Photo Galleries

(03/29/09) Reed Patterson first began to save plants about to be bulldozed in high school in Chapel Hill, NC. These days Patterson always has his eye out for properties about to be developed that might hold plants native to North Carolina. He'll get permission from the landowner and then go on to the property to dig up and transplant all sorts of wildflowers, trees and bushes to a demonstration garden in Shamrock Park. JOHN D. SIMMONS - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

(03/29/09) Reed Patterson digs up a native swamp rose along Hwy 521 to transplant it to Shamrock Park. Patterson first began to save plants about to be bulldozed in high school in Chapel Hill, NC. These days Patterson always has his eye out for properties about to be developed that might hold plants native to North Carolina. He'll get permission from the landowner and then go on to the property to dig up and transplant all sorts of wildflowers, trees and bushes. JOHN D. SIMMONS - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

(03/29/09) Reed Patterson, ( his finger holding up a merry bells blossom) first began to save plants about to be bulldozed in high school in Chapel Hill, NC. These days Patterson always has his eye out for properties about to be developed that might hold plants native to North Carolina. He'll get permission from the landowner and then go on to the property to dig up and transplant all sorts of wildflowers, trees and bushes. JOHN D. SIMMONS - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

(03/29/09) Reed Patterson carryies a shovel full of native geraniums from a sewer line construction site in Charlotte. He first began to save plants about to be bulldozed in high school in Chapel Hill, NC. These days Patterson always has his eye out for properties about to be developed that might hold plants native to North Carolina. He'll get permission from the landowner and then go on to the property to dig up and transplant all sorts of wildflowers, trees and bushes. JOHN D. SIMMONS - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

(03/29/09) Morel mushrooms have been transplanted to the Shamrock Park garden. can be found around the base of dead or dying elm, sycamore and ash trees, or old apple orchards. Reed Patterson first began to save plants about to be bulldozed in high school in Chapel Hill, NC. These days Patterson always has his eye out for properties about to be developed that might hold plants native to North Carolina. He'll get permission from the landowner and then go on to the property to dig up and transplant all sorts of wildflowers, trees and bushes. JOHN D. SIMMONS - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

(03/29/09) Bloodroot blooms in the Shamrock park garden. Reed Patterson first began to save plants about to be bulldozed in high school in Chapel Hill, NC. These days Patterson always has his eye out for properties about to be developed that might hold plants native to North Carolina. He'll get permission from the landowner and then go on to the property to dig up and transplant all sorts of wildflowers, trees and bushes. JOHN D. SIMMONS - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

(03/29/09) A pinxter-flower azalea blooms just before opening in the Shamrock Park garden. NOTE: the information in quote marks was copied from the Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History in York, SC: " Pinxter-flower azalea, with lightly fragrant inch-wide blooms, is perhaps the most common and most familiar wild azalea in the eastern U.S. The name "pinxter" comes not from its coloration but from the Dutch words Pinxter blomachee, which relate to the fact that this is supposedly the azalea that blossoms on Pentecost, 50 days past Easter. We suspect this name was given by folks in northern parts of the plant's range, since in the Carolinas it is more likely to be in bloom for Easter Sunday itself. " Reed Patterson first began to save plants about to be bulldozed in high school in Chapel Hill, NC. These days Patterson always has his eye out for properties about to be developed that might hold plants native to North Carolina. He'll get permission from the landowner and then go on to the property to dig up and transplant all sorts of wildflowers, trees and bushes. JOHN D. SIMMONS - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

(03/29/09) A Christmas fern begins to uncoil in the Shamrock Park display garden. Reed Patterson first began to save plants about to be bulldozed in high school in Chapel Hill, NC. These days Patterson always has his eye out for properties about to be developed that might hold plants native to North Carolina. He'll get permission from the landowner and then go on to the property to dig up and transplant all sorts of wildflowers, trees and bushes. JOHN D. SIMMONS - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

(03/29/09) Reed Patterson transplanted Bluestar Amsonia to the demonstration garden in Shamrock Park. Reed Patterson first began to save plants about to be bulldozed in high school in Chapel Hill, NC. These days Patterson always has his eye out for properties about to be developed that might hold plants native to North Carolina. He'll get permission from the landowner and then go on to the property to dig up and transplant all sorts of wildflowers, trees and bushes. JOHN D. SIMMONS - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

(03/29/09) One of the Toadshade trilliums Reed Patterson has transplanted into Shamrock Park's display garden. Reed Patterson first began to save plants about to be bulldozed in high school in Chapel Hill, NC. These days Patterson always has his eye out for properties about to be developed that might hold plants native to North Carolina. He'll get permission from the landowner and then go on to the property to dig up and transplant all sorts of wildflowers, trees and bushes. JOHN D. SIMMONS - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com

(05/22/08) Reed Patterson talks about the plants in a slice of forest in north Charlotte that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, jack-in-the-pulpit and even ginseng. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)

(05/22/08) After a brief search on a north-facing hillside Reed Patterson found an unusual, if not rare, holly bush he's seen before in a tract of forest he hopes to have protected in north Charlotte that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, jack-in-the-pulpit and even ginseng. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)

(05/22/08) Wildflowers, like ox-eye daisies, grow in a clearing next to a tract of forest Reed Patterson hopes to have protected in north Charlotte that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, jack-in-the-pulpit and even ginseng. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)

(05/22/08) Reed Patterson looks for ginseng in a tract of forest he hopes to have protected in north Charlotte that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, and jack-in-the-pulpit. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)

(05/22/08) A downed tree shelters a maidenhair fern in a tract of forest Reed Patterson hopes to have protected in north Charlotte that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, jack-in-the-pulpit and even ginseng. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)

(05/22/08) A downed tree shelters a maidenhair fern in a tract of forest Reed Patterson hopes to have protected in north Charlotte that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, jack-in-the-pulpit and even ginseng. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)

(05/22/08) Reed Patterson hopes to help save a slice of forest in north Charlotte that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, jack-in-the-pulpit and even ginseng. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)

(05/22/08) White milkweed bloomed in a clearing next to a you-think-you're-in-the-mountains slice of forest in north Charlotte. Reed Patterson is very interested in saving this tract of wild space that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, jack-in-the-pulpit and even ginseng. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)

(05/22/08) Reed Patterson scans the hillside for a rare if not new species of holly bush that he's seen before in a slice of forest in north Charlotte that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, jack-in-the-pulpit and even ginseng. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)

(05/22/08) Reed Patterson hacks away at some english ivy growing up the trunk of a beech tree in a slice of forest in north Charlotte that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, jack-in-the-pulpit and even ginseng. Patterson fears the ivy, which is an invasive species not native to North Carolina, can take over an area of forest so he tries to get rid of it whenever he comes across it. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)

(05/22/08) Reed Patterson found a very large jack-in-the pulp[it in the bend of a tiny creek in a slice of forest in north Charlotte that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, and even ginseng. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)

(05/22/08) Reed Patterson walks in a slice of forest in north Charlotte that holds large beech trees, giant umbrella magnolias, jack-in-the-pulpit and even ginseng. Patterson, a self-taught botanist and gourmet cook, is always on alert for rare plants in danger of being swept under the blade of development's bulldozer. He transplants the plants to a demonstration garden in Plaza Midwood with the help of other trained experts who have permits to move rare species. He's also a connoisseur of wild mushrooms and loves to use them in preparing meals. (John D. Simmons - jsimmons@charlotteobserver.com)