Upcoming Events
Evening Programs
For further details or to view past programs click here: Programs page.
Monthly evening programs are offered on the third Friday of the month (September – April or May) at 7 p.m. Some programs will be hybrid and some via Zoom only – see below. In person meetings will be held at Harlan Hall, room 111. Gila Native Plant Society members will receive a Zoom link by email; any others interested may request a link from gilanative@gmail.com. All are welcome. Tune in soon to see our scheduled programs for the fall.
Field Trips
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.
Garden Work Parties
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.
Other Events
Give Grandly, Saturday, May 4, 2024
The Gila Native Plant Society is participating in Give Grandly 2024, the big annual fundraiser for local nonprofits – 65 organizations this year! The in-person event is coming up on May 4th – more about that below – but the online donation platform www.givegrandly.org is live right now through May 20th.
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 intend to allocate a significant portion of donations this year to implementing the Master Plan.
To donate online, go to www.givegrandly.org and search for Gila Native Plant Society. The website is open for donations from April 20 to May 20. If you wish your entire donation to go to the Garden, under “Choose your own amount,” select “Make this donation in honor of someone,” and type in “SCBG.”
If you prefer to donate by check, you can send it to Gila Native Plant Society, PO Box 457, Silver City, NM 88062. To ensure your entire donation goes to the Garden, simply write “SCBG” on the memo line.
Please come see us at our booth at the live event on Saturday, May 4th, 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., at Mainstreet Plaza off Bullard between 7th and 8th Streets. We will be back by the Big Ditch with activities for kids of all ages. We can take donations there, too, by cash or check. Come enjoy the big event!
Gila Wilderness Centennial, Late May through Early June, 2024
We’re joining the celebration of the one-hundredth anniversary of the Gila Wilderness by offering three field trips and a presentation. You can see 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
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.
Native Plant Sale, Saturday, August 17
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!
PAST EVENTS
August 5th, 2023, 8:30 to 11:30 am: Tour of the Silva Creek Botanical Garden – Master Plan Explained
July 29th – 30th, 2023: Booth and activities for children at the Hummingbird Festival at the Mimbres Cultural Heritage Site
May 6th, 2023, at Main Street Plaza: booth for the Give Grandly fundraiser – www.givegrandly.org
April 22nd, 2023,: Booth and activities for kids at the Gila Earth Day Celebration, Gough Park
2022
Saturday, September 24, 2022, 8am-12pm- Field Trip: Pollinators and Larval Host Plants of Signal Peak. Leader: GNPS President Don Graves, as part of the 18th Annual Gila River Festival. 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.
Saturday, September 10th, 2022, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. – Annual Native Plant Sale
We enjoyed another wonderful Annual Native Plant Sale at the parking lot on the corner of Pope and 12th Streets, across from Gough Park in Silver City. GNPS lined up six southwestern native plant vendors to sell their plants directly to the public.
Sun, August 21, 2022, 8am – 10am: Garden Work Party
Sat, July 30, 2022, 8am – 3pm: Booth at Mimbres Hummingbird Festival
The Gila Native Plant Society had a booth at the Mimbres Hummingbird Festival on July 30th and 31st. We sold books, answered questions, and promoted membership. In addition, we presented our Native Pollinators/Hos
Sunday, May 15, 2022, noon, Joint GNPS/Audubon Picnic at the Gomez Peak Picnic Pavilion – The Gila Native Plant Society and the Southwestern New Mexico Audubon Society held a joint picnic for their members.
Saturday, May 7, 2022, 9:00 am to 2:00 pm – GNPS participated again in Give Grandly 2022, the big annual fundraiser for local nonprofits sponsored by the Grant County Community Foundation.
Saturday, April 23, 2022, 10:00 am to 2:00 pm – Table at Gila Earth Day – The Gila Chapter had a table at the Gila Earth Day celebration in Gough Park, Silver City.
Thursday, January 13, 2022, 5:15 pm via Zoom — A Joint Birds and Brews: Local Pollinators and Native Plant Hosts
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.
To view the recorded presentation (not yet) click here.
To view the list of web resources from the presentation, click here.
To view the printed references for this presentation, click here.
Friday, November 19, 2021, 7:00 pm via Zoom – Post-fire Status of Allium gooddingii in New Mexico
Daniela Roth, New Mexico State Botanist, will discuss the status of Allium goddingii in New Mexico following the five large fires that have occurred in the Gila and Lincoln National Forests since 2006.
Friday, October 15, 2021, 6:00 pm via Zoom – Agave Restoration Projects for Bat Conservation
Join Bat Conservation International’s Dan Taylor for a program describing restoration efforts of Agave palmeri and Agave parryi in southwestern New Mexico to support nectivorous bat populations. This subject will attract flora and fauna lovers alike and therefore will be a joint program of the Gila Native Plant Society and the Southwestern New Mexico Audubon Society.
Saturday, October 16, 2021, 9:00 am – Field Trip to City of Rocks State Park – Led by William Norris
William (“Bill”) Norris, Professor of Biology at Western New Mexico University, led us in an exploration of the botany of this fascinating Chihuahuan Desert landscape. For more details, click here for the Field Trips page.
Saturday, September 18, 2021, 10 am to 2 pm — Native Plant Sale!
On September 18th we held our hugely successful native plant sale.
With over 150 customers and five vendors, our monsoon sale was a resounding success and reminded us that fall is a great time to plant.
The vendors left with empty trucks and our customers left with full trunks. Vendors have expressed interest in doing it again in 2022.
Saturday, September 11, 2021 – Field trip led by Russ Kleinman.
Russ Kleinman led us on a field trip in the Pinos Altos Range along hwy 15. We met at the Ben Lilly parking area, which is 3.5 miles from the Y where highway 15 and the road to Historic Pinos Altos part company, and spent about an hour covering plants that were very close by. After that, we made our way along highway 15 to the parking lot below Signal Peak, where we examined more plants near the parking area. The plant list for these areas is in the field trip checklist part of our website.
Saturday, July 31, 2021 – We gathered to remember the life of Richard Felger
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
Give Grandly! 2021 beats its own record
Despite the pandemic, the Give Grandly! Give Local! 2021 annual fundraiser beat its own record with the highest level of donations yet — $264,685 received in all for the 59 participating nonprofits!
And thanks to our generous supporters, the Gila Native Plant Society raised $3,160, more than in any other year we’ve taken part in Give Grandly!
To listen to the interview with GNPS president Don Graves, click here.
The Gila NPS participated in the 2020 Gila Earth Day event. Click on the image to view the Gila NPS video contributed for the event:
The Native Plant Society of New Mexico 2018 Annual Conference was hosted by the Gila chapter. Click *here* to view pictures and presentations from the event, including Jack Carter’s banquet speech.
Pollinator Mural
Next time you’re downtown, take a look at the wonderful Pollinator Mural on the corner of Texas and Broadway. GNPS participated with the Southwestern New Mexico Audubon Society, the Grant County Beekeepers and the Grant County Archaeological Society on a mural celebrating pollinators and native plants and addressing the issue of climate change. Aldo Leopold High School students produced the mural under the direction of art instructor Allison Phillips.