Events

Join us for our January chapter meeting and guest speaker.

Date: January 10, 2026

Time:  9:30 AM -11:30 AM

Dennis Fermenich presents : "It takes More Than Trees"

City of Greenfield Consulting Forester, Dennis Fermenich will present "It takes More Than Trees".  Dennis will talk about his work in Greenfield, including installing pollinator habitats, urban forestry projects and how to obtain civic designations like Tree City & Bird City.

This meeting is free and open to the public; just let the front gate attendant know you're here for Wild Ones.  

We will be in a classroom on the first floor of the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center (past the lobby desk and down the hallway).

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.

Invasive species are a major threat to healthy ecosystems in southeastern Wisconsin—but restoration is happening right here in your own back yard.

Join our guest expert, Patrick Siwula, Southeast Region Aquatic Invasive Species Biologist with the Wisconsin DNR, for "Invasive Species and Restoration Efforts in the Milwaukee Area."

 Learn about local invasive species, how they spread, and what’s being done to restore native ecosystems—and how you can help.

This meeting is free and open to the public; just let the front gate attendant know that you are there for Wild Ones.

We will be in a classroom on the first floor of Schlitz Audubon Nature Center (past the lobby desk down the hallway to the left).

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.!  

In many ways, our modern Homo sapiens brains are nothing more than “Caveman brains in a modern world.”

Join us and guest expert, Nick Coley, Native Plant Nursery Owner and Consultant, to explore how we can craft better gardens through understanding our biological selves and our evolutionary past.

We invite you to come with your own thoughts and answers to these questions: 

How would you describe “Us”? What kind of habitat do WE need as the species Homo sapiens?And what do our brains really want out of a native garden?

This meeting is free and open to the public; just let the front gate attendant know that you are there for Wild Ones.

We will be in a classroom on the first floor of Schlitz Audubon Nature Center (past the lobby desk down the hallway to the left).

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.

Dr. Jeff Karron’s upcoming talk features striking slow-motion videography to highlight the interdependence of bumble bee queens and spring-flowering perennial plants. Early-blooming native perennials provide the essential food resources queens need to survive, establish nests, and successfully raise their first brood. In turn, many spring flowering plants depend heavily on bumble bees for effective pollination and seed production.

 All video and photography featured in this presentation were filmed in high-quality woodland and prairie sites across southeastern Wisconsin. The talk highlights the importance of conserving and restoring early-season floral resources to sustain bumble bee populations.

Dr. Karron is Professor of Biology emeritus at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is internationally known for his research on the ecology of plant-pollinator interactions, bumble bee behavior, and the conservation of endangered plants.

 For more information about his research, please visit his website: www.karronlab.com. Jeff recently produced a highly regarded nature documentary highlighting the ecology of bumble bees and native plants in a tallgrass prairie https://youtu.be/fQsnPAWQqcI

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon!