Discover Nature Programs

Through a partnership with the Louisiana Master Naturalist of Greater Baton Rouge (LMNGBR) we are proud to offer exciting new Discover Nature programs featuring local and national experts who are in touch with nature and are eager to share their experiences. All programs will be held in the Imo Brown Complex in the Beverly Brown Coates Auditorium at Hilltop Arboretum.

For Hilltop, LMNGBR members, and students registration is $10, $15 for non-members. Discover Nature programs are free for Members Magnolia Level ($250) and above. 

Ethnobotany and Medicinal Plants for Gardens of the Southeast
Featuring Jennifer Blanchard
Tuesday, June 25, 6:30-8 pm

At this workshop, Jennifer Blanchard will share her two decades of experience in botanical research and environmental sciences studies and her enthusiasm about propagation and the use of native medicinal plants in the landscape. Learn about the value-added benefits these plants provide to human health and the environment as we indulge in a tea-tisane tasting from plants grown at Hilltop. Leave inspired by a palette of plants that you may introduce into your garden to promote your own well-being! 

Jennifer Blanchard is a botanist and Instructor of Horticulture in the School of Plant Environmental and Soil Sciences (SPESS) at LSU. A native of Louisiana, originally from Pearl River on the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain. She moved to Baton Rouge from her home in New Orleans in 2020 to Coordinate a medicinal plant certificate program at LSU. Since then, she has created a new course at the university in Louisiana Medicinal Plants that focuses on the native indigenous plants of the state. She is also a PhD student with a research focus on the extraction of natural plant products for use in industry. Her botanical work is focused on native medicinal plants of Louisiana which could be extended to the Southeastern region of the United States. Ms. Blanchard has earned both a bachelor's degree in environmental biology (University of Southern Mississippi, 2006) and a Masters in Earth and Environmental Science (University of New Orleans, 2009). She began her professional botany work in 2004 while attending USM where she conducted vegetation surveys and wetland delineation for the geology department. While in graduate school she began working for Colorado State University under the renowned botanist Dr. Charles Allen. After completing her master's degree, she worked as a research botanist for The Pollinator Partnership of North America. 

For more information about this event, please contact us at LSU Hilltop Arboretum at 225-767-6916, visit www.lsu.edu/hilltop, or email hilltop@lsu.edu.

Program Details

Hilltop, LMNGBR members and students $10
Non-members $15
Free for Hilltop Members Magnolia Level ($250) and above.

"Ethnobotany and Medicinal Plants for Gardens of the Southeast"
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
6:30-8pm

Ethnobotany and Medicinal Plants Registration

Questions? Contact Hilltop by email hilltop@lsu.edu or call 225-767-6916.