By Katherine Schlosser

With encouragement from the HSA Native Herb Conservation Committee and the GreenBridges project, our HSA Board of Directors joined more than 200 other national organizations and submitted a Resolution to the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to recognize April 2024 as National Native Plant Month. This is the 4th year of this effort to promote America’s many beautiful and useful native plants.

It occurred to some of us, under the influence of bright Spring colors, singing birds, and tantalizing warm breezes, that PICNICS would be a perfect way to celebrate our participation. Finding local natural areas in which to have a family and friends picnic would be a pleasant way to look a little closer at what we have for which we are grateful and even dependent. Looking a little closer, we soon learn that our native plants are equally dependent on us—for water, climate, pollinators, wildlife, and everything else that contributes to a healthy ecosystem and a happy family, whether plant or human.

As Herb Society members, it also comes to mind that for MANY of us, favorite picnic items include some yummy herbs. To share this month with one another, we are asking that you send us, if you will, a copy of your favorite easy-to-make, easy-to-pack picnic item. We will post those recipes on the HSA website to share with all of our friends. 

If you happen to be familiar with edible native herbs (Allium cernuum, aka native chives; Monarda didyma; Lindera benzoin; Rosa carolina—put a petal on your tongue and enjoy the rose essence; Solidago odora leaves make a pleasant anise-flavored tea; Fragaria virginiana —tiny and outstandingly delicious strawberries; Cercis canadensis—the cleaned flowers are great for decorating a white cheese ball), it makes an even better dish! Then, there are the invasive non-natives:  Our dear friend and co-author of The Big Book of Herbs, Art Tucker, promoted pulling up Alliaria petiolata, garlic mustard, and eating them to get rid of ’em!

Send a copy of your favorite picnic recipe to: HSA contact form. Send a photo of your picnic spot, too.

Enjoy your spring…with natives!

Photo credits: 1) Passiflora incarnata (maypop) flower; 2) Author’s mother at picnic; 3) Lindera benzoin (spicebush) flowers, Cunila origanoides (American dittany) flowers, Allium cernuum (wild chives) flowers, Rosa carolina (pasture rose) flower, Stellaria pubera (native chickweed) flowers; 4) Ozmorhiza longistylis (sweetroot) leaves and flowers. All photos courtesy of the author.

In her 32 years of HSA membership, Kathy has served in positions at the local, district, and national levels. While on the National Herb Garden Committee, she spearheaded the NHG fundraising project with the publication of The Herb Society of America’s Essential Guide to Growing and Cooking with Herbs (LSU Press, 2007). As the initiator of the Native Herb Conservation Committee, she oversaw the establishment of GreenBridges, the Notable Native Herb project, and the HSA Fuzzy Butts Bee Observation Day. She has been awarded the Gertrude B. Foster Award for excellence in herbal literature and the Helen De Conway Little  Medal of Honor. She has been involved in plant conservation in North Carolina for 35 years and has written for local and national publications. She is currently working on a second book.