EVENTS

Explore how native gardening can address climate challenges in our next Wild Ones national webinar, “Cultivating Change” with author and activist Lorraine Johnson. Johnson has been researching and writing about environmental issues for three decades. Learn about the pivotal role of gardening as an act of stewardship in the face of climate and ecological challenges. Discover the profound connections between individual gardens and the broader world and learn how these green spaces can serve as catalysts for positive ecological and social change.  Join Wild Ones for a practical and insightful discussion on gardening's positive impact on the environment and our future. 

Virtual registrants will receive a link to watch the talk live as well as a link to the recording. The recording will only be available for a limited time. 

Looking Forward to a Livelier Landscape: Indigenous plant-based landscapes. The best is yet to come.

Zoom link:

 https://wildones-org.zoom.us/j/82950950370?pwd=NjVWNHA0UWduMzNCZlBBUzQ1ZjZkUT09#success

As members of Wild Ones, we appreciate how our lives are enriched by having Nature close-by. This program will challenge us to capture the spirit of our personal landscape and to bring more nature into it. Insects, and the plants they depend on, keep the world running. Keystone plants nurture numerous insects and create sustainable landscapes. What keystone plants belong in our landscape? What maintenance efforts will keep that ecosystem flourishing? How can we create greater diversity of bees, butterflies, and moths? Lastly, we'll learn to have faith in a seed, understand how plants migrate, and know that when we plant that seed, Nature will come! Let’s have fun and bloom where we’re planted!

Alan Branhagen is Executive Director of the Natural Land Institute (NLI) in Rockford, Illinois, one of our nation's first land trusts. Founder, George Fell, pioneered the concept of legally protected nature preserves, beginning 60 years ago with the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission. 

Previously he was Director of Operations at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum from 2017-2023.

Alan has a BA in Landscape Architecture from Iowa State University and an MA of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University.  He is an all-around plantsman and naturalist specializing in birds, butterflies, botany, and planning and design with nature.  He is the author of 3 books: The Gardeners Butterfly Book, Native Plants of the Midwest and The Midwest Native Plant Primer.

Registration for this event is now closed, and registrants have been emailed about attending. Please contact [email protected] if you have any issues getting in.

This will be a paid event for both in-person and remote viewing. Virtual registrants will receive a link to watch Dr. Kimmerer's talk live as well as a link to the recording. The recording will only be available for a limited time. 

Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
Ecological restoration can be understood as an act of reciprocity, in return for the gifts of the earth. This talk explores the ecological and ethical imperatives of healing the damage we have inflicted on our land and waters. We trace the evolution of restoration philosophy and practice and consider how integration of indigenous knowledge can expand our understanding of restoration from the biophysical to the biocultural. Reciprocal restoration includes not only healing the land but our relationship to land. In healing the land, we are healing ourselves.

Wild Ones is excited to cohost this event with the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh's Earth Week 2024 and the Wild Ones Fox Valley Chapter.