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 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.

Registration for the hands-on portion may be required.  Details forthcoming.

Chapter quarterly business meeting will held at the event.

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.

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.

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon! 

Linda Black Elk, author of Watoto Unyutapi, a field guide to edible wild plants of the Dakota people, will discuss key species and how many "weeds" are actually valuable, nutritious food and medicine sources. She is an ethnobotanist at the UnitedTribes TechnicalCollege in BismarkND.

Details coming soon!