We host events periodically throughout the year. Our events are announced at least 2 weeks in advance to our email list subscribers, and posted here on our Chapter webpage. To join our email list, please contact aznpsphoenix@gmail.com.
Our activities are open to Chapter members as well as the general public, unless stated otherwise. If you’re interested in becoming a Chapter member, please view the Membership page. Yearly membership is just $30 for individuals, $15 for students, and $35 for families.
September Chapter Meeting – Sunday, September 17th at 2:00 PM
Botanical Gardens and Arboretums
We’ll begin the virtual meeting with 10-15 minutes of networking and socializing, enabling participants to seek tips and recommendations from members on topics related to native plants.
Next, we’ll share AZNPS announcements and a brief demonstration of useful tools on our website.
Then, we’ll have a group discussion about Botanical Gardens and Arboretums. This is the topic of Plant Press Arizona‘s Summer 2023 edition. We encourage you to read this prior to our meeting.Plant Press Arizona is available for free on our website.
To attend the meeting, register via Zoom. All Arizona Native Plant Society members and friends are welcome to attend!
Additional Events
View the AZNPS Events Calendar to learn about upcoming events hosted by other Chapters throughout the state. Also, recordings of many presentations are available to watch on the AZNPS YouTube page.
Join our virtual community!
To stay up to date on our meetings and other activities, please join our email list.
Follow the AZNPS Phoenix Chapter’s Facebook page for more information about local native plants news, research, and events!
We also invite you to follow our Chapter on Instagram and use the hashtag #aznativeplants to help us raise awareness of Arizona’s amazing native plants!
Seeking native plants to use in landscaping?
Native Landscaping Plants
If you would like to learn which plants are native to our area, we invite you to view our Chapter’s List of Recommended Native Landscaping Plants (draft version). It highlights plants that are: 1) native to the Phoenix metro area, 2) beneficial to wildlife, 3) low-water-use, 4) relatively easy to care for, and 5) generally available at local nurseries or seed suppliers.
We’ve compiled a list of metro Phoenix nurseries that generally offer a selection of native plants. Some have more variety than others, and inventory changes frequently or may be seasonal. So, it is best to inquire with a few nurseries by phone or email to determine which one suits your needs.
In addition, several organizations hold desert plant sale fundraisers in the Spring and Fall. We’ll update this announcement if/when additional native plant sales are scheduled in the metro Phoenix area.
Monsoon season and fall are terrific times to add wildflower seeds to your landscape, assuming it rains! For a wide variety of Arizona native plant seeds, we recommend the following sources:
Maricopa Native Seed Library – This new local project offers native seeds for free! Similar in format to other seed libraries, the public may obtain up to 3 seed packets per month. Available at several Maricopa Community Colleges libraries.
If you feel there’s a local nursery, native plant fundraiser, or seed supplier we should add to our list, please let us know!
Participate in a local nature walk or educational event!
Many local organizations host free or low-cost seasonal nature walks, interpretive hikes, and educational activities with a focus on native plants & habitats. Learn more by clicking on the links below.
If you are interested in volunteer activities related to restoration, invasive species control, gardening, conservation, or scientific research, we recommend contacting the following organizations.
These are citizen science and community science projects you can participate in on your own at home, during a walk in your neighborhood, or while visiting Arizona’s public lands.
Observe plants as part of this national program to help scientist understand how plants are responding to long-term changes in climate. Or, join their Milkweeds and Monarchs project which is studying whether monarch butterflies prefer to lay eggs on non-flowering milkweed plants.
Monarchs need milkweed and nectar plants, so hopefully you have these growing in your yard or neighborhood! Join this monarch “tagging” project to help document Western monarch migration.
Help RiversEdge West track the spread of tamarisk beetles (Diorhabda spp.) across the western United States and Mexico. Data is used for an annual distribution map that notes presence and absence of tamarisk beetles.
If you see milkweed plants or monarch butterflies, eggs, or caterpillars while outdoors, take a photo and submit your sighting to this regional project.
Participate in their Land Cover project to help scientists create better maps. Or, join the Trees project by taking height and circumference measurements.
Access digitized natural history data online to help transcribe and decipher field notebooks, photographs, museum labels, and data sheets from around the world.
Chapter News
Saguaro Art Exhibit at Herberger Theater
Posted on Aug 20, 2023
The Herberger Theater Center in downtown Phoenix is featuring a free exhibit showcasing 29 artist interpretations of the Saguaro. Click here to see a preview.
On display: August 9 – October 1, 2023
Location: Herberger Theater Center, Main Gallery (upstairs), 222 E Monroe St, Phoenix, AZ 85004
Curators: Connie & A O Tucker
Free admission to the exhibit is available Monday through Friday 12:00 PM to 4:30 PM and during theater performances. Enter through the Box Office.
If you love nature, then Arizona is a great place to live. Its diversity is broad and deep. Where the Colorado River leaves Arizona and flows into Mexico, the elevation is about 70 feet, and the top of Humphrey’s Peak north of Flagstaff is 12,637 above sea level. Annual rainfall in the state ranges from less than 3 inches, near Yuma, to the record 58.92 inches at Hawley Lake in 1978. The topography can be flat or mountainous, and the geology is a very busy scramble.
These contrasts in elevation, precipitation, terrain, and substrate result in a great deal of contrast in ecological zones. That contrast leads to a lot of different plant species — 4,260 according to the Arizona checklist on the website for the Southwest Environmental Information Network (SEINet).
Central Arizona’s Desert Defenders
Posted on Apr 09, 2023
Desert Defenders is a collaborative, community science program focused on finding, mapping, and removing invasive species.
Desert Defenders is a partnership of organizations and volunteers from around the Valley, including the Arizona Native Plant Society. Through individual and collective efforts, native plants and wildlife can thrive!
Learn and help spread word about Desert Defenders by viewing and sharing our new brochure. Also, visit the Maricopa County Parks website to get involved with Desert Defenders volunteer events.
