Events

Please join us for an introduction to collecting seed for growing native plants. This hands-on opportunity will be guided by Calla Butler, Native Plant Horticulturist at Matthaei Botanical Gardens. Calla will present on the importance of seed collection, the ethics of collecting, cleaning practices, useful tools, and more. Following the presentation, we will move out into the prairie plantings and bioswales of Matthaei for the hands-on experience of harvesting seed! 

Supplies for the workshop will be provided.

Portions of the workshop's seed harvest will go to the Seeds to Community project, a collaborative program of A3WO. https://www.facebook.com/groups/seedstocommunitywashtenaw/ 

About Calla Butler

Calla Butler is the Native Plant Gardens Horticulturist at Matthaei Botanical Gardens. Her professional experience includes working at the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory on Belle Isle and in the field of garden design. With her team of volunteers, Calla is responsible for maintaining the Great Lakes Gardens, home to over 300 native plant species. Calla manages the seed gathering and propagation of plants for this garden habitat and the Matthaei native plant sale. This year you will find her floriferous results growing in and around new locations on the U of M campus.  

PARKING: Metered parking is available at Matthaei Botanical Gardens; members park for free.

Discover how ecological landscaping with native plants can make your landscape more resilient and help address the climate crisis. This webinar will highlight practical, evidence-based approaches to designing and maintaining landscapes that build resilience to climate change and support native biodiversity. Join Wild Ones for a free webinar, “EcoBeneficial Landscape Strategies for the Climate Crisis,” featuring environmental horticulturalist and ecological landscape designer Kim Eierman.

A panel presentation by  Lissa Spitz, Meg Delaney, Joan Martin, Cathy Bach

The Ann Arbor Pocket Forest, installed in 2024, is modeled on a method advanced by the Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. Panelists will share the history and purpose of this planting and what has been learned, and what remains to be exploredin this collboration. The panelists are part of the team that, with strong volunteer support from Wild Ones, Citizens Climate Lobby, Buhr Park Children’s Wetmeadow Project, and the broader community, created and maintained the Buhr Park Pocket Forest in Ann Arbor. As far as we know, it is the first Miyawaki-style native plant forest in Michigan. 

OUR PANELISTS

Meg Delaney is an A3WO member and the chapter's Secretary, and she also serves as a Board member of the national Wild Ones organization. Meg is an avid cyclist, camper, and native plant gardener. Her small city garden began as a haven for songbirds and pollinators, and is still expanding. A retired librarian, Meg has a gift for organization and good documentation that is positively poetic.

Lissa Spitz, a Wild Ones member, is a native plant gardener and an architect and principal/project manager at A3C Collaborative Architecture. Lissa is also an artist—she operates the River District Studio and her work features themes and shapes from nature.

Joan Martin has been involved in the stewardship movement in Washtenaw County and the Huron River watershed for more than 30 years. A biologist by training, Joan spent 20 years at the Huron River Watershed Council, where she created the country’s premier river health monitoring programs, training hundreds of river stewards to monitor the river’s health. She is now applying her interest in a scientific approach to environmental health to the Pocket Forest's ongoing project to monitor its biological and environmental effects over time.

Cathy Bach is a Professor Emeritus of Biology at Eastern Michigan University; she also taught for over 20 summers at the University of Michigan Biological Station. Cathy is particularly known for her research on the interaction between herbivorous insects and plants. She is excited to be able to apply her scientific experience to help to monitor animals in the pocket forest.

PARKING: Metered parking is available at Matthaei Botanical Gardens; members park for free.

Details coming soon! 

Jon and Susan Cross are passionate about restoring the rare habitat where they live—The Oak Openings Region, located in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan. They have successfully restored their own 20 acres of rare woodland, sand barren, and wet prairie to provide a home for rare and state-listed species. Their experience models how private citizens—no matter where they live or how much space they have—are critical participants in the stewardship of healthy environments. Professionals can’t shoulder this burden alone. The Crosses are now on a mission to influence others to plant natives as often as possible one garden or landscape at a time.

ABOUT OUR PRESENTERS

Jon Cross is a highly regarded native plant advocate, speaker, and award-winning nature photographer. Jon’s alter ego is that of an information technology leader for over 20 years. He was named 2022 Landowner of the Year by the Green Ribbon Initiative (GRI) for work on behalf of the globally rare Oak Openings Region where he and Susan live. GRI is a consortium of public and private organizations, landowners, and individuals working to preserve, enhance, and restore critical natural areas in the Oak Openings Region.

Susan Cross is a native plant advocate, author, and speaker. Susan’s alter ego is that of a public relations professional for over 30 years in corporate America.

Jon and Susan are frequent hosts to environmentalists and landowners who share their passion for restoring The Oak Openings Region to its native state and want to see and apply learnings from their efforts. They also speak frequently about their habitat restoration experiences. To learn more visit www.zenvironment.net.  

PARKING: Metered parking is available at Matthaei Botanical Gardens; members park for free.

Details coming soon! 

NOTE: Program description will be provided by December 1, 2025.