Native Plant Advocate of the Month: Louise Prejean

As a Louisiana native, Louise Prejean's maternal grandmother had a camp on

Lake Dauterive in the Atchafalaya Basin which led to her love of our native plants.

Buttercups, Oenothera speciosa, covered the levee, Button

bushes, Cephalanthus occidentalis, lined the waterways, and Blue-eyed

grass, Sisyrinchium angustifolium, grew under her feet. In her career as a

teacher, Louise guided children to observe and explore nature. Louise volunteers

at the UL Ecology Center, serves as an ANPP board member, and has taken a

special interest in nurturing young minds as they experience nature. As a retired

teacher, she encouraged the implementation of the Symbiotic Schoolyard in two

local schools which guides students to work as restoration ecologists to select,

plant, and observe the ecological impact of native plants on the ecosystem. She

is also a regular contributor to this newsletter and updates the blog on the ANPP

website, greauxnative.org/blog. She is a Master Gardener and Master Naturalist.

Her beautiful yard will be on the Acadiana Native Garden Tour May 18.

Thank you Louise, we appreciate all that you do!