Winter Sowing Resources from West Cook Wild Ones Linda Walker and Stephanie Walquist It’s cold and snowy out, but you can still do some gardening and prepare for spring! Plant some seeds now, set them outside, and in the spring, you will have many new plants, either for free or for the cost of a […]
We love to celebrate the beauty of native plants even in winter when most of us keep them standing for biodiversity and beauty. We’re sharing the winners of the contest in this post. Members, be on the lookout for our holiday card that features the winning photo. In the meantime, enjoy these beautiful snapshots. As […]
Wild Ones West Cook Accomplishments 2022 by Stephanie Walquist, Board President Here we are–at the end of our ninth year, and we continue to do impactful grass-roots level work. Read through the highlights of the past year. You will see how we are making a real difference in our community and ensuring the Earth will […]
by Stephanie Walquist Sprezzatura Rembrandt, an Old Master who used earth tones to offset golden light, used a technique he termed sprezzatura, meaning apparent carelessness. In the spirit of artistic and environmental sensibilities, let us native gardeners unite under this term. Allowing the gardens to stand during fall and winter, we might appear careless about […]
Invasive Tree and Shrub Trade-in We’re excited to offer this opportunity to give a free native tree or shrub in exchange for the removal of an invasive species on the list below. BUT–check that there are no active bird nests. ABC 7 news in Chicago covered this program–it gives the basic facts as well as […]
This post was written to address a question about aphids on milkweed. Any of the steps would apply to aphids on any other type of plant, including edibles. (Note the image at the top of the page is of a Lacewing adult, one of the beneficials that you want to attract and keep in your […]
Oak Park Climate Action Plan Input by West Cook Wild Ones The Village of Oak Park is creating a Climate Action Plan to be released this summer. The consultants and planning committee have done extensive outreach to encourage citizen involvement, including a “DIY Kit” by which individuals and groups could submit comments. There were several […]
Resources for Bringing the Woodland Home: Selected Materials to Assist with Planting a Shade Garden by Laura Hartwell-Berlin Note: This information was created to supplement the talk Roy Diblik gave in March, 2022. You can view his talk here: How to Add Native Shade Plants to Your Garden Why Create a Woodland Garden: In the […]
Announcing 2022 Garden for Nature Grantees We are pleased to announce we were able to award all 14 of the applicants this year! The proposals thrilled us reviewers–so much creative and optimistic work being done out there! Our grant is funded by our members and our annual native plant sale. Here are the recipients listed […]
Native Plant Container Gardening Over the years, we’ve had a lot of requests from people who want to use containers for native plant gardening. They might have a balcony or reduced space or simply like containers. They want the beauty and biodiversity near them & containers are the way to go. We’ve not always had […]
