Events

Colorado Native Plant Society (CoNPS) and Wild Ones is presenting a free in-person Colorado Springs program on 1/17/23 from 6-8pm on Native Seed Planting in Milk Jugs.  One of our WOFR members, Melanie Helton, is leading this hands-on workshop.

This event is full.  Thanks for your interest!

Save the date for our January Member Meeting & Propagation Panel (registration will open soon)

We will first review chapter accomplishments, 2023 priorities and ways for you to help us support our thriving chapter.  Then we will host a Propagation Panel where four chapter members will share their favorite techniques for propagating native plants.  Come prepared to ask questions and turn your native seeds into seedlings!

Not yet a member?  Join today!

Already a member but forgot your member number?  Click My Membership to log in and view your membership details.

What’s the buzz about native plants? Find out at the 8th Annual Landscaping with Colorado Native Plants Conference! Experts in horticulture, ecology, and landscape design share how to plan, plant, and maintain beautiful and biodiverse native landscapes from the ground up. With the theme of climate resilient landscapes, this year’s conference offers inspiration and insight to both novice and experienced gardeners.

The conference will be online to allow participation throughout the state and beyond. Recordings of the speakers’ presentations will be available for registrants to view after the event as well. All classes are eligible for CEUs for Landscape Industry Certified Technician recertification.

John Murgel, Extension Specialist with Colorado State University Extension, will cover different watering strategies during the establishment and long-term maintenance of dry native gardens.  Is there a "best method" out there?

Please complete this brief pre-survey so John may customize his presentation to address your questions about native plant garden watering.

Members, please enter your member number in the registration form to receive a discount.  Your member number may be found by logging into your Wild Ones account.

Not Yet a Member? Join Today!

Household memberships start at $40/year and student/reduced income memberships are $25/year.

In preparation for the Fort Collins Xeriscape Garden Party & Plant Swap on June 17th, partners for the NOCO Plant Swap have started 1,500 seeds in a local greenhouse to hand out at the event!  The babies are growing and need to be “bumped up” to larger pots.  As you can imagine, many hands will make the work lighter.

There is a gravel lot for parking in front of One Canopy. Transplanting will take place from 9am - Noon in a heated greenhouse. Bring water and comfortable shoes.

NOTE:  Wild Ones is one of 7 partners for the event and we’d love to have local members participate and connect with other knowledgeable people who are making the change-to-native happen in our landscapes.  Please, please take advantage of this opportunity to learn and connect with your native plant community!

Members, let’s meet up and get to know each other!  We’ll introduce ourselves, talk about our native gardening progress, and brainstorm ideas for future meetups.  

One lucky attendee will win a gift certificate to High Plains Environmental Center’s native plant nursery!  

Light refreshments will be provided.

The meeting location will be provided once you register.

Not Yet a Member? Join Today!

Household memberships start at $40/year and student/reduced income memberships are $25/year.

Members, let’s meet up and get to know each other!  We’ll introduce ourselves, talk about our native gardening plans, projects, and challenges with other regional members.  We'll also brainstorm ideas for future meetups.  

One lucky attendee will win a gift certificate to Harlequin’s Gardens!

Light refreshments will be provided.

The meeting location will be provided once you register.

Not Yet a Member? Join Today!

Household memberships start at $40/year and student/reduced income memberships are $25/year.

As we emerge from a cold, snowy and blustery winter and anticipate the joys of longer warmer days, so too do the plants all around us! Not just our magnificent native trees, shrubs and wildflowers, but stealthy interlopers (awesome in their own way) that are quietly invading our yards and open space. 

We’re talking Noxious Weeds!

  Noxious weeds are exotic plants that have crept into Colorado and are impoverishing our backyards and open spaces by ousting out the indigenous plants they compete with. While totally eradicating all of our noxious weeds may rarely be realistic, we can get the upper hand if we take a thoughtful approach and don’t give up.

We will also get an urban perspective on weed control and cover basic weed identification for Denver gardeners, including how to live with weedy neighbors, and how to make lemonade (or salad, or baskets) out of the weeds they so generously gift you. 

Join our presenters, Lucy Bauer, of Fireweed Ecological Services LLC, and Kalliopi Monoyios, multi-media artist and home gardener, for our exciting April Webinar!

Not Yet a Member? Join Today!

Household memberships start at $40/year and student/reduced income memberships are $25/year.

Come help our super-propagator, member Rob Greer, bump up hundreds of milk jug regionally native seedlings to 2.5" pots to grow out for the June 24 Plant Swap.

Rain or shine.

Members and newcomers, let’s meet up and get to know each other!  We’ll introduce ourselves, talk about our native gardening progress and brainstorm ideas for future meetups.  

REGISTRATION OPEN NOW! If you are a resident of Douglas or Elbert County and are interested in attending, please email us at [email protected].

We'll enjoy lunch together and a hike at a protected ecosystem and ranch.

The meeting location will be provided once you register.

Not Yet a Member? Join Today!

Household memberships start at $40/year and student/reduced income memberships are $25/year.

     Feeling cautiously ambitious about your efforts to incorporate more Colorado native plants into the spaces you steward?  Needing inspiration to keep up your momentum be it a personal project at home, school, church, community garden or municipal lands? Converting traditional landscapes to native plant landscapes can feel overwhelming at times, especially if you’re doing it alone and trying to educate people about the benefits.  

     Come get a fill of inspiration from Majestic View Nature Center volunteer, Terra Linda Pettenger, as she shares her story and the spaces she is converting during an easy walking tour (~1/2 mile) within the 80 acre nature center.

     After the tour, we’ll picnic on site and socialize with our fellow Denver Wild Ones members to share stories and build your native plant gardening network to STAY INSPIRED. Be sure to bring a sack lunch and beverage.

     The outdoor tour is rain or shine so please dress for the weather including a hat, sunscreen, wind/raincoat and comfortable, sturdy shoes.

The meeting location will be provided once you register.

Not Yet a Member? Join Today!

Household memberships start at $40/year and student/reduced income memberships are $25/year.

Calling all Boulder County/Front Range area Wild Ones members!

Boulder Regional Co-Coordinators Gaia Mika, Kristine Johnson, and Emily KenCairn invite you to gather this spring to meet your "Wild" neighbors. Many of us have exciting habitat creation plans — in our own yards or elsewhere in the community — are experimenting with growing and propagating native plants at home; are getting involved with our local seed library; and are involved with many other exciting projects to benefit people, plants, pollinators, and biodiversity more broadly.

Please join us for casual conversation and connection, as we build this movement to "rewild" our local landscapes. Whether you are brand new to all this or have been at it for years, we are excited to meet you.

Light refreshments will be provided. One lucky attendee will win a gift certificate to Harlequin’s Gardens! 

Not Yet a Member? Join Today!

The meeting location will be provided once you register.

Household memberships start at $40/year and student/reduced income memberships are $25/year.

Space is limited for "Greeley's Best Kept Secret" - Houston Gardens demonstrating Colorado's ecoregions with native plants. We'll park at Suzie Muttel's house first to see her native plant yard conversion. Then we'll walk over to the HG patio to join CoNPS for a brown bag lunch. Garden Manager, Jasen Kettle, leads the tour at noon. Handicap accessible and family-friendly. Non-members welcomed, just type "Visitor" in place of member number on registration form.

WOFR Propagation Committee Members and other members interested:

Bring your seedlings to transplant to 2.5" pots or other volunteer plants that need to be potted up to grow out for the upcoming seed swaps.

Rain or shine.

Come help our super-propagator, member Rob Greer, bump up hundreds of milk jug regionally native seedlings to 2.5" pots to grow out for the June 24 Plant Swap.

Rain or shine. (It was cold and wet!)

Join us at Harlequin's Gardens in Boulder and check out native plants that will thrive in your garden!

Learn from leaders of the Wild Ones Front Range Chapter whose native plant demonstration gardens grow native plants that no Colorado gardener should be without! Plants highlighted include native species that have thrived in our Wild Ones demo gardens and bloom throughout the growing season. Most featured plants will be available to purchase from Harlequin's Gardens.

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Join both instructors, who are native plant demonstration garden developers, as they share stories about their favorite plants. What are the plants that catch everyone’s eye in the demo gardens? Which ones thrive in these minimally irrigated gardens? What do we love about them? What conditions do they like?

Danna Liebert serves on the Board of Directors for Wild Ones Front Range chapter and owns Grounded Growth Landscape Design. She has worked with the City of Englewood Parks Department to establish a pollinator habitat demonstration garden at Depot Prairie Park. With Wild Ones Front Range, Danna has developed a guide to support members who want to start native plant demonstration gardens in their own communities.

Ayn Schmit was trained as an ornamental horticulturist and then went on to a career in the environmental field. She is a member of the Wild Ones Front Range Board of Directors and is helping develop the Wild Ones toolkit for successful Front Range native plant gardening. Ayn designed Wild Ones Ekar Farm demonstration garden, and with her co-manager Deborah Lebow-Aal and Wild Ones volunteers, continues to grow and develop the garden.

Classes fill up quickly, so register with Harlequin's today!

This will be a sequenced tour of 4 home gardens belonging to FRWO members living in Jefferson County.  These gardens are in the process of being built, or are transitioning to native plant palates.  Hosts will share successes they've had and challenges they face.  Visitors will have an opportunity to celebrate, and learn from, their host's successes, and hopefully, offer potential solutions for their challenges.

Interested? Be sure to Register Now as spaces are limited!

The 2023 Northern Colorado (NOCO) Plant Swap will be part of the Xeriscape Garden Party in Fort Collins.  Not necessary to bring a plant to participate!  This is a free event!

NOCO Wild Ones - watch for VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES to help with joint propagation and transplanting efforts that promise a well-stocked event! We need to share those plants!

SPONSORED BY: City of Fort Collins Utilities, Nature in the City Fort Collins, Native Plant Society of Northern Colorado, Wildland Restoration Volunteers, League of Women Voters Larimer County Pollinator Habitat Group, People and Pollinators Action Network and Wild Ones Front Range Chapter.

Have questions about the Plant Swap? Please contact Peggy Hanson, WOFR Swap Chair, at [email protected]. 

COMING IN JUNE!

Check out our Annual Denver Native Plant Swap and Giveaway!

This is a free event!                    

While bringing plants isn’t a requirement, we encourage you to bring some native plants from your gardens or propagation efforts to help with inventory and establish more native plants along the Front Range.  

DENVER WILD ONES FOLKS - If you’re interested in VOLUNTEERING and assisting with transplanting efforts and/or pop-up “Dig & Donate” events in which we salvage native plant volunteers from reputable Denver metro native gardens for the swap, please contact Peggy Hanson, WOFR Swap Chair, at [email protected].

Likewise, if you have or know of a native garden with unwanted plant volunteers and you need help donating them, please contact Peggy! We need to share those plants!

The event is sponsored by People and Pollinators Action Network, Earthlinks and Wild Ones Front Range Chapter.

Join us for an informal gathering of our Denver members. This is your opportunity to tour our demo native plant garden at Ekar Farm, where sustainable and organic fruits and vegetables are grown to nourish and give back to the Denver community. Meet and mingle with other native plant gardeners. We are at all stages of learning to garden with native plants, so come armed with questions. 

Your hosts for the morning are Deb Lebow Aal and Donna Baker-Brenningstall, two active Denver WOFR members. We hope to meet more members in person, and exchange gardening tips. If you’d like to bring pictures of your garden or specific plant ID questions, please do!

We'll gather at a shaded, picnic spot, where light snacks will be provided.

Interested in coming? Member or thinking about it? Please register below. Thanks!

Come and join Jan Midgley, longtime Wild Ones volunteer,  as she shares the evolution of her garden since she first arrived in 2017! 

She has been transitioning away from turf gradually over the past 4 years, creating multiple small pocket prairies. Her 1/2-acre lot in Lakewood has various versions of loamy clay with a pH around 7.4. Growing native plants from seed, Jan plants plugs in May, which frequently bloom by the fall.  Jan has quickly become a knowledgeable leader in the propagation of our CO natives.

This year she was amazed by the succession of glorious blooms and the insects associated with them!

For more information about the development of Jan's Garden? "Read More" below!

Jan moved west to CO in 2017 and began her adventure in arid, high-altitude gardening.She avidly attended classes and field trips, as well as volunteering at the Denver Botanic Gardens Herbarium to accelerate her climb on the steep learning curve.

Interested in coming? Please register below. Thanks!

Join us for a garden tour of the Greenverein Garden, which was started in 2019 as a collaboration between Denver Turnverein, Uptown on the Hill, and Front Range Wild Ones on a former Denver hell strip located on Clarkson St.!

The garden is 100' long and 11' wide and uses berms, swales, check dams, urbanite, passive water catchment and other creative techniques to establish a garden highlighting native plants.

This tour will be hosted by Wild Ones members, Christine Gust and Lisa Olsen, along with other volunteers who installed and now maintain the garden.  

Don't forget to check out the video below ("Read More") to learn about how the garden was planned and installed in its beginning stages!

 We hope that you will come and share in excitement as we discover how this young native plant garden has matured!

Even though this tour is free, we appreciate that you register below so that we know you're coming. SPACES ARE LIMITED, REGISTER SOON!

Come visit Ruth & Don's Fort Collins garden, designed to feed bees and people! Every inch of this edible landscape is utilized for multi-season abundance. Ruth will explain CSU's Citizen Science Bee Watch program while teaching us how to build a native bee house. Choose between an aseptic quart container version (free) or wooden birdhouse-like version ($15 payable to Ruth). Welcoming adult members and non-members alike.

Gardens on Spring Creek's Teen Project Hort program leader asked if we'd provide a 30 minute presentation on Wild Ones and why we promote native plants in the landscape.  This was a private presentation to their teen participants.  No money was given/donated for the presentation.

Need some garden design inspiration? Let's explore some local public showcase gardens featuring diverse displays of water-wise and native plants! We'll first meet at the CSU Extension Office at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds at 9am and visit two demonstration gardens - Regional Native Plant and Plant Select.

Then we will travel to Lakewood's Kendrick Lake Park Xeric Demonstration Garden.  This garden was built in phases, in the 2000's with xeric plants from North America and similar biomes globally.  It is artfully designed to showcase plants that can thrive in the Rocky Mountain Region!

Join us and plan to walk away with new ideas in sustainable garden design that you can use in your own garden!

Please register here so that we know you're coming and can send you details close to the tour!

Join us as we visit each of four Wild Ones Members' home gardens in Southeast Denver neighborhoods! All of these gardens are in the process of transitioning to native plant palates. You'll explore their late summer-stage gardens, celebrate their successes and share ways to overcome gardening challenges. 

On this crawl, we will move from home-to-home in a predetermined order and spend about a half hour before moving on to the next garden. 

The garden crawl is kid friendly (please supervise), members and friends are welcome (all please register), street parking is available and is limited wheelchair accessible depending on the property.

There are a few spots left!  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Deb Lebow Aal    [email protected]

Donna Baker-Breningstall    [email protected]

Denver Regional Co-Coordinators

Learn why collecting native seeds is important and what species are of interest.  Sustainability, ecological benefits, water conservation, etc.

Collection ethics including where, when, and quantity to collect for the objective while taking into consideration ~25% germination rate.  Collection timing - taking cues from seed biology and bloom time.

Seed harvesting tools and techniques.  Labeling protocols.  Storage do's and don'ts.

Identifying the species wanted for personal landscaping.  Only collect seeds for plants that thrive in the conditions you plan to grow them.

Hands-on harvesting of examples brought.

The synagogue contacted a Wild Ones Front Range board member asking for help to take out a large swath of grass and plant native plants. We decided this was a great opportunity to educate a large number of people at once. We prepared a power point (Ayn Schmit, Board member, WOFR), on why native plants, and how to plant, and then demonstrated outside. We planted many Colorado native plants. The congregation had quite a few volunteers helping, and many are now going to change out their home gardens.

All members are welcome.  Please email us if you are interested in attending.

Hello Northern Colorado Wild Ones Front Range Members!

Please join us for a native plant swap & season recap discussion.  Come ready to share your native plant gardening activities for the year (the good, the bad and the ugly!) so we may learn from each other's journeys.  

Bring any native plants you want to give away.  We will have labels available if you need them.  Even if you don't have extra plants to contribute, you are welcome to participate.  Optionally, bring a snack to share.

While this is a free event, registration is required.  The specific park location will be provided after registration.  We hope to see you there!   

-Your hosts, Karen Miller & Jen Smith

The Volunteer Coordinator at Denver Audubon Kingery Nature Center asked Wild Ones to do a workshop on native seed collection at the nature center for Denver Audubon volunteers.  We scoped the site ahead of time and focused on a specific garden with the most variety in species for the presentation to avoid running around to different locations.  

Participants learned about seed biology, native plant ecology, collection methods, and collection ethics.  We focused on "soft" collection techniques for a variety of species including Monarda fistulosa, Mirabilis multiflora, Berlandiera lyrata, Penstemons, Zinnia grandiflora, milkweed.  "Soft" collection minimizes the disturbance of the space while harvesting to preserve the structures for winter interest, habitat and forage.  We also explored how much seed one really needs for individual (vs commercial) propagation attempts.  Soft collection puts a check on hoarding and collecting too many seeds that could've reseeded in the area or acted as forage for wildlife.

Participants also learned about cleaning techniques--and just how "clean" a seed needs to be to propagate it (not very).  Finally, we briefly discussed the different processes required for different native seeds to propagate including scarification and stratification.

Pikes Peak Region Wild Ones members and future members-

Let's meet up and get to know each other!  We'll introduce ourselves, talk about our native gardening plans, projects, and challenges with other regional members, discuss how to get involved with the upcoming Pikes Peak Wild Ones Seed Swap, and brainstorm ideas for future meet ups.  

Peggy Hanson, Wild Ones Front Range Treasurer and Swaps Chair, will give a seed cleaning demonstration. 

Finally, we will distribute a brief member survey to learn your interests for future meetups and ways you want to get more involved with the Wild Ones in the Pikes Peak Region.

-Sue Wright, Regional Coordinator for Pikes Peak Region

Join Wild Ones Honorary Director Heather Holm as she explores the nesting habitats, life cycles, pollen collection, brood rearing, and general characteristics of some of the most common native bees in eastern North America, while highlighting the pollination of native plants and the mutualism between native plants and native bees.

When creating and managing thriving habitats for native bees, many factors such as seasonal phenology, nesting strategies, and flower preferences must be considered—and with approximately 3,600 species in North America (north of Mexico), there are many unique aspects to keep in mind when managing successful landscapes for bees. 

All members are welcome.  Please email us if you are interested in attending.

Wild Ones Front Range is happy to announce that it is once again partnering with other like-minded organizations to host the 5th annual Denver Native Seed Swap.  This event continues to grow in popularity as the landscaping with native plants movement grows and people seek economical sources for these useful plants.  

The swap is free to the public.  Bring a friend and introduce them to native plants and this great community!

Swaps rely on community participation - see the Denver Seed Swap page for ways that you can contribute!

Wild Ones Front Range is happy to announce that it is once again partnering with other like-minded organizations to host the annual Pikes Peak Native Seed Swap.  This event continues to grow in popularity as the landscaping with native plants movement grows and people seek economical sources for these useful plants.  

The swap is free to the public.  Bring a friend and introduce them to native plants and this great community!

Swaps rely on community participation - see the Pikes Peak Seed Swap page for ways that you can contribute!

Wild Ones Front Range Chapter is excited to be one of this year's sponsors for the 2023 Colorado Pollinator Summit at Denver Botanic Gardens.

This year's theme is "Promoting and Cultivating Diversity in Pollinator Conservation." The 8th Annual Summit will welcome internationally, nationally and regionally recognized pollinator experts to present and discuss diversity in the pollinator world and among those who promote and practice pollinator conservation.

The Summit provides a platform to bring together a broad audience - from researchers, educators, land managers, and policy experts to community organizers, homeowners, and landowners- to cross-pollinate ideas and advance strategies to support Colorado’s pollinators.

With diversity as a focal point, the Summit will:

1) Explore some of the less-known and underappreciated pollinators.

2) Investigate how diverse viewpoints and disciplines can bring new perspectives to conservation.

3) Explore the current state of Colorado pollinator health and how our state can overcome challenges and lead the way in innovative practices and policies.

Wild Ones Front Range is happy to announce that it is once again partnering with other like-minded organizations to host the annual Northern Colorado Native Seed Swap.  This event continues to grow in popularity as the landscaping with native plants movement grows and people seek economical sources for these useful plants.  

The swap is free to the public.  Bring a friend and introduce them to native plants and this great community!

Swaps rely on community participation - see the NOCO Seed Swap page for ways that you can contribute!

Join fellow gardeners for this fall webinar as we learn how Virginia Phillips, working with a low budget and on her own, successfully propagates native plants from seed, plants them, and keeps them alive as they mature in her newly established backyard garden landscape!

You can do it too!

She will walk you through sourcing your seeds, gathering propagation materials, planning your project timeline, defining your propagations method, sharing growing tips and, above all, setting realistic expectations.

Virginia Phillips is a homeowner and a WOFR member from Colorado Springs. She's earned a gold-level garden status with Rocky Mountains Audubon and Colorado Native Plant Society. This year, she successfully converted her non-native lawns and gardens to native habitats and propagated many plants using the winter sowing method.

Register here!

All members are welcome.  Please email us if you are interested in attending.

Join us for an enlightening webinar featuring authors, Neil Diboll and Hilary Cox, as they present their latest book, "The Gardener’s Guide to Prairie Plants." This comprehensive compendium is a treasure trove of knowledge for gardeners looking to incorporate native prairie plants into their landscapes. Neil and Hilary will delve into the making and application of this essential guide, sharing rich historical and ecological insights about prairie ecosystems, all while showcasing stunning images of prairie flora. 

Wild Ones Front Range Chapter Denver Regional Meeting

Just A Week Away!

 Join us for a very informal talk with Jonathan Sciarcon, Wild Ones Board Member, native plant propagator and enthusiast. Can't find native plants in our local nurseries? Jonathan will talk about propagating easy plants on your own, demonstrate some propagation techniques, share what has and hasn't worked, and answer your questions!

Not interested in propagation?  Come anyway and mingle with other members, sharing stories and plans for the upcoming sustainable gardening season! 

Registration for this event is now closed.

Thanks to those who have already signed up!

Questions? Contact:

Deb Lebow Aal  [email protected]

Donna Baker-Brenningstall   [email protected]                                       

Denver Regional Coordinators

The Wild Ones Front Range Boulder region is holding a native seed swap for the general public on December 2, 2023 from 1-3pm at the Main Boulder Library, 1001 Arapahoe Ave, Boulder..  This is a great time to get seeds for winter sowing and boost your yard's biodiversity by using native plants to support a sustainable landscape that uses less water and supports local pollinators.

If you are sharing seeds, please only bring regionally native seeds--those occurring naturally in Colorado or adjacent states, including Texas because the Oklahoma panhandle is so narrow.  Please, no noxious weed seeds nor seeds treated with pesticides/neonicotonoids.  Please ensure proper labeling for the folks that want to take your seeds home:

Botanical name, Common name, Date collected, City & Elevation collected, your first initial and last name.

No seeds to share?  No problem.  Seed donations aren't required to participate.  Nor is propagation experience required. Volunteers will be available to answer questions and point you to available resources.  

All members are welcome.  Please email us if you are interested in attending.