Georgia Native Plant Society

Our advocacy webpage has resources to help you spread the word - an info sheet, a FAQ, and “How to” instructions for contacting your legislators. Check it out now: https://gnps.org/conservation/advocacy/

We are excited that Senate Bill 240 is making its way to the senate floor next week. This is the time to contact your state senator and ask for their support of a native state flower! #nativeplants #Georgia

Yes, these flowers seem to be a little earlier than usual but the early bees are working overtime to get them pollinated. Native bees are super pollinators of blueberries, with some species using buzz pollination to get the job done. We even have a specialist bee – the southeastern blueberry bee.

This is Elliott’s blueberry (Vaccinium elliottii), which is perhaps the earliest of all the blueberries. Georgia has 16 native species of this superfruit. The blueberries you buy in the store are from native stock which has been bred to have larger, sweeter fruit. (1/2) #nativeplants

For "How to Contact Your Legislator" see this helpful resource: https://gnps.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026-State-Flower-How-To-02.27.28.pdf

ACTION ALERT: Call your Georgia State Senator today! Senate Bill 240 that proposes the state flower be changed to the native Sweetbay Magnolia and designates April as Native Plant Month will be voted on by the state senate this Tuesday. #nativeplants

While some red maples (Acer rubrum) are still blooming, others are making seeds. The bright red color makes it seem like it is still blooming when viewed from a distance. Maple seeds are eaten by birds and small mammals so it’s a great wildlife tree, and grows in a variety of soils. #nativeplants

The common name comes from the reddish juice that flow from cut rhizomes. Even after the flowers are done, this plant makes a handsome groundcover for several months in good moisture conditions.

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) is blooming! This perennial wildflower is native throughout Georgia and the eastern half of the US, as far north as Canada and south to Texas and Florida. It is a welcome early flower to humans and bees who gather pollen from it. (1/2) #nativeplants

Sharp-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) is also blooming in the mountains now. A trip to the Pocket at Pigeon Mountain (Walker County) found them in bloom, most in white but with a few purple ones here and there. A small native bee was already working the flowers. #nativeplants

Round-lobed hepatica (Hepatica americana) is one of our early blooming native wildflowers. The soft purple flowers are accompanied by the previous year’s lobed leaves which will be replaced in by new leaves in a few weeks. Native range is the upper half of the state. #nativeplants

Other common names include fawn lily and dog-tooth violet.

Trout lilies (Erythronium umbilicatum) are blooming in south Georgia and leaves are breaking ground in north Georgia. These petite members of the lily family are spring ephemerals with bright yellow petals and purple anthers. The speckled leaves do resemble trout. #nativeplants

Georgia Native Plant Society Shop | Official Merchandise | Bonfire Championing the stewardship and conservation of Georgia’s native plants and their habitats since 1994.

2026 Plant of the Year merch drop! We are so excited to share the artwork for the 2026 Plant of the Year, Pawpaw, created by Laura Qadri of the Intown Atlanta Chapter of GNPS. A variety of shirt styles and even the classic coffee mug are available now in our online store: vist.ly/4sh5t

This photo is courtesy of Francis Michael Stiteler in Conyers, GA.

Hairstreak butterflies are fairly small so they might not be noticed as much as the bigger ones. The Juniper hairstreak uses small flowers for nectar (shown here on a tiny native sedum) and lays its eggs on juniper, including our native Eastern redcedar (which is a juniper). #nativeplants

The American snout butterfly is quite distinctive, isn’t it? It lays its eggs on native trees in the Celtis genus: hackberry and sugarberry. Adult butterflies do nectar on flowers and occasionally sip minerals in the dirt or on people (sweat). #nativeplants

This photo is from Alabama Butterfly Atlas: https://alabama.butterflyatlas.usf.edu/species/details/17/hackberry-emperor

The Hackberry emperor butterfly is named for its host plant, hackberry (also called sugarberry, Celtis species, of which there are 3 in GA). This native tree makes small, hard fruits that birds love. The adult butterfly likes sap, rotten fruit, poop, soil, and even sweaty clothing. #nativeplants

The Red Admiral butterfly's host plants are not normally plant in a garden: females lay eggs on stinging nettles, non-stinging wood nettles, and false nettle. The adult nectars on some flowers but also takes nourishment from sap flows on trees, old fruit, and even bird droppings! #nativeplants

Only 3 days until the Annual Symposium! Get your tickets before Saturday and don't miss this exceptional lineup of speakers. This is a VIRTUAL program and will be recorded and sent to ticketholders, so register even if you can't make it. Full program, speaker bios and tickets at: vist.ly/4s458

The Painted lady butterfly's host plants include native thistles and members of the mallow family. This butterfly had a good year in 2017 - migrating groups of the painted lady butterflies were so heavy in areas of Colorado that year that they showed up on radar. #nativeplants

GNPS has resources to help you on our advocacy webpage, https://gnps.org/conservation/advocacy/, including a "How-To" contact your representatives, a campaign info sheet and a FAQ.

It's time to act, y'all! Contact your state representative and senator to voice your support for Georgia House Bill 955 that will not only change the state flower to a native species, but permanently designate April as Native Plant Month!

Weed Wrangle: The fight against Georgia's invasive species Volunteers are working this President's Day to save Atlanta's parks one pull at a time by weeding invasive species. Mary Scott Nature Park is one problem area in particular, and this group has been working there for about a decade.

Several of our chapters participated in Weed Wrangle Georgia over the weekend, a collective effort to remove invasive, exotic plants. At Mary Scott Nature Park in Atlanta, a GNPS restoration site, volunteers were visited by Chris Rosenthal of Fox 5 Atlanta: vist.ly/4rw2v
#weedwrangle

Thank you to Cottage Garden Natives for becoming a Symposium Sponsor! If you are in the Georgia Piedmont, check out their selections at vist.ly/4rr7n

Interested in sponsoring the 2026 Annual Symposium? Check out our Symposium webpage. vist.ly/4pynx.

Caterpillars are bird-dropping mimics – they look like a slimey gob of poop.

It likes sap, rotten fruit, carrion, minerals on the ground, and even dung! But it does need your native plants for its eggs. The female lays eggs on black cherry and native plums (Prunus), hawthorns (Crataegus), oaks (Quercus) and serviceberry (Amelanchier) among others.

The red-spotted purple butterfly is one of several large dark blue butterflies. While it is similar to dark swallowtails, you’ll notice that it has no “tails.” This butterfly is unusual in that it rarely eats flower nectar as an adult – you won’t see it visiting flowers much... (1/3) #nativeplants

Thank you to Williams Design for becoming a Symposium Sponsor! Contact Christine Williams for your garden design needs in the metro Atlanta area.

Interested in sponsoring the 2026 Annual Symposium? Check out our Symposium webpage. vist.ly/4pynx.