Abbreviation | AZNPS |
---|---|
Formation | 1977 |
Type | Nonprofit |
86-0322366 | |
Purpose | Ecological / native plant preservation |
Headquarters | Tucson, Arizona |
Region | Arizona |
President | Doug Ripley |
Website | https://aznps.com/ |
The Arizona Native Plant Society (AZNPS) is based in Tuscan, Arizona, USA; it works to promote knowledge, appreciation, conservation and restoration of Arizona native plants and their habitats, as well as the use of native plants in urban landscapes and gardens. [1]
Currently, the Society has eleven chapters, based in Cochise County, Peach Springs, Flagstaff, Phoenix, Prescott, Santa Cruz County, Tucson, Upper Gila, White Mountains, Upper Gila and Yuma. In 2023 the society had 650 members. [2] Happenings, a newsletter about chapter activities, comes out quarterly.
AZNPS began in 1977, when nursery owners, landscapers, and professionals created the non-profit society dedicated to educating Arizonans about the state's native plants, as well as other xeric landscape plants, including many new horticultural imports. Early on, AZNPS published a series of eight landscaping booklets designed to educate the public about the use of native and xeric plants in desert landscapes.
About the year 2000, AZNPS began to promote the total use of native plants in the landscape, as native plants are best adapted to local habitats and soils, use the least amount of water, and are easier to maintain and keep disease-free than are imported plants. They also provide an extension of native habitat into the urban area as a "corridor" for native pollinators and other wildlife.
In 2024, the director was Doug Ripley. [3] The society offers events where the public can get involved in nurturing natural plants in their area. [4]
The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is a 98-acre zoo, aquarium, botanical garden, natural history museum, publisher, and art gallery founded in 1952. Located just west of Tucson, Arizona, it features two miles (3.2 km) of walking paths traversing 21 acres of desert landscape. It is one of the most visited attractions in Southern Arizona.
A road verge is a strip of groundcover consisting of grass or garden plants, and sometimes also shrubs and trees, located between a roadway and a sidewalk. Verges are known by dozens of other names such as grass strip, nature strip, curb strip, or park strip, the usage of which is often quite regional.
A wildlife garden is an environment created with the purpose to serve as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibians, reptiles, insects, mammals and so on, and are meant to sustain locally native flora and fauna. Other names this type of gardening goes by can vary, prominent ones being habitat, ecology, and conservation gardening.
Urban ecology is the scientific study of the relation of living organisms with each other and their surroundings in an urban environment. An urban environment refers to environments dominated by high-density residential and commercial buildings, paved surfaces, and other urban-related factors that create a unique landscape. The goal of urban ecology is to achieve a balance between human culture and the natural environment.
The Sonoran Desert is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States. It is the hottest desert in Mexico. It has an area of 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 sq mi).
The Florida Botanical Gardens (FBG) is a 182-acre (74 ha) botanical garden located in Largo, Florida. The park showcases flora, fauna, and natural resources in motivational surroundings that promote environmentally friendly techniques.
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, formerly the Living Desert Museum, is a non-profit zoo and desert botanical garden located in Palm Desert, Riverside County, California, United States. The Living Desert is home to over 500 animals representing over 150 species and welcomes over 500,000 visitors annually. Situated in the Sonoran Desert of the Coachella Valley and Santa Rosa Mountains foothills near Palm Springs, California, The Living Desert is set on 1,200 acres, with 80 developed as zoo and gardens.
The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is a California environmental non-profit organization that seeks to increase understanding of California's native flora and to preserve it for future generations. The mission of CNPS is to conserve California native plants and their natural habitats, and increase understanding, appreciation, and horticultural use of native plants throughout the entire state and the California Floristic Province.
The Backyard Wildlife Habitat is a program of the National Wildlife Federation that encourages homeowners in the United States to manage their gardens and yards as a wildlife garden, with the goal of maintaining healthy and diverse animal habitats and ecosystems. The program began in 1973. By 1998, it had impacted more than 21,000 yards and, as of 2006, has certified over 60,000 'backyards'.
American Forests is a 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization, established in 1875, and dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy forest ecosystems. The current headquarters are in Washington, D.C.
Natural landscaping, also called native gardening, is the use of native plants including trees, shrubs, groundcover, and grasses which are local to the geographic area of the garden.
The Native Plant Society of Texas is a Texas not-for-profit conservation organization that promotes the "conservation, research and utilization of the native plants and plant habitats of Texas through education, outreach and example".
Xeriscaping is the process of landscaping, or gardening, that reduces or eliminates the need for irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water and has gained acceptance in other regions as access to irrigation water has become limited, though it is not limited to such climates. Xeriscaping may be an alternative to various types of traditional gardening.
Kanaka Creek Regional Park is a regional park of the Greater Vancouver Regional District, located in the city of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, flanking both sides of Kanaka Creek from its confluence with the Fraser River just east of Haney and extending approximately 11 km up the creek to just south of the community of Webster's Corners. The Maple Ridge Fairgrounds are just east of the lower regions of the park, beyond them is the community of Albion. Derby Reach Regional Park is just across the Fraser in Langley.
Physaria filiformis is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Missouri bladderpod and limestone glade bladderpod. It is native to Missouri and Arkansas in the United States. It was federally listed as an endangered species in 1987 and it was downlisted to threatened status in 2003. P. filiformis remains listed as an endangered species at the state level in Missouri.
Queen Elizabeth II Botanic Park is a non-profit outdoor garden and wildlife facility located in the North Side District of Grand Cayman Island in the British West Indies. The park is owned jointly by the Cayman Islands Government and the National Trust for the Cayman Islands, a group dedicated to preserving natural environments and places of historic significance in the Cayman Islands. Opened in 1994 with only the Woodland Trail completed, the park now also contains the Floral Colour Garden, a Cayman Heritage Garden, a lake, an orchid boardwalk exhibit, and a Blue Iguana Habitat. Also inside the park is a gift shop and a visitor's interpretive center, the starting point from which visitors can enter the Woodland Trail and other garden grounds.
The American Conifer Society was founded in 1983 to help educate the public about conifers, which are cone-bearing plants. The Society is governed by a board of directors with representation from each of the Society's four regions. The Society publishes the ConiferQuarterly in both digital and hard copy versions and maintains a public website which hosts an extensive conifer database as well as copious articles about identifying, growing and designing with conifers. In addition, the Society holds annual events, including small, informal gatherings and a national meeting, which is rotated among the four regions.
Ciénega Creek is an intermittent stream located in the Basin and Range region of southern Arizona, and is one of the most intact riparian corridors left in the state. It originates in the Canelo Hills and continues northwest about 50 miles (80 km) to an area just outside Tucson, where it becomes known as Pantano Wash. Pantano Wash continues through Tucson and eventually connects with the Rillito River.
Rose Eudora Collom was an American botanist and plant collector. She was the first paid botanist of the Grand Canyon National Park. She discovered several plant species, some of which were named in her honor, and collected numerous plant specimens.
Oncosiphon pilulifer, also known as globe chamomile and stinknet, is a flowering plant in the daisy family (Asteraceae) native to South Africa and Lesotho. It is considered invasive in some parts of North America.