Events Calendar

Have a shady spot in your yard and not sure what to do with it? Discover the art of native plant landscaping and learn how to match the right plant to the right place. Shade gardening is more than just selecting plants that tolerate low light—it’s about understanding the unique conditions your space offers. She will also show how mosses can be combined with wildflowers to form a natural green ground cover. Join local expert Charlotte Freeman as she shares practical tips and her extensive experience with shade gardening in North Chattanooga.

Charlotte Freeman has a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Emory University and a Master’s degree in Zoology with a minor in Ecology from University of Florida.  She taught biology at the university level and secondary school level for 38 years.  She received the National Association of Biology Teachers Award for Outstanding Biology Teacher in the State of Tennessee in 1986.  She received the Distinguished Teacher Award at Girls Preparatory School in 1989.  Charlotte became an advocate for native plants about 40 years ago and has received her Certificate in Native plants from the Tennessee Valley Chapter of The Wild Ones and is a teacher of plant communities, and liverworts, mosses and ferns for the CNP classes.  Her passion is converting her yard to native plants and propagating them as space allows.  She has been instrumental in starting several other native wildflower gardens in the Chattanooga area.

If you have taken our Plant Communities core class, you touched on how geology and geography affect native plant communities. This elective class will focus in on these factors. 
Geobotany is the study of how plants, their variations, and their distribution are influenced by geological factors like rock type, soil composition, and topography. Geology, in turn, provides the substrate and environmental conditions that plants inhabit, impacting their growth, survival, and distribution.

Join Wild Ones at the 3rd Annual Rock the Ridge Festival, an environmental celebration dedicated to conservation awareness and habitat preservation of the Cumberland Plateau's Walden's Ridge. 

You don’t need to be a native plant expert to help at a Wild Ones table! Just bring a friendly attitude, be a good listener, and use our cheat sheets to help guide conversations. It’s a fun way to make new connections and support Wild Ones' mission. 

Please bring a folding chair and dress comfortably for the weather. You're welcome to bring a favorite native plant or themed book to brighten up the display. More details will be emailed to you before the event. 

Questions? Email Sarah at tvwomembership at gmail dot com.

Discover how ecological landscaping with native plants can make your landscape more resilient and help address the climate crisis. This webinar will highlight practical, evidence-based approaches to designing and maintaining landscapes that build resilience to climate change and support native biodiversity. Join Wild Ones for a free webinar, “EcoBeneficial Landscape Strategies for the Climate Crisis,” featuring environmental horticulturalist and ecological landscape designer Kim Eierman.

Free tour of 2 of our Members' Gardens

September's Book Discussion is on Bringing Nature Home by Doug Tallamy in preparation for his free lecture this fall. 

Bringing Nature Home is the book that sparked the Native Plant Movement in 2007. Dr Tallamy begins with a call to action for suburban yards in taking up their vital new role to create balanced communities for insect diversity. The book gives suggestions in how to blend it with the neighbors, what to plant, and has loads of photos of caterpillars and moths and the plants that support them. Bringing Nature Home goes deeper into the How Tos and what insects you will notice than his other books, so it's a great resource to have. 

“No prior training is needed to become a backyard ecologist!” (Book cover)

Join TN Valley Wild Ones members and hike leader, Zach Irick, for an Autumn wildflower and rare plant exploration at Red Clay State Park, just south of Cleveland, Tennessee. 

Come out to view several interesting and uncommon ecosystems right in our backyard. This is an easily accessed, botanically and historically rich area.  We will view fall flowers and interesting shrubs in their natural habitat, several of which are endemic.  

Rating: Easy.

Distance: 1-2 miles of explorations. Approximately 4 hours at the site.  Optional nearby stops and roadside botanizing depending on interest.
 

More details soon!   Registration opens about 4 weeks prior to event.

Join the Tennessee Valley Wild Ones and Doug Tallamy for limited seating dinner at the Common House Chattanooga before our first Distinguished Lecture! This dinner will include 1 starter, 1 protein, 2 vegetables, 1 starch, housemade bread, water, and tea. We will have a card only bar available for all other beverages.

The Tennessee Valley Chapter is proud to bring Dr. Douglas Tallamy, author, advocate, and co-founder of Homegrown National Park, to Chattanooga for a free lecture on Friday, October 3rd! This free event, sponsored by Lyndhurst Foundation, does require registration.

We are also excited to provide the opportunity to purchase books from The Book & Cover and original artwork created for the event by Dayna of Solstice Handmade. We will also have some time available for book signing.

Consider making it a weekend event and join us for our fall Native Plant Sale at Grace Episcopal, 20 Belvoir Ave., Chattanooga on Saturday, Oct. 4th!

Doug is a renowned entomologist, ecologist, and speaker who has given thousands of talks on the vital role native plants play in sustaining wildlife. As the T.A. Baker Professor of Agriculture at the University of Delaware, he has spent over 40 years studying how insects and plants shape healthy ecosystems. His bestselling books, including Bringing Nature Home, Nature’s Best Hope and The Nature of Oaks, have inspired a movement to restore biodiversity at home. Recognized by Audubon, The National Wildlife Federation, and The Garden Club of America, Tallamy is a leading voice in conservation.

Fall is the perfect time for planting!  

Join us for this free event where a variety of local and regional native plant nurseries will be offering a large selection of plants. 

Whether you're brand new or just feeling new-ish, we’d love to welcome you to our growing community of native plant enthusiasts!

Come meet fellow members, learn more about our chapter’s mission, and discover ways to get involved.

This casual gathering is a great chance to connect, ask questions, and share your passion for native plants in a relaxed setting.

Come early and stay late to shop the Fall Plant Sale!

Light refreshments will be provided.

Please reply to let us know you're coming!

Join botanist/ecologist Gary Kauffman for a hands-on native grasses workshop
highlighting grass identification and grassland communities. We’ll learn to use a
Southern Appalachian grasses key derived from Weakley’s Flora of the
Southeastern U.S. and other identification tools, look at samples of common
native grasses, and learn a bit about grassland communities and the wildlife they
support. You should come away from the workshop to be more comfortable using
the key to Poaceae (grasses) groups and genera, recognize a dozen common
grasses by sight, and have ample resources to hone your grass skills.

Join Master Gardeners of Hamilton County in celebrating Fall! The MGHC Fall Garden Festival will feature a variety of plants for sale, nature-inspired art, demos and exhibits, and fun & educational children's activities. There will also be a food truck and homemade baked goods for sale. 

You don’t need to be a native plant expert to help at a Wild Ones table! Just bring a friendly attitude, be a good listener, and use our cheat sheets to help guide conversations. It’s a fun way to sprout new connections, support a mission that pollinates change, and grow your confidence. Come dig in - we’d love to have you!

Volunteer Role Description: 

If you'd like, bring your favorite native plant or themed book to brighten up the display

Help with setup/takedown if you're signed up for those shifts

Familiarize yourself with booth display items

Greet visitors and share info about Wild Ones

Keep booth area and displays tidy

Distribute materials: brochures, membership info, native plant guides

Encourage newsletter signups and memberships

Join landscape architect Matt Whitaker to learn the art and science of pruning. Matt has been pruning since the age of 10 when he decided to “clean-up” the yard. Since that day, he has spent four decades studying plants and practicing the art of pruning everything from azaleas to peaches. Matt practiced landscape architecture in Virginia for 9 years where he studied pruning under world-renown fruit expert Tom Burford. Topics will include an overview of plant anatomy and physiology, different pruning cuts and plant response to the cuts, and differing approaches for different plants.

About Matt Whitaker:
Matt is the founding principal of WMWA Landscape Architects. After working twelve
years at award winning firms in Virginia and Washington, DC, Matt returned home to
start his own firm.

When Matt was 17, his high school art teacher took notice of his interests in art and
nature and suggested that he study landscape architecture. Landscape architecture is
his third profession after working as a butcher during undergrad and managing the
production of cutting-edge drug delivery polymers shortly after he graduated. His
bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from the University of Alabama in Huntsville
centered on the macro and micro characteristics of plant ecology. Building on his
interests, Matt applied his love for ecology and plant communities to a rigorous design
curriculum while earning his Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of
Georgia’s School of Environmental Design. As a lifelong student, his passion for
ecology and natural systems heavily influences his work as a landscape architect.
Matt loves the outdoors, good food, and is fascinated by plants. Matt’s friend Tom
Burford, a world-renowned apple and fruit expert, told Matt to go to Chattanooga and
start a firm. When Tom Burford tells you to do something, you do it.

Details coming soon! 

Board members meet to discuss our chapter's progress and make decisions when necessary.

All Tennessee Valley Wild Ones members and guests are welcome to attend.  We will have a potluck lunch, election of officers, highlights of 2025, and a seed & plant swap.  Please bring a dish and plants to share. This is a great time to visit with other native plant enthusiasts!

This class will focus on how soil and water interactions lay the foundation for supporting a functional, healthy landscape. We will frame our conversation around the five soil forming factors of parent material, climate, biota, topography, and time, and take a look at how each of these is at work in our landscape. We will use technology tools but also simply get our hands dirty to help uncover information that will help in management decisions. 

Details coming soon! 

Our Holiday Social is the perfect time to visit with your native plant friends and celebrate a successful TVWO year.  Members are welcome to bring a guest. Please bring an appetizer or dessert to share. More to come!