Dear Members,
It’s still March for a few hours, so it’s time for my much belated President’s Letter. I had hoped to write to you after the Annual Meeting, but as those of you who watched may recall, I caught the flu and that knocked me out for a while. This was a meeting and conference I worked hard on and was proud of, so it was a real disappointment, but such things happen. I am so grateful to everyone who volunteered to help and to our speakers, who were just fabulous. Thank you to everyone who participated and everyone who attended.
James and Kathy’s talk will be on YouTube by the end of April. For now, you can see them (together with Larry’s talk which is only up for ticket purchasers and only for 3 more weeks) on the meeting portal if you bought tickets (if there is demand for folks to see Larry’s talk or you really want to see the other two, drop me a line and we can create a ticket for you).
After we recovered, we embarked on a long trip to Japan to visit our kid, who is studying at college in Tokyo. It’s my fourth trip to Japan, and my wife Jennifer and I visited gardens in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Nikko. It was a fabulous trip, though also mixed with some concerns that the problems we have with biodiversity loss are common there, too. More on that next month.
But I’m back in New Jersey now, and in these last hours of March, when my Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica) and Toadshade Trillium (Trillium sessile) are coming up in my garden, and my Sharped-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba) are blooming, I am looking forward to April, which is once again Native Plant Month in the United States.
So, I have two announcements.
First, our third annual BioBlitz is underway. Throughout April, we’re asking you to photograph plants across New Jersey—in parks, backyards, roadsides, anywhere—and upload your observations to iNaturalist, a fantastic citizen science program. Search for “Native Plant Month – April 2026 – NJ” on iNaturalist or go directly to https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/native-plant-month-april-2026-nj.
Last year, 32 observers recorded 2,041 observations of 401 native species. Let’s beat that. Every observation contributes to our understanding of plant distribution and biodiversity in the state. iNaturalist runs on both iOS and Android. Don’t worry if you can’t identify a plant! iNaturalist has the best machine learning around, and you can use it to identify plants (a tip: I prefer the interface on iNaturalist Classic on iOS to the new one). If you’re documenting endangered species or private locations, use iNaturalist’s “obscure” feature to protect their exact locations, and mark if it’s captive or cultivated. If you’re new to iNaturalist, these two short Youtube videos will get you started: How to Make an Observation on iNaturalist using our Mobile App and How to prepare for a bioblitz: iNaturalist tutorial.
Second, I wanted to remind you that grant applications are due by 11:59 PM on April 15. We’re offering mini-grants of $500 or $750 for native plant gardens, conservation, and education projects, as well as two conservation/science grants of $2,000 each for large-scale projects led by scientists.
Details on our website at npsnj.org.
Happy observing, happy planting, and I’ll write you again soon!
Kazys Varnelis, Ph.D.
President, the Native Plant Society of New Jersey