Events

This annual open house by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station showcases the ongoing work by their scientists,  providing an opportunity for the public to engage directly with CAES scientists and get their plant and pest questions answered by technical experts. For details  about  this year's Plant Science Day program, click READ MORE.  

Wild Ones Mountain Laurel Chapter will have an educational display together with other plant-related organizations under the big tent. Members are needed to help staff our display.  No prior experience needed.   Sign up for a 2-hour shift, using the REGISTER link.

All members are welcome at chapter Board business meetings. Email chapter in advance to receive Zoom link if you wish to attend.

Join Arboretum Horticulturist, Anna Fialkoff, on a short walk around the Native Plant Demonstration Garden to learn about the showcased trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants and how you can incorporate them in your own home landscape. Anna will provide insights from their work-in-progress gardens, how they are tackling preparation and planting of each area, and will highlight many species that will be available at the upcoming plant sale this September.   In conjunction with the plant sale, this program is held in partnership with the  Connecticut College Arboretum.

Meet at 33 Gallows Lane, New London. Parking is available on site.

Free and open to the public.  Space is limited, registration requested. 

Take a close-up look at a yard that is for both people and wildlife.  Lydia and Mark have been gradually replacing lawn areas with a diverse array of plants since the mid-1990's.  We became committed to adding natives after joining Wild Ones, many grown from seed by Lydia.   Small trees, native shrub borders, rain gardens, “soft landings” and other perennial beds have been planted a little at a time.  Last fall we had a small rain-fed pond installed as the centerpiece of a miniature wetland.  Hear about our successes, failures and ongoing challenges (mostly 4-legged). We welcome your ideas for what to do with areas still “in progress”!  

Register for directions.  Group size will be limited.  
Rain date is Sunday, August 16.

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.

In 1962, Spicebush Swamp Park was West Hartford’s first park to be set aside as a natural area for nature study and walking, and as a 33-acre outdoor classroom for schools to use. Later, in 1968, McGovern Pond was created in the park by excavating an area of approximately one acre.  The West Hartford Garden Club's Civic Project Committee has made the restoration and preservation of Spicebush Swamp Park its key long-term ecological project. In 2020, the garden club upgraded a rundown garden near the park sign with native pollinator plantings. During 2020 and 2021, that work continued. Beginning in 2022, an area further inside the property was restored through the removal of invasive plants and installation of a bird sanctuary garden designed with native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials, all with the help of Master Gardeners and volunteers from local Sierra Club and other community and municipal groups. A group has continued to meet for about 2 hours most weeks throughout the year at Spicebush, and periodically on weekend dates, to identify and tag remnant native plants, remove invasive plants, manage the pollinator and bird sanctuary gardens, install new native plantings, and set priorities for the future. A new wet meadow, funded in part by a Hartford Audubon Society grant, will be installed this fall. We hope to install interpretive educational signage and to improve plant labeling. The terrain is uneven in places, the area is subject to flooding, the invasives are formidable, and it is heavy work. However, we enjoy the birds, the insects, the native flora, and the beauty of this natural setting.  The walk will be led by Beth Ann Loveland Sennett.  

A small parking lot is located just north of the intersection of Mountain Road with Farmington Avenue.  

Free and open to the public.  Registration is requested to aid planning.

Questions?  Contact Beth Ann Loveland Sennett by text (860-729-4150) or email ([email protected])

One in a series of talks sponsored by the City of West Haven and the West Haven and Trust at the newly-created “Eco Park.”  This talk, with Juliana Barrett and Maggie Cozens, from Connecticut Sea Grant, will focus on pollinators .

Please note that, although this is a free event open to the public, non-residents of West Haven have to pay to park in the beach parking lots.

All members are welcome at chapter Board business meetings. Email chapter in advance to receive Zoom link if you wish to attend.

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.

Kim Eierman is the founder of EcoBeneficial LLC, an eco landscape design company. She is also a teacher at the New York Botanical Garden, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Native Plant Center, and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

In addition, she is the author of the book “The Pollinator Victory Garden-Win the War on Pollinator Decline with Ecological Gardening; Attract and Support Bees, Beetles, Butterflies, Bats and Other Pollinators”

Ms. Eierman is an engaging and knowledgeable speaker. She loves questions, so bring them on!

She will have her book for sale and is happy to sign it for you. 

It is sure to be an informative and lively evening. 

SAVE THE DATE - DAY 1 of our annual plant sale pre-order pickup and walk-in sale.   Pickup times are tentative and subject to change.  More information coming soon.  

Contact [email protected] if there are specific native plants you are interested in purchasing this year. 

SAVE THE DATE - DAY 2 of our annual plant sale pre-order pickup and walk-in sale.  Pickup times are tentative and subject to change.  More information coming soon.  

Contact [email protected] if there are specific native plants you are interested in purchasing this year.

SAVE THE DATE for our annual meeting with potluck lunch, year in review and speaker program.  More info to come.  Start/end times are tentative and subject to change.

The last in a series of presentations sponsored by the City of West Haven and the West Haven Land Trust, this talk with Laura Schwanof, Landscape Architect & Ecological Practice Leader, will focus on building your own garden with native plants.

Please note that, although the event is free and open to the public, non-residents of West Haven will have to pay to park in the beach parking lots.

All members are welcome at chapter Board business meetings. Email chapter in advance to receive Zoom link if you wish to attend.

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.

All members are welcome at chapter Board business meetings. Email chapter in advance to receive Zoom link if you wish to attend.

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. 
 

All members are welcome at chapter Board business meetings. Email chapter in advance to receive Zoom link if you wish to attend.