Members join Wild Ones out of a deep concern for the environment and a desire to change landscaping practices at home and in their communities. Members of Wild Ones Twin Cities are invited to participate and to support the chapter in ways that fit their skills and schedules. Wild Ones chapters provide opportunities for collective action and a space to inspire and empower local change. In chapters we pool our knowledge and resources to transform home and public spaces into living landscapes. Chapters provide a forum to celebrate and share with others the multitude of benefits that native gardens offer. Chapters are the gardens that Wild Ones plants across the country and fulfills its mission through this growing network of support.
CHAPTER LEVEL
Twin Cities Chapter leadership is composed of 100% volunteers, and we can always use more help! We encourage our members to step up and become active whether only for a few hours a year or for a leadership position. Learn more on our ABOUT page.
Monthly Programs and Tours
Check our sign up page for current opportunities to help set up, greet and provide refreshments at monthly meetings and summer tours.
Quarterly Business Meetings
Currently scheduled 1st or 2nd weeks of January, April, July and October, we meet on Zoom. All members are welcome to attend and learn more about chapter business. Contact us at info@wildonestwincities.org to request an agenda for the upcoming meeting.
Other opportunities include:
- Greet members and guests as they arrive at our meetings
- Staff a chapter sponsored event or outreach booth
- Visit a new member's garden and share your native plant gardening experience
- Collect native seed for sharing at our annual seed exchange
- Share native plants from your garden at our annual native plant sale
- Contribute a story or article to the newsletter
- Become a spokesperson for Wild Ones
- Join, co-chair or lead one of our chapter committees
COMMUNITY LEVEL
Each of us has a favorite nature center or community garden near our home. We encourage Wild Ones members to become active in volunteering for plantings, maintenance and annual clean up events locally.
Nokomis Naturescape
Join the Nokomis Naturescape Gardeners at beautiful Lake Nokomis! Gardeneers (pioneering, volunteering gardeners) meet Tuesday Evenings between 5/6 to 7/8 from May through the end of the growing season (September/October). Show up when you can - all work is appreciated.
Since 2002, Wild Ones Twin Cities Chapter has helped maintain the three prairie gardens located at the 4-acre Nokomis Naturescape, 5001 E Lake Nokomis Parkway, Minneapolis, MN 55417. These unique demonstration gardens, installed in 1998, are designed to encourage people to plant native species to live up their own yards. We often receive kudos from passersby and share native plant information. Connections like this spread the word of the many benefits native plants give to our environment and how they enhance the Lake Nokomis ecosystem.
For more information contact Vicki at vbonk@usiwireless.com or call 612-232-8196. Get on our email list for current updates. Follow us on Facebook for timely reports of what's in bloom and more.
The Nokomis Naturescape Gardeneers have a new program:
Native Plant Gardening Learn-Along
This is a mentoring opportunity where people newer to native plant habitat gardening can learn-alongside an experienced gardener (most Wild Ones Twin Cities members) with a couple of others. We’ll do the gardening chores that present themselves that week plus learn more about the plants and animal visitors (usually very small) we encounter. Learn-along the growing season topics will be presented at the beginning of each session. These 15-30 minutes presentations will then be followed by hands-on gardening time
A few more suggestions:
- Adopt a storm drain
- Adopt a spot at a local park
- Help plant a native garden at your local school
- Coordinate a community Buckthorn pull
