2025 Events

Guided tour of spring ephemeral plants with Mary Holleback .  Please dress for possible mud , insects and rain.  Trails are unpaved and rolling.

Join Wild Ones National Board President Loris Damerow for a special presentation as part of Week 3 of the 2025 Less Lawn More Life Challenge, “Native Plants Planted Right.” Loris will walk us through the basics of native plant gardening- from choosing the right plants to planting and maintaining them with confidence.

Join us on Tuesday, May 20, 2025, at 5 p.m. CT for the YouTube Live premiere of this 30-minute webinar. Native plant experts from  Wild Ones, Plan it Wild, Homegrown National Park, ReWild Your Campus, and others will be active in the live chat throughout the presentation and for 30 minutes after the webinar, giving you plenty of time to ask questions and engage! 

This event is designed for newcomers to native gardening and is part of the national Less Lawn More Life Challenge, hosted by Plan It Wild in collaboration with Wild Ones, iNaturalist, Homegrown National Park, Pollinator Partnership  and many others! 

See more about the Less Lawn More Life Challenge:  https://www.lesslawnmorelife.com/ 

Annual Native Plant Sale at Johnson's Nursery.  Wild Ones volunteers will be present to offer information about native plant selection and experience.  Volunteers will help with online membership.

 World Bird Migratory Day. Wild Ones Information table members will  volunteer at this event.  

Our Wild Ones tours often focus on beautiful properties that have been restored with native plants over decades. However, many of our members' suburban properties have been landscaped for decades with non-natives in the traditional style of foundation trees and shrubs along with a few perennials and large swaths of turfgrass.  Transitioning a typical yard to a native landscape can be overwhelming for those wanting to make a difference.  Where do you start?  What about neighbors? Does it all need to be native or can the peonies stay? 

Here's your opportunity to visit up to 3 suburban yards in the process of transitioning to native plants.  All three properties have been undergoing transformation less than 5 years and are works in progress. The property owners will be on hand to discuss what worked for them, what mistakes they made, and their plans for the future. 

Each homeowner on the self-paced tour has unique challenges and situations; buckthorn removal, Homeowner's Association, large and smaller properties. You can visit one, or all three. Properties are about 10 minutes apart or less.   

A traditional Milwaukee city lot (40’x120’) with years of regular chemical applications to maintain turf grass and to control weeds, was a dead zone for wildlife. It was planted with non-native plants widely accepted/recognized by locals, conforming to the mindset of traditional city dwellers. Over the past 10 years, it has been transformed into a haven for wildlife in an acceptable, well maintained manner. Expanding the objective to the local city park, a highly visible pollinator garden for all to enjoy and emulate was established.  Neighbors are also catching on to the advantages of native plants.  This park is being used as a MODEL for similar projects in the MKE park system. Wild Ones member Judy Mead will talk about the project and lead a tour of the property. 

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon!