NATIVE PLANT ADVOCATE for OCTOBER 2026: JACKIE CARLISI

With a Bachelor of Science (USL) and a Master's Degree (LSU) in

horticulture, I have been practicing horticulture for 45 years. In 1985, I

was hired at UL to manage the hydroponic greenhouses and shortly

thereafter the horticulture farm. My duties also included teaching

horticulture classes. After retiring from UL in 2005, I was employed by

Billeaud Horticultural Services. Eight years later I was hired on as the

landscape manager at the Lafayette Visitor Center (successor to Bill

Fontenot). With the onset of the pandemic, I started my own business

called Gardens by Nature and moved on to independent consulting and

landscaping.

I've always felt a kinship with the natural world, employing sustainable

farming practices regarding land management and organic pest control.

Some have even called me an old hippie wanting to protect and nurture

our Mother Earth. I love raising monarch butterflies and watching my

eastern bluebirds raise their young.

In September 2018, I attended the Southern Gardening Symposium in

St. Francisville where Doug Tallamy was the featured speaker and I was

proverbially bitten; the rest is history. From that point on I became

involved in ANPP where I met the most amazing dedicated folks who felt

equally vehement about protecting Mother Earth. I wanted to learn as

much as I could about native plants and the creatures that depend upon

them, and as a result encourage others to do the same. In light of the

extensive use of pesticides, loss of habitat, light pollution, and the

persistent use of exotic plants in the landscape, it is now more important

than ever we help God's creatures to thrive and endure for many

generations to come.

(Jackie is also one of the coordinators of the Education and Outreach

team and has recently begun a gardening program at St. Joseph's Men's

Shelter. Thank you, Jackie!)