Alaska Native Plant Society

05/27/2026

Good news! Our self-guided walk has been extended until June 1. Thank you so much, Alaska State Parks!

05/22/2026

It’s time for some Alaska Native Plant Month walks! Check out these fliers for two free plant walk opportunities in Juneau and Anchorage on this weekend’s calendar and you can find even more by visiting our event calendar at https://sites.google.com/aknps.org/alaska-native-plant-month/event-calendar

05/15/2026

***Extended until June 1*** Just in time for sunny weather, the "Wildflowers of Indianhouse Ridge" self-guided plant hike along Turnagain Arm is open to the public!

With permission from Chugach State Park, Alaska Native Plant Society volunteers have placed small, temporary markers next to native plants along the lower portion of the Indianhouse Ridge Trail. This year, the markers are enhanced with pictures and plant descriptions, and will be in place through May 25, 2026.

Can't make it on those dates? An extensive plant checklist and field guide for Indianhouse Ridge is available at https://aknps.org/field-guides/

Directions: This trail begins at Mile 104.5 of the Seward Highway. There is a small, unmarked pullout with room for 4-5 cars.


Alaska State Parks

📷: AKNPS volunteer Latanya Odden placing markers on Thursday, May 14.

05/14/2026

**Postponed to May 24 ** A few spots are available on our 'Emerging Spring Plants at Windy Corner' field trip coming up this Sunday! RVSPs and a signed waiver are required.

Why go? Early snowmelt on Turnagain Arm makes it one of the first places to find plant growth near Anchorage. Expect 3-4 hours, 2 miles, on the Turnagain Arm Trail, which is fairly level, but rocky in places.

RSVP Required: Contact the leaders Dennis and Annie Ronsse (dennis.ronsse>atdot

05/06/2026

We hope to see you at noon tomorrow (Wednesday, May 6) for the first statewide webinar in our collaboration with UAF Cooperative Extension Service!

Tomorrow's webinar includes presenters from the Kenaitze Indian Tribe and University of Alaska Fairbanks Ethnobotany Program, and more. They will explore how common Alaska plants, both native and introduced, tend to grow well in places modified by humans and how we can interact with them for our holistic well-being, through the lens of Alaska Native plant traditions and ethnobotany.

Get details and register here: https://bit.ly/NativePlantMonth

05/02/2026

Thank you, Alexandria Wenninger, for this great Anchorage Daily News op-ed on the critical relationship between our native plants and their insect pollinators! https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/05/01/opinion-all-the-buzz-on-supporting-pollinators-the-stewards-of-our-native-plants/

- Alaska Native Plant Month

Supporting native pollinators begins right in our backyards.

05/01/2026

Happy 1st day of Alaska Native Plant Month!

Many thanks to Governor Mike Dunleavy for his May 1 proclamation recognizing the benefits of Alaska's native plants to traditional ways of life, cultural heritage, pollinators and wildlife, the economy, and the health and sustainability of Alaska's communities and ecosystems!

Learn more about Alaska Native Plant Month ➡️ https://bit.ly/AKnativeplantmonth

04/30/2026

Our Alaska Native Plant Month statewide event calendar for May is now available!
🔗 https://bit.ly/plant_month_2026
The lineup includes educational webinars, field trips, workshops, plant sales and more. Additional events will likely be added, and we encourage you to RSVP, when asked, as some events have an occupancy limit.

Here's the first 3 events on the calendar!
+ May 4 - Alaska Native Plant Society Monthly Meeting @ 7p via Zoom - featuring Jessica Rykken on 'Wild pollinators of Alaska: bees and flower flies'
+ May 5 - AK Native Plant Month Webinar @12 p on "Our Plant Neighbors" discussing native and introduced plants from the lens of Alaska Native plant traditions and ethnobotany
🔗 https://bit.ly/NativePlantMonth
+ May 11 - Conservation Conversations @ 6 p on the ecology and philosophy of invasive species management at King Street Brewing Company
🔗 https://www.facebook.com/share/17Kbpgxtga/

Thank you to the partners who developed and/or are partcipating in events listed above!
UAF CES Anchorage Outreach Center
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Anchorage Soil & Water Conservation District
Great Land Trust
Kenaitze Indian Tribe

7p Monday, May 4 Webinar (Statewide) Join the Alaska Native Plant Society's membership meeting and educational program featuring a talk by Jessica Rykken on 'Wild pollinators of Alaska: bees and flower flies.' CONTACT US for Zoom link Host: Alaska Native Plant Society

04/22/2026

The University of Alaska Fairbanks Cooperative Extension Service, in collaboration with the Alaska Native Plant Society, is hosting a series of free webinars to highlight native plants and animals and the challenges they face.

All webinars will be from noon-1 p.m. on Wednesdays during May, which is Alaska Native Plant Month. Register using the online form or visit https://bit.ly/NativePlantMonth.

On May 6, Todd Eskelin, a biologist at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, will feature rufous hummingbirds, an important pollinator that is in decline. Eskelin will talk about current research into how rufous hummingbirds interact with native plants and what is needed to expand the hummingbirds’ range.

On May 13, Lisa Strecker, with UAF’s ethnobotany program, and Jessica Newton, of the Kenaitze Tribe, will talk about how people develop relationships with plants that tend to grow well in human-impacted habitats. They will focus on how people can interact with plants for holistic well-being through the lens of Alaska Native plant traditions and ethnobotany.

On May 20, Maddie D**g, with Pollinator Partnership, will review the two new ecoregional planting guides for Alaska. She will discuss how the guides were developed in collaboration with Alaska-based plant and pollinator experts. The guides provide targeted native plant recommendations that support pollinators throughout the growing season.

On May 27, Gino Graziano, Cooperative Extension invasive plants instructor, will explain how some wildflower seed mixes can carry varieties that can spread beyond where they were planted and, in some cases, become invasive. He will discuss which species to look out for and avoid in wildflower mixes.

For more information, contact Molly Johansson at [email protected] or 907-786-6313.

02/03/2026

We look forward to seeing you tonight in person or via Zoom at the Alaska Native Plant Society Monthly Meeting!

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Interested in learning about Alaska native plants in the Ranunculus subgenus, the folklore of mugwort (Artemisia) and the status of publicly-funded native plant nurseries in Alaska?

Join our February 2 meeting, via Zoom and in person at the Campbell Creek Science Center (5600 Science Center Dr, Anchorage, AK 99507).

Potluck: 6-6:45 pm
Meeting: 7-9 pm

At 7 pm, we will have a short business meeting followed by our speaker program:

+ Plant Families: Ranunculus, Sect. Ranunculus (Buttercup Family), presented by Glenn Brown
+ Mini-Botany: Mugwort (Artemisia), presented by Marianne Batchelder
+ Featured Presentation: An Update on Publicly Funded Native Plant Nurseries in Alaska, presented by Jeff Mason, Ann Erickson et al

The Zoom link is emailed to members. Non-members who want to join the meeting can join our "Meeting Link" group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/480059036764461 to obtain the meeting link.

If you would like to receive regular email announcements from the Alaska Native Plant Society and our Borealis newsletter, become a member! Learn more and sign up at https://aknps.org/membership.