Bozeman, Ennis, Livingston Area
For more information contact Beth Madden (406) 224-1012; bethmadden64@gmail.com
We meet on the second Tuesday of the month, November through April, at 7:00 p.m. in Room 108, Plant Bioscience Building, MSU campus (unless otherwise noted). April – August we have monthly plant field trips. Non-members are welcome! More details on workshops and reminders will be shared in monthly emails and on Facebook.
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Interested in Native Plant Landscaping in our area? Click here
Programs and Activities
All programs and field trips are free and open to the public – non-members are welcome
Nov 13, 2018: Sedge Identification Workshop with Dr. Matt Lavin. 7 PM. This workshop will involve about 1.5 hours of keying out species of sedges (Carex spp.). Sedge specimens will be passed out to participants. These will represent about 15-20 of the commonest sedge species from the nine major species groups of Carex in Peter Lesica’s Manual of Montana Vascular Plants (i.e., species group keys A through I, pp. 605-612). The emphasis will be on understanding the taxonomically important sedge morphologies that are important for working through sedge keys. If interested in attending, please bring a copy of the Manual of Montana Vascular Plants and a hand lens. A few copies of the manual will be available for use. Please note: To get the most out of the workshop, participants are encouraged to brush up a little on botanical terms including inflorescence bract, pistillate bract, staminate bract, perigynia, and beak. Dr. Lavin will be covering many species in 1.5 hours and will have to move quickly in a structured manner. We thus won’t have time to explain basic botanical terms, though we will briefly review them as they arise. For more information, contact Matt Lavin: mlavin@montana.edu
Dec 11, 2018: Holiday Party/Potluck. 6 PM. Join us to celebrate the holiday season at 408 Overbrook Drive, Bozeman. Bring a dish to share. For more info or directions contact: Beth Madden bethmadden64@gmail.com, 406-224-1012.
Jan 8, 2019: Winter Shrub Identification Workshop. 7 PM. Matt Lavin & Pete Husby
Feb 12, 2019: Creating and Enhancing Pollinator-Friendly Plantings. 7 PM. Join Monica Pokorny, NRCS Plant Materials Specialist, for a presentation on the importance of pollinators, selecting pollinator-friendly plant species for gardens and plantings, and techniques to establish large-scale pollinator plantings.
Mar 12, 2019: Botanical Drawing Workshop, with Jane Fournier of Helena. Note this special 2- hour workshop will be from 6-8 PM. From recording something observed in the field to creating a work of art, all botanical art starts with the same basic observation and drawing skills, which, by the way, can be learned by anyone. For this hands-on program, Botanical Artist, Jane Fournier, will guide you through the stages of creating a botanical drawing. Using basic tools, we’ll start with some simple exercises to loosen up and highlight observation skills before drafting an accurate graphite drawing of your plant sample. No drawing experience is required, and all the necessary drawing materials will be supplied if you don’t already have your own. If you have your own preferred drawing materials, you might like to bring the following from your supplies: Drawing paper – at least 2 sheets about 9 x 12 inches – or a sketchbook; H or HB pencils; pencil sharpener, if using wood pencils; white plastic eraser and/or kneaded eraser, and a small ruler.
April 9, 2019: Landscaping w/ Native Plants – Beth MacFawn & Denise Montgomery
Projects
The Valley Flowers Chapter maintains a native-plant garden in central Bozeman, to demonstrate the principles of gardening to benefit pollinators. Here is a fact sheet about the garden.
Field Trip Report
On a May day a while back, 9 curious folk joined Jeff Copeland to see what was in bloom in the foothills east of Bozeman. Quite a lot, as it turned out – Denise Montgomery compiled a list of 48 bloomers, nearly all of which the collective brain was able to identify to species. Chapter members look forward to these field trips, and newcomers are very welcome!
BLOOMS OF MOUNT ELLIS TRAIL – GALLATIN COUNTY, MONTANA
MAY 23, 2015
BOTANICAL NAME COMMON NAME
Amelanchier alnifolia – Serviceberry
Anemone multifida – Cut-leaf Anemone
Anemone patens (Pulsitilla patens) – Pasque Flower
Antennaria microphylla rosea – Rosy pussytoes
Antennaria microphylla – Pussytoes
Arabis lyallii – Lyall’s Rockcress
Arnica cordifolia – Heartleaf Arnica
Balsamorhiza sagittata – Arrowleaf balsamroot
Castilleja suphurea – Sulphur Paintbrush
Cerastium sp. – Chickweed
Claytonia sp. – Spring beauty
Clematis hirsuitissima – Sugar Bowl Clematis
Clematis occidentalis – Western Blue Virgin’s Bower
Delphinium bicolor – Little Larkspur
Dodecatheon sp. – Shooting Star
Draba sp.
Erythronium grandiflorum – Glacier Lily
Fragaria virginiana – Strawberry
Frasera speciosa – Green Gentian/Monument Plant
Fritillaria pudica – Yellow Bells
Geranium viscossisimum – Sticky geranium
Geum triflorum – Prairie smoke
Hackelia floribunda – Many -flowered Stickseed/Forget-me-not
Hydrophyllum capitatum – Ball-headed waterleaf
