Events

Kim Chapman, principal ecologist with the environmental consulting firm Resource Environmental Services (RES), located in Wisconsin will speak about using an ecosystem perspective when making choices about native species to plant. Kim speaker will focus on southwestern Michigan, using examples from dry loamy prairie and dry oak-hickory forest ecosystems.

Experienced native plant gardener and designer Mike Weis, owner of the Kalamazoo-based landscape company Dropseed! Native Gardens and Ecological Restoration will take us through the steps in the first garden he ever installed, starting in 2005. He will present a slideshow of images of this garden through the years to illustrate how some decisions/methods that were used worked well while others did not. 

Homegrown National Park is a grassroots call-to-action to regenerate biodiversity and ecosystem function by planting native plants and creating new ecological networks. It is the largest cooperative conservation project ever conceived or attempted. Kalamazoo Area Wild Ones Board members Noel Ocen and Mel Luna will provide an overview of this national initiative and details on how individuals and communities can get involved.

KAWO member Tom Nolan, retired forest scientist with the Ontario Forest Research Institute will provide tips and guidance on growing native plants from seeds, including spring ephemerals.

Matt Dykstra, Field Station Manager, Pierce Cedar Creek Institute • Little Grand Canyon near Hastings, MI • 8:30 am - 11:00 am. Registration is required and limited to 25 participants. IMPORTANT: This 1.5-mile hike descends down through a 60-ft deep glacial gorge.  PLEASE be prepared to hike on a narrow path, uneven terrain, and steep stairs, but the view is worth it! Participants will meet at the Visitors Center of Pierce Cedar Creek Institute at 8:00 am to car pool to the site. Contact Mike Klug to register for the event and to obtain further details.  https://kalamazoo.wildones.org/programs/#lgc

Come take part in our biggest fundraiser of the year. We will have a good assortment of native plants for sale, including wildflowers, grasses and sedges, ferns, trees and shrubs. We will have several experts on hand throughout the event to help with your choices and questions. Plants will be sold on a first come, first serve basis as we are not taking pre-orders in advance of the sale.

Brenna Pixley, community herbalist and wild food advocate, will introduce us to sustainable wild food foraging in our local area.  This will be followed up by a field trip on June 17.

This marks the 30th annual spring plant exchange, come join in the celebration! The exchange will offer numerous plants from Tom and Ruth’s gardens, as well as plants brought by other Wild Ones members and supporters. Our goal is to encourage the planting of natives for the beauty they offer and to support the wildlife that depends on them.  In keeping with principles we’ve always emphasized, it’s not necessary to bring a plant in order to take one; and no plants will be for sale. You need not be a member of Wild Ones to participate in this event.

Brenna Pixley, community herbalist and wild food advocate, will lead us on a walking tour of sustainable food harvesting in the local area.  Location details will be provided closer to the field trip date.

KAWO members will lead tours of native plant gardens in the downtown Kalamazoo area.  Details will be posted on the KAWO website closer to the event date.

Our annual fall plant exchange will offer numerous plants from Jessie and Bill’s gardens, as well as plants brought by other Wild Ones members and supporters. Our goal is to encourage the planting of natives for the beauty they offer and to support the wildlife that depends on them.

In keeping with principles we’ve always emphasized, it’s not necessary to bring a plant in order to take one; and no plants will be for sale. You need not be a member of Wild Ones to participate in this event.

Nate Fuller, Executive Director of Sarett Nature Center will lead a guided walk to explore native plants and their natural history in the forest and wetland areas of this preserve.  Car pooling options may be available.  More details will be posted to the KAWO website closer to the event date.

When you sit down at the dinner table, the topic of conversation is most likely not centered on the soils where your food came from. Yet soil is fundamental to all terrestrial life forms including our own. Today growing evidence points to the importance of healthy soils on our health and that of our environment. In this program, Mike Klug will draw on historical and recent literature to provide us with an overview of what healthy soils look like, what leads to their decline, and how we can improve degraded soils and maintain healthy ones. 

Tom Small, co-founder of Kalamazoo Area Wild Ones and co-author of Using Native Plants to Restore Community, will consider some of the revolutionary changes in our ideas of “nature” and what constitutes a “landscape” over time, then turn to some questions about the future of natural landscaping. The program will provide something of what his 25 years of Wild Ones experience and his 91 years of life have taught him. 

Join us for an enlightening webinar featuring authors, Neil Diboll and Hilary Cox, as they present their latest book, "The Gardener’s Guide to Prairie Plants." This comprehensive compendium is a treasure trove of knowledge for gardeners looking to incorporate native prairie plants into their landscapes. Neil and Hilary will delve into the making and application of this essential guide, sharing rich historical and ecological insights about prairie ecosystems, all while showcasing stunning images of prairie flora. 

Todd Barkman, Professor of Biological Sciences at Western Michigan University, will review the basics for how we can predict growth rate of our local plant populations and show how we can use simple experiments to complement those predictions to understand factors that are limiting recruitment and population persistence. With this information, interventions can target those aspects that most limit population persistence and growth.  He demonstrates this approach on local Kalamazoo County populations of Eryngium yuccifolium (Rattlesnake master) and Coreopsis palmata (Prairie coreopsis).