This last weekend I had the opportunity to go to the Montana Native Plant Society Annual Meeting in Missoula, MT. The drive was long, but it was worth it. I was able to meet a lot of great botanists, who did all that they could to help me learn some new plants (and since I am originally from Iowa, the number of plants that I didn’t know out numbered the ones I did). I was even able to meet the author of the newly published Manual of Montana Flora, which will be our new go-to field guide. On Saturday, I went on a fieldtrip to the Garnet Ghost Town, which involved botany stops along the way to look at what plants were present, and then a tour of the ghost town. Overall, the group saw 131 different plant species within just a few yards of the road. My favorite plant that we saw had to be the bear grass (although the lady slipper is a close second).