow light (e.g. full-spectrum fluorescent shop light) can be provided along with detailed instructions on watering, fertilizing, and hardening-off your native seedlings. You would nurture your seedlings until the Sale in late May. This is a neat opportunity to get to know a native plant species (or two!) in greater detail.

 

Project Budburst

A nationwide initiative by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, The U of M., and others, Project Budburst allows citizen scientists (e.g., students, gardeners) to enter observations of the timing of flowers and foliage into an online database to help create a picture of our warming climate. The project operates year-round so early and late-blooming species around the country can be monitored throughout their lifecycles. UM researchers Carol Brewer and Paul Alaback are collaborators on the project; MNPS member Paul is the project's lead scientist nationally. Project Budburst is looking for Native Plant Society members and others to volunteer in monitoring when plants come out in the spring. This involves selecting one or more plants near your house-in a park or somewhere you walk regularly--then noting the day leaves and flowers first appear and leaves first change color in the fall. Observations on Mt. Sentinel would be particularly valuable. Last year over 4,000 volunteers participated nationwide! You can register to collect data at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/citizen_science/budburst/ or contact Paul Alaback (palaback@gmail.com); phone: 406-728-4696.

 

For native plant restoration activities in Missoula, visit www.umt.edu/sentinel/volunteer.htm