Pre-order Native Trees & Shrubs!
We’re kicking off the 2022 native plant season at our nursery with a native tree and shrub pre-order that will get your garden established with some of the south’s most important hardwood plants. You can reserve your trees and shrubs online now through the end of March.
Patriot the Red Wolf
It is with great sadness that we announce Patriot, Canis rufus, passed away at Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center on March 1, 2022, at the age of 13 years, 10 months, after a brief challenge with cancer.
Red Wolves with Ties to Reflection Riding Released into the Wild
Recently, nine adult red wolves from human care were placed in acclimation pens in North Carolina, in preparation for release into the wild.
The Best Outdoor Camp in Chattanooga
What does a typical day at the Best Outdoor Camp in Chattanooga look like? That’s impossible to say, because there really is no typical day! Summer camp at Reflection Riding is an ever-changing, immersive, hands-on experience your kids will never forget.
Reflections from a Native Landscape Apprentice
This semester, Reflection Riding is hosting four fantastic Native Landscape Apprentices: Drake, Henry, Mayson, and Madison. They have become an important part of our team, battling invasive plant species across our campus and restoring this beautiful landscape. Here, Mayson writes about their experiences doing this work, along with their fearless leader, Byron Brooks - our Invasive Species Specialist. Special thanks to the Benwood Foundation for making this project possible.
Oli Kai’s Incredible Flight Home
Our American Crow, Oli Kai, has quite a story to tell. He was born in Santa Barbara, California, in 2016. In his first year of life, he was found on the ground, struggling to fly, with limited eyesight and one of his wings damaged. Our director of wildlife conservation, Tish, connected with Oli Kai through a mutual friend, who was trying to find the crow a permanent home. Tish’s immediate thought was, how are we going to get a crow from Santa Barbara to Chattanooga… for free? Find out how Oli Kai came home to Chattanooga!
Returning Native
Native plants in the yard can offer significant respite from many of the woes of lawn maintenance and ornamental gardening, propping up and supporting native biodiversity, while also saving you time and resources. An action as simple as converting your lawn and gardens to a thriving ecosystem can be one of the most impactful and important initiatives each of us can do for the environment.
Red Wolf Survival Plan Updates
The US Fish and Wildlife Service Red Wolf team and Red Wolf management team meet quarterly to exchange information. Our most recent meeting brought some sad and exciting updates.
Using Prescribed Fire as a Restoration Tool
The reintroduction of fire to the landscape can be an effective tool for vital habitat restoration, especially for grasslands, which are some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems. Read on to learn more about our most recent prescribed burn.
Red Wolf Breeding
Reflection Riding is a breeding and exhibit facility for red wolves and has been since its membership in the Red Wolf Species Survival Plan (RWSSP) began in 1996. We’ve had litters in 2007, 2011, 2016, 2020 and 2021.
Groundhogs
Did you know that groundhogs are the largest member of the squirrel family? Did you know they live across most of North America and are common in the northeastern and central United States? These cute little critters are also known as woodchucks (though they don’t chuck wood) and land beavers (though they aren’t beavers at all).
Donations in Memory of a Loved One
Recently, the family of Louise Russell, one of our dedicated volunteers, asked their circle of friends to send donations to Reflection Riding, in lieu of flowers, to memorialize Mrs. Russell. This extraordinary generosity in a very difficult time really moves us. Over the years, many of our long-time supporters have made this choice to build support for our work as part of their legacy. Her fellow volunteers, and the whole Reflection Riding team, honor her memory.
The Evercidious: Understanding Marcescence
Whatever the reason might be for the emergence and retention of this quirky plant habit known as marcescence, it still stands as one of the most intriguing and fantastic botanical bounties to be found on a walk through the woods on a cold January day.
Sandhill Cranes
Aldo Leopold, the father of modern day wildlife management, wrote about the Sandhill Cranes, saying “When we hear his call, we hear no mere bird. We hear the trumpet in the orchestra of evolution.” The fossils of a bird with identical structure to the Sandhill Crane has been carbon dated to have lived 10 million years ago, making the Sandhill Crane the longest surviving bird on the planet.
Cardamine, a Wonderful Winter Groundcover
In the midst of winter, when many herbaceous plants have gone dormant, there is one, Cardamine diphylla, that remains to enliven the muted colors of the forest floor (or garden) with its emerald green foliage. The foliage of this woodland treasure appears in mid-to-late fall, remains as a lovely groundcover throughout the winter, and then, in spring, stalks of small, white-flushed-with-pink, bell-shaped emerge.
Trees: The Best Ecological Bang for Your Buck
There are many things you can do to be a good steward to the environment, but planting a native tree is decisively the “best ecological bang for your buck.” Because of a tree’s sheer size and long lifespan, a tree is a prime ecological investment when we discuss restoration and rewilding efforts. As a tree ages and matures, the ecosystem services it provides will only continue to expand alongside it.
Historic Conservation Easement Complete
Reflection Riding Arboretum and Nature Center has completed the process of permanently preserving its 300+ acres of idyllic green space in the heart of Chattanooga. Reflection Riding partnered with the American Battlefield Trust and the City of Chattanooga to further protect their scenic land forever through a historic conservation easement. With partners like Reflection Riding, the Trust has worked to protect more than 53,000 acres across 24 states. This work adds an important tract of “The Battle Above the Clouds” to conserved, historic landscapes across the greater Chattanooga region.
Eastern Red Cedar
Eastern Red Cedar is a confusing name for this species, since it’s a juniper, not a cedar. Juniperus virginiana is native to the eastern half of the United States and southeastern Canada. Many of us have seen this tree around our neighborhoods or along roadsides but may not have paid much attention to it. However, it’s a valuable member of our flora.
Carolina Rose
Carolina Rose – Rosa Carolina – is a member of the Rose (Rosaceae) family and is a perennial, deciduous, shade-loving flowering shrub that has many 2-3-inch flowers from June through August. Of course, if given full sun, it will produce a myriad of large, pink blossoms. It is native to the eastern and central United States and grows to a height of 3 to 6 feet tall and a diameter of 5 to 10 feet.
Coral Bells, American Alumroot
Coral Bells – Heuchera americana – A gardener’s workhorse and a centuries-old classic, the Alumroot/Coral Bells are a native genus of wonderfully attractive, clump-forming, herbaceous perennials in the highly diverse Saxifrage family - Saxifragaceae. Generally hardy from USDA zones 4 through 9, some species are adaptable in zones 3 through 11; alumroot/ coral bells are as reliable as they come in the plant world.