Bees and Bugs
Bryan Danforth of Cornell advocates for specialist bees.
Dr. Tara Bal of Michigan Tech gave us a peek at the huge and diverse group of critters known as beetles.
Wild Ones Honorary Director Heather Holm Presents “The Bombus Among Us – Bumble Bee Basics”
Part of the Ohio State University Bee Lab series
Dr. Tara Bal, Assistant Professor at Michigan Tech College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, explains why you should love bugs, even earwigs! This excellent presentation was given during the 2021 Keweenaw Native Plant Symposium.
Why Natives?
In this classic Wild Ones National presentation, Doug Tallamy explains why native plants are critical for all of us.
WOK president Marcia Goodrich talks about the value of native plants and why we should all be adding them to our gardens in this presentation hosted by the Michigan State Extension Master Gardener program.
Birds
This seminar will discuss how songbirds and hummingbirds can be attracted to landscapes through the use of native plants that furnish insects, seeds, flowers, and fruits for birds. Specific examples of the most versatile and adaptable native woody and herbaceous plants will be included as well as simple gardening practices essential for birds.
Butterflies
In 2017 Sara Dykman became the first person to follow the
eastern population of monarch butterflies on their roundtrip,
multinational, multigenerational migration.
- On The Hunt for Northwoods Butterflies – Allison Barta
In this Minnesota Wild Ones presentation, butterfly expert Allison Barta shows photos of all of the butterflies she has seen in 2020, starting in Spring and ending in Fall. She provides tips on identification as well as gorgeous photos.
Invasive Species
- Vinca Wars. Tom Oliver, and Marcia Goodrich describe the various ways they’ve attacked this pesky invasive.
- Don’t Plant That, Plant This: A Guide to Choosing Good Garden Plants and Avoiding the Troublemakers – Sigrid Resh View PDF Here
In this Keweenaw Wild Ones presentation, Dr. Sigrid Resh, coordinator of the Keweenaw Invasive Species Management Area (KISMA), reviews the benefits of native plants and the dangers of invasive exotics. She also calls out garden favorites that threaten our wild areas and offers beneficial native alternatives.
The twin cities Wild Ones chapter presented this important webinar on jumping worms, a new invasive pest threatening our gardens.
How do we safely sell and give potted plants to neighbors, given that the invasive jumping worms might be infesting our soil? Listen to presenter Julia Vanatta as she discusses this knotty problem and the steps that the Wild Ones Twin City chapter has taken to reduce the risk.
Invasive, non-native plants threaten native biodiversity and have negative economic impacts for the timber and horticulture production, the outdoor recreation industry, and other sectors. Join invasive plant experts Dr. Quinn Long and Matt Arndt to learn more about many of these plants.
Landscaping Ideas with Natives
Embracing Native Plants: Trials and Tribulations
Dr. Shelley Jansky, a Wild One and professor emerita at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, discusses her native plant epiphany and the subsequent transformation of her property in a special guest talk for Keweenaw Wild Ones. She applied her background in horticulture and plant research to successfully raise thousands of native plants using winter sowing techniques. Well worth watching for those wishing to grow their own.
Have Your Native Landscape and Eat It Too
Melissa Wilsford presents “Edible Native Plants for the Home Landscape” in this talk sponsored by Wild Ones Prairie Edge. Learn about some delicious native edibles you can incorporate into your landscape, which will work best for your site conditions, and some ideas for how to prepare these unique fruits. Wilsford is the owner of Rustic Hills Garden Co. Launched with a focus on growing food, Rustic Hills has expanded to ecological services, including native landscaping, rain gardens, and rainwater catchment. She is a lifelong gardener, Certified Permaculture Designer, and Master Gardener with Hennepin County (Minn.).
Liatris: A Feather in Your Cap
Michelle Wietek-Stevens, owner of the Marquette, Michigan, native plant nursery Designs by Nature, gave Wild One a primer on five species of blazing stars, one of our favorite native plants.
“Michigan Native Plants: From their Habitat to My Home.”
Botanist-photographer Carolyn Miller shares dozens of photos of wildflowers in this presentation. This was given at the Keweenaw Wild Ones 2022 symposium.
“A Watched Seed Never Sprouts: Adventures in Starting a Native Plant Nursery in the U.P.”
Michelle Wietek-Stephens reveals the ups and downs of starting a nursery from scratch in her very entertaining presentation. This was given at the Keweenaw Wild Ones 2022 symposium.
How to incorporate native plants in your landscape.
Many of the invasive exotic plants wreaking havoc in nature got their start in our gardens, and plenty of those bad boys are for sale in nurseries yet today. Dr. Sigrid Resh, coordinator of the Keweenaw Invasive Species Management Area (KISMA), will point out some of the troublemakers and suggest native alternatives that will add beauty to your garden and help sustain wildlife.
This webinar will cover the basics of selecting native plants for your next project. Design themes, site programming, and maintenance needs will be considered along with physical site conditions, plant availability, and green infrastructure services.
This recommended webinar features a speaker who owns a native plant nursery. Sponsored by the Washtenaw County Conservation District.
This series includes design plans and a recorded webinar with comments from the designers. Highly recommended.
Bill Sanders, Landscape Architect at Sanders-Czapski Associates, discusses how the Marquette Food Co-op successfully used native plants to beautify their space as well as ameliorating drainage issues. This was a presentation of the 2021 Keweenaw Native Plant Symposium.
What is sustainable gardening? Professor Brian Black says it is “Gardening as if Earth matters.” Listen in on the discussion, which was a 2021 presentation of the Keweenaw Native Plant Symposium.
Plant Identification
- Grass Identification for Dummies Like Us – Kevin Dodge
Sponsored by the Maryland Native Plant Society, this webinar tries to simplify identifying grasses. It’s still pretty complicated.
Seed Starting
Nancy Schumacher spent more than 30 years growing and selling plants. Over the years, products included traditional perennials, native species and herbs with the latter years dedicated almost exclusively to natives. She holds a degree in soil science from the University of Minnesota.
Join horticulturist Dolly Foster as she explains the mysteries of winter sowing. Marcia has also summarized the technique here.