Events

Many people are looking to add native plants to their gardens but don't know what to get or what is native for our area. This presentation will go over some of the most common native plants and where to plant them for success. Native Plants are essential because they are the foundation of the ecosystem. Native Plants are those that an ecosystem depends on in order to thrive. We can help fight the biodiversity crisis one yard at a time.

Join chapter members Robin Madel and Sue Williams for this informative presentation which includes information on the Coastal Plain ecoregion; critical area; right plant, right place and suggestions for various situations (sun/shade). 

Included will be take-home copies with information on local sources, internet sites for research and the Maryland Native Plant Society Booklet on suggested native plants. 

For accessibility accommodations, please contact us at least 2 weeks before the event. 410-535-0291. 

Join us for our bi-monthly Garden Chat with a presentation by chapter secretary Miranda Yourick, owner of Earthly Delights Native Gardening. 

All Wild Ones members are welcome to attend and invite a guest!

Description:

While natural spaces are wild and beholden to the laws of nature, gardens are constructed by humans who wish to embody particular aesthetics.  Perhaps you want a naturalistic look but need to appease the HOA? Maybe you want a cottage garden like your grandmother's but filled with native plants instead of the traditional roses and foxgloves? Miranda will introduce you to some guiding principles for designing your garden as a place of comfort, excitement, and beauty that reflects your personal style and practical needs while also supporting the wildlife in your backyard.

About the Speaker: 

Miranda found her passion for native plants after buying her first home in 2023. Beginning with zero gardens, she stumbled through the process of creating them and made a ton of mistakes along the way. A chance encounter led her to volunteering at the USGS Bee Lab with Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay, where she soaked up as much information as possible about propagating and identifying native plants. Miranda is no stranger to learning scientific names, as she holds a PhD in Biology where she studied the genetics of fishes. Miranda has more than a decade of teaching experience in traditional classrooms, community outreach, and hands-on learning.

Designing gardens is an exercise in art and science, both of which Miranda is enamored with. She hopes to help create natural spaces that delight the senses while supporting habitat for wildlife. When not gardening, you can find her listening to audiobooks from the science-fiction or horror genres, hiking (stopping often to look at everything), or learning enumerable new crafts. One such craft is linocut - which is how she designed the Earthly Delights logo.

Favorite native plant - Wild Columbine, Aquilegia canadensis

Join of for a screening of the film, The Little Things That Run the World, at the College of Southern Maryland Bee Campus LaPlata Campus. You don't want to miss this important message, including cameo appearances by Sam Droege, the leading voice in native bee conservation.

Watch the trailer here.

The Little Things that Run the World introduces viewers to a diverse group of scientists, nature lovers, gardeners, farmers, and general bug enthusiasts in exploring the importance of flying insects amid rapid declines in their numbers.  This most numerous group of animals on the planet by far – three quarters of all species – have also been called the “glue of life” on Earth. They literally hold ecosystems together.  Insects were the first animals to evolve flight nearly 440 million years ago, and they survived all five of the known mass extinctions since then. But, there is evidence that the pace of decline among insects in parts of the world today is fast approaching the levels of previous catastrophes. What this means for the rest of life on Earth, including humans, is the focus of The Little Things that Run the World. The film documents the mysteries of the declines along side creative and heroic human efforts to change the course of evolutionary history. What is causing this extinction crisis?  What can be done to reverse the trend? The Little Things that Run the World attempts to find answers to those questions and more.  

Explore the Leonardtown Library’s Front Yard Pollinator Garden with magnifying glasses and children’s binoculars looking for and identifying birds and bugs in the garden. We can loan our guests magnifying glasses and binoculars but if you have your own, please feel free to bring them.

Tots in the Front Yard family garden walks will be led by Master Gardener volunteer Deb Pence and other volunteer community garden enthusiasts in the Leonardtown Library’s “Front Yard Garden.” Activities and guided walks are developed for 3–6 year-olds, but the whole family is welcome to join in the explorations. Children must be accompanied by an adult, and parents should note there will most likely be exposure to nuts, seeds and other plant parts as well as a variety of pollinators, so please be advised for potential allergens.

Registration is requested but drop-ins will be welcome. Walks will be approximately 30-40 minutes and loosely scheduled for 10:00 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

AGE GROUP: | Upper Elementary | Toddler | Preschool | Lower Elementary | Baby |

You might think native plants won't work in your yard, but in this presentation, Robin Madel and Sue Williams, with Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay, will illustrate how there is a right plant for all those problem spots you might have around your yard.

We'll hold the workshop from 10am to 12pm, followed by a light lunch from 12pm to 12:30pm, then head outside for a work day in the Nature Center native plant beds from 12:30pm to 2:30pm.

Registration is recommended, but not required.
 

Join Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay to celebrate National Seed Swap Day! We will be participating in the Seed Swap Festival at Mount Rainier Nature Center, co-hosted by Prince George's Parks and Recreation and Anacostia Watershed Society.

Who should attend?
Everyone is welcome. Never gardened before? Come and bring your curiosity! Gardened and saved seeds your whole life? Bring your seeds and stories to share.

What should you bring?
It’s not required to bring anything to the seed swap. If you have seeds you’d like to share, please bring them! If possible, bring them in a labeled container with the type, variety, and year grown. If you have extra ziplock bags, paper packets, or other potential seed containers for seeds you receive, bring those as well.

In addition to the seed swap, there will be activities as follows:

Story Time for children starts at 11:30am 

Craft starts at 12:00pm-12:30pm. 

Winter seed starting workshop by the Mount Rainier Public Library will run from 1:00pm to 3:00pm 

The event is free and open to the public. 

This is a private event for the local Girl Scout service unit, organized by The Girl Scouts of Northern Calvert County.

We will be partnering with Nurture Natives to host age-appropriate activities related to Monarchs and Milkweed, including:
      Coloring pages and masks
      Lifecycle of a caterpillar
      Pollinator Race game
      Educational display

If available, butterfly milkweed plugs for scouts to pot up and take home. 

Come all tall and small Good Earthlings to celebrate A "Good Earth" Day! Join us in our side parking lot for vendors and hands-on fun. We will have tons of activities for kids and adults:

Global Wines- Organic Wine Tasting (inside)
Back Porch Coffee Co.- Fresh roasted coffee pour overs
Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay Chapter - Dedicating the new front garden
Anchored Roots Farm- Regenerative Flower Farm
Make Your Own Pinch Pot for Kids- with artist Sarah Houde
Butterfly Walk Mascot- Molly the Monarch
Sunward CSA- Regenerative Agriculture
Start Your Own Seeds for Kids- with Valerie Deptula
King's Rest Farm- Regenerative Agriculture
Plein Air will be painting live!
Deez L'town Bees- Pollination & Beekeeping Demo
And More!!!

To become an Earth Day vendor please message [email protected]

To volunteer during our workdays in early April to renovate and plant the new native pollinator garden, contact [email protected]

April weather can be fickle, so if it rains, we will be cancelling with no rain date.

Nurture Natives and Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay will be participating at the University of Maryland’s annual springtime open house, Maryland Day! Stop by our booth to learn more about native plants. More details to follow on potential plant giveaway.

The University of Maryland's daylong event opens the campus to the community for nearly 400 free events showcasing arts, science, agriculture, sports and so much more. Don’t miss this unforgettable day of fun and discovery!

Details to follow

Come and explore the beauty of native plants at the Parkette Pollinator Patch in Leonardtown. Meet members of the Leonardtown Butterfly Trail team (Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay, St. Mary's County Garden Club, St. Mary's County Master Gardeners) to learn about the native plants in the pollinator patch. Learn about monarch butterflies and the other pollinators that visit the gardens.

ECOBAY will also be onsite with native plants for sale.

Many people are looking to add native plants to their gardens but don't know what to get or what is native for our area. This presentation will go over some of the most common native plants and where to plant them for success. Native Plants are essential because they are the foundation of the ecosystem. Native Plants are those that an ecosystem depends on in order to thrive. We can help fight the biodiversity crisis one yard at a time.

Join chapter members Robin Madel and Sue Williams for this informative presentation which includes information on the Coastal Plain ecoregion; critical area; right plant, right place and suggestions for various situations (sun/shade). 

Included will be take-home copies with information on local sources, internet sites for research and the Maryland Native Plant Society Booklet on suggested native plants. 

Bring your native plants and seeds to trade with other gardeners at our inaugural spring native plant swap at the “Front Yard” native gardens. 

This free event offers both experienced and new gardeners a chance to add native plants to their yards. In doing so, you will be creating habitat for our native birds, bees and butterflies.

If you're new to gardening with native plants, this event is the place to get started! Meet and chat with native-plant enthusiasts, view native plants in the Front Yard gardens, and take home free plants and seeds! 

If you're an experienced native gardener, please spread the joy by bringing your favorite plants and seeds to swap and share.  

Strange as it sounds, we're trying to prevent the spread of invasive weeds and jumping worms, so please follow these simple steps when bringing your plants to the event: 

Dig up your plants. 
Shake the dirt off the roots. 
Gently rinse the roots clean.  
Label each plant (include the botanical name if you can). 
Bring them to the Swap & Share in a bucket of water or wrapped in wet paper and tucked in a plastic bag.

For more information, contact Liz Curtz, Friends of St Clements Bay, at [email protected] or Marlene Smith, Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay, @ [email protected]
Participating partners include St. Mary's County Master Gardeners, Butterfly Alley, the Leonardtown Butterfly Trail, Friends of St Clements Bay, Wild Ones Chesapeake Bay, and the St. Mary's County Garden Club.

Explore the Leonardtown Library’s Front Yard Pollinator Garden with magnifying glasses and children’s binoculars looking for and identifying birds and bugs in the garden. We can loan our guests magnifying glasses and binoculars but if you have your own, please feel free to bring them.

Tots in the Front Yard family garden walks will be led by Master Gardener volunteer Deb Pence and other volunteer community garden enthusiasts in the Leonardtown Library’s “Front Yard Garden.” Activities and guided walks are developed for 3–6 year-olds, but the whole family is welcome to join in the explorations. Children must be accompanied by an adult, and parents should note there will most likely be exposure to nuts, seeds and other plant parts as well as a variety of pollinators, so please be advised for potential allergens.

Registration is requested but drop-ins will be welcome. Walks will be approximately 30-40 minutes and loosely scheduled for 10:00 a.m., 10:45 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

AGE GROUP: | Upper Elementary | Toddler | Preschool | Lower Elementary | Baby |

Join us for our bi-monthly Garden Chat.

All Wild Ones members are welcome to attend and invite a guest!

Details to follow

Prepare to be amazed, get your hands dirty, and have loads of fun as we learn about the beauties of nature together! This is a FREE event for families of all ages. Read more about this event and view our schedule at: https://www.neighborhoodcreativeartscenter.org/nature-fest
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Registration is free and requires no credit card details

Details to follow

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon!