For further details or to view past programs click here: Programs page.

Upcoming evening programs will be hybrid whenever possible. To attend in person, come to Room 111 in Harlan Hall on the WNMU campus at 7:00 pm. Gila Chapter members will receive an email with the Zoom link; all others are welcome and can request a link from gilanative@gmail.com

Field trips will be organized as opportunities arise and announced by email. Check our field trips page to see information about past field trips here: http://www.gilanps.org/events/field-trips.

Work Parties, announced by email, are held in the Silva Creek Botanical Garden periodically during the growing season, and occassionally at other times of year.

Soaptree Yucca (Yucca elata) – taken by Don (or Wendy?) Graves

Join Don and Wendy Graves on a landscaping tour of their property on Brewer Hill, a neighborhood once known locally as Perros Bravos. Their 1880s adobe is comfortable and efficient and is now surrounded by native plants and fruit trees. Participants will see firsthand how they are working toward transforming their half-acre and will learn about methods and techniques they have employed over the past six years. Participation is not limited, but Don and Wendy will need to know how many are coming. Please RSVP to gilanative@gmail.com, and we will send you directions.

Five different native vines are growing there, providing wildlife habitat and food, attracting pollinators and acting as screening. Vintage stone walls and cost-efficient fencing have resulted in a deer-free space. The vegetable garden is deer, pocket gopher, desert cottontail, rock squirrel and bird-proof!

Water harvesting, the use of gray water and native stone mulch all help in reducing water usage on the property. Drystone rock walls, constructed of native stone from the property are preventing erosion by slowing water movement in an otherwise sloping terrain. Planting berms have been constructed to increase landscape texture and to provide a slightly drier environment for cacti, agave, native grasses, small shrubs and perennials.

Participants will learn how to plan and install a small pond or water feature that attracts birds, pollinators, dragon- and damselflies, and a variety of small mammals. Learn strategies to attract a whole range of pollinators, from insects, nectar feeding bats and hummingbirds. A native planting regime that encourages blooms from early spring to late fall maximizes a great diversity of pollinators and will be highlighted on the tour. Examples include early blooming Manzanita and Creosote through fall blooming turpentine bush and chamisa, along with other native perennials.

This property is not heavily managed, as many natives have reestablished themselves and are allowed to blend in as they choose. The project is definitely a work in progress!

The community is invited to a dedication event for the Children’s Butterfly Garden at Silva Creek Botanical Garden on Virginia and State Streets. The gathering will include live music by Andrew Dahl-Bredine, an interactive butterfly activity for all ages, a puppet show, and cake to celebrate the butterfly’s re-emerging. This free event is co-sponsored by the Gila Native Plant Society and Heart of the Gila.

Improvements to the Children’s Butterfly Garden are part of Phase One of the Gila Native Plant Society’s Master Plan for the Botanical Garden. It has been funded by Heart of the Gila, the Gila Native Plant Society, and a New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division Trails Plus grant. The Butterfly Garden was created by local middle schoolers in 2014 and dedicated to the memory of three local teens, Ella Kirk, Ella Myers, and Michael Mahl, after their untimely deaths in a small aircraft accident. The three were all dedicated to protecting the environment.

Photo by Patrice Mutchnick

Saturday, August 17th, 2024: Our big event of the summer will be the Native Plant Sale in the parking lot across from Gough Park. We plan to have five local native plant growers lined up to sell their plants to the public. Visit our Native Plant Sale page for more!  Follow this link to see an approximate list of the plants the vendors will have at the sale.

Leafcutter bee on Mexican Hat

We had a small turnout at last week’s work party and we need more help. We’ll be weeding, raking paths, and cutting back plants that are protruding into pathways.

Please note we are starting a half an hour earlier than usual.

Please bring gloves if you have them. We’ll have tools available, too.

We will reschedule if it is raining.

Rachel Burke of Bat Conservation International (BCI) will give a talk on nectivorous bats at the Whiskey Creek Zócalo on Sunday, June 23rd, at 1:00 pm. She will explain the threats facing the nectar-feeding bats that migrate through our area and why our agave-planting efforts are so important.

 She will also explain a new citizen science project we can participate in. As some of you have noticed, in August and September when no agave are in bloom, nectar-feeding bats may visit our hummingbird feeders. By collecting eDNA samples for BCI, we can help them determine the species that are present and the timing of migration. With enough participation, BCI could also an idea of numbers. Rachel will have some eDNA kits to give out. Come learn more about this fascinating citizen science project.

We’re joining the celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the Gila Wilderness by offering three field trips and a presentation. You can read about the hikes on our field trips page and read about the presentation below.

Pollinators, Native Plants: A Two-way Street, Saturday, June 1, 6:30 – 7:30 PM

Location: Open Space Brewery, 11990 US-180 Santa Clara Armory, Santa Clara, NM.

Agapostemon native bee

Join us for a presentation that explores the vital relationships which exist between native plants and their pollinators. Of course, native plants depend on pollination services from bees, butterflies, moths, and others, but the pollinators also depend on native plants to produce pollen for their young, food, building materials, etc.  In this presentation we will delve into examples of the two-way interactions which have evolved between these two important components of a functioning ecosystem, illustrated with the amazing photographs of Elroy Limmer.

Don Graves taught biology in the community colleges of northern Minnesota for thirty years. Elroy Limmer has been taking amazing photographs of the natural world since he was a boy.

Dark Skies in New Mexico

Immediately following the pollinators’ presentation, Jon Holtzman, professor of astronomy at New Mexico State University and chair of the State Council of the recently formed New Mexico Chapter of DarkSky International, will speak about the threat to dark skies in New Mexico and around the world, as light pollution continues to increase. Light pollution is reversible, however, if reasonable principles of good lighting are adopted and followed. In this presentation, we’ll discuss the nature of light pollution, some of its adverse effects, principles of good lighting, and some of the tools we can use for improvement. We’ll also describe the formally designated DarkSky places in New Mexico and highlight some opportunities for expansion of New Mexico DarkSky places.

Please bring your best potluck offering to share and your own plate, glass, and utensils (including a serving utensil if needed for your potluck contribution). Beverages and hot dogs with their fixings will be provided.

The Gila Native Plant Society participated in Give Grandly 2024, the big annual fundraiser for local nonprofits – 65 organizations this year!

The in-person event took place on May 4^th and was a great success. The 65 participating nonprofits took in, live or online, a grand total of over $253,000, and the Gila Native Plant Society garnered $3,665!

As you know, GNPS has developed a Master Plan to transform the Silva Creek Botanical Garden into an even better and more beautiful educational facility. The plans can be viewed on our website – www.gilanps.org – under “Botanical Garden.” We have allocated a significant portion of donations this year to implementing the Master Plan.

There is an evolutionary bond between native plants and the pollinators that ensure not only their survival, but the survival of a whole host of ecosystem components. Thanks for joining us on this exploration of Signal Peak, from the bottom wet meadow to the coniferous forest at the top. Along the way, we experienced these pollinators and native plants in an attempt to better understand this fragile ecosystem.

Using the beautiful photography of Elroy Limmer, this joint SWNM Audubon/Gila Native Plant Society program will explore the lives of local pollinators from native bees to long-nosed bats.  Presenters Elroy Limmer and Don Graves of the Gila Chapter will discuss the variety of native plants necessary to attract pollinators and that act as host plants for the caterpillars that provide the majority of nutrition for our spring/summer fledgling birds.  You will come away with a whole new perspective on the world of life in your own back yard and learn how you can help promote the diversity of pollinators, native plants and birds right here at home.

Last October, you will all remember, we lost a dear friend, a great botanist and an invaluable member of the Gila Native Plant Society. At that time the pandemic kept us from getting together to acknowledge how much he meant to us.

But this summer things were better, and we we held an outdoor catered picnic on July 31, 2021, to celebrate Richard’s life and amazing accomplishments.  GNPS members and Richard’s family, friends, colleagues and fans  came from Silver, from Tucson, and far beyond to share memories.