EVENTS

For details:
Saint Paul Audubon Society

Saturday and Sunday, July 11th and 12th, 2015, from 9am-3pm 
LOCATION: In and around Stillwater

The annual St. Croix Garden Tour is a self-guided tour of gardens in and around Stillwater. This year the tour features eight gardens.

Volunteers from our St Croix Oak Savanna Wild Ones chapter will promote landscaping with native plants at one of the sites. Roger Miller and Mary Zweber have volunteered their yard and gardens for next weekend?s tour. Staff from the Washington Conservation district will also be there to provide information on rain gardens and on other Conservation District programs.

The garden tour is $15 in advance and $20 the day of the tour. All proceeds benefit FamilyMeans, a nonprofit in Stillwater that hosts our Wild Ones meetings. FamilyMeans has helped strengthened families through programs in financial counseling, youth programs, therapy and counseling, caregiver support, and more. This is an excellent opportunity to see local gardens and support a great cause. 

PHOTOS of the native plant gardens hosted by volunteers from Wild Ones and Master Gardeners in Washington County.

Everyone is invited to join SCOS chapter president, Kathy Widin, for a guided walk through a prairie restoration in Valley View Park, a passive use park on a former farm property just south of Stillwater. This prairie was established in 1997 near Perro Pond. It is fairly high quality and has a diversity of native grasses and wildflowers (forbs). There is also a small prairie remnant on a knoll above the prairie. Kathy has been the arborist in OPH since 1998 and has been responsible for management of this restoration.

Meet at the main parking lot of Valley View Park, located at 5575 Ozark Ave N, Oak Park Heights, MN. The walk will start at 1:00 p.m. and should be no more than a mile. Wear closed-toe shoes and clothing for walking through tall grass. The prairie can also be viewed from a paved trail. The park has a lovely picnic area so bring a bag lunch and meet at 12:15 to eat there. Please RSVP to Kathy at 651-338-3651 if you plan to attend.

Dan MacSwain, Natural Resources Coordinator, Washington County Park.

Three area parks will benefit from habitat enhancement and restoration thanks to a project initiated by Washington County. Over 250 acres of prairie and wetlands in Lake Elmo Park Reserve, Cottage Grove Ravine Regional Park, and St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park will be improved in the next two years. Dan MacSwain, Natural Resources Coordinator for Washington County Parks, will describe the project areas within each park, their native plant communities, and how each will be enhanced and restored. The project is supported by funds from the Outdoor Heritage Fund, appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature, and recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council.

Refreshments and socializing begin at 6:30 pm with the main program at 7 pm

Andy Weaver, Science Teacher, Stillwater High School

Free and open to the public.

We?re pleased to have Andy Weaver, local educator and environmentalist, as our speaker.
Each fall Andy?s environmental biology students harvest native plant seed which is then planted by students the following spring.Andy?s classes provide native plants and environmental services for a host of restoration projects in the Stillwater community. At our meeting Andy will share techniques for seed collection and propagation, and reflect on his experiences involving students in local restoration projects.

Refreshments and socializing begin at 6:30 pm with the main program at 7 pm.

Guest Speaker Jennifer Vieth, Executive Director, Carpenter Nature Center

Please RSVP to Kathy Widin by email or call 651-338-3651 to sign up for a potluck item to bring.
Celebrate our local Wild Ones community, share good food, and elect our 2016 officers. We'll introduce our chapter board members and discuss our plans for the coming year. Chapter members and potential members welcome. Please bring a plate, cup and silverware so we can minimize trash.

The evening will also feature a slide show of members? native plants and gardens. We are again asking for pictures of your gardens/plantings to share at the potluck, be it a small or large area, visiting wildlife, or even a problem area for discussion. Whatever it is, take some photos and share them with us! Our potluck meetings are a great place to share stories and photos.

Send us your photos via email. We'll organize them into a slide show we?ll display on the front wall at FamilyMeans during the potluck.

Email your photos (we suggest about five of your favorites) to: Tom Dickhudt. Include your name and phone number in case we need to contact you as we assemble the sideshow. If you can?t email photos, please bring prints with you to the meeting to share.