Kelsey Chapter

Grounded in restoration work, Kenda shared her experiences in plant propagation. Her presentation focused on species and strategies that succeed in early succession environments and share her love for ‘weedy’ natives. She provided some strategies to propagate plants from seeds and stems, and talked about lessons learned. Kenda works as the Botany Data Assistant for the Montana Natural Heritage Program in Helena.

… is on the MNPS YouTube channel. Mike is a Helena-based optician who started photographing wildflowers for fun.  In January 2021, he started sharing a wildflower post every day on Facebook & established a following. “Discover the beauty in your own backyard,” Mike says.  He’s added poems to go with his photos; his enthusiasm is contagious!

… tells about using native trees and shrubs in the urban landscape.  With a bachelor’s degree in horticulture, he became a groundskeeper for Montana FWP and eventually, the Nursery Program Specialist for the Montana Department of Agriculture.

Grasses are the largest, most wide-spread, and economically important plant families world-wide, yet for many, indecipherable. A highly experienced grasslands botanist, Mark spent his career working with grasses, and wrote the book, Forage and Reclamation Grasses of the Northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountains.  Mark shows how to distinguish among different grass groups — called “Tribes” — and how to identify individual species.

In June of 2021, on a cool & sunny Saturday in the Elkhorns, botanical artist Jane Fournier and friend Connie Geiger introduced several of us to the basics of botanical drawing and nature journaling.  Jane gave instruction, supplies and assignments. Soon everyone was sketching plants; the morning quickly slipped away.  Drawing the plants enhanced our observation skills. Botanical sketchbooks and nature journals can record scientific observations and be records of personal discovery.

In June 2021, Montana State Entomologist Alyssa Piccolomini and Botanist Layla Dunlap led about 20 of us on an evening outing at Priest Pass west of Helena. Participants identified various forbs and saw a diversity of beetles, bees and flies. The rough fescue (Festuca campestris) grassland hosted at least 30 species of plants such as Camas (Camassia quamash), Moss Phlox (Phlox muscoides), Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis), pasqueflower (Anemone patens), several species of groundsel (Senecio).

In June 2021, Botanists Justina Dumont (Helena-Lewis & Clark NF) and Andrea Pipp (Montana Natural Heritage Program) led a hike to learn some common forest mosses in the Wakina Sky trail in Helena’s backyard. Stepping off the trail and getting down on all fours, we learned how to see a moss! We examined branching patterns, leaf shapes, shades of green to gold, and the micro-sites where the mosses grow. We saw 11 species, such as Frizzled Crisp (Tortella tortuosa), Broken Top Dicranum (Dicranum tauricum), and Frightened Cattail (Rhytidiadelphus triquetrus). Justina and Andrea discussed moss reproduction and the ecological roles that often go unnoticed. We marveled at mosses’ ability to spring to life with just a spray of water.