Wild One Events – Chapter and National

The Maryland Native Plant Society's fall conference features speakers and field trips to learn more about our native plants and their habitats. Discover the unique landscapes of Maryland’s Piedmont and Western Coastal Plain from globally rare ecosystems such as magnolia bogs to the resilient and prevalent oak-hickory forests.

Save the date for a Wild Ones Open Garden!

Additional details will be sent to members on the listserv (groups.io) as the event gets closer.  If you aren't on the listserv yet, be sure to join!  https://nationscapitalregion.wildones.org/members-only/wild-ones-chapter-listserve-quick-guide/

The Maryland Native Plant Society's fall conference features speakers and field trips to learn more about our native plants and their habitats. Discover the unique landscapes of Maryland’s Piedmont and Western Coastal Plain from globally rare ecosystems such as magnolia bogs to the resilient and prevalent oak-hickory forests.

What does it really take to turn a conventional lawn into a thriving native meadow? Join Owner & Principal, New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL), Sara Weaner Cooper for a candid look at her family's ongoing lawn-to-meadow transformation featured in The New York Times and BBC. Drawing from three years of hands-on experience, Sara will share the methods, lessons learned, successes, and challenges of converting turfgrass into a dynamic native plant community. Participants will gain practical insights into site preparation, planting, management, and the ecological principles that guide successful meadow establishment, along with realistic expectations for how these landscapes evolve over time.

Registration link coming soon.

Presale Party: Sept 18, 5 to 7pm

Preregister on ActiveMontgomery.org (Registration opens August 10) to avoid the crowds and have access to limited edition plants.

In-Person Sale: Sep 19 and 20, 10am to 2pm each day

See link for details and pant lists

In-Person Sale: Sep 19 and 20, 10am to 2pm each day

See link for details and pant lists

Save the date for a Wild Ones Open Garden!

Additional details will be sent to members on the listserv (groups.io) as the event gets closer.  If you aren't on the listserv yet, be sure to join!  https://nationscapitalregion.wildones.org/members-only/wild-ones-chapter-listserve-quick-guide/

Our annual Members Only Fall Native Plant Share will be on October 3rd!  This is a great chance to share and receive native plants and seeds - all members are welcome to come, even if you have no plants to share.  Following the swap, we will have a potluck gathering.

For more details about the swap including location, schedule, and instructions see the Events section of the Members Only page on this site.

Save the date for a Wild Ones Open Garden!

Additional details will be sent to members on the listserv (groups.io) as the event gets closer.  If you aren't on the listserv yet, be sure to join!  https://nationscapitalregion.wildones.org/members-only/wild-ones-chapter-listserve-quick-guide/

Wild Ones Nation's Capital Region will have a table at this free Native Plant and Seed Share.  Members who are interested in volunteering at the table, please respond to the call for volunteers on groups.io.

This native plant and seed share is also a great opportunity for Wild Ones members to share their garden's bounty with other gardeners, many who are new to native planting.  In addition to a plant and seed share, there will be a potluck.  Please come, bring plants to share, and enjoy connecting with other Native Plant enthusiasts.

This event is a collaboration between several different groups interested in promoting native plants.

RSVP encouraged but not required.

https://www.facebook.com/events/2492981804465201/ 
https://sstpmutualaid.wordpress.com/native-plant-seed-share/
https://www.foodforestcollective.org/events/plantswap2026

Bats are among the most important and misunderstood wildlife in our communities. Join experts from Bat Conservation International to explore how native plants, healthy insect populations, and thoughtful landscape design can help support bats. Learn about the ecological role of bats and discover practical ways to create habitat for North America's night flyers right in your own backyard.

BUILDING A POND FOR WILDLIFE
Sarah Witcher---Maryland Department of Natural Resources

Sarah Witcher is a Wildlife Biologist and Educator for the Department of Natural Resources, Wildlife and Heritage Service.  In this role, she serves as the state coordinator for the Project WILD K-12 curriculum program, on the state committee for the Envirothon high school competition, and as a leader and public speaker for the Wild Acres backyard habitat program.  She also writes for outreach publications in multiple formats and supports the Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species research and management efforts of the Natural Heritage Program.

Sarah will be covering some basics of creating great wildlife habitat, with an in-depth focus on backyard ponds and other water sources.

AGENDA
12:00 - 12:30pm  - Registration/Socializing/Informal Seed Share*
12:30 -   2:00pm  - Guest Speaker
  2:00 -   2:30pm -  Socializing/Clean-up/Informal Seed Share*

*Before/after the event there will be a table set up to share native plant seeds. Please bring seeds or winter sowing containers (especially translucent plastic 1 gallon milk/water jugs) to share if you have them. You are welcome to take seeds regardless of if you have any to share.

Zoe Evans, rewilding coach and VP of Partnerships & Programs at Wildr shares a practical, science-informed framework for evaluating a home landscape, identifying its greatest habitat opportunities, and choosing actions that support more plants, insects, birds, and other wildlife.

Registration link coming soon.

GET PAID TO GO NATIVE - MANAGE STORMWATER WITH LOCAL REBATES
Andrew Merluzzi

Montgomery County, Prince George's County, DC, and other counties will all pay homeowners to manage stormwater on their own property — through rain gardens, conservation landscaping, permeable pavers, and rain barrels. But most residents have never applied. This presentation walks through a case study of how to build a rain garden, from design through installation. Andrew Merluzzi, owner of Longview Landscape Design, will describe what local rebate programs require, the easiest mistakes to avoid, and how to plan ahead if you want a project ready by next spring. Expect a practical case for why a beautiful, ecologically alive front yard might be the smartest home infrastructure decision you make this year.

Andrew Merluzzi is a faculty member at Georgetown University and the founder of Longview Landscape Design, an ecological design practice serving homeowners across the DC region. He designed his own rain garden using Prince George's County's Rain Check Rebate program and helps neighbors and clients navigate the same programs.

AGENDA
12:00 - 12:30pm  - Registration/Socializing/Informal Seed Share*
12:30 -   2:00pm  - Guest Speaker
   2:00 -   2:30pm -  Socializing/Clean-up/Informal Seed Share*

*Before/after the event there will be a table set up to share native plant seeds. Please bring seeds or winter sowing containers (especially translucent plastic 1 gallon milk/water jugs) to share if you have them. You are welcome to take seeds regardless of if you have any to share.

MOSSES FOR BEGINNERS
Linda and Charlie Davis  - National Historical Society of Maryland

If mosses intrigue you when you hike and you’d like to know more about them, this is your chance. Using specimens, slides, dramatization, models, and microscope work, Linda and Charlie Davis will introduce participants to moss anatomy, life cycle, ecology, human use, and gardening. The walk to your mailbox will never be the same.

Charlie and Linda Davis have inventoried mosses and liverworts for the National Park Service at Great Falls Park, Virginia, and at Piscataway Park and Fort Washington Park in Maryland. Charlie is a professional field ecologist who specializes in plants. Linda and Charlie offered monthly moss identification workshops for years at the Natural History Society of Maryland in Overlea, MD (www.marylandnature.org).

AGENDA

12:00 -12:30pm  - Registration/Socializing/Informal Seed Share*
12:30 -  2:00pm  - Guest Speaker
   2:00 -  2:30pm -  Socializing/Clean-up/Informal Seed Share*

*Before/after the event there will be a table set up to share native plant seeds. Please bring seeds or winter sowing containers (especially translucent plastic 1 gallon milk/water jugs) to share if you have them. You are welcome to take seeds regardless of if you have any to share.

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.

ETHNOBOTANY AND FLORAL FOLKLORE
Alonso Abugattas “The Capital Naturalist

Ethnobotany is the study of how people relate to and use plants in their lives, be it food, medicine, tools, and so many other ways. Learn about plant folklore, how people used locally native and commonly available plants in their lives and historically. The natural history of various plants will be discussed, along with some additional references to finding more about the various native plants which will be the focus of this presentation.

Alonso Abugattas (The Capital Naturalist) is a well-known local naturalist, environmental educator, and storyteller in the Washington, DC area. He is the Natural Resources Manager for Arlington County Parks, VA.  Besides being a decorated Master Gardener, Master Naturalist, and National Interpreter, he has received acclamations from Nature Forward and the Virginia Native Plant Society.  He also writes for the “Bay Journal”.

He was inducted in the Washington Biologists’ Field Club in 2022, one of the oldest and most exclusive biology clubs in the nation with only 65 local members and founded in 1900.

Check out his blog and YouTube Channel “Capital Naturalist”.

AGENDA
12:00 -12:30pm  - Registration/Socializing/Informal Seed Share*
12:30 -  2:00pm  - Guest Speaker
2:00 -  2:30pm -  Socializing/Clean-up/Informal Seed Share*

*Before/after the event there will be a table set up to share native plant seeds. Please bring seeds or winter sowing containers (especially translucent plastic 1 gallon milk/water jugs) to share if you have them. You are welcome to take seeds regardless of if you have any to share.

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. 

USING NATIVE SHRUBS AS FOUNDATION PLANTS AND ENCOURAGING NEIGHBORS TO USE NATIVE PLANTS
Matt Partain - Glenstone

Matt is a graduate of the University of Georgia in Landscape Management. He has presented at 2022 ASLA Conference on Landscape Architecture, 2020 NDAL Symposium, 2020 Mt Cuba Educational Series, and to multiple garden clubs.  He has also taught classes at the Federation of Garden Clubs Landscape Design School.  Matt currently oversees an organic planting and management program for over nearly 300 acres of native landscape and restoration areas at the Glenstone Museum in Potomac, MD.

AGENDA
12:00 -12:30pm  - Registration/Socializing/Informal Seed Share*
12:30 -  2:00pm  - Guest Speaker
 2:00 -  2:30pm -  Socializing/Clean-up/Informal Seed Share*

*Before/after the event there will be a table set up to share native plant seeds. Please bring seeds or winter sowing containers (especially translucent plastic 1 gallon milk/water jugs) to share if you have them. You are welcome to take seeds regardless of if you have any to share.

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.