Chapters in Tennessee

Join us for a book discussion of Margaret Renkl's The Comfort of Crows: a Backyard Year

Renkl write 52 stories for each week of the year, and we will be discussing the first half on June 22nd and the second on October 26!

In The Comfort of Crows, Margaret Renkl presents a literary devotional: fifty-two chapters that follow the creatures and plants in her backyard over the course of a year. As we move through the seasons--from a crow spied on New Year's Day, its resourcefulness and sense of community setting a theme for the year, to the lingering bluebirds of December, revisiting the nest box they used in spring--what develops is a portrait of joy and grief: joy in the ongoing pleasures of the natural world, and grief over winters that end too soon and songbirds that grow fewer and fewer.

Along the way, we also glimpse the changing rhythms of a human life. Grown children, unexpectedly home during the pandemic, prepare to depart once more. Birdsong and night-blooming flowers evoke generations past. The city and the country where Renkl raised her family transform a little more with each passing day. And the natural world, now in visible flux, requires every ounce of hope and commitment from the author--and from us. For, as Renkl writes, "radiant things are bursting forth in the darkest places, in the smallest nooks and deepest cracks of the hidden world."

With fifty-two original color artworks by the author's brother, Billy Renkl, The Comfort of Crows is a lovely and deeply moving book from a cherished observer of the natural world.

Richard Hitt will give a presentation on

The Curious Ways Flowering Plants Reproduce

Clues to Darwin's Abominable Mystery

How did flowering plants diversify so rapidly and come to dominate the world's flora? This question puzzled Charles Darwin, who famously described their sudden rise as an “abominable mystery.” Today, flowering plants account for nearly 90% of all plant species.

This presentation explores Darwin’s mystery through several native plants with unusual reproductive adaptations. From the sex-changing Jack-in-the-pulpit and the deceptive cranefly orchid to the timing mechanisms of passionflower and the seed-cloning abilities of dandelions, these species reveal the inventive ways plants reproduce and spread. Together, their evolutionary innovations offer insight into how flowering plants became one of the most diverse and dominant groups of organisms on Earth.

Everyone is welcome!

Format: Hybrid (in-person and Zoom)
Zoom:  Link
Date: Monday, June 22, 2026
Time: 7:00 – 8:30 PM CST
Location: Ed Jones Auditorium, Ellington Ag Center, 416 Hogan Road, Nashville, TN (36.06398, -86.74472)

Register Here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/bioblitz-and-picnic-at-the-meadow

Date: June 28, 2026 at 9AM-12Noon

Place: Meet in the parking lot at the Carriage House at the Knoxville Botanical Gardens, 2749 Boyds Bridge Pike, Knoxville, TN.

Wild Ones Smoky Mountains invites you to our first-annual Bioblitz and Picnic at the Meadow! The Wildlife Meadow at Knoxville Botanical Garden & Arboretum is one of its most important but often overlooked installations. Bring a blanket and a picnic lunch for your group, and dine "al fresco" with other nature lovers after having some fun observing native bees, butterflies and other cool insects just doing their thing! We will gather at 9am to learn about the meadow's history and ecology, then we'll Bioblitz two portions of it: photographing as much life as we collectively can until picnic time! 

While we eat, we'll upload the photos to iNaturalist so that KBGA, and future ecology researchers, will have a permanent snapshot of the meadow and its life in 2026.

Long before medicine as we know it existed, the indigenous peoples of the world utilized plants to heal their sick and mend wounds. The Cherokee people, local to our area before the Trail of Tears, viewed plants as helpers; for every illness inflicted upon humanity by the animals they hunted, the plants provided a cure.

Join Ranger Taylor Young from Red Clay State Historic Park to learn about the Cherokees’ relationship with plants, traditional uses, and their cultural significance.

Class Description:

Most of us have grown — or tried to grow — plants from seed. But did you know there’s another way to propagate some of our favorite natives? And do you know how?

With this class, you will!

This half-day, elective course introduces principles and practices of asexual plant propagation — a method of plant reproduction that does not use seeds or spores, but rather a portion of the plant’s vegetative parts, such as stems, leaves or roots.

We’ll explore the science and techniques of vegetative propagation and we’ll gain an understanding of why it is important in horticulture. We’ll also learn how environmental conditions, stock plant health, hygiene practices, and propagation media influence successful outcomes.

The practical portion of the course will focus on stem cuttings and plant division techniques, allowing participants to gain hands-on experience in collecting suitable plant material and producing a batch of cuttings for propagation. Grafting, budding, and tissue culture will also be introduced to provide a broader understanding of propagation systems.

Our instructor will be Kevin Roberts, and our learning classroom will be Overhill Gardens, a native plants nursery in Vonore, Tenn. (And, yes, plant shopping is encouraged before or after the class!!!) 

*Note: Overhill is approximately 100 miles or 2 hrs 10 min from Chattanooga so plan ahead for travel time! Carpooling is also encouraged*