Anyone who has ever put a native plant in the wrong spot and watched it either die or grow into a huge, floppy giant may already know something about the importance of soils. But few gardeners understand more than the bare minimum about the ground under their feet. Now there’s a chance to learn more […] Continue reading "Be a Better Gardener: Dig into the Science of Soils Oct. 15"
Help Us Design a New Sign We’ve sold out of our old garden sign (left) and are planning to order new ones. We’ll probably keep the artwork, but folks want to try some new language. You can help us choose by filling out this survey. Caveat, the form works better on a computer than on […] Continue reading "What’s Up with WOK, September 2025"
Fall Plant Sale Is Up and Running We’ve got our fall sale going, and it features some neat plants, including prairie sage (left), Pennsylvania sedge, and some lovely penstemons. If you don’t know about penstemons (aka beardtongues—ugly name for beatiful plants), now’s your chance to delve into this delightful genus. Learn more, order, pick up […] Continue reading "What’s Up with WOK, August 2025"
Keweenaw Wild Ones is hosting its first-ever Native Plant Swap. How it works Members bring any extra plants, including those that may be popping up in their yards, and bring them to the swap. You can put them in pots, bags, etc. Any members looking for plants can come and adopt. Even though this is […] Continue reading "For Members: Native Plant Swap Sept. 3"
WOK holds first sale of the season Thanks to wet, temperate weather and some nice big seedlings provided by Brian Black of Bay College, we were able to start our official plant sale early this year (June 26 for members); it ended July 23. This year, we decided not to have customers pick up their […] Continue reading "What’s Up with WOK, July 2025"
Members’ Native Plant Sale Kicks Off Our annual plant sale got off to an early start this year, thanks to warmer weather and some nice big plants donated by Brian Black at Bay College. Members got first dibs on some special species that quickly sold out, including wild petunia, purple clematis, and bottle gentian. Yet […] Continue reading "What’s Up with WOK, June 2025"
BYO brush pile for wildlife We heard a revealing presentation on building brush piles for wildlife at our last meeting. Hint: it’s not just about throwing stuff in a heap. The talk is recorded. If you’d like to learn more about building your own brush piles to help wildlife, check out our Youtube video here. […] Continue reading "What’s Up with WOK, May 2025"
May 31 tour of the peat mesocosm experiment at USFS lab Keweenaw Wild Ones and friends are invited to tour the peat mesocosm, a long-standing experiment at the U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station in Houghton. This is a rare chance to peruse a bog’s sphagnum moss and native wetland vegetation up close in the […] Continue reading "Secrets of the mini-bog"
Finally! A natural landscape designer for the Keweenaw Plenty of people love native plants but don’t feel confident designing their gardens. Now we have a professional who can help. Mary Richardson is a trained landscape designer with a passion for natural landscapes. Formerly of Petoskey, she followed her heart and came to the U.P. Based […] Continue reading "What’s Up with WOK, April 2025"
Native Plant Symposium coming April 12 Don’t forget to register for the eighth annual Keweenaw Native Plant Symposium, happening from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, April 12, on Zoom. Register here. Our keynote address is by nationally known landscaper and horticulturalist Kim Eierman (pictured), who will speak on “Selling Native Plants with Cues to Care,” […] Continue reading "What’s Up with WOK, March 2025"