The Tucson chapter holds meetings between September and May each year, with a summer break. We meet on the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 pm. We hold “hybrid” meetings, where we meet both in person and also on Zoom. The live meetings will be in the ENR2 (Environment and Natural Resources 2) building at the University of Arizona, located on 6th street near Park. We meet in Room S215. Parking is available in the 6th St parking garage adjacent to ENR2. A credit card is required to pay for garage parking. If you are not on our mailing list and wish to attend one of our meetings on Zoom, email us at NativePlantsTucson@gmail.com to request the Zoom link. Videos of past meetings can be found on our YouTube channel.
January 9, 2025, at 7:00 pm. Wendy Hodgson from the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix will talk about “Yuccas and their Moths.”
JOIN OUR CHAPTER E-LIST
Join Our Chapter E-list: If you would like to receive announcements about field trips and meetings via e-mail, send a note to the Tucson Chapter email to be added to the list. Stay informed by joining us on Facebook.
Usually, the most up-to-date information about upcoming chapter events can be found on our Facebook page.
Caring for agave and baby cacti? Consider volunteer opportunities at the Pima County Native Plant Nursery! Located at 5845 N. Camino de la Tierra, the Pima County Native Plant Nursery grows native plants for public projects and is looking for volunteers to help with weeding, watering and propagation. The nursery is open Monday to Friday 7:00am to 3:30 pm. Email Amy for available times/days and details. Plant salvage at Cortaro Farms from Camino Del Oeste to Thornydate prior to road improvement project.
Chapter News
Chapter meeting January 9, 2025
Posted on Jan 02, 2025
The Amazing World of Yuccas and Their Pollinators Presented by Wendy Hodgson, Senior Research Botanist at the Desert Botanical Garden
Yuccas are a widespread and important keystone species in our desert and mountain landscapes throughout the Southwest. Wendy will share the story of the incredible relationship between yuccas and hesperoyuccas and their pollinators. She will highlight incredible research by passionate investigators from the time these pollination relationships were first announced to the scientific world to the present, focusing on species occurring within our Sonoran and Mohave deserts. She will also address important questions as to how these pollination mutualisms will be affected by climate challenges.
Wendy has lived in and loved the Sonoran Desert for 55 years. She is Herbarium Curator Emerita and Senior Research Botanist at the Desert Botanical Garden. She studies southwest U.S. and northern Mexico floristics, with an emphasis on the Grand Canyon region. She also investigates the ecology of rare and endemic plants of the Southwestern US and northern Mexico and conducts research on the taxonomy and systematics of Agave, Yucca, and Hesperoyucca, including the study of pre-contact agave domesticated species. As an ethnobotanist, Wendy also specializes in Sonoran Desert food plants and is the author of Food Plants of the Sonoran Desert. She has collected over 33,500 herbarium specimens, including housands of specimens in difficult groups like Agavaceae and Cactaceae. Wendy works to foster diverse participation and collaboration in science by all interested parties, including community scientists and especially Indigenous Peoples, whose voices we have neglected to hear for far too long. Come to learn from Wendy about the fascinating stories of yuccas and their pollinators!
Meeting, Presentation, 7pm in person and on Zoom U of A campus, Environment and Natural Resources Building (ENR2), Room S225 1064 E. Lowell Street, Tucson
Save the date: February 13, at 7:00 pm. Pinau Merlin will talk about parasitic plants.
Tucson Chapter Holiday Meeting December 12, 2024
Posted on Nov 03, 2024
MEMBERS SHOWCASE
HAVE YOU HAD A GREAT PLANT YEAR?
Please think about sharing your expertise, experiences and adventures with native plants in a 15 minute presentation.
Contact someone from the program committee to learn more and talk about your ideas!
Re-hydrating and Re-enlivening Our Communities with Rain-watered Neighborhood Food Forestry
Presented by Brad Lancaster
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Live at 7:00 pm or on zoom
U of A campus, Environment and Natural Resources Building (ENR2), Room S255 — 1064 E. Lowell Street, Tucson AZ
This presentation is about neighborhood forestry efforts empowering citizens, and contractors, to effectively plant the rain and native food-bearing vegetation to grow vibrant and resilient abundance where they live, work, and play. Then train them up and support them with the education, guidance, collaborations, and policy that enable them to better steward the plantings for decades to come. Dramatic results include cooler neighborhoods, healthier eating, a revitalization of indigenous cuisine, deeper connections with people and place, reduced flooding, skill building, greater soil fertility, and more beauty and joy. The strategies and practices are accessible to all and most are free or cost no more than the price of a shovel. View these strategies in practice at: https://dunbarspringneighborhoodforesters.org/
Presenter: Brad Lancaster
Brad Lancaster is the author of the award-winning book Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond and co-founder of Neighborhood Foresters. Since 1993 Brad has run a successful permaculture education, design, and consultation business focused on integrated regenerative approaches to landscape design, planning, and living. In the Sonoran Desert, with just 11 inches (280 mmm) of average annual rainfall, he and his brother’s family harvest about 100,000 gallons (378,000 liters) of rainwater a year on an eighth-acre (0.05 ha) urban lot and adjoining right-of-way. This harvested water is then turned into living air conditioners of food-bearing shade trees, abundant gardens, and a thriving landscape incorporating wildlife habitat, beauty, medicinal plants, and more. The goal of his work is to empower his clients and community to make positive change in their own lives andneighborhoods—by harvesting and enhancing free on-site resources such as water, sun, wind, shade, community, and more.
