One of our New Year's Resolutions is to raise the profile of some of our most beloved native plants by featuring them all year in our outreach and propagation activities like merchandise and plants.

We'll kick off our new good habit with a stunning native of the Cajun Prairie famous for its medicinal properties (and featured as a plant of the month last year). The mamou plant (Erythrina herbacea), also known as coral bean, is sun-loving semi-woody shrub with leaves having three distinctive spade-shaped leaflets. But its flowers produced in the summer are the stunners: spikes of cardinal red flowers favored by hummingbirds and butterflies. Its showy scarlet seeds are used in traditional medicine and are easy to germinate if planted as soon as pods open. This is a great plant for large spaces but does have thorns, so plant it where no one is likely to rub up against it. It thrives in sandy fertile soil but is also persistent in flooded prairie soils. Remove the dead tops after the freeze and the foliage will return in spring from an underground tuberous root.

From Plants of Louisiana site: The Acadian French name for E. herbacea is "mamou," named for a town in the center of the Cajun prairie area. It is thought to be a corruption of mammoth, since mammoth fossils have been discovered in the area (Holmes 1990). It grows in sandy woods and prairie remnants of the coastal plain in Louisiana and Texas. The Indians of Texas and Louisiana, and later the children of white settlers, were said to use the red beans to make jewelry. A tea made from E. herbacea was used as a medicinal in Louisiana. However, the plant contains a powerful alkaloid that acts in a similar way to curare, affecting the motor nerves, and is quite dangerous. The seeds are used in Mexico to poison rats, dogs, and fish (Holmes 1990). Erythrina has many common names including "Devil in the bush" which is thought to come from the large recurved thorns which snag the clothes and flesh of passersby.

Dr. Brandon Ballengee is an Artist and Biologist living in the country near Cecilia with his wife Aurore, a Sustainable food Educator and their children Lily and Victor. Brandon's art has been exhibited internationally and locally at Lafayette's Acadiana Center for the Arts. Brandon was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2021 after completing a post-doctorate at LSU studying the impacts of the 2010 oil spill on fish species in the Gulf of Mexico. He is now an adjunct faculty member at Tulane.

Atelier de la Nature (French for Nature's Workshop), is a 25-acre nature reserve and outdoor education center located in the heart of Louisiana's Cajun country. The Atelier aims to inspire people to steward the nature in their own backyards and learn how, collectively, we can protect these natural gifts for future generations. Started in 2017, the Atelier de la Nature's programs use active learning methods that combine art with science and nature-based education as a means to inspire and do conservation. Since its start, Atelier de la Nature has held numerous festivals and programs, such as the Halloween Art and Nature Festival in the Fall, Prairie Planting Day, Fete de la Nature/Earth Day Festival in the Spring, several art and nature programs with local area schools, and more. ANPP provides educational tables at these events including native species for planting and for giveaways. Within the nature reserve, restorations have begun to re-establish a Cajun prairie, regrow a forest with the planting of over a thousand regionally native trees, and create a wetland habitat. The Ballengees are working on making the Atelier land a biological field station, exploring carbon sequestering projects and planning to make family friendly nature trails.

A new collaborative art exhibit is getting underway soon. The idea is to work with Baptisia (indigo) to "re-learn" lost knowledge through a series of programs. ANPP is growing Baptisia alba and B. sphaerocarpa (white and yellow indigo) plants from local seed for a prairie planting on Atelier land on March 5. ANPP's Dr. Phyllis Griffard will give a talk on the Cajun prairie. On Saturday August 19 and Sunday August 20, the Atelier will host a series of Indigo programs "Returning the lost Blue" where participants will make drawings, experiment with phytochemicals and much more. Separately, in addition to the planting and public programs, a molecular biologist will try to re-develop a lost histological staining technique that used Baptisia compounds from DNA sampled from the plants. A Native American artist will experiment with false indigo to dye the garments she makes using the techniques used by her ancestors. These results will be presented in an exhibit at the Mingei Museum in San Diego, California in 2024.

Thank you Brandon for you dedication to nature-based art and education!

Have you ventured over to the new improved greauxnative.org yet? We hope you'll find information easier to find and more inspiring. You'll find a calendar, store, and improved organization of How to Greaux Native. You can renew your membership, fill in the Louisiana Certified Habitat program application and sign up for our newsletter. And our regular newsletter columns are now saved in "The Dirt" blog. We are so grateful to member Kelly Guilbeau for making our website as amazing as our volunteers. --The Education and Outreach team: Heather Warner-Finley, Phyllis Griffard, Donna Gauthier, Kari Cretini and Dona Weifenbach

We are grateful to AOC Media for making the video recordings of the Cajun Prairie Workshop talks available online. And to Jillian Godshall and Rush Jagoe for recording them, and to LNPS for the grant to support the workshop. Watch the talks by Larry Allain, Malcolm Vidrine, Steve DeMaso, Lawrence Rozas, Dona Weifenbach, Robby Maxwell and Steve Nevitt any time at AOC's YouTube channel.

Monthly meeting is Wed Jan 18, 4:30-7:00 at the West Regional Library in Scott. We are celebrating Arbor Day by planting a few oak seedlings on the grounds of the library and giving away 50 seedlings grown and donated by Ed Wilhelm. At 5:30 we will continuing marveling at the power of trees with a presentation about Doug Tallamy's The Nature of Oaks.

Propagate or buy native plants at work days

• Arnaudville Propagation team meets every Tuesday this month, 9am-noon at the ANPP greenhouse, 1046 Main Highway. The week of freezing temperatures in December froze most of the herbaceous perennial foliage back to ground level. We did put some plants inside that still look full. The root systems of the plants we kept outside are probably strong, they are natives after all, but we are not updating the inventory for herbaceous perennials until late February. Meanwhile, we are planting seeds and divisions and keeping them in the greenhouse. The inventory for woody shrubs and trees is up to date and you may purchase those plants on our work days or send an email if you are planting woodies this winter.

• UL Ecology Center team meets Sundays 9am-noon beginning Jan 15. 703 Thoroughbred Drive in Lafayette, 2nd greenhouse. Many of the plants grown this year were used in the Moncus Park planting in December, so inventory is low. Once again, we are planting seeds and expecting to have lots of full cones in March and April.

• Plants are for sale at work days. Drop in for all or part. No experience necessary. Volunteers can qualify for free membership and share in surplus plant material.

The Vermilionville Rain Garden maintenance team meets on first and third Thursdays, 9am-noon in the parking lot near the Bayou Vermilion District's new building. Bring your favorite tools. -Gail Evans 979 877 4186

ANPP congratulates Oliver Garber for his family's gold level Lousiana Certified Habitat located in rural Acadia parish near Iota LA. Oliver documented over 100 species on the property but is confident there are more yet to be identified.

To our knowledge, 16-year old Oliver is the LCH's youngest awardee.

Their family's rice farm includes large tracts of gallery forest on Bayou Des Cannes (most of the species) and a few species found on prairie remnants, some with a high coefficient of conservatism. He and his family spend a lot of time outdoors and took an interest in birds. After being inspired by a talk given by Doug Tallamy, Oliver recognized the importance of native plants in supporting ecosystems and began learning more about the species native to their property. He set out last year to plant a 3/4 acre prairie. After tilling, he planted the site with a coastal prairie mix from Native American Seed and has been adding plants with local genetics from Dr. Charles Allen and Dr. Malcolm Vidrine's properties. He plans to burn his prairie this winter. He has also begun a smaller demonstration garden with paths. Oliver has already noticed the difference in plants that thrive closer to their lake compared to slightly upland.

Oliver has also potted small tree seedlings and is starting many prairie plants in seeds from seed.

Ready to get on the map? If you are in SW Louisiana or Acadiana, visit greauxnative.org to complete the application and pay the $45 fee ($36 for ANPP members). 25 native species for bronze, 50 for silver, 75 for gold. If you are not in Acadiana, visit lnps.org/louisiana-certified-habitat to link to the application for your parish. Together we are connecting habitats, one property at a time.

Local Services

• Bill Fontenot (337 852 5576) or is available for design consultation for projects big and small.

• Jackie Carlisi is now available for design and installation. Call (337 277 0027) for a consulation!

• Steve the Native Ninja can help you if you're interested in environmentally friendly landscaping, pollinator beds, pocket prairies, and butterfly gardens (337-278-9068, native_ninja2020@yahoo.com).

• Katie Kogler at Let It Bee Landscaping can help with habitat creation and maintenance in yards and small prairies around Baton Rouge and Prairieville. She works closely with local native seed and plant sources to incorporate into designs that work with you and the natural world. Call (225) 284-5167 to schedule a consultation for your property.

• Contact Steve Nevitt at nevittii@gmail.com or visit his website (www.LouisianaNativeSeed.com) to ask questions about establishment or management of prairies to request consultation or to inquire about custom seed mixes.

• Matthew Boutte is a licensed horticulturalist and native plant specialist offering landscape designs, natural, formal, maintenance, revamp, new installations. bouttelandscapes@gmail.com

• RouxGaroux Gardens, contact Ben Besson, 337-280-8157

• Benton Williams, Willow Grove Landscape, 985-646-9388; williams@willowgrovelandscape.com

• Dionne D'Mello Ddmello@NOCP.org

• Ground Up Landscaping Services, LLC, www.groundupnola.com, 504-327-7341

• Floweringsoulfully.com Janine Khoury. Habitat gardening specific, consultants and queries

More Native Plant sources

• L. J. Delcambre at Cajun Native Plants Nursery in Abbeville is specializing in native plants for sale by appointment. L. J. does offer some non-natives and will help you with your landscaping, butterfly garden, and pollinator bed designs. Call (337) 256-7152 to schedule.

• The Urban Naturalist (open 24/7, 216 Madison Street, Lafayette) for Gulf Coast penstemon (Penstemon tenuis), Tropical sage (Salvia coccinea), Indian blanket (Gaillardia pulchella), rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) and other natives.

• Baton Rouge: Clegg's Nursery and Hilltop Arboretum. Greenhand Nursery. Andeab and Mila Berhane are regular vendors at Red Stick Farmer’s Market. Mila: 225 278 1689. greenhand@cox.net, Greenhand Nursery on Facebook

• Almost Eden Plants online carry more native plant species than most traditional nurseries.

• Betty and L. J. Miley at Maypop Hill Nursery Norwood, Louisiana. Open by appointment only, visit maypophill.com.

• Lastrapes Nursery in Opelousas carries a variety of native trees including cypress, oaks, maples, and magnolias.

• Some other nurseries carry some popular natives. Ask for them! If you're finding native species in your local garden centers, let us know! If you or someone you know has local ecotypes of native plants available for sale, email Dona Weifenbach at marshgirl64@gmail.com to see if we have space for you at our next plant sale.

Learn more

• Greauxnative.org is a treasury of good information, as is Wild Ones, Audubon's Plants for Birds, http://www.bonap.org/, Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, the Louisiana Native Plant Society and https://warcapps.usgs.gov/PlantID/.

• Want to learn to ID plants? Get on Dr. Charles Allen's email list and class schedule by emailing native@camtel.net or visit https://www.allenacresbandb.com/.

• Betty Miley has produced Putting Nature First on your Southern Land, a free online book.

• We also recommend Bill Fontenot's Native Gardening in the South (for sale at our greenhouse, at every meeting or email us at mail@greauxnative.org, or order from Bill directly, 337 852 5576)

• We recommend Douglas Tallamy's Bringing Nature Home, Nature's Best Hope and The Nature of Oaks for your library.

About ANPP

Officers

• President: Phyllis Baudoin Griffard, through June 2023

• Vice-President: Heather Warner-Finley, through June 2023

• Past President: Dona Weifenbach, through June 2023

• Secretary: Donna Gauthier, through June 2024

• Treasurer: Paul Klerks, through June 2024

Governing Board

• Joni Hammons, 1st term through June 2023

• Gail Evans, 2nd term through June 2023

• Margaret Vincent, 3rd term through June 2023

• Rebecca Moss, 2nd term through June 2023

• Carol Antosiak, 2nd term through June 2023

• Karen Terrell, 2nd term through June 2023

• Erik Johnson, 2nd term through June 2023

• Katy Richard, 2nd term through June 2023

Join ANPP. Get benefits. Feel good. You're already on our email list, so that is the first step. We appreciate your staying connected, whether it's by your energy, your skills, your connections or just cheering from the sidelines. When you're ready, and become a member ($25/$10 for students). Members get 20% discount on all plants, workshops, Louisiana Certified Habitat fees and all ANPP merch. Already a member? Membership renewal notices will be sent by email from the ANPP Treasurer during the month of your membership anniversary. Heavy volunteerism qualifies you for free membership. Details here.

Thanks to you, we are CONNECTING HABITATS, ONE GARDEN AT A TIME.

Acadiana Native Plant Project Greaux Native is a tax-exempt organization under Internal Revenue Service 501(c)(3); our EIN is 81-3608978. Donors can deduct contributions made to ANPP under IRS Section 170. Our bylaws are available upon request. We are a member of the Louisiana Native Plant Society and Wild Ones.