Events Calendar

The owners of a private residence in Altamont (Albany County) have been adding only native plants to their landscape since 2018.  Members are welcome to join us with a guest to visit this extensive garden which also hosts bluebirds, a vegetable garden, blueberries and raspberries, flower gardens, native plants and shrubs.  There is a wild area where they have created paths and have been eliminating buckthorns, multiflora roses, honeysuckles, and bittersweet.  

Cornell Cooperative Extension Demonstration Gardens-  11:00am-1:00pm. Open to the public

Demonstration gardens are designed to educate the community in horticulture and science.  At the Cornell Cooperative Extension site in Voorheesville, there are 20 distinctly designed gardens, including a native and pollinator garden, a shade garden, a shrub garden, a grass garden, a children’s garden, vegetable gardens and herb gardens. Master gardeners, several of whom are Wild Ones members, will be available to guide tours and answer questions.  Registration is not required as this tour is open to the public.  

Unity Demonstration Garden Tree-line Bed Preparation 8/25 (6-8 pm).  We have big plans to add a bush and low growing tree-line to add some privacy and sound barrier to the playground-- and what better way than to do so with native plants!  But first we must prepare the ground so it is more hospitable for our long lived friends.  We will be laying newspaper and transporting woodchips to a long stretch. We welcome more wheelbarrows, shovels and/or pitch forks, and newspapers or paper grocery bags.  Any and all help is welcomed and many hands will make this job go quick.  Please register so we can plan accordingly.  

In search of asters, we will explore all of the early-fall blooms we find. We will walk both the blue and red trails, totaling about 1.5mi. Bring appropriate attire for a hike and the weather. Host: Dustin Mitchell, 314-616-2667. Always check the Events Calendar for any cancellation.
 

Janet N. 10:00am- 2:00pm: Since 1983, Janet has lived in this single family home, on a quiet Albany Street. Over the years, she has experimented with different types of gardens, but after being introduced to Doug Tallemy’s writings in 2019, she immediately became hooked on native plants. Wanting to make a big impact quickly but knowing little about native plants, she engaged Jessie Peters of Jessecology, in 2020, to design and install two phases of her backyard garden transformation.  The front garden demonstrates the hardiness of plants that resisted bunny nibbles in their tender phases. Other issues are managing Bishops Weed, Rose of Sharon's seedlings from my neighbor’s shrubs, and her continued learning curve in identifying rogues when they insert themselves. She welcomes your thoughts and suggestions as you visit.

2. A Show Me Tell Me Tour- 11:00Am-1:00pm Emily M. recently moved into her first house with a yard, in an urban neighborhood, built around the 1930's.  Although she has had some experience and skill with containers, hanging baskets, and indoor potted plants, she is now beginning her journey in outdoor gardening. Initially, the garden beds were overrun with weeds, invasive plants, and a poisonous vine that covered a chain linked fence that ran along the back of the property, and stumps and un-mown grass. After cleaning all that out, what remained was lawn, bare dirt, and a handful of shrubs. I have been trying to keep the weeds at bay for the past couple of months. There are some nice established trees in the area which provides shade in the front yard. The backyard is sunny with a newly planted row of native shrubs and a brand new American Dogwood.  Emily is looking for advice on how to properly care for her new plantings, and suggestions about what to plant in her front yard and around an air conditioning unit, as well as advice on how to keep the invasive at bay. 

3.Unity  Demonstration Garden 12:00am-2:00pm  (This garden will be open to the general public, but please try not to arrive prior to 12 as parking may be limited due to church service hours.)

@ Unity Lutheran Church Albany, 1500 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203. (Across from Stuyvesant Plaza)

Join Wild Ones Members to tour and discuss the Native Demonstration Garden designed by ecological landscape designer, Kate Brittenham of Front Stoop Gardens.  The garden was installed in 2024 by Wild Ones Members and community volunteers with the generous use of land by the Unity Lutheran Church.  

This is a great example of what the first two years of a native garden may look like.  If you are interested in discussing and observing options for turning your sod into a native paradise, this is a great place to start.  You might also be interested in seeing our drip irrigation design, critter deterrents, edging, and the lovely native plants that are sleeping and creeping in their first years.  Wild Ones members will be available to discuss options that might work for you.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

Unity  Demonstration Garden 12:00am-2:00pm  

@ Unity Lutheran Church Albany, 1500 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203. (Across from Stuyvesant Plaza)

Join Wild Ones Members to tourand discuss the Native Demonstration Garden designed by ecological landscape designer, Kate Brittenham of Front Stoop Gardens.  The garden was installed in 2024 by Wild Ones Members and community volunteers with the generous use of land by the Unity Lutheran Church.  

This is a great example of what the first two years of a native garden may look like.  If you are interested in discussing and observing options for turning your sod into a native paradise, this is a great place to start.  You might also be interested in seeing our drip irrigation design, critter deterrents, edging, and the lovely native plants that are sleeping and creeping in their first years.  Wild Ones members will be available to discuss options that might work for you.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

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.

Sunday Sept. 21, 2025. 1:30pm- 4pm Annual Wild Ones Garden Party!  at the Kelly Adirondack Center. What a great 4th year our Wild Ones chapter has had! Come celebrate our successful growth and projects at our  Annual Wild Ones Garden Party!  We will also conduct a brief annual meeting and elect new officers.  It will be a wonderful opportunity to mingle with members and fellow garden enthusiasts, maybe win a prize, and enjoy the beautiful setting. We will have refreshments.  Bring an interested friend(s): registration required to plan for appetizers.  Address:  897 St David's Ln, Niskayuna, NY, 12309   https://forms.gle/LxALUJ6cBCRgsN959 

Join us for our monthly  Leadership Team & Business Meeting.   Reach out by email for zoom link:  [email protected] 

Beginning at the smaller Falstaff’s parking lot near Broadway, we will take the red loop trail, about 1.1mi, seeking late wildflowers, enjoying the fall foliage, and thinking about the soil structure all this falling plant matter supports. Bring appropriate attire for a hike and the weather. Host: Dustin Mitchell, 314-616-2667. Always check the Events Calendar for any cancellation.

Details coming soon! 

Friday 7th, 8:30am. Henry Gerber Reist Bird Sanctuary, 897 St David's Ln, Niskayuna, NY. Park at the Kelly Adirondack Center. From there we will follow the Paul Schaefer Yellow Trail, about 1.3 mi, looking out for birds, late-fall flora, and the remnants of dry vernal pools. Bring appropriate attire for a hike and the weather; note that this area can get wet and muddy. Host: Dustin Mitchell, 314-616-2667. Always check the Events Calendar for any cancellation.

Join us for our monthly  Leadership Team & Business Meeting.   Reach out by email for zoom link:  [email protected] 

We will be returning with our highly requested seed swap!  Enjoy a family-friendly event celebrating our New York native plants with a seed swap!  Please pre-register any seeds you wish to bring so we can have plant care signs made. This is a public event and even if you do not have seeds you are welcome to take home seeds. Emma Treadwell Nature Center staff will be providing related education.  There will be craft stations,  informative tables featuring like-minded organizations, winter seed sowing station, and more!  Help us have a fantastic event and  invite your friends and family to join.  Please pre- register your seeds here:  https://forms.gle/TgkA7svJiPpcfvGE6 .  

Details coming soon! 

Saturday, January 10 10:00am - 12:30pm @ Shaker Heritage Society Meeting House - join us for Native Seed Packaging.  Come and help package surplus from the Seed Swap at the historical site where seed packages were invented!  Seeds will be donated to libraries across counties served by WOCRNY.  If you have time, join for lunch afterwards (pay your own).  

Check our website for snow date information (1/11) in case of inclement weather.

Saturday, January 31st 1-3pm. Join Emma Treadwell Thacher Nature Center, Friends of Thacher, and Wild Ones as we host the  Native Plant Sale Kick-Off Social to be held at the Nature Center (87 Nature Center Way, Voorheesville, NY 12186 (518) 872-0800 ).  Come join us if you have volunteered to or are thinking of volunteering for the Annual Native Plant Sale to be held May 16, 2026.  There are so many ways to become involved, come and join this dedicated group of volunteers and see what’s right for you! Please register here, to be notified in case of a weather event.