Events

Hello Wild Ones! I hope you all had a relaxing holiday season and are ready to sow some native plant seeds this Saturday January 10, 2026 at Hawthorn Hollow in Kenosha.

The chapter will be providing the soil, plastic jugs, tools and seeds. If you have any seeds or plastic jugs you have been saving and want to share feel free to bring them to the workshop.

Wild Ones Root River Chapter Winter Sowing Workshop

Date: January 10, 2026 (in case of snow: January 11, 2026)

Time: 1:00pm to 3:00pm

Place: H. Chris Hyslop Nature Center at Hawthorn Hollow

If you have any questions about the workshop feel free to reach out to me.  I look forward to seeing you all on Saturday afternoon!

Joann

262-339-9794

[email protected]

In this special collaboration, Robin Wall Kimmerer, author, botanist, and founder of Plant Baby Plant, joins youth leader and Nurture Natives founder Esther Bonney for an intergenerational conversation about belonging, reciprocity, and native plant action. 

Together, they will explore questions such as:

How do we create opportunities for young people to have a voice and feel empowered, even when they are not homeowners or decision makers?What kinds of relationships and mentorships help people stay engaged in native plant work over decades?Why do stories, shared practices, and community invitations matter just as much as plant lists?

Robin and Esther will reflect on what invites people into this work, what keeps them here, and what elders and youth have to teach each other.

Danielle Bell is the owner of Native Roots Design.  Her talk on Building habitat with host plant species will cover must-have plants to include in your native plant home landscape?  Certain native species that have evolved with insects to provide food for their larval stages.  These plants provide keystone services that are needed to support the complete ecosystem in your landscape.  Visit Danielle Bell's website at: https://nativeroots-designs.com

Our upcoming webinar with Basil Camu explores practical, evidence based ways to heal suburban and urban landscapes by working with trees, soil, and natural systems, drawing on real world practices from Leaf & Limb and community centered models for restoring life where we live, work, and play.!  

The farmer’s market allowed the Root River chapter to have an educational table. We provided Wild Ones brochures and answered questions about native plants. We had information about joining Wild Ones as well as about our chapter plant sale. 
We interacted with over 30 people. 

The presenter will discuss shrubs and trees available at the Wild Ones Root River chapter's plant sale.  The benefits and challenges of different shrubs and trees for native landscaping will be discussed.  Our chapter's quarterly board meeting will follow the presentation.

Join Joey Santore, creator of Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t, for a candid Wild Ones National Webinar examining how inherited garden aesthetics shape native plant landscapes. Drawing on field experience and real ecology, Joey challenges tidy design norms and explores why dense, irregular plant communities are often the most resilient and ecologically sound.

Bill Volkert and Connie Ramthun have been working on their land since 1982 to restore a series of natural communities native to this part of Wisconsin.  You will enjoy their humor and insight about the native plant movement as they tell about turning the family farm into a richly biodiverse oasis.  While only five acres in size, their land is adjacent to the NorthernKettle Moraine StateForest and lies along the shore of Birchwood Lake.  They also manage a seven acre wetland which adjoins their land.

Gateway technical College hosted an Earth Day celebration with various ecological groups and some vendors. The Wild Ones chapter participated by educational table.

Join award-winning author, photographer, and educator Rick Darke for What Is Wild and Why It Matters, a free national webinar on Tuesday, April 28th at 10 am CT. Discover how inviting a bit of authentic wildness can create a vibrant landscape that sustains you and local biodiversity. This national event is presented in collaboration between Wild Ones and Homegrown National Park.

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This event was organized to honor Dr Shoop’s gift to the City of Racine of this parcel of land. The event organizer invited Wild Ones to educate attendees about the importance of native plants. 

This is an ad hoc advisory council. We do not set policy or make decisions regarding the chapter, its operation, or management. Our task is to make recommendations and proposals to the membership based on our conclusions.

This is a process which will consist of a series of focused conferences. Once our objectives are established, we may decide to appoint a steering committee to distill and finish the process.

We will determine our short-term, intermediate, and long-range goals by identifying our purpose and barriers that prevent us from achieving that purpose. 

Once the foundation is laid, we will begin construction of a support system that will sustain our current and future growth.
 We are here to share our vision for a positive and productive future.

A member from a separate chapter facilitated the meeting to share ideas from their chapter and to be a neutral mediator for disseminating ideas and information.

An educational tour of member Margaret Pisani's home native garden will be open to the public. This garden features numerous native plantings and will be led by Wild Ones members and other Master Gardeners. Our chapter's intent is to educate and encourage members of the community to plant natives in their landscape and provide community outreach to areas of Racine County that may be interested in learning more information about the Wild Ones mission.

You planted native. Your neighbor has opinions. Maybe your HOA does too. If you’ve ever felt like the hardest part of native plant gardening is the conversations, not the gardening, you’re not alone.

Wild Ones is thrilled to share this upcoming free webinar as part of the 2026 Less Lawn More Life Challenge. Join Lorraine Johnson for a practical conversation on navigating HOA rules, addressing neighbor concerns, and fostering community conversations about native plant gardening and ecological landscapes.

Chase Firth, Natural Resources Coordinator - DeadRiver Walking Tour.  2.2 mile hike on a narrow, sandy path.  IllinoisBeach has the only remaining beach ridge shoreline left in the state.  Some of the less common plants that can be seen on this walk are prickly pear cactus, horizontal juniper and bearberry. Not an ADA compliant event.

Native plants are the foundation of habitat, but wildlife need more than food to thrive. Join ecologist and Certified Wildlife Biologist Shaun McCoshum, PhD, to explore how nesting sites, shelter, water, soil conditions, and other often-overlooked resources can transform a yard into a functioning ecosystem that supports biodiversity year-round.

Registration link coming soon.

At Chiwaukee Prairie group's house near Al Kampert Trail at Carol Beach in the village of Pleasant Prairie. Chapter quarterly business meeting will held at the event.

This is a continuation of our previous summit held in June. Using the feedback provided from our earlier summit conversations and recommendations were raised. This is an ad hoc advisory council. We do not set policy or make decisions regarding the chapter, its operation, or management. Our task is to make recommendations and proposals to the membership based on our conclusions.

This is a process which will consist of a series of focused conferences. Once our objectives are established, we may decide to appoint a steering committee to distill and finish the process.

We will determine our short-term, intermediate, and long-range goals by identifying our purpose and barriers that prevent us from achieving that purpose. 

Once the foundation is laid, we will begin construction of a support system that will sustain our current and future growth.
 We are here to share our vision for a positive and productive future.

What does it really take to turn a conventional lawn into a thriving native meadow? Join Owner & Principal, New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL), Sara Weaner Cooper for a candid look at her family's ongoing lawn-to-meadow transformation featured in The New York Times and BBC. Drawing from three years of hands-on experience, Sara will share the methods, lessons learned, successes, and challenges of converting turfgrass into a dynamic native plant community. Participants will gain practical insights into site preparation, planting, management, and the ecological principles that guide successful meadow establishment, along with realistic expectations for how these landscapes evolve over time.

Registration link coming soon.

Bats are among the most important and misunderstood wildlife in our communities. Join experts from Bat Conservation International to explore how native plants, healthy insect populations, and thoughtful landscape design can help support bats. Learn about the ecological role of bats and discover practical ways to create habitat for North America's night flyers right in your own backyard.

Registration link coming soon.

Kenosha Public Museum learn how indigenous people use native plants with bergamot tea bag activity

Monarch butterflies depend on a network of habitats stretching across North America, and home landscapes can play an important role in their survival. Join experts from Monarch Joint Venture to explore the science behind monarch conservation, including the importance of milkweed, nectar resources, and regionally appropriate habitat. Learn practical ways to support monarchs through native landscaping and help sustain one of the world's most remarkable migrations.
 

Registration link coming soon.