Announcing: Recipients of Garden for Nature Grant West Cook Wild Ones launches its 2021 Garden for Nature program by announcing grants totaling close to $5,000 to 11 nonprofit and public organizations in the Chicago area. Garden for Nature 2021 grants range from $250 to $1,000 to be used solely to buy native plants or seeds. […] Continue reading "Announcing: 2021 Recipients of Garden for Nature Grant"
Call for Native Plant Gardens West Cook Wild Ones needs a few good gardens like yours. We are working hard to promote the value of gardening with native plants and to educate homeowners, condos, churches, schools, and businesses on how it is done. Like you, we believe that native gardens are beautiful islands of biodiversity […] Continue reading "Call for Native Plant Gardens"
About 500 species of birds will migrate through IL. Some will remain here to nest through the spring and summer while others will continue to make their way to Canada’s boreal forest. The Chicago area is an important refuge for the migratory species, many of whom have just flown over the corn belt where places safe […] Continue reading "Is your yard ready for spring migratory birds?"
West Cook Wild Ones Native Garden Grant By Barbara Rose Reprinted with permission from Conservation@Home Cook County’s Fall Newsletter When West Cook Wild Ones announced a new grant program in January 2020 to engage young people in native gardening, few guessed the challenges ahead. By the time the ground had thawed, Chicago-area gardeners were sheltering […] Continue reading "Garden for Nature Grantee Experience"
New Year’s Resolutions West Cook Wild Ones Style –By Byron Lanning New Year’s resolutions don’t always need to be about self-improvement. How about some planet-improvement resolutions? For instance, readers of the New York Times sent in their ideas for resolutions to help the planet. Here are some West Cook Wild Ones’ resolutions for planet Earth. […] Continue reading "New Year’s Resolutions West Cook Wild Ones Style"
Announcing: Recipients of Garden for Nature Grant West Cook Wild Ones launches its 2020 Garden for Nature program by announcing grants totaling more than $4,500 to 14 nonprofit and public organizations in the Chicago area. About the grant and the process: Garden for Nature funds projects mainly in western Cook County that engage young people […] Continue reading "Announcing: Recipients of Garden for Nature Grant"
5 Reasons Why Edible Gardens Need Native Plants by Stephanie W We often get asked if it’s ok to grow natives with edibles, and the answer is yes, as that’s what many of us native gardeners have been implementing with great success. In fact, on a larger scale, many farmers are beginning to experiment with […] Continue reading "5 Reasons Why Edible Gardens Need Native Plants"
The board of West Cook Wild Ones is volunteering with other local organizations to support their efforts at incorporating native plants in the landscape. Over at the Morton Freshman Center, science teacher Kevin O’Toole has led the creation, installation, and maintenance of a 5,000 sq ft (and growing) Monarch garden as the foundation for a […] Continue reading "WCWO in the Community"
The Naturally Beautiful Garden Conference 2019 Visionary landscape architect Claudia West, author of Planting in a Post-Wild World, and award-winning garden designer Ben Vogt, author of A New Garden Ethic: Cultivating Defiant Compassion for an Uncertain Future, will lead a half-day conference on how to design stunning home landscapes that inspire human happiness, provide critical […] Continue reading "The Naturally Beautiful Garden Conference 2019"
Fayette Aurelia Nichols gave an information-packed presentation to us on May 20 based on her extensive research and experience with this bumblebee. Not only did we learn some basics about bumblebees in general, but Aurelia gave us some very specific information to help the Rusty-patched Bumblebee. The Rusty-patched Bumblebee was a very abundant species at […] Continue reading "Recap of Creating Healthy Habitat for the Rusty-patched Bumblebee"
