Events

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.

Winter Sowing is a method of starting seeds outdoors in miniature greenhouses, allowing nature to provide the proper conditions for germination. Participants will take home a jug of winter-sown seeds! 

$5 per person (paid to the Master Gardeners), free for Master Gardener Volunteers. 

Pre-Registration Required: Call 518-668-4881 to register. 

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.!  

Free and open to the public! Grab a coffee and a bagel, and enjoy a casual discussion about all things native gardening - plans, hopes, stories, and general information.

Our Coffee Chats are seasonal events where we get to socialize with and learn from like-minded gardeners. It is also a great networking space for people to exchange ideas about projects or lecture topics that WOSA can organize, or about how WOSA can collaborate with other organizations.

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.

SUNY Adirondack’s Agricultural Business program is proud to offer Adirondack Native Plants Symposium: Building Resilient Landscapes from noon to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26.

This event will explore how native plants serve as a living infrastructure that supports biodiversity, strengthens climate resilience, reduces maintenance costs and enhances community well-being.

This event is open to the public. Registration is $25 per person for the general public and free for any SUNY student, faculty or staff member with ID.

Native Yardening, Create Biodiversity in Your Yard

Keystone Plants for ADK Gardens 

Local Plant Sources

Low Impact Maintenance Techniques

Creative Lawn Alternatives

Participants will learn how to plan and renovate their property to support birds, fireflies, butterflies and other important creatures in our ADK ecosystem.

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.

**Note: Date subject to change!** We'll be monitoring the trail for blooms and weather conditions closer to the date). 

Come see a sampling of our region's treasured spring ephemeral species such as Trilliums, Jack-in-the-Pulpit sprouts, Wild Columbines, etc. in their natural habitat. Learn about their special qualities and enjoy a scenic spring walk!

Pollinator Palooza is Back! Join Sustainable Saratoga on Saturday, May 31st from 10am-3pm to buy native plants and meet people dedicated to protecting our precious pollinators, their habitat, and other natural resources.

Pollinator Palooza offers a wonderful array of native flowering perennials that attract pollinators as sources of nutrition, and homeowners will love the colors, fragrances, and beauty these natives bring to yards and gardens. Sustainable Saratoga volunteers have been growing 1,600 plants for the last 2 months and they are ready for their new homes.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY: 

Sign up for a tabling time slot! Tabling volunteers will talk about Wild Ones Southern Adirondacks, direct people to our brochures, free seed packets, and free plant plugs, and answer questions or direct people to WOSA officers for answers. If the sign-up time is near the beginning or end of the time range, volunteers will help set-up and take down the tent and supplies. 

Interested? Enter your information in the following shared document: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HbGTUsHg6cCJyATGy3swRr7PqSj0KR6yuUiDK2gW_T8/edit?usp=sharing

Our Wildlife Festival takes place annually on the first weekend of June, and this year’s event will be held on Sunday, May 31, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. The festival coincides with the stunning bloom of wild blue lupines and the emergence of the first brood of the endangered Karner blue butterfly—truly a sight to behold! It is a celebration of wildlife and the natural world, where we bring together local environmental, conservation, recreation, and educational organizations for an enriching experience.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY: 

Sign up for a tabling time slot! Tabling volunteers will talk about Wild Ones Southern Adirondacks, direct people to our brochures, free seed packets, and free plant plugs, and answer questions or direct people to WOSA officers for answers. If the sign-up time is near the beginning or end of the time range, volunteers will help set-up and take down the tent and supplies. 

Interested? Enter your information in the following shared document: 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HbGTUsHg6cCJyATGy3swRr7PqSj0KR6yuUiDK2gW_T8/edit?usp=sharing

Elizabeth has been gardening with native plants for the past 4 years. Her garden has a cottage aesthetic in the front yard and a natural aesthetic in the backyard forest patch. It showcases which native plants can thrive in dry, sandy soil. You can also see what is sprouting in her 30+ winter sowing containers!   

We are proudly partnering up with Hewitt's to bring this workshop to the public! Hewitt's is one of our few local nurseries that offers a selection of native plants grown without neonicotinoids. Learn some practical tips for creating an attractive garden design with native plants, and receive custom advice for which plants to select for your particular site needs.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Zoe Evans, rewilding coach and VP of Partnerships & Programs at Wildr shares a practical, science-informed framework for evaluating a home landscape, identifying its greatest habitat opportunities, and choosing actions that support more plants, insects, birds, and other wildlife.

Registration link coming soon.