Events

Monthly chapter business meeting

Trevor is Design & Education Manager at Weston Nurseries (Hopkinton, MA) has over 20 years of field experience as an entrepreneur and regenerative landscape designer. His talk focuses on green storm water infrastructure, such as permeable pavers and rain gardens, with examples of landscapes and gardens he has designed to maximize Earth’s systems while balancing them with the needs and desires of her human inhabitants. 

Monthly chapter business meeting

Starting plants from seed is an economical way to propagate native perennials, but the process is a bit different than growing annuals. This virtual program will begin with Wild Seed Project's "Seed Sowing 101" video on how to start native perennials by winter sowing in pots. Maggie will cover artificial stratification for spring sowing then Lydia will shared her experience germinating seeds and growing seedlings to the point where they can be planted out in the garden. Maggie and Lydia will host an extended Q&A.   

Members Tom and Nancy Kalal who own Cranberry Meadow Farm, hosted the seed sale in one of their barns. We had seeds for 45 species of wildflowers and grasses native to New England or eastern North America, most collected from members’ gardens and a few from trusted commercial sources.  Extensive information about plant traits, wildlife value, growing conditions, winter/spring sowing and germination requirements wre provided. The sale opened to members only for the first hour, then to the general public. Masking and social distancing were required inside the barn. All together, 618 packets of seeds and 27 one-gallon bags of organic potting soil were sold.

With the fragmented state of our natural areas, wildlife relies on our gardens, yards, fields, hedgerows, and woodlots to survive. Butterflies, pollinators, birds, and small mammals all rely on native plants to survive. Randi will discuss the importance of supporting all life stages of native wildlife within our gardens year round and show examples of creatures that rely upon specific plants, and discuss the complexities of attracting rare wildlife (rare butterflies, for example) to our gardens. Randi Eckel holds a PhD in Entomology from North Carolina State University (with minors in weed science and plant pathology) and conducted research on the complexities of insect interactions with their host plants. She started her own native plant nursery Toadshade Wildflower Farm in Frenchtown, NJ in 1996.

Monthly chapter business meeting

Join RTP Estuary Center teacher-naturalist Joe Attwater for a virtual backyard birding program.  Joe will discuss what birds you can expect to see in your backyard this time of year, how to make your yard a bird-friendly habitat, plus tips, tricks and everything you need for making the most of your backyard birding!

Monthly chapter business meeting

Blue Moon advertises itself as the largest purveyor of native plants in Rhode Island, and owner/founder Jane Case belongs to both the Native Plant Trust and Rhode Island Wild Plant Society. Blue Moon sells both straight species and cultivars of native plants including local ecotypes (Eco59 natives and Rhody Natives). After lunch on your own, member Judy Preston will lead a botanizing hike along a former airfield that has been recolonized by (mostly) native plants within the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge, Charlestown, R.I.

Monthly chapter business meeting

Our tour will be led by Geordie Elkins, Operations Director. Highstead is a 190-acre preserve in Redding, CT that has numerous plant habitats including a wildflower pollinator meadow, a mesic forest, oak forest, forested wetland, and pond, all situated in close proximity to each other. Visitors will experience and learn about the native plant communities that make each of these habitats unique. Researching forest change and studying various management techniques has informed stewardship practices for the health of this diverse landscape. Geordie will share examples of successes and failures that have influenced current stewardship practices.

Monthly chapter business meeting

This program was cosponsored by Wild Ones and the Colchester Garden Club (CGC), which maintains garden areas within the park. Garden Tour: The morning program will cover the Butterfly/Pollinator Garden, gazebo plantings, Storywalk Children’s Garden and a Japanese Knotweed removal project (2 areas). Attendees can circulate between stations where CGC and Master Gardener docents are available to answer questions. Botanizing Walk: The afternoon program will be led by members of the Connecticut Botanical Society to identify plants in a variety of habitats within a short distance of the parking lot. Habitats surveyed included the pond shoreline, mixed hardwood forest, stream bank, woodland edge and grassland plant communities. A partial plant list was provided, and additional species in the herbaceous and understory layers were identified. 

Monthly chapter business meeting

Joanna relocated to Cheshire in 2017, in pursuit of more green and a larger garden. Since then, she’s been working on converting her one-acre lot to native plants. The sun gardens are more fully developed with a large variety of native species. Joanna has planted purposefully in layers at the woods’ edge, so the developing understory will be a point for discussion. Joanna hared what she has learned from her garden successes and struggles, as she has worked toward increasing the ecological value of her garden. Her yard is certified as wildlife habitat by the National Wildlife Federation and registered with Homegrown National Park.

Monthly chapter business meeting

Our 2022 fall native plant sale was once again held in partnership with Connecticut College Arboretum in New London. Plants were pre-ordered online for pickup on the sale date. Perennials were sold in economical plug sizes and woody shrubs in 1-gal to 3-gal pots. The selection included 24 native perennials, 5 graminoids and 10 species of shrubs and small trees. Member-grown plants were available for cash purchase on pickup day. Over 5000 total plants were pre-ordered. Unsold plants were donated to several community planting projects.

Participants will learn how to determine when seeds are ripe, how to collect, process and store seeds. After an introduction to basic principles for collecting seeds, we will go on a short walk in the Native Plant Collection to identify and collect some different types of seeds that are ripening at this time of year. Then we will learn how to process the seeds for storage or for immediate planting as appropriate. Strategies for breaking seed dormancy and inducing germination will also be discussed. We will also touch upon important considerations for the ethical collection of seed. Bring hand pruners or garden snips if you have them, and small envelopes for seeds. You will leave class with numerous seeds to care for.

Monthly chapter business meeting

In this walk and talk session, we will explore the strange but fascinating world of fungi and the critical roles that they play in our ecosystems, from forests to farmland, highlighting decomposers, plant pathogens, and mutualistic mycorrhizal fungi. Our instructor Eric Vukicevich is an Assistant Professor of Botany at Conn College who teaches courses in sustainable agriculture and mycology. Eric is interested in how we can collaborate with fungi to solve problems such as degraded soils and invaded habitats. A brief introduction at Buck Lodge will be followed by a walk and talk in the Native Plant Collection where we will visit the new mushroom log farm, discuss how mycorrhizal fungi relate to some of the different types of plants we find, and search for mushrooms along the way.

Monthly chapter business meeting

For this year's conference, we bring you three inspiring presenters, a community lunch and a walk through the Native Plant Collection. The Wild Ones Mountain Laurel Chapter will have locally collected native seeds for sale during the lunch break.

We will wrap up the year with a potluck lunch and informal social event at CT Audubon’s Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center (RTPEC) in Old Lyme’s historic district. The incoming 2023 board members will be introduced.  We will have  free copies of Wild Ones’ new Climate Resilient Gardening Guide. Native wildflower and grass seeds will be available for purchase with how-to information for winter/spring sowing. Activities to include seed ball making, a book exchange table, and a raffle for Wild Ones-themed prizes.  Join us for an afternoon of good food, great conversation and an exciting exchange of ideas for future programming.

Monthly chapter business meeting