Online Spring Programs - March 16th & April 20th

March April Mini-Series:  


A Growing Need to Observe, Protect and Contain

We’re all aware of how healthy ecosystems can be altered and harmed by invasive species, many of us already volunteer to remove buckthorn, garlic mustard and other threats to our natural areas.  

Today, a new threat is hitting us where it touches us personally, our own back yards. Jumping Worms, a highly destructive invasive species, have moved into Minnesota gardens and landscapes, especially urban settings. Wild Ones Twin Cities believes this is so important that we are using both March and April to share all we can about how to identify and contain Jumping Worms to protect not only our own gardens, but also our natural areas. We need to act as if Jumping Worms already exist in our home gardens as we transfer plants from one space to another. 

We will begin in March with Ryan Hueffmeier teaching us what to look for and how to identify Jumping Worms. In April, Julia Vanatta will demonstrate gardening practices that will help us protect our gardens. Changing our garden habits will not only help with this new threat, it will help us prevent more familiar invasive species from traveling from one garden to another.

Both programs will allow ample time for discussion during the question and answer period. They will also be recorded and added to Wild Ones Twin Cities YouTube channel for later review and sharing.

We are pleased to present our Spring programs online, however, we will be limited to 100 participants at each Zoom meeting.  

 

CLICK HERE to REGISTER for the April 20th program.  

Both programs will be available for viewing on our chapter's YouTube channel a few days afterward.  Thank you!

Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at 7 pm

Jumping Worms, the Latest Threat to Our Gardens and Wild Areas.

An introductory level presentation on how to identify jumping worms, information about their life cycle, early detection and reporting. 

Presenter: Ryan Hueffmeier, University of MN Duluth

UW-Madison Arboretum

Jumping worms are the latest invasive worm to arrive in Minnesota. They live in the top few inches of soil and alter soil structure and chemistry through their feeding and burrowing behaviors. Found in garden beds, mulch and compost piles they represent a threat to the health of our managed and wild landscapes. This will be an introductory level presentation on how to identify jumping worms, information about their life cycle, early detection and reporting. Prevention will be covered more in April and May, but tips for early detection and primary sources of how these travel is important. Jumping worms are spread through composting, horticulture, landscaping and bait. The overall goal of this project is to characterize the status of the jumping worm invasion in Minnesota.

Watch Ryan's presentation here.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021 at 7 pm

Tips and Techniques for Safe Transfer and Sharing of Native Plants

Presenter: Julia Vanatta

REGISTER HERE

In 2020, just as we became aware of how quickly Jumping Worms were infesting our local gardens, Wild Ones Twin Cities considered canceling our popular donated plant sale, hosted by Julia at her garden in Minneapolis. While not wanting to unknowingly spread an invasive species, we believed we were thorough in our efforts to minimize any risk. As we continue to learn more, we can no longer make that assumption.

In fall 2020, Julia began to experiment transferring plants via bare roots. As this technique is new to many of us, testing will continue throughout 2021 with support from other members of Wild Ones Twin Cities. In her presentation, Julia will share what we have learned thus far along with other tips for managing our gardens to protect them from jumping worms and other unwanted guests. These best practices will hopefully become the new normal, protecting our gardens and natural areas from accidental introduction of invasive species. 

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Ryan Hueffmeier is a research, outreach, and education specialist with active projects in forest and landscape ecology and invasive species. He is Program Director at Boulder Lake Environmental Learning Center in Duluth,MN (http://www.boulderlake.org/), which runs programs for over 4,000 people and has over 10,500 visitors  annually. Ryan works toward the transfer of scientific knowledge from evidence based research to the public through creating accessible outreach programs which deliver experiential educational opportunities incorporating volunteer based public participatory projects. He works with diverse audiences such as teacher and natural resource professional development, preK-12 and the general public. For the past decade Ryan has been part of the Great Lakes Worm Watch program and has developed local projects looking at vernal pools, bird populations, invasive species and tree survival. Currently, he is heading the Worm Ranger Jumping Worm project.

Julia Vanatta has been a homeowner and active member of Longfellow Community in Minneapolis since the late '70s. Getting serious about gardening roughly 20 years ago, Julia has used her own gardens to experiment and learn all she can about native plants and the wildlife they support, especially insects. For the past 15 years, Julia has been active as a leader in various capacities for Wild Ones Twin Cities. 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..

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Meet the designers who created our Minneapolis and St. Louis native garden designs!

This event featured Wild Ones Twin Cities member Carmen Simonet, who designed the beautiful ecoregion specific design for Minneapolis.  This webinar was recorded and now available to the public on Wild Ones' YouTube channel.  Learn more about this and other native garden designs here. 

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Our 15th Annual Native Plant Sale!

This year's native plant sale offers 7 collections and a variety of habitat garden favorites in 3 convenient sizes available for pre-order.  All plants are grown by a local Minnesota native plant nursery without the use of neonics.  A portion of each sale is a donation to our Wild Ones Twin Cities chapter, supporting our free education programs and tours.

SEE MORE DETAILS ON OUR PLANT SALE PAGE

PLAN YOUR ORDER USING THIS PLANT SALE WORKSHEET

ORDER ON EVENTBRITE HERE! (sales begin Wednesday, April 14th)

ORDER DEADLINE: Wednesday, May 19, 2021

PICK UP YOUR ORDER : Friday June, 4th, Saturday June 5th or Sunday June 6th at Prairie Restorations, Inc (31646 128th Street, Princeton, MN 5537)

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The Plant Your Milkweed Now — Winter Sowing Basics brought people to the Nokomis Naturescape on a sunny winter day in February.  We are encouraged to do this again next year.  We met a number of neighbors interested in doing what they can to help pollinators and bring nature home.  WOTC members Sandy Nussbaum, Leslie Pilgrim, Eren Sutherland and I enjoyed the time reaching out to people and spreading the news.  Felt right to get outside with a purpose.  Not difficult to do this even with Covid-19 protocol.  The gardens seedy interest had something to offer too.  

— Vicki Bonk, Nokomis Naturescape Stewardship and Volunteer Lead

In case you missed our February program, you can see it on our chapter's YouTube Channel here:

Connecting Community and Native Habitat—

Growing a Sense of Place

Vicki Bonk, Nokomis Naturescape Stewardship and Outreach Lead

Online Program - Tuesday, February 16th - Vicki Bonk

 Next Meeting: Tuesday, February 16, 2021 at 7 pm

We are pleased to present our February program online, however, we will be limited to 100 participants.  Please click here to REGISTER on Eventbrite.  This program will be available for viewing on our chapter's YouTube channel a few days afterward.  Thank you!

Connecting Community and Native Habitat—

Growing a Sense of Place

Vicki Bonk, Nokomis Naturescape Stewardship and Outreach Lead

Within all our neighborhoods, there are likely natural amenities that spark a nature connection for the residents. Building on these assets can help generate the “Homegrown National Park” Douglas Tallamy forwarded in “Nature’s Best Hope”.  What features in your community encourage more native plantings? This presentation will focus on one southeast Minneapolis community’s twenty-five year history of ongoing habitat projects where one endeavor lead to another and in the process created corridors and in-roads! These ventures are promoted with workshops, plant sales, online presentations and a large celebration. The outreach model for community participation became - demonstrate, educate and celebrate.

Community outreach will grow this year by highlighting the native plants at home in the area surrounding Lake Nokomis Park, within Minnehaha Park and also the Mississippi River National Park and Recreation Area that includes Coldwater Spring. In the summer of 2021, people will have an opportunity to visit the Nokomis East Neighborhood projects, homes and nearby parks on a the WOTC Garden Tour.

A lively 2020 scene along the Monarch Mile* provided the public with a vision of what can be.   

*A Nokomis East Neighborhood Association native boulevard plantings project of a street corridor connecting two larger habitat gardens.  Neighborhood habitat projects help connect people, wildlife and the land to nearby nature reserves.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Vicki's commitment to native plant gardening was activated in 1995 when she suggested a community project of a butterfly garden at Lake Nokomis Park in Minneapolis. Thus, the Nokomis Naturescape (NN), came into being in 1998. Since then, Vicki has served as the NN volunteer stewardship and outreach coordinator, working with the local neighborhood association, green team and park board. The NN mission is to "encourage people to connect with nature by growing native plant habitat gardens."  With this focus, the Grow Monarch Habitat Workshops were created in 2006. The beloved monarch butterfly, a flagship species, was chosen as an ambassador to inspire people to plant livelier home landscapes that beckon many beneficial creatures. The workshops were a catalyst for the Minneapolis Monarch Festival, a popular annual event since 2009. 

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Congratulations to two of our Wild Ones Twin Cities members, John Arthur and Roz Johnson, whose photographs were featured in the 2021 9 Mile Creek calendar! You can watch the video presentation here. 

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Introducing Wild Ones Native Gardens Designs!

WE WANT TO HELP YOU CREATE STRIKING HOME LANDSCAPES THAT BENEFIT WILDLIFE AND YOU.

This national site provides practical, educationally-sound information on native landscaping developed specifically for first-time native plant gardeners looking for help getting started.

The site also features a growing number of free, downloadable native garden designs created by professional landscape designers for multiple ecoregions in the United States, taking into account various light, soil and moisture conditions.

A plant list accompanies each design and provides a quick preview of the diversity and beauty of the native plants incorporated in each design. Both the designs and the plant lists are printer-friendly.

We hope these resources inspire, encourage and motivate you in your native garden journey!

Be sure to check out the Minneapolis Native Garden Design by Wild Ones Twin Cities member Carmen Simonet!

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New Directions in American Landscape Webinars!

Wild Ones is sponsoring a series of Home Gardeners & Educators webinars in conjunction with New Directions in American Landscape (NDAL). There are two FREE webinars! And, Wild Ones members receive a discounted price on two webinars. Members will pay $20 instead of $28!

This virtual series features interviews where Larry Weaner, founder of NDAL, compares notes with iconic practitioners Piet Oudolf, Gerould Wilhelm, Charles Birnbaum, and Darrel Morrison. This is a great opportunity to learn about ecologically sound landscaping right from your own home!

Two FREE webinars and two discounted webinars from $28 to $20 for Wild Ones members only!

For more information, see the brochure here.

Online Program - Tuesday, January 19th - Heather Holm

Next Meeting: Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 7 pm

We are pleased to present our January program online, however, we will be limited to 100 participants. This presentation will not be recorded, so if you would like to participate you will need to pre-register. Click here to register on Eventbrite. Thank you!

Restoring Ecosystem Functionality and Biodiversity

Heather Holm, Award-winning Author

How can humans benefit from green infrastructure and ecological landscape restorations? Heather will discuss ways we can achieve a sustainable coexistence with the rest of life on earth. Models of restorative landscaping including residential and community opportunities will be highlighted as well as thoughtful plant selection, ecosystem functionality, and how biodiversity can be maximized. A focus on pollinator habitat and outcomes, troubleshooting and monitoring of restorations, and funding opportunities will also be included in the presentation.

Heather spends much of her time passionately educating audiences about the fascinating world of native bees and the native plants that support them. Her first book, Pollinators of Native Plants, was published in 2014, and her latest book, Bees, published in 2017, has won six book awards including the 2018 American Horticultural Society Book Award. Heather's expertise includes the interactions between native bees and native plants, and the natural history and biology of native bees occurring in the upper Midwest and Northeast.

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If you missed our Annual Membership Meeting in November, you can see the WOTC Year in Review presentation here, and videos of the three Art and Nature presentations below. Thank you!

Art & Nature – Naturally - Pt1 

Richard Bonk, MandalArt

Art & Nature – Naturally - Pt2 

Marilyn Jones, WOTC Native Plant Signs

Art & Nature – Naturally - Pt3 

Holley Wlodarczyk, Garden Variety Art