Certificate in Native Plant Studies Program

Adult & Family Classes | Discovery Field Trips | Southern Institute of Photography | Children's Summer Camps

Birmingham Botanical Gardens is excited about our new Certificate in Native Plant Studies program. The curriculum combines core courses, electives, field trips and volunteer service, giving students a well-rounded educational experience revolving around native plants, conservation, and environmental education and service. Classes are held at The Gardens and at other locations in the Greater Birmingham area. Cooperating organizations include the Alabama Plant Conservation Alliance, Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve and Aldridge Botanical Gardens.

Core courses will be offered every other month, as will various electives. Students may begin their certificate with any course, but we suggest starting with Introduction to the Study of Native Plants to gain a basic understanding of the program’s scope. Certificates will be awarded to those who fulfill requirements within three years, but anyone is welcome to attend any of the courses.

Click here for a PDF of brochure.

Click here to view some of the past class offerings in the program.

Contact Kaul Wildflower Garden Curator John Manion at 205.414.3985 or jmanion@bbgardens.org for details.

Current Students: Volunteer Service Hours Form

Upcoming Classes, Field Trips and Volunteer Opportunities

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Understanding Botanical Names (elective)
Instructor: John Manion
Location: Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 |12:30 - 4:30 p.m.
$40 Members |$45 Non-Members

Most people, when faced with botanical names, quickly flee in the opposite direction. Because these names are in a foreign language, they can be intimidating and overwhelming to many, hence they are often avoided. Learn how fascinating, enlightening and humorous botanical names can be! You'll be surprised how much you can discern about a plant merely based on its botanical name. Botanical nomenclature topics to be discussed will be history, formatting, pronunciation, common prefixes and suffixes, recommended references, and much more.

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Red Mountain Park (Field Trip)

Trip Leaders: Eric McFerrin & John Manion

Location: Birmingham at Red Mountain Park

Friday, February 24, 2012 |9 - 1 p.m.
$20 Members |$25 Non-Members

An important work in progress, Red Mountain Park consists of 1,108 acres and though not yet open to the public, Eric McFerrin, park ranger, will guide us through some its most fascinating areas. The property abounds with interesting cultural artifacts that remain after the area's important role in Birmingham's iron industry. We will search for, and identify native plants species, as well as observe the process that occurs when industry leaves and both native and exotic plant species return.

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Urban Forestry and the Care of Native Trees (elective)

Instructor: Henry Hughes

Location: Birmingham Botainical Gardens

Saturday, February 25, 2012 |12:30 - 4:30 p.m.
$40 Members |$45 Non-Members

The built environment is woven into a patchwork of native trees, remnants of the original forest, which are not widely available in commerce. Smaller native urban forests may decline due to heightened exposure to environmental stresses. The most challenged forests are those composed of large, older, isolated trees, typical of our parks. This class will cover native species and tree selection to match planting and growing sites, seed propagation, planting and establishment methods, watering and fertilizing techniques, pruning and wound treatments, and the eventual decision to remove trees that have become hazardous. Best management practices for building near native trees and forests will be covered. The class will include approximately two hours class time and two hours field time.

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Barber Alabama Woods Workday (Volunteer Opportunity)

Leader: John Manion

Location: Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Wednesday, February 29, 2012 |9 - 1 p.m.
(Sign-Up Required)

This special volunteer workday will consist of a variety of tasks, and as with all our volunteer sessions, a significant educational component will be included. This will be an opportunity for CNPS participants to obtain firsthand exposure to many of the concepts they are learning in the series.

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Intro to Study of Native Plants (core)

Instructor: John Manion

Location: Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Saturday, March 10, 2012 |8:30 - 4:30 p.m.
$80 Members |$90 Non-Members

This full-day intensive introduction to the study of native plants will begin in the classroom and later move outside to The Gardens, where we will correlate much of what we have learned. A broad overview of several topics relevant to native plants, including terminology and definitions, why natives?, plant conservation, recommended references, and historical and contemporary uses, will be followed by plant identification, designing with natives, and how to grow them, as observed in the field.

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New Plant Discoveries in Alabama and the Southeast (elective)

Instructor: Alan Weakley

Location: Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Friday, March 16, 2012 |12:30 - 4:30 p.m.
$40 Members |$45 Non-Members

New species only to be found in remote jungles? Eastern North American flora well-known? Not hardly! We will explore the ongoing efforts by plant taxonomists to understand the diversity of Alabama and the Southern United States' flora. Alabama is a floristic hotspot, and we will examine why. Strap on your seatbelts for time-travel through half a billion years of geologic history, amino acid substitutions in plant DNA and how they add to the botanist's toolbox, the evolutionary ghosts of gomphotheres, questions about whether (and how fast) trilliums can walk, why plant names change, and predictions about the next new species to be discovered in Alabama.

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Intro to Plant Taxonomy/Classification

Instructor: Alan Weakley

Location: Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Saturday, March 17, 2012|8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
$80 Members |$90 Non-Members

Taxonomy involves the interlinked aspects of distinguishing entities (systematics), naming them (nomenclature), determining their relationships (phylogeny), describing them and their habitats (floristics and ecology), and developing keys (identification). This class will examine the history and evolution of modern botanical taxonomy. Participants will learn about the principles of classification, the use of scientific names, the taxonomic hierarchy, and the use of identification keys in plant identification, emphasizing examples from the rich flora of Alabama and the Southeastern United States.

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Native Lichens, Mosses and Liverworts (elective)
Instructor: Curtis Hansen
Location: Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Saturday, March 24, 2012 |8:30 - 12:30 p.m.
$40 Members |$45 Non-Members

Explore the fascinating world of native lichens, mosses and liverworts. This class will include an introduction to these small organisms, their forms, functions, uses and the roles they play in our world. Participants will learn basic identification skills to assist them in differentiating among these three groups. After an introductory lecture and hands-on time in the classroom, we will walk through The Gardens to observe and discuss these wonderfully enigmatic organisms.

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Native Spring Wildflowers (elective)
Instructor: John Manion
Location: Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 |8:30 - 12:30 p.m.
$40 Members |$45 Non-Members

One of the most exciting annual events in the southeast is the flowering of our native spring wildflowers, many of them ephemeral. This class will examine what makes a plant an ephemeral and some of the special characteristics they possess. The classroom portion will address numerous aspects of these special plants, as well as other spring blooming native plants, which will be followed by ample time in The Gardens to view and discuss them.

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Bibb County Glades (field trip)
Trip Leaders: Fred Spicer and John Manion
Location: Bibb County

Saturday, April 28, 2012 |8 - 5 p.m.
$40 Members |$45 Non-Members

Called "a botanical lost world," partly due to eight new species of plants having been discovered there, this unique relictual landscape contains a number of Alabama endemic plant species and others rare, unusual and particularly adapted to life in a limestone glade. This is a moderate walking trip on natural, uneven and rocky terrain.

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Spring ID of Native Woody Plants (elective)

Instructor: Fred Spicer
Location: Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 | 8:30 - 12:30 p.m.
$40 Members | $45 Non-Members

Using The Gardens' extensive living collections as a hands-on resource, we will focus on attributes and identification features of species found naturally or in cultivation in Alabama. Attendees will see, examine and learn to identify ~20 plants whose key traits are evident in spring. This is largely a walking class, held outdoors regardless of temperature; please dress sensibly for the weather.

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Solon Dixon Forestry Center (Field Trip and Volunteer Opportunity)

Leaders: John Manion & Curtis Hansen

Location: Near Andalusia, AL

Friday - Saturday, May 4 & 5, 2012
$50 Members|$55 Non-Members
Limit: 12 participants

This unique event has been planned with the flexibility of participants attending one or two days to earn volunteer service hours and/or field trip credit. On Friday afternoon, we will contribute four hours of volunteer work before having dinner, after which an evening program will be presented. The following morning, after breakfast - we will leave for a half-day field trip to explore the many diverse habitats of Solon Dixon's 5,300 acres, ranging from lakes and streams that appear turquoise in color and pitcher plant bogs, to cypress ponds, longleaf pine habitats and sand hills. Very comfortable rooms at the center cost $45-$50 for the night. The cost of meals is extra, but nominal.

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Native Plant Propagation - Part II (elective)
Instructor: Jan Midgley
Location: Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Saturday, May 12, 2012 | 8:30 - 12:30 p.m.
$40 Members | $45 Non-Members
Various types of treatments are required for some seeds to germinate; seeds of several species will be handled to learn these processes. Other topics will include: appropriate containers, media, light, temperature, as well as transplanting, diseases, insects and fertilizer. Vegetative propagation will be explained, including stem and rhizome cuttings, layering, division and bulb scaling. Proper documentation will be demonstrated and each participant will be able to take home samples of several species.

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Native Grasses and Grass-Like Plants (elective)
Instructor: Dan Spaulding
Location: Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Saturday, June 16, 2012 |12:30 - 4:30 p.m.
$40 Members | $45 Non-Members

Native grasses and grass-like plants dominate, yet their identification presents a challenge to beginner and experienced botanists alike. This workshop will introduce participants to the basics of grass identification and is appropriate for both beginners and those more advanced in their identification skills who want a refresher. The course will consist of hands-on experience with time spent in the classroom and in The Gardens. Participants will learn identification features of grasses and how to distinguish them from sedges and rushes.

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*Bring your own lunch.