Just in time for holiday shopping! New garden signs
Our new garden signs are in, and we’re extending the special introductory price of $25 each to members only.
The signs are available from our shop for $30 with local pickup, or $35 with shipping. To get the members’ price of $25, use the coupon code “save5” when you check out. A perfect Christmas present for yourself or the other native plant lovers in your life.
Chris Schmidt of Studio 13 in Houghton designed the “Nurturing Nature with Natives” sign, and WOK board member Roz Heidtke designed the “Do Not Mow or Spray” sign. Special thanks to members who shared their sign ideas at our annual meeting in September and then voted on the text.
Holiday Party set for Dec. 16
Keweenaw Wild Ones will hold its annual holiday party on Tuesday, Dec. 16, at Gino’s Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge, 800 Quincy St., in Hancock. We’ll have a social hour at 5:30 p.m., free pizza at around 6 p.m., and door prizes. Save the date!
WOK donates plants to local schools
WOK has given away native plants to schools and nonprofits at the end of our sales in the past, but this year we made it official and created a program. This fall, the beneficiaries were Laurel Givens, Houghton Elementary; Veronyka Shafer, Chassell Public Schools; and Katelyn Daavetilla and Sara Koivisto, Copper Island Academy.
All area teachers and nonprofits are welcome to sign up for the program.
We also donated plants to gardens managed by nonprofits, including the Northern Lights Clubhouse, the Keweenaw Historical Society, and Glad Tidings Assembly of God.
Collectiing native seed at Hancock Beach bioswale
About a dozen native plant enthusiasts, Wild Ones and nonmembers alike, met at the Hancock Beach Oct. 7 to learn about gathering native seeds and put the lesson into practice. Botanist and WOK member Jill Fisher coached us all on how to pick, store, and plant the seeds. We gathered purple coneflower, wild bergamot, little bluestem, lanceleaf coreopsis, sweet Joe Pye weed, and many more species. Special thanks to Jill and also to Maria Janowiak, who provided coin envelopes for collecting and storing seeds.
Other chapter happenings
- We joined members of Glad Tidings Assembly of God for a garden work day. Vice President Karen Cayce reported that we installed hundreds of native plants and pulled countless weeds.
- Kristine Bradof led work bees at the Nara Chalet, expanding the garden area and installing lots more natives.
- Members volunteered at 16 farmers’ market this summer, as well as at Bridgefest, Strawberry Festival, and Pridefest. We sold $1,000 worth of plants at these tabling events, a significant portion of our $3,800 in total sales.
- Polly Havins reports that the Northern Lights Clubhouse is on track to expand its native garden in the spring.
- Craig Waddell and Vicky Bergvall have been working with local Girl Scouts at Kestner Park as they remove mugwort and plant daffodils rescued from WOK’s native garden.