Events

Planning for the path forward for the Chapter

Including native plants in your garden is an important way to provide food and habitat for pollinators.  You can expand your native plantings inexpensively by growing them yourself from seed.  In this workshop, we’ll discuss the germination requirements for different species and get you fully prepared for next season. You will be able to take home a plastic milk jug planter filled with a native seed selection to stratify over the winter and germinate in the spring. Proper after care of young seedlings will also be shared. Bring a one-gallon plastic milk jug if you have one.

Your instructor will be Jim Sirch, a trained Naturalist and President of the Connecticut Horticultural Society.  He recently retired from the Yale Peabody Museum. Jim is a UConn Master Gardener and board member of his local land trust and the Mountain Laurel chapter of Wild Ones. As a naturalist, he brings a deep understanding of geology, plants and wildlife and how they interact within a particular ecosystem. Jim is passionate about helping others decrease their lawn and re-wild their yard. He co-founded a native plant seed library at his local public library. Jim also authors a nature blog called Beyond Your Back Door at www.beyondyourbackdoor.com.

The program will be held in the Farmhouse.  Registration is required since space is limited.

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.

Winter is the best season for native seed starting so we are sharing seeds to encourage the planting of seed-grown native species that strengthen local ecosystems and create climate-resilient landscapes. Bring native plant seeds to swap for different species to diversify your habitat plantings.  It is not necessary to bring seeds to take seeds, but for those not contributing seeds, we may limit the number of packets you can take.   There will be informational displays and demonstrations of winter seed sowing in milk jugs or pots.  Experienced native gardeners can help you select species that are suited to your growing conditions.  

This event is free and open to all.  Registration is not required.  If you are bringing seeds to share, we encourage you to come early to put them out.  In case of bad weather or hazardous driving conditions, cancellation will be posted to Dudley Farm and Mountain Laurel chapter websites by 12 PM the day prior (January 23rd).  

Unless you have large amounts of bulk seed, we prefer you prepackage your seeds, particularly small and tiny seeds.  Please see our seed sharing guidelines for how to package and label different seeds.  

DIRECTIONS:  Dudley Farm, 2351 Durham Rd, Guilford, is on the northbound (east) side of Rte 77 (Durham Rd) just north of the junction with Rte 80.  Our event will be held on the main floor of the Munger Barn, #17 on the Farm Map. 

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

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.!  

Master Arborists will do a brief discussion on tree health, followed by a moderated question and answer session. 

Chris Teter is a Board Certified Master Arborist providing education for tree longevity including advice on ornamental and structural pruning, tree recommendations, and native plant education. He is an Arborist with Bartlett Tree Experts.

Dan Dalton is a Board Certified Master Arborist with 40 years of experience and a professor of horticulture who lectures on tree-related topics throughout the Northeast. He is a Senior Arborist at Northeast Horticultural Services. He offers advice on organic lawn care, tree disease treatment, and reminds you to look up!

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

Dr. Doug Tallamy is an entomologist, conservationist, and professor at the University of Delaware, whose work has transformed our understanding of the relationship between native plants and wildlife. His research and books, including Bringing Nature Home and Nature’s Best Hope, have inspired millions to see their own yards as part of the solution to the biodiversity crisis. Driven by the belief that everyone can play a role, Doug co-founded Homegrown National Park to encourage people to plant natives in the spaces they care for. His vision is simple: when we all take part, we create the connected habitats that life depends on.

Our parks, preserves, and remaining wildlands – no matter how grand in scale – are too small and separated from one another to sustain the native trees, plants, insects, and animals on which our ecosystems depend. We can fix this problem by practicing conservation outside of wildlands, where we live, work, shop, farm, and ranch. Thus, the concept for Homegrown National Park: a national challenge to create diverse ecosystems in our yards, communities, farms, and surrounding lands by reducing lawn, planting native, and removing invasives. If many people make small changes, we can restore healthy ecological networks and weather the changes ahead.

This program is free but registration is required.  

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.

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

The mission of this event is to provide community members the education and resources to live more sustainably.  The Mountain Laurel Chapter will have an educational table to help connect people and native plants for a healthier planet and encourage landscaping with   native plants to support biodiversity.

VOLUNTEERS WILL BE NEEDED.  MORE INFO & REGISTRATION LINK FORTHCOMING.

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

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

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

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

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

Details coming soon! 

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

Details coming soon! 

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

Details coming soon! 

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