Chapters in Tennessee

Why Botany? 
This class introduces foundational botany concepts—plant anatomy, physiology, reproduction, and growth patterns—to help students understand how plants function, not just what they are. By learning how roots, stems, leaves, and flowers work together; how plants respond to stress; and how they interact with soil, water, and light, gardeners gain the insight needed to make informed, ecologically sound decisions. A solid grounding in botany empowers native plant stewards to diagnose problems accurately, choose the right plant for the right place, and support resilient, biodiverse landscapes across the Tennessee Valley.
The goals of the class are to explain qualities that plants share with other living things, as well as characteristics that set them apart, and to become acquainted with the range of different organisms that make up the plant kingdom.

Be on the lookout: Once you have registered, we will email you with pre-course work and any other materials needed for this class.

Materials to bring! Notebook, pencils, snacks, water, and a lunch. Please wear weather-appropriate clothing and footwear.

Registration Policy: 

As with all CNP classes, class size is limited. To give everyone the best opportunity to participate, there is a non-refundable cancellation fee of $10, with the balance refunded if you cancel at least 7 calendar days before the class will be held. If the class is cancelled by the instructor or the CNP program, registrants will get a full refund.

If registration is full, you may email [email protected] and ask to be placed on a wait list. This is not a guarantee that a spot will open up. Please be gracious, we are all volunteers.

The native plant sale jointly sponsored by the Wild Ones Middle Tennessee chapter and Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary is coming soon! Online ordering will be available from

Thursday, October 15, at Noon through

Tuesday, October 20, at Noon at this website

Plant pickup for online orders is Friday, October 23, from 8 AM to 2 PM at Owl’s Hill Nature Sanctuary (545 Beech Creek Road S, Brentwood, TN).

The in-person sale will be Saturday, October 24, 10 AM – 12:30 PM, also at Owl’s Hill.

Additional details

Volunteer

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

Renkl wrote 52 stories for each week of the year, and we will be discussing the second half of the book 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.

Growing native plants from seed is an affordable way to add more native plants to your landscape, but figuring out how to actually get started can be confusing. This year, presenter Krista De Cooke grew more than 750 native plants from seed at home using a few different methods.

In this workshop, we’ll discuss the basics of starting native plants from seed, including what different species need to germinate and when to sow them. We’ll cover direct sowing, winter sowing, and summer sowing, along with cold stratification, soil, containers, timing, and potential pitfalls.

We’ll finish with a hands on winter sowing workshop, where participants will sow native seeds in recycled containers to take home. No previous seed starting experience is needed. We’ll reconvene in the spring to learn the next step of the process.

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About Krista: Krista De Cooke is an ecologist, native plant enthusiast, and Director of Partnerships & Strategy at Homegrown National Park. She holds an M.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and an MBA from the University of Tennessee. Through her work and her native plant gardening platform, Krista Plants Native, she focuses on making ecological gardening approachable and practical, especially for people who want to grow more native plants at home.

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REGISTER HERE:  https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/workshop-growing-native-plants-from-seed

This is part two in the Botany Core Course series. You must complete Botany I prior to taking Botany II. (Believe us, this is for your own good!)

About this class: The goals of the class are to discuss plant cell and tissue types and major vegetative structures, explore reproduction, and sample some of the strategies and structures that plants use to continue life from generation to generation. 

Be on the lookout: Once you have registered, we will email you with pre-course work and any other materials needed for this class.

Materials to bring! Notebook, pencils, a 10X Magnifier, snacks, water, and a lunch. This class will be both in and out of doors, please wear weather-appropriate clothing and footwear.

Registration Policy: 

As with all CNP classes, class size is limited. To give everyone the best opportunity to participate, there is a non-refundable cancellation fee of $10, with the balance refunded if you cancel at least 7 calendar days before the class will be held. If the class is cancelled by the instructor or the CNP program, registrants will get a full refund.

If registration is full, you may email [email protected] and ask to be placed on a wait list. This is not a guarantee that a spot will open up. Please be gracious, we are all volunteers.