Chapter Events

Are you looking to expand your knowledge of native plants beyond what you learn in our monthly chapter programs? If so, this is just the program for you!  Founding members of the Illinois Prairie Chapter of Wild Ones and current Board Members Sherrie Snyder and Janet Rasmussen will share with you some of their favorite native plant- related resources for use in the comfort of your own home. Sherrie will highlight some useful books and smart phone applications and Janet will highlight various websites and FaceBook groups. Some of these resources will help you identify specific native (or invasive) plants and/or learn more about them, while others will provide ideas for garden design, help identify organisms visiting your gardens, and more. Bring your portable electronic device to the program (smartphone, tablet, or laptop) if you would like to explore some of these resources during this interactive program.

Presenter Bios:
Sherrie Snyder graduated from Illinois State University with a major in Biology.  She taught high school Science and Biology for five years before joining the Systems Department at State Farm.  Since retiring 11 years ago, Sherrie decided to plant all natives in her yard and has been learning what that means ever since.  Janet Rasmussen has a Ph.D. in Biology from Purdue University and has taught college-level biology courses at several institutions in the past.  She has enjoyed learning more about native plants in recent years and has added many of them to her home gardens.  Both Sherrie and Janet are Master Naturalists and have been active members of the Illinois Prairie chapter of Wild Ones  since 2010. 

Did you know that many common landscape plants are actually considered invasive? These plants may not be on the invasive species list but they have the potential to become invasive and are still readily sold and used in the garden industry. Potentially invasive and also truly invasive plants are contributing to various environmental problems, such as pollinator decline. Kelly Allsup will present some of the most commonly sold landscape plants and discuss their potentially invasive qualities in natural areas.  She will also discuss how we can replace these plants with native alternatives that are just as attractive and also more ecologically beneficial. Be an informed plant buyer and plant advocate!

Presenter Bio:
Kelly Allsup is the University of Illinois Horticulture Educator serving the communities in Livingston, McLean and Woodford counties. She is responsible for offering leadership, developing community programs and providing expertise in Horticulture and Environmental Sciences. Her teaching focus is on issues concerning entomological conservation, good integrated pest management practices, and invasive insect and plant education, awareness, and research.

There are basic principles and "rules" artist follow no matter what their media...paint, clay, metal, furniture or plants!  Using native plants to create aesthetically pleasing spaces presents special challenges.  They are alive and constantly change their characteristics like size, shape, color and texture.  In this program, Cathy Bilow will present design principles and practical ideas for you to use in your home landscape and native plant gardens.  She has created and will share her garden templates that can be adapted to just about any home or public garden. 

Presenter Bio:

Cathy Bilow is a horticulturist and landscape designer.  She has been designing gardens throughout IL for over 30 years. She and her husband Ken are co-owners of Accent Nature LLC. They provide environmentally friendly lawn and landscape care services as well as landscape design and construction management in Central Illinois.  The Ecology Action Center in Normal and the First Presbyterian Church in Bloomington have native plant gardens designed by Cathy and both organizations have received support from Wild Ones to help with the installation of native plants in these two gardens.

Douglas Tallamy, noted ecologist and author, will speak in the Astroth Auditorium (in the Astroth Community Education Center) at Heartland Community College in Normal, IL.  His presentation, "Creating Living Landscapes", will focus on how we can restore the full, dynamic vibrancy of nature to our gardens and public spaces.  Dr. Tallamy's talk is sponsored by Illinois Prairie Wild Ones and is free and open to the public. Dr. Tallamy is a widely sought-after speaker.  His presentations, based on decades of studying plant and insect interactions and on bringing pollinators and other beneficial insects, birds and butterflies back to his own suburban plot, have inspired listeners across the country to embark on the same rewarding journey of discovery and renewal.  Dr. Tallamy will explain why the simple act of using native plants, shrubs, and trees in our landscaping will invite the full richness of a living, natural community to follow and why this has countless benefits for us all. Immediately following his presentation, Dr. Tallamy will be happy to sign attendee's personal copies of one or both of his books.   

Program attendees will have the opportunity to win a door-prizes by depositing a ticket into a corresponding prize container before the start of the program.  Winners of door prizes will be announced immediately after the program.

Door Prizes:  

Illinois Prairie Wild Ones - 2 copies of the book "The Living Landscape" by Rick Dark and Doug Tallamy; 2 annual memberships/renewals to Wild Ones

Sugar Grove Nature Center - 1 copy of the book Creating Habitats and Homes for Illinois Wildlife

Ecology Action Center - free rain barrel class

ParkLands Foundation - aluminum water bottle and a car magnet

ISU Horticulture Center - 1 copy of the book The Triumph of Seeds by Thor Hanson

Presenter Bio: Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored numerous publications and has taught Insect Taxonomy, Behavioral Ecology, Humans and Nature, Insect Ecology, and other courses for 36 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in our Gardens was published by Timber Press in 2007 and was awarded the 2008 Silver Medal by the Garden Writers' Association. The book The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, was published in 2014. Doug is also a regular columnist for garden Design magazine. Among his awards are the Garden Club of America Margaret Douglas Medal for Conservation and the Tom Dodd, Jr. Award of Excellence.  (Click on poster on right to enlarge it).

Presentation Location:  This program will be held at the Astroth Auditorium in the Astroth Community Education Center at Heartland Community College, Normal, IL.  A map of the campus is available here.      

Do you want to attract more birds to your yard and help to support them?  This program will introduce the well-known and desirable local birds that people strive to bring to their yards and the native plants that produce food, habitat, or protection for them. Information will also be provided on which native plants best support the specific feeding requirements (seeds, nectar, and/or insects) of these different bird species. 

Presenter Bio: Barry Lake grew up in South Central Michigan with a grandmother who cherished both feeding birds and gardening. He learned a lot about nature by way of getting dirty and observing nature. He owned and operated the store Lake's Backyard Nature Place in Bloomington for three years and still runs an online business by the same name that sells birding products. Although the idea of gardening with native plants is still relatively new to Barry, he did incorporate them into his store garden and is also actively beginning to include them in his current home garden.

What is is wetland?  Well, how a wetland is defined can depend on the agency involved! In this program, Vernon LaGesse will discuss at the history of wetlands in Illinois and also a few current wetland restoration projects in the state.

Presenter Bio:

Vernon LaGesse has been conducting stewardship and restoration work for 30 years.  He is founder and Executive Director of a local not-for-profit land trust The Friends of Sangamon Valley in Springfield, IL.  His current work mostly involves organizing all stewardship activities for the organization.  These activities include workdays at various nature preserves and developing restoration plans for various nature preserves. 

Why do we need to be concerned about how we manage storm water around our homes? Storm water can carry pollutants from our lawns into the streams and rivers around our community as well as other problems. What can we do? In this program, Jeff Kohmstedt will share ways to manage this water such as by using rain barrels and creating rain gardens with native plants. He will also share other ways we can help protect the rivers, water, and wildlife from this run-off.

Jeff Kohmstedt joined Prairie Rivers Network in 2017 as its Communications and Outreach Coordinator. He has previously worked as outreach coordinator for the Illinois New Teacher Collaborative in Champaign, Illinois. He has worked as a grassroots lobbyist for the National Electrical Contractors Association in Washington, D.C., and he has taught composition at the University of Illinois, Parkland College, George Washington University, and Howard University.

Patrick Murphy will lead a guided tour of the Illinois State University Fell Arboretum that focuses on the trees native to central Illinois.  During the tour Patrick will show us the identifying characteristics of these trees and discuss their native habitat.

Presenter Bio:

Patrick Murphy is a Horticulturalist with the Illinois State University's Department of Biological Sciences and is the first curator of the ISU Fell Arboretum.  He is also an arborist, former landscape designer and ISU alumni.

Note: A specific location to meet for this tour will be provided at a later date.

Illinois is the "Prairie State" but most people have misconceptions of what an actual prairie is.  Hill prairies are more than just "prairies on a hill" and because of their landscape position and past land usage, they are one of the most common remnant prairie types left in central Illinois.  John Wilker will share with us the many factors affecting development of these rare unique ecosystems.  He will tell a compelling story of how they developed, why they are still on the landscape and what they mean for conservation in Illinois.  

Presenter Bio:

John Wilker has Bachelor's degree in Zoology from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale (SIUC) and a Master's Degree in Plant Biology also from SIUC.  He is currently employed as the Natural Areas Program Manager for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources with over 22 years of experience managing and conserving natural communities.  John is also an adjunct instructor of Biology at Lincoln Land Community College with 15 years of experience teaching biology and field ecology at Lincoln Land and University of Illinois at Springfield.   

This program will discuss the ins and outs of collecting seed from native plants, the best ways to store them, and how to get them to grow. We will take a particularly close look at how to break seed dormancy, perhaps the most challenging and poorly understood aspect of propagation. But, by following a few simple protocols, you will find that most species can be cultivated quite readily.

Presenter Bio: Ed Cope is a Restoration Ecologist working for the Natural Land Institute, a land trust operating in northern Illinois. Propagating native plants has been a labor of love for Ed, and he has accrued over a decade of experience planting and stewarding prairie restorations. Among his favorite pursuits is cultivating rare and difficult-to- grow species.

More details will be available soon!