Augusta's River Region Chapter GNPS

06/03/2026

It's time for the annual Phinizy Swamp photo competition, and there is a youth division!

Big creativity comes in all ages 📸 If you’re under 18, we’ve got a Youth Category just for you—your perspective deserves to be seen. Registration is now open for the competition until JULY 10th for all categories!

Make sure to send in your best shot in JPEG format! Send in your entries with the FirstName.LastName.PhotoTitle as the name to [email protected]
and let us know what category you are placing it under.
For more information: https://phinizycenter.org/photo-competition/

06/03/2026

05/31/2026

Spreads all over the place WITHOUT seed!

INVASIVE SPOTLIGHT: Orange Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva)

Orange daylily is a non-native perennial originally from Asia that has been widely planted in the United States for generations. Many people recognize it as a nostalgic roadside flower, but in Alabama it can spread aggressively and form dense colonies that displace native plants.

❓How did it get here?
Orange daylily was introduced as an ornamental garden plant and quickly became popular because it is hardy, drought-tolerant, and difficult to kill. Over time it escaped cultivation through dumped yard waste, roadside plantings, and spreading root systems.

❗Why is it a problem?
Unlike many ornamentals that spread mainly by seed, Hemerocallis fulva spreads aggressively by underground tubers and rhizomes. It can:
~ Form thick monocultures that crowd out native wildflowers
~ Spread along roadsides, ditches, streambanks, and disturbed soils
~ Persist for decades once established
~ Reduce biodiversity by replacing diverse native plant communities with a single dominant species

It may look harmless, but those dense patches often mean very little else can grow there.

❓Where it spreads
Orange daylily thrives in disturbed habitats like roadsides, old home sites, woodland edges, fields, and stream corridors. It is commonly seen across Alabama and much of the Southeast.

💚Better native alternatives (Southeast / Alabama)
If you love bold orange and summer blooms, try native plants like:
~ Butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
~ Turk’s cap lily (Lilium superbum)
~ Wood lily (Lilium philadelphicum) (where locally appropriate)

We have absolutely BEAUTIFUL native lilies in Alabama that outshine this plant in my opinion anyway… and I’ll be covering them in native plant highlights over the next few weeks!

05/31/2026

Job op!

🌿🛶 Love science and the outdoors? Phinizy Center is hiring a part-time Research Assistant!

Help monitor water quality, assist with field and lab research, and explore freshwater ecosystems — sometimes by boat! Perfect for students or early-career professionals in biology, ecology, or environmental science looking for hands-on experience and a job where no two days are the same.

📍 Part-time (less than 24 hrs/week)
📅 Apply by August 15, 2026

Send your resume, cover letter, and references to [email protected]

05/30/2026

Be aware, Virginia and Ohio spiderworts are frequently confused even in nurseries, and as both (and hairy spiderwort) are present locally they frequently hybridize, confusing matters even more!

05/26/2026

After all this rain, be on the lookout for interesting slime molds, fungi, etc.

With our recent warm and wet weather, you might notice small clumps of gelatinous or velvety white material on rotting wood. If you could shrink down to the size of an ant and walk around it, you would see dozens of 2-3 mm tall honeycomb-patterned domes. So what is it? Coral Slime Mold! More specifically, it’s the porioides member of the Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa species complex, which some protozoologists recently elevated to their own unique species - Ceratiomyxa porioides.

Ummm…OK…we’re on the fast lane to Nerdville here and you might have some questions, such as what’s a Coral Slime Mold? That’s not easy to answer. Over the long history of science, slime molds have been classified as fungi, as animals, and as plants! But today, Coral Slime Mold is in none of those kingdoms of life. Rather, it’s a member of the supergroup Amoebozoa. This means that Coral Slime Mold is more closely related to the Amoeba you looked at under the microscope in high school Biology class than it is to any fungus, animal, or plant!

Confused yet? Lucky for you, there’s not a quiz and you can just enjoy the cool microscopic world of Coral Slime Mold covering wet, rotting wood on days like today! 😄

05/26/2026

Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) is one of the more frequently propagated native milkweeds and can often be found for sale if milkweeds are being sold. Native presence in Georgia is fairly scattered but this one probably found throughout the state in terms of garden usage. Although very tolerant of wet conditions, this species is fine in average moisture conditions. Here a milkweed bug explores the flowers of swamp milkweed in a rain garden.

Also called red milkweed, the petals of the flowers can be a darker pink than the hoods, making for a very beautiful effect. The leaves are slender and willow-like but they still have the milky sap. Some people say that swamp milkweed has a very nice fragrance. This species can reach over 5 feet tall, so be sure to give it the space it needs in the garden.

05/25/2026

Lots of this at Reed Creek Park!

Native Vine Spotlight:
Apios americana (Groundnut)

Apios americana, commonly known as Groundnut, is a native perennial vine found in moist woods, stream banks, and wetland edges throughout the eastern United States, including Alabama. This vigorous climber is known for its clusters of fragrant, pea-like flowers in shades of pink to maroon, blooming in late summer. Beneath the surface, it produces edible tubers that have been historically important as a food source.

🌿Ecological Value & Wildlife Associations:
~Host plant for the Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) and other butterfly species.
~Flowers attract a range of pollinators, including native bees and butterflies.
~Tubers are an important food source for small mammals.

🌿Landscape Value:
~Excellent for naturalizing in wetland gardens, rain gardens, and along streams or ponds.
~Provides a lush, vining canopy that can quickly cover trellises, fences, and arbors.
~Attractive, fragrant flowers add late-season color to native plantings.

💚Historical & Cultural Uses:
Groundnut tubers were a staple food for many Native American tribes and were also consumed by European settlers. The starchy tubers are high in protein and can be prepared similarly to potatoes. Apios americana was even cultivated as a potential food crop in the 19th century due to its nutritional value.

💚Gardening & Conservation Notes:
~Prefers moist, well-drained soils in full sun to partial shade.
~Can spread aggressively in ideal conditions; plant where it has room to roam or use barriers.
~Tolerant of wet conditions, making it a good choice for rain gardens.
~Tubers can be harvested sustainably by leaving some in the ground for regeneration.

A remarkable native with both ecological and historical significance, Apios americana is perfect for gardeners seeking to celebrate the richness of native food plants while supporting local wildlife.

05/25/2026

And while we're on a caveat emptor kick, note that some passionflower cultivars that look like our native Maypop, aren't. Google before you buy!

Often, people are sold a nonnative cultivar ('Incense') as the native Maypop/ Passiflora incarnata. But once you learn and see the difference, you will never be duped again.

"But Anthony, the butterflies don't care! I get a ton of larvae on my nonnative 'Incense'."

True, the plant does not kill all the larvae and it seems on the surface to support caterpillars. But this unnatural hybrid (Passiflora incarnata x Passiflora cincinati) has one parent that very much is toxic to some of our butterflies... and my response is always: you should demand proof of equivalency and safety BEFORE experimenting on the native life forms, not after introducing them (see Florida Friendly designated plants for such an irresponsible, capitalist driven program doing exactly what I described).

Plant natives. 100% Tested, tried and proven safe for native wildlife.

And tired of me ripping on Florida Friendly? Too bad. My first fake native love affair was to Passiflora incarnata. But I was duped into this one myself, so this issue feels a bit personal. All those years I was directed into helping nature less by greenwashing campaigns! Can you tell i'm still mad about it? I definitely did not realize how bad Florida Friendly branding was at duping the public away from spending money on natives until I got a job in the industry. And im daily the bad news bear who has to break it to the People. I see the sadness, the anger that they were misled... and i project it here, publicly, at the source!

Heck, I just watched a bee expert do a presentation a few days ago... I am not saying any names (and i very much appreciated everything else about the presentation), and in the same presentation heard this expert talk about how native bees need pollen from native plants to survive, but then add the IFAS company line that they can still benefit some from Florida Friendly plant nectar. The bu****it runs soooo deep! I can still benefit from sugar water too. But nectar is more than just sugar water. Native nectar plays a role in shaping insect health too. Amino acids, antioxidants and phytonutrients exist in nectar in trace amounts. We know from research, for instance, that the chemicals in the nectar of Tropical Milkweed/ Asclepias curassavica can pull Monarchs out of diapause, a necessary reproductive pause to conserve energy for migration. So it seems plausible that native wildflowers provide those essential nutrients.... so why are we wasting space on anything "Florida Friendly" that is never a keystone species if nonnative?