Chapter Events

In this program, Steve Sass from IN Nature/Ecometrid will reflect on St. Joseph County's rich natural history, discuss local ecosystem threats and opportunities, spotlight recent projects, and share techniques for ecological assessment, stewardship, advocacy, and education.

In this special collaboration, Robin Wall Kimmerer, author, botanist, and founder of Plant Baby Plant, joins youth leader and Nurture Natives founder Esther Bonney for an intergenerational conversation about belonging, reciprocity, and native plant action. 

Together, they will explore questions such as:

How do we create opportunities for young people to have a voice and feel empowered, even when they are not homeowners or decision makers?What kinds of relationships and mentorships help people stay engaged in native plant work over decades?Why do stories, shared practices, and community invitations matter just as much as plant lists?

Robin and Esther will reflect on what invites people into this work, what keeps them here, and what elders and youth have to teach each other.

The Winter Sowing Workshop that was canceled due to weather is back on at a new location! The program is the same: We’ll provide a short introduction on growing native plants from seed and demonstrate how to make a “greenhouse” from a milk jug. Then, it’s your turn! If possible, bring a utility knife or electric drill to make drainage holes in your container. Bring extra milk jugs or other clear bottles if you want to start multiple species. We will supply everything else, including the seeds.

The St. Joe County Public Library Community Learning Center is more easily accessed from the Wayne St. entrance and we advise parking on that side of the building. You will have to take the elevator to get to CLASSROOM D.

The seed species* we will have available include: 

Big bluestem     (Andropogon gerardii)

Black-eyed Susan     (Rudbeckia hirta)

Blue Mistflower     (Conoclinium coelestinum)

Blue vervein     (Verbena hastata)

Brown-eyed Susan     (Rudbeckia triloba)

Butteflyweed     (Asclepias tuberosa)

Common boneset     (Eupatorium perfoliatum)

Common milkweed     (Asclepias syriaca)

Culver’s root     (Veronicastrum virginicum)

Dense blazing star     (Liatris spicata)

Foxglove beardtongue     (Penstemon digitalis)

Heartleaved aster     (Symphyotrichum cordifolium)

Hoary vervain     (Verbena stricta)

Ironweed     (Veronia missurica)

Joe pye weed     (Eupatorium maculatum)

Purple coneflower     (Echinacea purpurea)

Purple prairie clover    (Dale purpurea)

Golden alexander     (Zizia aurea)

Grass-leaved goldenrod     (Euthamia graminifolia)

Indian grass     (Sorghastrum nutans)

Little bluestem     (Schizachyrium scoparium)

Mountain mint     (Pycnanthemum virginianum)

New England aster     (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae)

Nodding Onion     (Allium cernuum)

Queen of the prairie     (Filipendula rubra)

Rose milkweed     (Asclepias incarnata)

Rattlesnake master     (Eryngium yuccifolium)

Round-headed bush clover     (Lespedeza capitata)

Sand coreopsis     (Coreopsis lanceolata)

Showy goldenrod     (Solidago speciosa)

Spotted bee balm (Horsemint)     (Monarda fistulosa)

Stiff goldenrod     (Oligoneuron rigidum)

Switchgrass     (Panicum virgatum)

Tall coreopsis     (Coreopsis tripteris)

White indigo     (Baptisia alba)

White snakeroot     (Ageratina altissima)

Wild bergamot (Bee balm)     (Monarda punctata)

Wild petunia     (Ruellia humilis)

Wild senna     (Senna hebecarpa)

Yellow coneflower     (Ratibida pinnata)

Zig-zag goldenrod     (Solidago flexicaulis)

*Seeds provided at this event have been collected by South Bend Wild Ones volunteers from restoration gardens and aren't guaranteed to be me 100% genotyped to our area. If you are attempting to grow plants that are native strictly to your county, please do your own research to ensure the seed we are providing fits this criteria. 

We'll be joined by local Naturalist, Jan McGowan, who will talk about how we can support our local birds through the winter season. 

Our upcoming webinar with Basil Camu explores practical, evidence based ways to heal suburban and urban landscapes by working with trees, soil, and natural systems, drawing on real world practices from Leaf & Limb and community centered models for restoring life where we live, work, and play.!  

AJ Popovic, Northwest Indiana Regional Specialist for the State of  Indiana Cooperative Invasives  Management (SICIM), will join us to discuss this important topic. 

Join Joey Santore, creator of Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t, for a candid Wild Ones National Webinar examining how inherited garden aesthetics shape native plant landscapes. Drawing on field experience and real ecology, Joey challenges tidy design norms and explores why dense, irregular plant communities are often the most resilient and ecologically sound.

A Sparkling Toast will help us all celebrate the launch of the book Native Plants for Michiana: Planting with Nature and Beauty in Mind. A panel from the book committee will discuss the book including Doug Botka of Shirley Heinze, Wild Ones member Emily McKnight, Lamanda Hilty from Love Creek Nature Center, Kyle Strain from Wellfield Botanical Gardens, and Dr. Deb Marr, Professor of Biology at IUSB. 

The book will be available for purchase for $8 cash, check or Paypal.

Join award-winning author, photographer, and educator Rick Darke for What Is Wild and Why It Matters, a free national webinar on Tuesday, April 28th at 10 am CT. Discover how inviting a bit of authentic wildness can create a vibrant landscape that sustains you and local biodiversity. This national event is presented in collaboration between Wild Ones and Homegrown National Park.

Purchase native plants from local nurseries and talk to our community partners.

Vendors:

Bernacchi's Oak Valley

Blue Fox

Chapman Lake

Native Roots

Naturally Native Nursery

New Leaf

Spaulding Restorations

https://southbend.wildones.org/__spring-sale-2026/

Morgan Carr-Markell of  St. Mary’s College will join us to chat about our local native bees. 

Join us for a volunteer day with the South Bend Parks Department as we maintain the native beds of Pinhook Park from 9am to 11am on Saturday, May 9th. Wild Ones South Bend holds our monthly member meetings at the Pinhook Park Community Center free of charge in exchange for our volunteer efforts to maintain the plantings in the park.  Bring gloves and water, tools will be provided. The Parks Department requests that you sign up via this link to help them keep track of our efforts.

Help maintain the native planting in front of the giraffe exhibit installed in partnership with Wild Ones.  Please arrive on time, as we need to be let into the zoo before open hours. Bring a water bottle, gloves, and garden hand tools.

Lindsey Spaulding of Spaulding Restorations will talk about using native plants as a solution to problem  areas on your property. 

Join us for a volunteer day with the South Bend Parks Department as we maintain the native beds of Pinhook Park from 9am to 11am on Saturday, June 13th. Wild Ones South Bend holds our monthly member meetings at the Pinhook Park Community Center free of charge in exchange for our volunteer efforts to maintain the plantings in the park.  Bring gloves and water, tools will be provided. 

Tour the native gardens designed and maintained by Wild Ones members. We will meet in the parking lot of the Potawatomi Zoo at 9am to see the native garden surrounding the giraffe exhibit. Afterwards we will walk over to the Potawatomi Conservatories to see the demonstration garden that Wild Ones South Bend installed last year. Asa Wood, designer of both gardens, will be our guide. Please be on time as we need to be let into the zoo before open hours.

Wild Ones members Lynn and John are hosting an impromptu open tour of their native yard on Friday June 25th from 2pm to 4pm. Their yard was featured on this year's South Bend art League Garden Walk, but this tour is free and open to the public.

Matt Meersman, President of the Friends of the St. Joe River Association, will join us to talk about our local watershed!

Most people drive past the wildest places every day without knowing they're there. Matt Meersman found them through paddling — and in doing so, found a way to see his impact, his home, and his neighbors reflected in the water that connects us all. In this talk, he shares what two decades on the water have taught him about this remarkable watershed some call Michiana.

Matt Meersman grew up near the St. Joseph River and spent summers at his family's lake cottage in southern Michigan. He now lives along the river in downtown South Bend and works as Director of the St. Joseph River Basin Commission and President of the Friends of the St. Joe River Association. When he's not working on watershed projects, you'll likely find him paddling upstream — literally — in preparation for some of the longest and most demanding canoe races in the world. He'll tell you that his passion for conservation and his passion for canoe racing come from exactly the same place: a love of being in and on the water, and a deep appreciation for doing hard things.
 

Stop by anytime from 9am to noon to tour Wild Ones South Bend board member Brian Killen's native garden.  Come to appreciate the beauty of native plants and gather inspiration for your own yard.  This tour is free and open to the public.

You planted native. Your neighbor has opinions. Maybe your HOA does too. If you’ve ever felt like the hardest part of native plant gardening is the conversations, not the gardening, you’re not alone.

Wild Ones is thrilled to share this upcoming free webinar as part of the 2026 Less Lawn More Life Challenge. Join Lorraine Johnson for a practical conversation on navigating HOA rules, addressing neighbor concerns, and fostering community conversations about native plant gardening and ecological landscapes.

Aaron Sawatsky-Kingsley, Goshen City Forester and  Environmental Resilience Department Lead, will join us to chat about Goshen's efforts to support community native trees. 

Wild Ones South Bend is hosting a free community screening of the 60 minute documentary The Extraordinary Caterpillar.  The film was made in partnership with entomologist Doug Tallamy of Homegrown National Park. The Extraordinary Caterpillar follows the scientists and community activists with a peek into the dazzling world of nature’s tiniest superheroes. Suitable for all ages.

Lindsey Spaulding will lead a drop in tour of Milkweed Commons's native garden. Milkweed Commons is an urban development project on the 500 block of South Michigan which includes rehabilitation of two historic mixed-use buildings and transformation of the adjacent vacant lots into community green spaces. The larger of the two lots will be a Pocket Park and the smaller will be a Micro Farm. The project is led by Herstoric Development, with their non-profit arm Milkweed Gardens Inc. stewarding the outdoor spaces.

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.

Dr. Cortwright of Indiana University Northwest will join us to chat about our local amphibians.

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.

Purchase native plants from local nurseries and talk to our community partners.

John Brittenham of Blue Heron Restoration: “Fire Dependent Ecosystems”

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.

Presenter: Indiana's State Botanist, Scott Namestneck

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.