Events

Are you a native plant newcomer? or an experienced native planter? How will A2Wild Ones connect people to native plants in 2024? Drawing from the new Wild Ones playbook, we will claim what is meaningful and focused for the new year. The results of the 2023 membership survey will also help inform our Chapter's direction as well as illustrate the power of working together for increased impact. Add your interest, intention, and insight to the leaves of our organizational tree and join us for this membership session. 

Explore how native gardening can address climate challenges in our next Wild Ones national webinar, “Cultivating Change” with author and activist Lorraine Johnson. Johnson has been researching and writing about environmental issues for three decades. Learn about the pivotal role of gardening as an act of stewardship in the face of climate and ecological challenges. Discover the profound connections between individual gardens and the broader world and learn how these green spaces can serve as catalysts for positive ecological and social change.  Join Wild Ones for a practical and insightful discussion on gardening's positive impact on the environment and our future. 

Virtual registrants will receive a link to watch the talk live as well as a link to the recording. The recording will only be available for a limited time. 

Register only for the time you will arrive; you are welcome to stay as long as you'd like.

Join us for a hands-on habitat friendly planting workshop. Our native seeds have already been experiencing winter in the Washtenaw County Parks refrigerator and they are ready to germinate indoors OR outdoors. Indoor growing requires grow lights, big bright windows, or a greenhouse is necessary for those planning to grow these babies. Outdoor growing requires containers appropriate for Winter Sowing.

Typically, each tray or container is planted with only one species of seeds, as species generally have different growth habits that can complicate mixed-species growing. Up to daily monitoring and care is necessary.

You are thus a steward of one or more species for just a few months and a key part in our communal approach. We encourage you to return with us on the weekend of April 20-21, to the greenhouse for up-potting, mixing, and sharing. With the help of many hands, we will have access to many more species at up-potting time. Some trays may struggle to thrive, but with so many participants, we also can pretty easily absorb some tragedy without dooming our individual dreams.

Please bring (or return) your own seedling trays or other appropriate seedling containers! Please gather and bring milk-jug style containers, if you have them, to help guarantee we have plenty for everyone! We encourage attendees to bring their own native seeds or your own vegetable seeds.

Trays and domes will be available for indoor growing.

Extra milk jug style containers will be on hand for outdoor growing.

This is a donation-supported event. Please donate at the end of the event to help us continue our offerings! We want everyone to have nature, no matter their personal situation, so we suggest a donation for each tray or container you select. This community series works because of all different kinds of reciprocity, so please ask us about other ways you can give back. We are so glad to grow with you!

Orientation sessions will happen all day at the top of the hour. Stay and grow as long as you like.

Register only for the time you will arrive; you're welcome to stay as long as you'd like.

Join us for a hands-on habitat friendly planting workshop. Our native seeds have already been experiencing winter in the Washtenaw County Parks refrigerator and they are ready to germinate indoors OR outdoors. Indoor growing requires grow lights, big bright windows, or a greenhouse is necessary for those planning to grow these babies. Outdoor growing requires containers appropriate for Winter Sowing.

Typically, each tray or container is planted with only one species of seeds, as species generally have different growth habits that can complicate mixed-species growing. Up to daily monitoring and care is necessary.

You are thus a steward of one or more species for just a few months and a key part in our communal approach. We encourage you to return with us on the weekend of April 20-21, to the greenhouse for up-potting, mixing, and sharing. With the help of many hands, we will have access to many more species at up-potting time. Some trays may struggle to thrive, but with so many participants, we also can pretty easily absorb some tragedy without dooming our individual dreams.

Please bring (or return) your own seedling trays or other appropriate seedling containers! Please gather and bring milk-jug style containers, if you have them, to help guarantee we have plenty for everyone! We encourage attendees to bring their own native seeds or your own vegetable seeds.

Trays and domes will be available for indoor growing.

Extra milk jug style containers will be on hand for outdoor growing.

This is a donation-supported event. Please donate at the end of the event to help us continue our offerings! We want everyone to have nature, no matter their personal situation, so we suggest a donation for each tray or container you select. This community series works because of all different kinds of reciprocity, so please ask us about other ways you can give back. We are so glad to grow with you!

Orientation sessions will happen all day at the top of the hour. Stay and grow as long as you like.

Make your romantic dinner plans for later in the evening, and join us first for a Valentine's Day special agenda. We especially encourage you to bring spouses, friends, children, and other (human) Valentines to this visually rich meeting. It will be a lovely Wild Ones family affair!

Excerpts from Microcosmos
This glorious 1996 French film features love and other vital life activities among and between plants, insects, gastropods, amphibians, and birds. We will show selected excerpts throughout the evening. 

Pros and Cons of Various Plant Identification Phone Apps
Focusing primarily on iNaturalist and the benefits of a citizen science approach, Doug Reith from the Washtenaw County Conservation District will share helpful insights for choosing the right plant ID app for you.

Dyeing to Be Your Valentine
Through pictures, words and examples, Sandy Kunkle will share her journey into the world of color, dyes, and prints from plants. She will be joined by Jan Frank, a fellow wanderer and traveler in this world. Both Sandy and Jan, members of the Ann Arbor chapter of Wild Ones, are making plans for spring, summer, and fall dye and print research that will involve native Michigan plants and maybe even you.  

This evening is sponsored by environmental organizations such as the Ann Arbor Citizens' Climate Lobby, the Ann Arbor Wild Ones, Common Cycle, and the Huron Valley Sierra Club.

Come see old friends and meet new ones, order food or drinks from Venue (who are graciously allowing us to use their space for free), learn a bit about local eco-activism pursuits, and then, let's "trivia-ize" with our volunteer host, Jeff La Roux! All are welcome to join in the fun. We'll be forming teams of six. You needn't arrive in teams—we can help you get into a team after you arrive.

Note: It will be helpful if you can register by Feb. 8th. And please cancel your ticket if your plans change, thanks!

COHABITATION: A Dozen Native Plants for Your Yard
Understanding Their Eco-function and Exploring Their Potential as Design Assets

Presenter: Loris Damerow

Wild Ones aims to link people with native plants for a healthy planet. Loris Damerow, Ann Arbor Wild Ones Vice President, will illustrate examples of native forbs and grasses often used in home and community landscapes. These plant selections provide ecosystem service as well as beauty and visual interest.

Loris will share information for native plant newcomers, as well as inspiration for experienced native planters. Join us to expand your capacity to enjoy co-creating with nature for environmental benefit and home landscape satisfaction. 

We will also explore native plant favorites in small group discussions. What are yours? 

Registration for this event is now closed, and registrants have been emailed about attending. Please contact [email protected] if you have any issues getting in.

This will be a paid event for both in-person and remote viewing. Virtual registrants will receive a link to watch Dr. Kimmerer's talk live as well as a link to the recording. The recording will only be available for a limited time. 

Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Ecological restoration can be understood as an act of reciprocity, in return for the gifts of the earth. This talk explores the ecological and ethical imperatives of healing the damage we have inflicted on our land and waters. We trace the evolution of restoration philosophy and practice and consider how integration of indigenous knowledge can expand our understanding of restoration from the biophysical to the biocultural. Reciprocal restoration includes not only healing the land but our relationship to land. In healing the land, we are healing ourselves.

Wild Ones is excited to cohost this event with the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh's Earth Week 2024 and the Wild Ones Fox Valley Chapter. 

Please note the location and 6 p.m. start time.  

SPRING GLORY: A GUIDED TOUR OF EPHEMERALS IN THE REDBUD NATURE AREA

Tour Guide: Eleva Potter, Environmental Education and Engagement Coordinator

MEETING POINT: Let's gather at the Parkwood Avenue entrance to Redbud Nature Area; there is a large wooden "REDBUD NATURE AREA" sign.

Eleva Potter from Natural Area Preservation, which protects and restores Ann Arbor’s natural areas, will be our guide to the special features and plant communities in the Redbud Nature Area, a five-acre preserve nestled in southeast Ann Arbor. We anticipate an evening rich in spring beauty, with trout lily, bloodroot, skunk cabbage, and wild ginger among the ephemerals we hope to see. 

Aptly named, the Redbud Nature Area includes the largest stand of redbud trees in the Ann Arbor Park system. We never tire of rejoicing in these life-giving native trees—butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees all come to them for both pollen and nectar—and their spring beauty, when lavender-pink blooms run up and down their limbs, is unsurpassed. Cercis canadensis usually blooms later in April, but it has already been so warm this year we may see some emerging blooms. 

The Redbud Nature Area is a vital protected area within the Malletts Creek watershed. The stream, a tributary of the Huron River, is severely impaired, with about 40% of the watershed surface land being topped with impermeable surfaces. The native forbs and trees in the preserve allow us to visualize what the watershed was historically home to, and we will hear about restoration efforts.  

Redbud Nature Area Access and Parking

There is street parking along Parkwood Avenue, which forms the eastern edge of the park, and on other nearby side streets.

The park entrance can be reached on foot by walking through the neighborhood and on bike by riding through the neighborhood streets.

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE: MATTHAEI IN MAY

Guide: Calla Butler, Native Plant Horticulturist, Matthaei Botanical Gardens

The Great Lakes Gardens at Matthaei re-create our region’s natural habitats with woodlands, open dunes, alvar, and prairies. Calla Butler, Native Plant Horticulturist at Matthaei, will lead us through the early season of these native plant communities providing cues for the conditions they require to thrive. This is an opportunity to learn about both rare and familiar natives in emergent phases, to identify the cycles of their growth, and to know what plants might be suited to thriving in your own home environment. The tour ends with a visit to the beaver's handiwork on Fleming Creek. 

MEETING POINT: We’ll gather in the Gateway Garden, directly east of the entrance to the Visitor Center (to the left if you are facing the Visitor Center entrance), before proceeding to the adjacent Great Lakes Gardens.

Here is a welcome message from Calla, with some of the highlights of her journey with plants!

Hi Wild Ones! My name is Calla Butler and I am the Native Plant Gardens Horticulturist at Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum. I started this role in March, but I previously worked at Matthaei for two years as a seasonal horticulture technician. Before Matthaei I was a Head Gardener at a landscape design and maintenance company, and I also worked as a floriculturist at the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle.

I have been working with and interested in native plants for most of my life. My mom started a native plant nursery outside of Philadelphia, so I grew up working and learning there. I feel very lucky to have had that experience, because I believe growing plants is one of the best ways to really learn, understand, and appreciate them. 

As the Native Plant Gardens Horticulturist I maintain the Great Lakes Gardens (alongside wonderful volunteers!), collect and process native seed, and propagate plants for both restoration and our native plant sale. Maintaining the Great Lakes Gardens has been a wonderful learning experience. I can’t think of many gardens with such a variety of native plants—a little over 300 species! My current favorite plant in the gardens is Virginia bluebell (Mertensia virginica). The blue flower is a striking color, and the fact that hummingbirds like it makes it even better!  

I hope to see many of you on the walk through the Great Lakes Gardens, where we can visit our prairie, alvar, woodland, and dune! I will discuss some of our maintenance techniques in these spaces, and we will see what’s in bloom, before ending with a walk to the newly established beaver dam on Fleming Creek. See you there! 

Free, but registration is required

SMALL FORESTS, BIG BENEFITS: ONLINE DISCUSSION FEATURING KEYNOTE DOUGLAS TALLAMY

This free online forum will explore the planting of dense pockets of native trees and shrubs to address biodiversity loss, tree inequity, and climate change.

Professor Douglas Tallamy, author of Bringing Nature Home, Nature’s Best Hope, and other books and writings; Professor of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Delaware Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology; and an honorary lifelong member of Wild Ones, will be accompanied by four panelists:

Giuliana Casimirri, Green Venture

Christine Dannhausen-Brun, Norsdon Green Earth Foundation

Maya Dutta, Biodiversity for a Livable Climate

Neelan Patil, Green Pocket Forests 

This event is co-sponsored by Wild Ones Ann Arbor and Citizens’ Climate Lobby Ann Arbor.