Events

Come and explore the properties of two members to learn from their experience gardening with native plants, including both their successes and challenges. Please note that the second garden requires navigating some areas of uneven ground.

At the second garden, we will have a member social and a native plant swap. Please consider bringing a food item to share as well as your extra native plant seedlings! You are not required to bring plants to take some home.

This event is for members of the Wild Ones Front Range chapter. You will be asked to enter your member number after your registration is complete. Click here to look up your member number or to become a new member.

You will receive the garden addresses and parking information in an email a day or two before the event. If you are interested in carpooling, please click here to add yourself as a driver or a passenger.

Registration closes on Wednesday, July 22, at 11 PM.

We will visit a wonderful garden at a private home in Louisville. Jean has been gardening for longer than all of us, we guarantee it, and her skill, eye, and whimsy have gotten her into countless garden tours over the years. (Really. Do a web search.) Jean's garden is a wonderful example of right plant, right place and blooming the whole year. (She has flowers blooming ten months of the year.) Registration required.

The swaps continue!! Join us at Southmoor Elementary to swap home-grown native plants and help support the school's growing pollinator garden! 

Let us know what you've been growing HERE so we can prepare for your donations. If you're planning to bring plants to share, please arrive at 5:30. 

Bring any plants you have to swap, labeled with the full Latin name, and your last name. Please ensure that any plants you plan to share at the swap are grown free of chemicals to protect pollinator health: this means no herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or synthetic fertilizers. Please no plants propagated from seeds treated with neonicotinoids. The bees will thank you! To protect our natural areas, we also cannot accept donations of plants that are listed as noxious weeds by the CO Dept. of Agriculture.

NO NEED TO BRING PLANTS TO TAKE PLANTS! 

*Note: we don't know what the available selection of seedlings will be this late in the season. We anticipate that this swap will be focused on plants grown in-situ and moved into pots, as well as seeds. 

Please contact [email protected] to discuss accessibility needs!

We’ll visit the AMAZING front yard habitat garden of a regional member who did it all himself, with seeds and plants from swaps! This member turned his love for native plant propagation into a small backyard nursery called Misty Prairie Natives. Beyond enjoying the garden, come learn about plant propagation, native insects, backyard nurseries, etc. Mini plant swap afterwards (bringing plants not required to take plants). Bring a water bottle and snack if we sit around and chat.
 

Monthly meeting of the Front Range Chapter's Board of Directors. All members are welcome to attend. Email us at [email protected] if you're interested in joining the call.

Native plants are the foundation of habitat, but wildlife need more than food to thrive. Join ecologist and Certified Wildlife Biologist Shaun McCoshum, PhD, to explore how nesting sites, shelter, water, soil conditions, and other often-overlooked resources can transform a yard into a functioning ecosystem that supports biodiversity year-round.

Registration link coming soon.

Come wander through Gwen's gardens in East Boulder, she's added a native garden every year for the last three years.  The biggest DIY project was last July, replacing her front yard turf.  Learn about her process and enjoy beautiful tree sculptures and bird song along the way.  Bring plants to swap (bringing plants not required to take plants). Plenty of on street parking and families welcome. Registration required.

The swaps continue!! Join us at a member's Four Square Mile garden for a tour of their space, and a chance to casually swap home-grown native plants! The large four year old native garden features many shrubs and trees, including riparian species. Address provided after registration. 

Let us know what you've been growing HERE so we can prepare for your donations. 

Bring any plants you have to swap, labeled with the full Latin name, and your last name. Please ensure that any plants you plan to share at the swap are grown free of chemicals to protect pollinator health: this means no herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or synthetic fertilizers. Please no plants propagated from seeds treated with neonicotinoids. The bees will thank you! To protect our natural areas, we also cannot accept donations of plants that are listed as noxious weeds by the CO Dept. of Agriculture.

NO NEED TO BRING PLANTS TO TAKE PLANTS! 

*Note: we don't know what the available selection of seedlings will be this late in the season. We anticipate that this swap will be focused on plants grown in-situ and moved into pots, as well as seeds. 

Please contact [email protected] to discuss accessibility needs! 

We gather to casually discuss topics related to native plants and enjoy each other's company.

Please respond to the email sent by Laurel Starr to register.

Details will be sent to registrants a few days prior to the event.

What does it really take to turn a conventional lawn into a thriving native meadow? Join Owner & Principal, New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL), Sara Weaner Cooper for a candid look at her family's ongoing lawn-to-meadow transformation featured in The New York Times and BBC. Drawing from three years of hands-on experience, Sara will share the methods, lessons learned, successes, and challenges of converting turfgrass into a dynamic native plant community. Participants will gain practical insights into site preparation, planting, management, and the ecological principles that guide successful meadow establishment, along with realistic expectations for how these landscapes evolve over time.

Registration link coming soon.

Monthly meeting of the Front Range Chapter's Board of Directors. All members are welcome to attend. Email us at [email protected] if you're interested in joining the call.

Monthly meeting of the Front Range Chapter's Board of Directors. All members are welcome to attend. Email us at [email protected] if you're interested in joining the call.

Bats are among the most important and misunderstood wildlife in our communities. Join experts from Bat Conservation International to explore how native plants, healthy insect populations, and thoughtful landscape design can help support bats. Learn about the ecological role of bats and discover practical ways to create habitat for North America's night flyers right in your own backyard.

Registration link coming soon.

We hope you can join us! We’ll have a variety of seed including annuals, perennials,  grasses, shrubs, and trees. We will also have information about how to grow native seed. You don't need to bring seed to attend the event or bring home seed.

If you do have native seed to share, please label each species with this information:
* Botanical Name
* Common Name
* Collection City or County, Elevation, and Year 
* Your First Initial and Last Name
* If your seed is from a wild population rather than a garden site, add “WILD”

We happily accept seed from species native to Colorado and adjacent states. Please avoid cultivars, which might not support native pollinators and wildlife. We do NOT accept seeds from plants designated as noxious weeds.

You can drop off seed before the event in Fort Collins or Longmont. Email [email protected] to coordinate. If you plan to bring seed the day of the event, email the species name(s) to [email protected] ahead of time so that we can prepare information for attendees about your seed.

Monthly meeting of the Front Range Chapter's Board of Directors. All members are welcome to attend. Email us at [email protected] if you're interested in joining the call.

Monarch butterflies depend on a network of habitats stretching across North America, and home landscapes can play an important role in their survival. Join experts from Monarch Joint Venture to explore the science behind monarch conservation, including the importance of milkweed, nectar resources, and regionally appropriate habitat. Learn practical ways to support monarchs through native landscaping and help sustain one of the world's most remarkable migrations.
 

Registration link coming soon. 
 

Monthly meeting of the Front Range Chapter's Board of Directors. All members are welcome to attend. Email us at [email protected] if you're interested in joining the call.