If you think a landscape should be about more than a lawn of non-native grasses, and want to learn more about native plants, attracting pollinators and birds, and the restoration of natural landscapes, you’re invited to attend the kickoff meeting to form a local chapter of Wild Ones, an organization devoted to creating natural gardens and landscapes using native plants. This first meeting will be held from 2:30-4:30 p.m., Sunday, July 21st, at Green Home Experts, 811 South Blvd., Oak Park, Illinois.
Local Wild Ones member, Stephanie Walquist will give a butterfly presentation. She has been gardening for butterflies and rearing/releasing some species over the years. Stephanie has also been assisting in the installation of a native plant garden at Beye School with the hope of getting other schools and local residents to join in to create wildlife corridors. Plans will also be discussed for future educational programs, seed and plant swaps and field trips. Anyone interested in gardening and in preserving biodiversity through their landscaping is invited to join the chapter.
Wild Ones members help and learn from each other – beginners and experienced members alike – about identifying native (and invasive) plants, creating natural landscapes, protecting biodiversity and our native pollinators, dealing with “weed ordinances,” and a lot more.
Members learn through monthly educational chapter meetings, field trips, and presentations by experts in the field of native plants and natural landscaping. Chapters are supported by a national organization; each member receives access to handbooks related to natural landscaping along with the regularly published newsletter, the Wild Ones Journal.
For more information – and to let us know you’ll attend – contact Pam Todd (pamtodd5@me.com), Ginger Vanderveer (gingervbrown@gmail.com) or Marni Curtis (sassyspider@gmail.com).
Wild Ones began in 1979, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and was granted non-profit tax- exempt certification in 1995. With 50 chapters, Wild Ones has approximately 3,500 members across the United States and Canada. See website at www.wildones.org.