Tuesday, May 16:

A to Z on Sourcing Minnesota Native Plants

Presenter: Julia Vanatta

Wood Lake Nature Center | 6710 Lake Shore Dr S, Richfield, MN 55423

Register HERE for online access.

Meet and Greet at Wood Lake | 6:30 pm 

Meet and Chat on Zoom | 6:45 pm

Announcements and Program | 7:00 to 8:30 pm

Want to join Wild Ones Twin Cities or renew your membership? Click here!

Shopping for and sourcing native plants can be challenging. Some plants sell out quickly, others are still in dormancy and not available until mid June. 

In this presentation, Wild Ones member, Julia Vanatta, will walk you through the many options available to Twin Cities gardeners. Program will include tips on sourcing and growing from seed, budget considerations, reading a label, shopping on line, venturing out to native plant sales, outdoor markets and nurseries along with what to look for when shopping at your local garden center.  

For those attending in person, Wild Ones members may bring a sample of their winter sown containers to determine if they are ready to transplant into a larger container or garden setting. Assessing the milk jugs will be done during social time before and after presentation. 

About the speaker:

Julia Vanatta has been a homeowner in Minneapolis since late 1970s. Getting serious about gardening over 20 years ago, she uses her own gardens to experiment and learn all she can about native plants and the wildlife they support, especially insects. Julia has been active as a leader in various capacities for Wild Ones Twin Cities for many years. More recently she started the Facebook group, Native Plant Gardens in the Upper Midwest, a discussion group where members engage in an exchange of ideas and practices for local ecosystem gardening.

SPRING NATIVE PLANT SALES

Wild Ones Twin Cities has opted not to offer a plant sale this spring. Please consider supporting native plant sales offered Big River Big Woods, Prairie Edge or SE Minnesota chapters. There are also three open native plant markets, including City of Burnsville and St Paul Audubon Society's Landscape Revival (two dates).

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SATURDAY | MAY 27, 2023

11:00 am to 12:30  |  Plus travel time and possible lunch after

Guided Tour of Habitats: Saint John's Boardwalk Loop

Stephen Saupe and Brian Johnson will be our guides.

Twin Cities Chapter has arranged for a guided tour at Saint John's Arboretum in Collegeville, Minnesota. We will join tour guides, Steve Saupe & Brian Johnson, to look for spring-flowering plants and trees. The 1.5-mile loop is relatively flat and passes through prairie, conifer, wetland, deciduous forest and savanna habitats.

About our Tour Guides

Stephen Saupe is a professor emeritus from the joint Biology Department of the College of St. Benedict and Saint John's University, where he taught for more than 40 years. He is a broadly trained botanist. He wrote a wrote a monthly column on popular botanical topics for the St. Cloud Times, and is one of the maple syrup makers at Saint John's.

Brian Johnson has taught chemistry at The College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University for over 30 years. He has been a member of the St. Cloud Wild Ones for over 20 years and is currently serving as President. In addition, he is a volunteer with the Minnesota Biological Survey of the MN DNR, where he assists with rare plant surveys.

REGISTRATION REQUIRED

This is a member only tour, space is limited and registration is required. More details available via this registration link.

Please email Julia if you would be willing to help coordinate these exclusive member only events. Coordinator be responsible for making carpool arrangements.

Spring Native Plant Resource Fair

 

TUESDAY | APRIL 18,  2023

Open to the Public 

6:00 to 8:00 pm | Resource Fair

6:30 to 7:15 pm | Guided Tour

Wood Lake Nature Center, Richfield MN

Wild Ones' Spring Native Plant Resource Fair

April is a great time to reinvigorate your gardening season plans! Wild Ones Twin Cities has invited professional native plant landscape designers and other experienced Wild Ones members to offer tips and answer questions on native plant habitat gardening. Information will be available on plant selection, garden site care, landscape design, climate resilience and flora fauna associations. We will also have our popular native plants signs for sale,* along with books and other native plant merchandise. 

In addition to resources available indoors, at 6:30, attendees are invited to join naturalists Aaron McGuire and Dave Crawford. Trees will be in full bloom, some may even be leafing out, and if the sun is shining we may be graced with a visit from a Mourning Cloak butterfly. 

Drop in for a few minutes, go for a walk, or stay for awhile to visit with all the experts! 

Event is free and open to public. Parking may be limited, suggest carpooling if you plan to attend with a group. 

Exhibitor Tables include:

Pollinators of Native Plants with Heather Holm 

At Home with Nature with Leslie Pilgrim 

Pasque Ecological Design with Nathalie Shanstrom 

ReWild Native Gardens with Andy Scott & Associates 

Shape Your Garden with Susan Van Baerle/Bush Lake Izaak Walton League 

Dragon Wynd with Jessica Miller

Garden Variety Art with Holley Wlodarczyk 

Native Plants & Climate Action with Ginny Halloran and Cass Markovich

Chapter Plant Sale Information featuring Prairie Edge and Landscape Revival 

Plus: Wild Ones Twin Cities Genius Table, outreach materials and Nokomis Naturescape stewardship projects.

* If you would like to pre-order native plants signs and pick them up during this event, please fill out this order form and email it to us by Monday, April 17th.  All sales are cash or check.  Thank you!

This event is hosted by our chapter. We are inviting members to help with room set-up and staffing info tables. View volunteer opportunities and sign up HERE.

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SPRING PREVIEW!

SPRING NATIVE PLANT SALES

Wild Ones Twin Cities has opted not to offer a plant sale this spring. Please consider supporting native plant sales offered Big River Big Woods, Prairie Edge or SE Minnesota chapters. There are also three open native plant markets, including City of Burnsville and St Paul Audubon Society's Landscape Revival (two dates).

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TUESDAY | MAY 16, 2023

6:30 Social | 7:00 Announcements and Program at Wood Lake Nature Center

A to Z on Sourcing Minnesota Native Plants

Chapter led program will include tips on how to select and where to purchase native plants. Will also offer hands on demonstration on how and when to transplant winter sown seedlings.

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SATURDAY | MAY 27, 2023

11:00 am to 12:30 | Plus travel time and possible lunch after

Guided Tour of Habitats: Saint John's Boardwalk Loop

Stephen Saupe and Brian Johnson will be our guides. Watch for more information on chapter website. Registration will open soon, must be a current Wild Ones member to attend.

MID JUNE: 

A second members only tour is being planned in West St Paul.

Please email Julia if you would be willing to help coordinate these exclusive member only events. Coordinator be responsible for making carpool arrangements. 

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Miss our March Program?

Watch Elaine R Anderson's "A Natural Harmony" here 

and be sure to check out Elaine's Feng Shui resources!

February & March Programs

February 21 & March 21

All programs are free and open to the public.

In-Person with Hybrid Online Options

Wood Lake Nature Center | 6710 Lake Shore Dr S, Richfield, MN 55423

See below program description for how to register for online access.

Meet and Greet at Wood Lake | 6:30 pm 

Meet and Chat on Zoom | 6:45 pm

Announcements and Program | 7:00 to 8:30 pm

Want to join Wild Ones Twin Cities or renew your membership? Click here!

Tuesday, February 21:

Landscaping for Wildlife

Presenter: L. Peter MacDonagh

The news is filled with dire predictions for our natural world, and it’s wildlife.

More and more of our smaller native fauna have gone from common to rare to threatened; including songbirds, insects, pollinators and amphibians. What to do? The positive answer is to take action by hosting wildlife on your land. No matter how small your plot or garden, these actions will help make wildlife more at home.

All available places that you provide for wildlife to live and reproduce, helps. The four key ingredients of habitat enhancement for wildlife we will focus on are: food, water, shelter and structure. Think of it as setting the table for your wildlife guests. Specific wildlife habitat enhancement tools will be shown. This lecture will focus on smaller wildlife, many weighed in grams or maybe ounces; but all less than one pound in weight.

In our fraying natural world, taking these habitat actions can rejuvenate, both us and wildlife. Recent research has shown that this stewardship in our gardens is a critically important action for both our health and well-being.

While this is not the answer to all the troubles of our world’s wildlife, it is part of the solution. 

L. Peter MacDonagh PLA, FASLA, RHS. 

Landscape Architect, Horticulturist, Arborist. Director & Principal Emeritus; Co-founder of Kestrel Design Group (1990-2020). Adjunct Faculty University of Minnesota (1999 to present). Cert. Ornamental Horticulture, National Botanic Garden Ireland (1980); Bachelor Landscape Architecture/BLA University Minnesota (1985); Master Professional Studies Horticulture/MPSH, University Minnesota (2018). Specialist in Urban Trees, Green Infrastructure, Stormwater Management, Native Plants, Soil Bioengineering, Wetlands, Habitat Enhancement. 

Program is free and open to the public

HOW TO ATTEND:

REGISTER HERE for online access.

Email info@wildonestwincities.org to preregister for In-Person attendance.  

Walks ins always welcome! 

VOLUNTEER HERE to help at the event!

Tuesday, March 21

A Natural Harmony: 

Using Feng Shui to enhance how you tend your patch of the planet

Presenter: 

(Lois) Elaine R Anderson, Red Tortoise Feng Shui

When we hear about Feng Shui it is often in relation to home and business interiors… where is the bed or desk to be placed? what do I do about so many stairs? Is our bathroom in the wrong place?!

However, Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese method of living in harmony with one's environment, originated in the landscape. This introduction to Feng Shui will focus on applying the principles to your own gardening style, helping you create a landscape that more deeply reflects who you are. Feng Shui can provide your gardening efforts, whether large or small in scale, with meaning and intention to positively impact your life. Principles of ch’i (energy) flow, Yin/Yang, use of color, the Bagua (the Feng Shui map), the Feng Shui meaning of plants, and the significance of water in the garden will be explored, illustrated by 

photos of gardens and landscapes from around the world.  

Lois Elaine R. Anderson, BSN, RN, HNB-BC, is the founder of Red Tortoise Feng Shui.  A professional Feng Shui practitioner since 1998, she is certified in both contemporary style “Black Sect” Feng Shui and traditional “Compass School” Feng Shui.  She is a founding board member and President Emerita of the Feng Shui Institute of the Midwest, and a former faculty member of the Wind and Water School of Feng Shui. An avid gardener, Elaine provides consultations, classes and customized workshops on using Feng Shui in the home, garden and landscape, as well as business, educational and healing settings. She is an oncology nurse with M Health Fairview Cancer Care, and a certified holistic nurse with broad clinical, administrative and teaching experience.  The mother of adult identical twin sons and GramElaine to two grandsons and three “granddogs”, Elaine lives in Plymouth, MN, with her husband, Marc.

HOW TO ATTEND:

REGISTER HERE for online access.

Email info@wildonestwincities.org to preregister for In-Person attendance.  

Walks ins always welcome! 

VOLUNTEER HERE to help at the event!

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Thanks to everyone who attended and helped with our Winter Seed Sowing on January 14th!

Almost 500 packets of native Minnesota wildflower and grass seed were distributed and sown for planting in spring!