March Program

 TUESDAY | MARCH 19, 2024

Native Plant Primer + Habitat Gardening Basics

Presenter | Andy Scott, ReWild Gardens, LLC

6:30 pm Social | 7:00 pm Program

Wood Lake Nature Center in Richfield

Click here to join online for this hybrid program.

So you've decided to jump into natural gardening but not sure where to start? Andy will cover native garden basics including site preparation, plant selection, planning basics and long term care to help your project succeed. He'll also highlight unique, under-utilized native species and landscape techniques that can help your garden setting become balanced and resilient.

About the Speaker:

In 2017, Andy shifted career focus to pursue his passion for nature and gardening to start his small native landscape and design business. Located in Bloomington, he utilized his own property to better understand how native plants respond to an urban garden setting and developed a natural approach to convert lawn and wasted space to wildlife-friendly gardens. These spaces support beneficial insects, birds and other wildlife while also creating healthy soil and conserving water. Education driven, Andy likes to involve his clients in all aspects of the process and helps provide resources to learn about and demystify the plant/pollinator relationships that their landscape will be fostering.

 ReWild Gardens creates natural spaces that beautify the landscape while also supporting a myriad of important native pollinator and bird species. Gardens that utilize native plants (and wildlife-friendly practices) not only provide nectar and pollen but also act as hosts for butterflies and bees – giving them support for their entire life cycle. ReWild provides planning, installation and maintenance services for new and established wildlife-friendly natural plantings in the metro area. 

Native Plant Sales in the Twin Cities Metro

MAY 18 | Wild Ones Southeast Minnesota in Northfield • FB Event

MAY 18 | City of Burnsville Native Plant Market • Details and List of Vendors

MAY 31 | Wild Ones Prairie Edge in Edina • Details and List of Vendors

JUNE 1 | Landscape Revival in Lake Elmo • Details and List of Vendors

Orders Open in March | Big River Big Woods • More details here

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RECRUIT A FRIEND, PLANT A SHRUB!

If you bring in a new member by May 15th to join you on your native plant journey, you will receive a free native shrub, for each member that joins, that you can pick up at the WOTC Resource Fair on May 21st at Wood Lake Nature Center.  To receive your free shrub, contact gkhalloran@gmail.com when your friend(s) joins, to pick which species of shrub you would like to receive.   Shrubs available to choose from are Saskatoon Serviceberry, Elderberry, Black Chokeberry and Red-Osier Dogwood.  You can learn more about the individual shrubs by clicking on their names above.

February Program

TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 20, 2024

On line presentation by Minnesota Chapters of Wild Ones

Looking Forward to a Livelier Landscape:

Indigenous plant-based landscapes. The best is yet to come…

Presenter | Alan Branhagen, Executive Director, Natural Land Institute in Illinois

7:00 pm

Click HERE for link to Zoom presentation.

Or jobs us at Wood Lake Nature Center for a WATCH PARTY!

We are members of Wild Ones because we need Nature close by to enrich our lives. This program provides some additional ideas about how we can capture the spirit of our place and bring more nature into our landscapes. Insects run the world after plants. Learn about some keystone plants to nurture more insects and create a more sustainable landscape. Know maintenance that embraces Nature to create a flourishing ecosystem: what does it take to have a diversity of bees, butterflies and moths at one’s home? Lastly, have faith in a seed, understand that plants migrate and know if you plant it they (nature!) will come. Let’s have fun and bloom where we’re planted!

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Alan Branhagen is Executive Director of the Natural Land Institute (NLI) in Rockford, Illinois: one of the nation's first land trusts. Founder, George Fell, started the legally protected concept of nature preserves beginning with the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission 60 years ago. NLI is responsible for protecting over 18,000 acres of natural land, mainly in Northern Illinois.

Alan was Director of Operations at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum from 2017-2023 where he managed Horticulture, Plant Curation, and Natural Resource Management as well as its facilities of the 1,200-acre site.

Alan has a Bachelors of Landscape Architecture from Iowa State University and a Masters of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University. He is an all-around plantsman and naturalist, specializing in Birds, Butterflies, Botany, and Planning and Design with Nature. He’s authored 3 books: The Gardeners Butterfly Book, Native Plants of the Midwest and The Midwest Native Plant Primer.

Remembering Martha Flueck Rice

In January local members of Wild Ones joined family and friends to celebrate the life of Martha Flueck Rice, founder and president emeritus of Wild Ones Twin Cities chapter. Marty touched us all with her infectious smile and love of nature. We are forever grateful that she dedicated much of her life to education about our native plant community, Marty will be missed and remembered by all who knew her.

January Workshop

SATURDAY | JANUARY 20, 2024

Winter Seed Sowing! 

11:00 am to 3:30 pm – Wild Ones Open House 

11:30 am - 12:45 pm - Mini Workshop Group A

1:30 pm - 2:45 pm - Mini Workshop Group B

(REGISTER HERE for one workshop or the other)

Wood Lake Nature Center   

6710 Lake Shore Dr S, Richfield MN 55423

Want to VOLUNTEER? Sign up HERE!

While many favorite native plants are now naturally sowing seeds outdoors, come inside to learn how you, too, can winter sow. Join us for this family-friendly event and get a jump-start on your 2024 habitat garden. The mini workshop will teach winter sowing basics. Table sowing stations will offer the essential supplies of containers*, soil, water and seeds. 

Before and after the workshops, Wild Ones Twin Cities will be hosting a mini native plant resource fair with experts on hand to answer questions, native plant informational resources to take home, plant signs, books and additional native plant seeds.

For this event, we’re partnering with Wood Lake Nature Center. One of their naturalists will join us to share some of the Center’s efforts to restore native plant communities in the park.

A number of pollinator garden seeds will be freely available, including milkweeds and blazing stars. Wood Lake Nature Center is also offering a variety of native grasses. ‘The more the merrier’, so we encourage people to bring their collected native seeds to sow and share. Please label with the following information:

  • Species Botanical/Latin name  
  • Common Name
  • Seed Source/Location

* We offer supplies for 2 containers per person. While translucent containers will be available, as supplies last, we encourage people to bring, if possible. Clear liquid 1 or 1.5 gallon jugs (as used for water, milk, vinegar) and large, salad containers with lids work well. We can puncture drainage holes at the event.