JONESBORO - During May, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will be celebrating Arkansas Heritage Month at the Forrest L. Wood Crowley's Ridge Nature Center in Jonesboro. This year's heritage theme is "Arkansas Gardens, The Roots of Our Heritage," and will include a series of special programs sponsored by the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation.

The programs are funded in part by a grant to the foundation from the Department of Arkansas Heritage's 1/8 Cent Conservation Sales Tax matched by volunteer labor from the Craighead County Master Gardeners and an Eagle Scout project conducted by Benjamin Jackson of Troop 6 in Jonesboro.

A series of guest speakers, guided tours, a plant sale, gardening activities and free interpretive materials for self-guided tours are planned to celebrate Arkansas' heritage. No admission fees will be charged for programs and tours at the nature center.   

This month-long celebration of gardens will also give visitors the opportunity to enjoy the latest additions to the center's gardens that include newly surfaced paths and plant identification markers for each species of plant.  

The schedule of events are:

May 1 through May 31, volunteer to assist with the nature center's many landscape projects and learn as you contribute to the beauty of Crowley's Ridge.

May 1, 2 p.m., the nature center will host guest speaker, Joan Carol Reese, Extension Area Specialist for the University of Tennessee Extension Service and a horticulture journalist.

May 7, the Craighead County Master Gardeners and University Garden Club's annual plant sales will be held in the nature center parking lot with all proceeds going to these nonprofit organizations as their annual fundraiser. Beginning at 10 a.m., guest speaker and landscape designer, Larry Lowman, owner of Ridgecrest Nursery and acknowledged expert on Arkansas' native plants, will give illustrated talks on the nature center's native plant garden, a Craighead County Master Gardener project followed by a tour of the garden. At 2 p.m., Lowman will speak about the butterfly garden design he created for the nature center. The nature center will also begin distributing printed garden guides to enhance visitor enjoyment.     

May 15, 2 p.m., Dr. William C. Welch, Professor and Extension Landscape Horticulturalist from Texas A&M University will speak. Dr. Welch is past president and an honorary member of the board of directors of the Southern Garden History Society and the author of "The Southern Heirloom Garden," published in 1995, "Antique Roses for the South," published in 1990, and "Perennial Garden Color," published in 1989. In 2000, he co-authored "The Bountiful Cutflower Garden," with Neil C. Odenwald. The author's books will be available for sale and signing.

May 15-22, the FLWCRNC Butterfly Garden's annual plants will be installed with the public invited to observe and assist Craighead County Master Gardners, Jonesboro High School and Arkansas State University horticulture students. Call ahead for exact times.

May 21, Craighead County Master Gardeners will host their annual tour of Jonesboro Gardens. Tickets for the Master Gardener tour may be purchased at the private gardens included on this year's tour with proceeds going to fund the Master Gardener program. There is no admission to tour the gardens and trails at Forrest L. Wood Crowley's Ridge Nature Center.  Directions to the private garden tour will be available at the nature center.

May 22, guest speaker will be Neil Diboll, owner and manager of Prairie Nursery in Westfield, Wisconsin. Diboll is considered a prairie restoration specialist. He designed and provided seed for the nature center's 5.5 acre prairie project. Through his nursery and public speaking he promotes the conservation and restoration of native prairies and the use of native prairie plants in home landscaping. Staff and volunteers will conduct garden and prairie tours following his presentation.