Events

Come join us for an evening of getting creative with native plants and your yard! Learn how to take notes on your site and how to develop plant lists to grow on for your garden. Kelsay will go over the basics of using native plants to fit their needs and your garden aesthetic. This will be a “kinda hands on” experience, as he will go over the steps of how to read the site, design creatively and incorporate ideas for those in attendance. He will try to help to dispel myths and foggy information on native plant use in design and try to expand your planting palate.

Planting native species is an important step toward creating habitat, but how can you tell what’s working, what’s missing, and where to focus your efforts next?

Join Wild Ones and Wildr Places for The Habitat Check-up, a free webinar exploring a practical, science-informed approach to evaluating your home landscape. Presenter Zoe Evans will introduce five key areas to consider when assessing habitat and share how thoughtful observations can help guide your next steps.

Whether you’re just getting started with native plants or have been gardening for years, this webinar will help you look at your landscape through a new lens.

Have you ever wondered how habitats in Will County, Illinois looked and behaved before plows and farms? Would you like to support robust habitats at home? Today's landscape is heavily augmented by machinery, but also the absence of key animals that made robust habitats. Join us for an informative talk on managing small areas to support our local wildlife by mimicking absent animals and processes. 

Bio:  Shaun McCoshum is a certified wildlife Biologist and Senior Ecologist with over 20 years of experience restoring habitats, conducting research, and gardening across North America. His work includes published scientific papers, books, and copious restoration plans from coast to coast including lands with bison, endangered plants, threatened pollinators, black bears, and mountain lions. His new book explores the Pre-European ecology of North America and how habitats existed and explains how we can better mimic processes in our own yards to support habitat. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-mccoshum/ 

Check out my new book: Natural Habitats and Wildlife Gardening

No yard required. Learn how native plants can turn patios, balconies, containers, and other small spaces into meaningful habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. This practical panel will cover plant selection, container design, seasonal care, and realistic ways to support biodiversity in limited spaces.

Registration link coming soon.

Birds depend on healthy, connected habitats for food, shelter, nesting, and migration support. Join experts from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to explore how native plants and thoughtful landscape choices can support birdlife at home. Learn how gardens, yards, and community spaces can provide the insects, seeds, berries, cover, and habitat structure birds need throughout the year.

Registration link coming soon. 

Join Xerces Society Ambassador and pollinator advocate, Brandie Dunn, to take a deep dive into the marvelous world of moths and discover the many wonders of nighttime pollination! You’ll learn about their unique life cycle, behaviors, diversity, and more - as well as the important role they play in our ecosystems. Brandie will share exciting insights she gleaned after her first attempts at mothing and inspire you to take note of Nature’s Night Shift in your own neighborhood. This presentation will conclude with constructive ways that you can help conserve these important, yet lesser-known, pollinators. The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation is an international nonprofit organization that protects the natural world through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitats.

Bio: Brandie was honored to become a volunteer Xerces Society Ambassador in 2022 and join them in their mission to engage and inspire people to establish meaningful connections with invertebrates. She came upon the conservation scene in part due to her Community Science efforts with bumble bees, more recently joining Xerces’ Firefly Atlas initiative.

In small, incremental steps over the course of the last decade, she has successfully incorporated over 70 native plant species into her suburban yard where she has welcomed an increasingly diverse array of species including endangered rusty-patched bumble bees. She aspires to make life more hospitable for both daytime and nighttime garden visitors where she lives.

A Volunteer Site Steward at a conservation site in McHenry County, she enjoys hosting monthly ecological restoration days in the community. As a Wisconsin & Illinois Master Naturalist, she volunteers in many capacities in her church and community to cultivate connections which promote conservation, restoration, education, and improved stewardship of the land. 

Monarch butterflies depend on a network of habitats stretching across North America, and home landscapes can play an important role in their survival. Join experts from Monarch Joint Venture to explore the science behind monarch conservation, including the importance of milkweed, nectar resources, and regionally appropriate habitat. Learn practical ways to support monarchs through native landscaping and help sustain one of the world's most remarkable migrations.
 

Registration link coming soon.