Wild One Events – Chapter and National

The Wild Ones Nation's Capital Region chapter's Informal Garden Chats are held the first Monday of each month from 7-8 pm ET via Zoom.

Garden Chats are monthly Zoom conversations about a variety of topics including what is happening in our gardens, how we're encouraging native gardening in our communities, ideas for our WildOnes chapter, and more!  

A topic/prompt and Zoom details will be sent out to chapter members via the listserve prior to the meeting.  Past topics have included winter sowing, pruning trees/shrubs, engaging neighbors in native planting, pocket forests/thickets, jumping worms, mosquito control and leaving the leaves.  

Beginners welcome! Bring your stories, questions, or just sit back and listen.

Rachael Renzi from the C & O Canal will be speaking on "Rare and Threatened  Native  Plants".  Her PowerPoint presentation will show the beauty of these native plants.

12:30-1:00pm     Registration/Socializing/Seed Share*
1:00-2:00pm     Speaker
2:00-2:30pm     Socializing/Clean-up/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.

The Winter Speaker Series is open to the public.  All participants will be asked to register via Eventbrite.  

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.

For more information, please check out the MN-CPPC site. Note that WildOnes is promoting, but not hosting the event.

Kit Sheffield, a Virginia Master Naturalist, will be speaking on “Native Ferns”.  Sheffield leads fern-related hikes and has been featured on gardening podcasts.

In honor of National Seed Swap Day on 1/31, we will hold an informal native seed swap before the program begins

12:30-1:00pm     Registration/Socializing, Seed Swap
  1:00-2:00pm      Speaker
  2:00-2:30pm      Socializing/Clean-up

The Winter Speaker Series is free and open to the public, but please register below on Eventbrite. 

Note: An optional donation of $5 - $10 at the event is appreciated to help offset the cost of the program.

The Wild Ones Nation's Capital Region chapter's Informal Garden Chats are held the first Monday of each month from 7-8 pm ET via Zoom.

Garden Chats are monthly Zoom conversations about a variety of topics including what is happening in our gardens, how we're encouraging native gardening in our communities, ideas for our WildOnes chapter, and more!  

A topic/prompt and Zoom details will be sent out to chapter members via the listserve prior to the meeting.  Past topics have included winter sowing, pruning trees/shrubs, engaging neighbors in native planting, pocket forests/thickets, jumping worms, mosquito control and leaving the leaves.  

Beginners welcome! Bring your stories, questions, or just sit back and listen.

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.!  

The Muddy Branch Alliance and the Gaithersburg Parks, Arts, and Recreation Corporation (G-PARC) are hosting an in-person panel discussion all about native plants! Their expert speakers will explain how to get started with native plants, and the benefits they bring to your garden and to the community.

Ahead of their spring native plant sale (watch for more information about that soon!), get the education and inspiration you need to create your very own native plant garden.

It’s happening at the Bohrer Park Activity Center, at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday February 28. No need to RSVP.  Save the date and watch for further announcements about the panelists!

"Working with Landscapers panel" ---How to make the best use of my garden?  What should I ask?  What should I share about my property and about what I want? 

AGENDA

12:00 -12:30pm  - Registration/Socializing/Informal Seed Share*
12:30 -  2:00pm  - Panel Discussion
   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.

The long awaited "Maryland Native Plant Guide: Piedmont Guide” will be available for purchase at this event.  The books are being sold by the Maryland Native Plant Society with all funds going back to the the UMd Extension Office which produced this excellent resource.  Guildes cost $10. Cash only, please.

The Winter Speaker Series is free and open to the public, but please register below on Eventbrite. 

Note: An optional donation of $5 - $10 at the event is appreciated to help offset the cost of the program.

PANELISTS INCLUDE: 

 Backyard Bounty (Kris Colby) Puts together low-cost packages 

Kris has been a very active member of our Wild Ones chapter.  He has given us many ideas and support for our initiatives through our listserv.  He runs a company which gives many levels of service from consulting, landscape design, installation and even maintenance to his broad range of clients throughout Maryland. 

Native PlantScapes (Robert Severynse) 30-minute free consultation Owned by a Virginia Tech graduate with specialists in the DMV.

Native Plant Specialist Rob has always admired nature and found his love of native plants while studying at college. With degrees in Environmental Science and Geography, as well as a minor in Meteorology, his goal is to create positive and lasting changes in our natural world. 

Lauren Hubbard Planning Specialist III with the Stormwater BMP Inspection and Maintenance Program Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection

 Marianne Borelli (not a landscaper, by appointment only) grows plants in her backyard and offers ideas to those who buy from her, including landscapers. She is not in town on the day of the panel but she wants all to know that it is not just the condition of the plants but also the behavior of them that is important for your garden.

Bee Knees (Lolly Jewet) designs and manages the contractors who do the work.   Lolly transitioned to landscape design from a career in international development. She appreciates the way landscape design uses both the creative and the analytical sides of her brain, and the way working with native plants allows us to benefit the environment while surrounding ourselves with beauty. 

DC Natives---non-profit encouraging pollinator gardening and vegetable gardening in DC.  Our Wild Ones may like this model of how they bring communities together.  

The Wild Ones Nation's Capital Region chapter's Informal Garden Chats are held the first Monday of each month from 7-8 pm ET via Zoom.

Garden Chats are monthly Zoom conversations about a variety of topics including what is happening in our gardens, how we're encouraging native gardening in our communities, ideas for our Wild Ones chapter, and more!  

A topic/prompt and Zoom details will be sent out to chapter members via the listserve prior to the meeting.  Past topics have included winter sowing, pruning trees/shrubs, engaging neighbors in native planting, pocket forests/thickets, jumping worms, mosquito control and leaving the leaves.  

Beginners welcome! Bring your stories, questions, or just sit back and listen.

We will have an Annual Members’ Meeting to share a financial and a membership report.  We’ll also outline the activities we have going.  And of course, you can ask the board your questions.  

Meeting details will be distributed to chapter members via groups.io.

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.

One of our Wild Ones members has generously opened her garden for the first garden tour of the summer.  The garden owner writes…

"People wanting to learn about deer pressure will love this tour of my garden.  Members only!  I have labels on my plants and a very extensive plant list that tells which plants are native and which plants the deer don't even nibble in my yard.   There are many kinds of ferns, native plants in the "lawn" and many different kinds of sedges beside the perennials and ephemerals."

Please see groups.io for additional details including a detailed species list, how to RSVP, and the open garden address.

Join fellow Wild Ones on Saturday, April 25 for a nature walk in one of the county’s newest parks, Royce Hanson Conservation Park. This walk will be at a leisurely pace on mostly flat trails, although may be muddy depending on the weather. Formerly farmland, this property is undergoing meadow restoration and reforestation by the park service, so there will be lots to see, including lots of birds (you might want binoculars!). A port-a-john is available on site

This is a members only event (limit 12 people).  Event details including meeting location and how to sign-up have been shared to the chapter listserv.

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.

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/

On Saturday May 2nd the Kensington Park Library will be having an Earth Day Garden Party and we will have a table showing off Wild Ones.  Many of you went to the event last year or have been to the wonderful native plant gardens at the library.   This event will include a plant swap, garden tour, compost bin distribution and presentation, native plants, rainscapes and tree experts!

See “Read More” link below for details about the event, Sponsored by Friends of the Library, Montgomery County.

Members - If you are interested in helping out at the Wild Ones table, please respond to the call for volunteers on groups.io.
 

The Wild Ones Nation's Capital Region chapter's Informal Garden Chats are held the first Monday of each month from 7-8 pm ET via Zoom.

Garden Chats are monthly Zoom conversations about a variety of topics including what is happening in our gardens, how we're encouraging native gardening in our communities, ideas for our Wild Ones chapter, and more!  

A topic/prompt and Zoom details will be sent out to chapter members via the listserve prior to the meeting.  Past topics have included winter sowing, pruning trees/shrubs, engaging neighbors in native planting, pocket forests/thickets, jumping worms, mosquito control and leaving the leaves.  

Beginners welcome! Bring your stories, questions, or just sit back and listen.

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

Our annual Members Only Spring Native Plant Share will be on May 16th!  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/

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/

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 Wild Ones Nation's Capital Region chapter's Informal Garden Chats are held the first Monday of each month from 7-8 pm ET via Zoom.

Garden Chats are monthly Zoom conversations about a variety of topics including what is happening in our gardens, how we're encouraging native gardening in our communities, ideas for our Wild Ones chapter, and more!  

A topic/prompt and Zoom details will be sent out to chapter members via the listserve prior to the meeting.  Past topics have included winter sowing, pruning trees/shrubs, engaging neighbors in native planting, pocket forests/thickets, jumping worms, mosquito control and leaving the leaves.  

Beginners welcome! Bring your stories, questions, or just sit back and listen.

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/

Save the date for a Wild Ones Open Garden.

Registration instructions and additional details provided on the WONC listserv (groups.io).  If you aren't on the listserv yet, be sure to join!  https://nationscapitalregion.wildones.org/members-only/wild-ones-chapter-listserve-quick-guide/

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/

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/

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 Wild Ones Nation's Capital Region chapter's Informal Garden Chats are held the first Monday of each month from 7-8 pm ET via Zoom.

Garden Chats are monthly Zoom conversations about a variety of topics including what is happening in our gardens, how we're encouraging native gardening in our communities, ideas for our Wild Ones chapter, and more!  

A topic/prompt and Zoom details will be sent out to chapter members via the listserve prior to the meeting.  Past topics have included winter sowing, pruning trees/shrubs, engaging neighbors in native planting, pocket forests/thickets, jumping worms, mosquito control and leaving the leaves.  

Beginners welcome! Bring your stories, questions, or just sit back and listen.

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/

You planted native. Your neighbor has opinions. Maybe your HOA does too. If you’ve ever felt like the hardest part of native plant gardening is the conversations, not the gardening, you’re not alone.

Wild Ones is thrilled to share this upcoming free webinar as part of the 2026 Less Lawn More Life Challenge. Join Lorraine Johnson for a practical conversation on navigating HOA rules, addressing neighbor concerns, and fostering community conversations about native plant gardening and ecological landscapes.

Save the date for a Wild Ones Open Garden!

I am a longtime gardener who started to convert to native plants about 8 years ago. We have a corner lot with most of the yard area in front where I have installed mostly plants with high deer resistance.  Now that my beds and shrubs have become more established, I have been able to remove the deer fencing and rely on a granular deer repellent.  Some deer browsing takes place but the plants seem able to cope.   

Our small backyard is fenced and bordered by tall trees, so I’m going for the woodland look, with an understory of shrubs and small trees, with shade loving perennials below.  I have installed a mini-pond mentioned in a Tallamy video, enjoyed by birds, frogs, raccoons and the occasional fox. 

My landscape is still evolving with new projects each year.  This year’s is to remove an area of pachysandra which I planted many years ago.  I’m also working on a soft landing area under an oak tree.  Still areas to convert, but step by step I’m getting there!

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 Wild Ones Nation's Capital Region chapter's Informal Garden Chats are held the first Monday of each month from 7-8 pm ET via Zoom.

Garden Chats are monthly Zoom conversations about a variety of topics including what is happening in our gardens, how we're encouraging native gardening in our communities, ideas for our Wild Ones chapter, and more!  

A topic/prompt and Zoom details will be sent out to chapter members via the listserve prior to the meeting.  Past topics have included winter sowing, pruning trees/shrubs, engaging neighbors in native planting, pocket forests/thickets, jumping worms, mosquito control and leaving the leaves.  

Beginners welcome! Bring your stories, questions, or just sit back and listen.

This event has been rescheduled from its original June date.

Save the date for a Wild Ones Open Garden!

Registration 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/

Native plants are the foundation of habitat, but wildlife need more than food to thrive. Join ecologist and Certified Wildlife Biologist Shaun McCoshum, PhD, to explore how nesting sites, shelter, water, soil conditions, and other often-overlooked resources can transform a yard into a functioning ecosystem that supports biodiversity year-round.

Registration link coming soon.

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.

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.

Registration link coming soon.

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.