Growing with Amanda Weise

December 2, 2021

Meet a plant conservation associate, who studies and supports rare plants in Minnesota, at the Arboretum's Plant Conservation Program.

Last summer — just before a piece of land in Blaine was slated to be developed — Amanda Weise got a call: Could she help organize a crew of volunteers to rescue an endangered plant before work on a new housing development began in a few days? The plant in question was a bristle-berry (Rubus stipulatus), a type of raspberry that is suited to living in the Anoka Sand Plain. Once more common in the region, the plant has been listed as “endangered” in Minnesota since 2013, after getting supplanted by agricultural fields and development. Learn more about this request and Weise's work