You may already know that one of the Winding Waters Group's main objectives is to promote native plants in and around Columbus and Bartholomew County. We are active throughout the growing season supporting native plant beds in such places as the Columbus Airpark, Blackwell Park, the Community Garden, and even the Ellipsis project of Exhibit Columbus 2025, among others. If you are interested in volunteering in our native plant bed work, please reach out to Julie Lowe at j_lowe66@yahoo.com
In tandem with these activities, we announce the 8th annual Winding Waters Native Plant Sale! Each plant of the 33 varieties of plant is priced at only $3.50, with the goal of making native plantings attractive and affordable to everyone!
Click here for the COMPLETE LIST OF PLANTS AND DESCRIPTION. Click here for the ORDER FORM.
Orders are due Wednesday April 15 Pickup date is Friday May 8 from 2:00 - 5:00 PM
You will also find us at the Columbus Farmers Market selling any remaining plants on Saturday May 9th and May 16th.
Eastside Library Planting Project
We are happy to announce that, in partnership with the Bartholomew County Public Library, The Winding Waters Group was recently awarded a grant for “The Winding Waters Group and Bartholomew County Public Library Native Plant Partnership Project.”
This project helps us meet our larger organizational goals of connecting people with nature, wildlife and closing the nature equity gap. The project entails establishing native plantings at the new Eastside Library Branch at 421 McClure Road, the former Eastside Community Center. We will be planting redbuds, oakleaf hydrangeas, and a variety of native groundcover.
Please check April’s newsletter for links to volunteer at the planting and celebration day in May!
CITIZEN SCIENCE CORNER
Wildflower Identification Apps Galore!
Being outdoors learning the names of the native, or invasive, flora around us is refreshing after a long winter outside. Have you noticed any wildflowers peeking up in your yard or neighborhood park? How many of the wildflowers can you name? If you’re feeling a bit rusty, there are many apps to help you identify the flowers around you. Please consider trying these apps:
This website will even compare all of the apps’ features for you!
Florathon
If you are ready to take your flower identification to the next level, please consider creating a Florathon Indiana team! Florathon teams pick a date between April 1 and May 31, pick a natural spot, and work to identify as many native flowers blooming as possible. Sightings are recorded and sent to the Indiana Native Plant Society.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about the natural environment around you, and get outdoors with like-minded friends! Registration is $35/team, which goes toward supporting the rewilding efforts of the Indiana Native Plant Society.
Indiana Legislative Session 2026
The 2026 Legislative Session is behind us. Thanks to all of your efforts, the environmental voice was heard at the Statehouse, and many harmful bills were defeated. Please check our Sierra Club Hoosier Chapter Legislation Tracker for a summary of legislative victories in 2026.
Also find Hoosier Chapter blogs about Sierra Club member participation at Statehouse 2026 action days.
Know Your Legislators?
Enter your address here to learn who your legislators are, and find their contact information.
Must-read Book List
The Winding Waters Group gathers each winter to share favorite books, podcasts, and scientific articles in the nature genre. The 2025 list was impressive! Please be sure to join us next year to share your favorites!
A Walk in the Park, Hiking the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko
Meet the Neighbors, Animal Minds and Life in a More-Than Human World by Brandon Keim
Eager, the Surprising Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, and Crossings, How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet by Ben Goldfarb
The National Trail System and Illustrated History by Steve Elkington
Surviving Climate Anxiety - a Guide to Coping, Healing and Thriving, and Climate Change and Happiness podcast by Thomas Doherty
The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think by Jennifer Ackerman
The Year of No Garbage: Recycling Lies, Plastic Problems, and One Woman's Trashy Journey to Zero Waste, and The Year Without Sugar by Eve O. Schaub
Empire of the Summer Moon, Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne
Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden, the classic account of Hidatsa American Indian gardening techniques by Gilbert L. Wilson
A Primate’s Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons by Robert Zapolsky
“Glacier preservation doubled by limiting warming to 1.5°C versus 2.7°C” AAAS SCIENCE 29 MAY 2025
Volunteer Spotlight: Julie Lowe
My name is Julie Lowe and I have always loved being in the woods, hiking, camping, and kayaking, but reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser nearly 25 years ago opened my eyes to the realization that activism is required to prevent capitalism from taking more than its share, and that we must be aware of our rights to be able to keep them. Learning about the questionable way in which our Indiana State Forests are auctioned off to the timber industry, though, drives me to take action, writing letters to the editor and meeting with my legislators at the Indiana Statehouse with a goal to save at least 10 % of our Indiana State Forests from being logged.
I have been involved in the Winding Waters Group and the Hoosier Chapter since 2015. Working alongside others in the fight for a better climate, saving wilderness, and protecting civil rights has made me feel effective and powerful. I invite you to join us in our work to make the world a better place and protect our environment.
This photo is of me at Southeast Purdue Agricultural Center (SEPAC) in Jennings County participating in the Winding Waters CISMA Weed Wrangle adjacent to the Muscatatuck Urban Training Center, November 2025.
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, March 4: Welcome to the Dark Side: Gardening for Moths Bartholomew County Public Library, Red Room, 5:30 - 7:30 PM
Saturday, March 7: Winter Hike at Griffy Lake Bloomington, IN 12:00 PM
Sunday, March 8, Lick Creek Settlement Hike (Little Africa) Hardinsburg, IN, 1:00 PM
Friday, March 20, Winter Hike at Allen's Creek SRA, Bloomington, IN, 11:00 AM
Friday, March 27, Selmier State Forest Hike, North Vernon, IN, 1:00 - 3:00 PM
Sunday, April 12, Wildflower Hike at Brown County State Park, Nashville, IN, 12:00 PM
