Events

We will be cleaning seeds for packaging later on. There is usually lots of good conversations about gardening , native plants and other conversations. Come join us and meet  new gardening friends.

Monthly board meeting.

Quarterly meeting .  Presentation: Greg Capranica of Millifleur Apiary (2023) and Millifleur Native Landscaping (2025) will speak about the native plants in relation to their natural communities within Louisiana's varied ecosystems and regions.  Greg is a Louisiana Master Naturalist and most recently thecompleted the Louisiana Native Professional Certification Program. He is a board member of WOPB and collaborates with other groups, such as with the Peoples Forest Foundation to provide education in the region through the Microhabitat Program. 

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.

Seed packaging and Social get together. We clean and package seeds while having conversations and meeting new people.

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.!  

Monthly board of directors meeting 

John Broderick, a WOPB board member, will give a demonstration on how to create a Bonsai tree using native species.  John is a retired arborist and accomplished creator of Bonsai using various species including native ones.

We will be cleaning and packaging native plant seeds for future events while having conversations with people interested in planting or learning about installing native plants into their landscapes.Come join us, we always have great conversations while making new friends and you are welcome to take seeds home with you.

Members Only event at the Gloster Arboretum in Gloster, MS. and possibly one other private property. Both are in southwest, MS.  The Gloster Arboretum is a private property. Linda Auld, the NOLA BugLady and Brady Dunaway, Heritage Program Ecologist at the MS Museum of Natural Sciences wil lead tours.

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.

Monthly Board Meeting 

Tabling talk at Earth Day Celebration 

Quarterly Public Meeting: with Presentation: Teri Gegenheimer is a Volunteer Ambassador of the Xerces Society. She will talk on the beloved and at risk Firefly,  due to loss of habitat and other complex factors and how humans can help preserve them. Christine Gambino, LSU Ag Extension Associate,  will talk briefly on her work establishing a firefly habitat in Lafitte. This will be a great combo event for our chapter!

Spring sale of Flowers and other Garden related items. Have 66 vendors with booths. Also talks by LSU Agricultural agents .

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.

Monthly Board meeting 

Seed cleaning and packaging plus Social gathering to talk about nature plants, gardening or whatever comes up. We always have a nice conversation and meet new fellow native plant enthusiasts at these gatherings . Join us if you can. 
If you have native seeds to share please bring them, we are always looking to enhance our seed offerings to the public.
Parking is limited so carpool if you can. If not there is additional parking at the Post  Office and we will have someone available to carpool people from there. 
Hope to see you there.

Garden tour of vegetable beds and native planting that help support pollination of  food crops. The kindergarten and first grade classes are allowed into the garden to learn where their food comes from and to help grow and plant seeds and plants. They are also taught the importance of having the native  plants and their value to the environment.

Patty Zebrick will give a public talk about the importance of native plant species in the landscape, discussing WOPB, Homegrown National Park, Less Lawn More LIfe and resources for natives in our region.

Patty Zebrick, President of WOPB will give a public talk about the importance of native plant species in the landscape, discussing WOPB, Homegrown National Park, Less Lawn More LIfe Project, and resources for natives in our region.

Patty Zebrick will give a public talk about the importance of native plant species in the landscape, discussing WOPB, Homegrown National Park, Less Lawn More LIfe and resources for natives in our region.

Monthly Board meeting 

3rd Quarterly Public Meeting with presentation. Wendy Rihner will offer a discussion of the colorful history of plant taxonomy and why it matters more than ever. Rihner, a retired Delgado Community College English professor, started birding in 1997 but had yet to make the connection between birds and native plants. It was not until 2015 that she made that connection after watching Ruby-throated Hummingbirds feed on the Red Buckeye trees at Longue Vue House and Gardens.  Rihner has been making up for lost time ever since, gardening with natives and even growing them! Her small, seasonal business, Birdgirl's Blooms, grows native plants and sells them February through April and donates all profits to the Orleans Audubon Society's Plants for Birds mission. Rihner is a board member of the Wild Ones Pontchartrain Basin and is both the Education Chair and Chair of the Plant for Birds Mission for the Orleans Audubon Society. 

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.

Patty Zebrick will give a public talk about the importance of native plant species in the landscape, discussing WOPB, Homegrown National Park, Less Lawn More LIfe Project, and resources for natives in our region.

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.

Registration link coming soon.

Monthly Board meeting

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.

Monthly Board meeting

Planning is underway for the Pelican Park Nature Club, Fontainbleau State Park, and Wild Ones Bartram BioBash weekend event. 

4th Quarterly meeting with presentation by LA's USDA-NRCS soil scientist team. The presentation will be be focused on Assessing native soils and habitat restoration. A field trip to a restoration site might be included. The particular site might be private. If so, it will be for a limited number of members only, to be determined closer to the event.

Monthly Board meeting 

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.

Registration link coming soon.

Monarch butterflies depend on a network of habitats stretching across North America, and home landscapes can play an important role in their survival. Join experts from Monarch Joint Venture to explore the science behind monarch conservation, including the importance of milkweed, nectar resources, and regionally appropriate habitat. Learn practical ways to support monarchs through native landscaping and help sustain one of the world's most remarkable migrations.
 

Registration link coming soon. 
 

Monthly Board meeting 

Monthly Board meeting