Events

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.

Annual Members meeting. Year in review and upcoming agendas.

The link has been sent to members. 

Celebrate National Seed Swap Day with a visit to the library's third floor, where local gardening organizations will be sharing ideas, inspiration, and seeds to help you plan for the growing season ahead. 

The seeds are free, and visitors are welcome to bring seeds of their own to share. This drop in event is open to all and seeds are available while supplies last.

Wild Ones Tri-State Driftless Area will be tabling at this wonderful event. Drop by to say hello, bring your gardening questions, and pick up some free native seeds! 

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.!  

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.

You are invited to a Tri-state Driftless Area Member Event: a social and sharing event among the members. 

Stop by for snacks and an opportunity to ask questions or share on various topics like local plants, what works in your garden, what struggles have you had? We will also have supplies if you would like to make a plant cage out of sandbar willow and grapevine. 

It's that time of year! Pollinators are emerging and are looking for a banquet of pollen and nectar to nourish themselves and their offspring. Adding native plants is one of the best things you can do to help.

Join us to learn about some of our favorite early looming native pollinator forbs (flowering plants), and how they are a vital substitue for non-native, lower quality landscapes.

Converting even a small patch of your lawn into a native garden will help our pollinator friends.

If you are able, please leave the parking lot for those that are less able. Parking on the street is allowed for this event.

Join award-winning author, photographer, and educator Rick Darke for What Is Wild and Why It Matters, a free national webinar on Tuesday, April 28th at 10 am CT. Discover how inviting a bit of authentic wildness can create a vibrant landscape that sustains you and local biodiversity. This national event is presented in collaboration between Wild Ones and Homegrown National Park.

Wild Ones Tri-State Driftless Area is happy  to present a workshop “Planting Natives in Containers ”at the Galena Public Library's  annual plant and seed swap.  Bring seeds and plants and swap with your neighbors. Vegetables, herbs, native plants and houseplants are welcome. Even if you don't have plants to bring, come to get plants and seeds to take home!

Planting Natives in Containers workshop begins at 11:30. You will learn how and why to plant natives in containers and take home available plants for your container!

No registration required. 

Homeschooled youth learn about native plants and their value.

Then they had the opportunity to watercolor a plant and journal observations of the plant they drew.

The class ended with sharing observations.

Please join us for a joint presentation sponsored by Wild Ones Tri-State Driftless Area and the Galena Territory Association's Greenspace Advisory Group. 

Cory Ritterbusch and Emily Lubcke will focus on the native landscape design at the Marina Park, including a presentation in the Marina Lounge to learn about native landscape design perspectives, how we approached the Marina Park plantings, and favorite species for various conditions. After the presentation, we will walk through the Marina plantings, which include mulch beds, prairie areas, and an oak savanna under restoration.

Cory Ritterbusch is the owner of Prairie Works, Inc. and has been involved with ecological restoration and native landscaping design and installation for more than 30 years. Emily Lubcke is the Natural Resources Manager at The Galena Territory Association since 2007. Cory and Emily collaborated on the design and installation of the Marina Park landscaping in 2024. 

Considered a keystone species, oak trees support more critical habitat than any other North American tree. They are one of the most valuable tree types providing a strong sense of place in the Midwest, and are the National Tree of the United States. However, oaks are in decline. 

We will host a screening of “The Nature of Oaks,” by Doug Tallamy. This 50-minute video will help you discover why oak trees are biodiversity powerhouses and will show you how to restore nature right in your own yard, no matter its size. You may find it is the perfect tree for your landscape.

After the screening there will be a question-and-answer session led by Emily Lubcke, Natural Resource Manager of the Galena Territory Association.

Wild Ones mission is to connect people and native plants for a healthy planet. Wild Ones Tri-State Driftless Area is glad to have Bill Meyer join us to present concepts and practices homeowners can implement to help pollinators and birds thrive in your yards. Bill is passionate about creating a healthy wildlife habitat and his presentation will touch on native plants, and more, to help in your own backyard. 

Bill Meyer has an education in crop sciences, environmental water science, environmental ecology and pollination. Bill is employed as a District Conservationist. His duties include providing technical guidance to landowners on managing conservation reserve program plantings (prairie plantings). 

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon!