Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Speaker: Eric Griffin, PhD

My research investigates how bacteria and fungi, sometimes called the “great unseen,” may be an overlooked yet important dimension of native tree diversity. Rapid environmental and anthropogenic changes are decreasing biodiversity worldwide, potentially diminishing ecosystem functions and services, but many of the potential relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem function are still unexplored. For example, we know that higher tree species diversity is associated with increases in timber production, carbon storage, and watershed quality, but we don’t know why this is the case.  I conducted a research project funded by Maryland Native Plant Society to evaluate the relationship between plant-associated microbes and the positive effects of native tree diversity in Maryland. My results suggest that high diversity forests may be better protected from fungal pathogens, both those that can wipe out entire populations of trees (e.g., the chestnut blight), and also those that lessen the vigor of trees in less obvious ways. This work adds an important component to our understanding of why diversity is important to forest health. 

 Eric Griffin is a post-doctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center.

Doors open at 7:00.
Location: Kensington Library, 4201 Knowles Ave, Kensington, MD.

The program is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Discover the important connection between native plants, people, and wildlife at the sixth annual Mountain Maryland Native Plant Festival!

A large variety of plants native to the mid-Atlantic for sale all day!

Wood Thrush Native Plant Nursery

Floyd, Virginia

www.woodthrushnatives.com

Evergreen Heritage Center 

Mount Savage, Maryland

www.evergreenheritagecenter.org

Go Native Tree Farm

Lancaster, Pennsylvania

www.gonativetrees.com

Allegany County Forestry Board

Flintstone, Maryland

(301) 777-5835

Scheduled programs & activities highlight native plants & biodiversity! 

Guest speakers include:

Vanessa Beauchamp, Associate Professor of Biology, Towson University Department of Biological Sciences

Invisible Connections: An Introduction to Parasitic Plants

Candy DeBerry, Professor of Biology, Washington & Jefferson College

Chickadees, Bees, and Butterflies: The Latest Research on Native Plants and Their Impact on Biodiversity

Linda Harris, Conservation Committee Chair, Mountain Laurel Garden Club 

Partnering with Schools and Organizations on Conservation and Education Projects

Local experts answer questions on native plants & other conservation topics!

Engage Mountain Maryland

www.engagemmd.org

Evergreen Heritage Center

www.evergreenheritagecenter.org

Friends of New Germany State Park

www.facebook.com/FriendsofNewGermanystatepark

Maryland Conservation Corps

http://dnr2.maryland.gov/publiclands/Pages/mcc.aspx

Maryland Native Plant Society

www.mdflora.org

University of Maryland Extension, Garrett County Master Gardeners www.extension.umd.edu/garrett-county/home-gardening

To get a better idea of why this continues to be such a nice event, view this video created at the 2017 by our friends at Engage Mountain Maryland https://youtu.be/eFkj4lahKcw

New Germany State Park and the Western Mountains Chapter of MNPS are co-sponsoring this FREE event. More details to follow!

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. Signs will direct you to parking for this special event.

Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Speaker: William Needham, President of the Mycological Association of Washington, DC

This presentation will address the fundamental importance of fungi to ecology, as well as their place in current taxonomy.  A brief overview of the distinctions among various fungal types according to phyla will provide the basis for a discussion of mycorrhizal (fungus-root) relationships involving trees, orchids, and other plants.

Doors open at 7:00.
Location: Kensington Library, 4201 Knowles Ave, Kensington, MD.

The program is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Topic: Weed or Wildflower?

Leaders: Christine Campe-Price, Friends of New Germany State Park & Liz McDowell, MNPS

Want to help preserve our regional biodiversity? Then bring your work gloves, kneeling pads, favorite weeding tools & some elbow grease to remove unwanted plants from the native plant garden. As you work, you’ll learn how to identify common weeds and why protecting native plants is so critical for wildlife. Meet at the native plant garden near the dam. Please bring your own water bottle, insect spray & sunscreen. In case of rain this activity will be cancelled.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 22 and follow signs for New Germany State Park. Turn left into the park onto McAndrews Hill Road. The program will be held in the native plant garden near parking lot #5.

No registration.

Speaker: Marcia Watson, PhD

The Maryland Ornithological Society owns ten sanctuaries, totaling over 2,200 acres, spanning the state from Garrett County in the west to Somerset County on the lower Eastern Shore. All of the sanctuaries are open to the public every day of the year, at no charge. They represent a microcosm of the habitats for birds and other wildlife in Maryland. Drawing on the files of the MOS Sanctuary Committee, historic published accounts, and photos and materials provided by MOS members from across the state, Marcia will describe the MOS Sanctuaries, providing habitat profiles and showing maps and photos of all the sanctuaries, and she will cover some of the challenges that MOS faces in managing the properties. Marcia will conclude with suggestions on how interested individuals can become involved with the sanctuaries.

Marcia Watson is a long-time active member of the Maryland Ornithological Society who is working to foster awareness of the sanctuaries among MOS members and the public. For over 20 years before her retirement Marcia specialized in research dealing with the environmental signals that animals use to coordinate their life cycles with seasonal changes.

Doors open at 7:00.

Location: Kensington Library, 4201 Knowles Ave, Kensington, MD.

The program is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Topic: TBD

Speaker: TBD

Details to follow. This free program will begin promptly at 7:00 pm; the public is welcome to attend.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 33 (Braddock Rd & Midlothian Rd exit). Follow Braddock Road approximately 1.3 miles to stop sign. Turn left onto Park Avenue. Drive a short distance and turn left, following signs for the Compton Parking Lot.

No registration.

Topic: TBD

Speaker: TBD

Details to follow. This free program will begin promptly at 7:00 pm; the public is welcome to attend.

Directions: From I-68 take exit 33 (Braddock Rd & Midlothian Rd exit). Follow Braddock Road approximately 1.3 miles to stop sign. Turn left onto Park Avenue. Drive a short distance and turn left, following signs for the Compton Parking Lot.

No registration.