Upcoming 2016 May and June events

Many opportunities exist for you to attend upcoming May and June events in the native plant, pollinator, and habitat building community.  If you’re looking for information, want to see our mission in action, or would like to connect with other like-minded folks, this list is for you!

See the sponsoring organizations’ links for more information.

May 20, 2016
9:00 a.m. to noon
If you haven’t gotten your fill from an abundance of sales, The Nature Institute in Godfrey, IL is hosting a native-plant sale (plant list available on the site after clicking the link). All proceeds go toward the The Nature Institute’s mission of preservation, restoration, and education.

May 21, 2016
5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
Join the members of local-plant societies and garden clubs at the Sugar Creek Gardens Cross Pollinator Party (listed near the bottom after clicking on the link). Take advantage of the opportunity to learn about and join these organizations while enjoying free wine, punch, and snacks. You will receive 10% off total purchase during the party.  Our Wild Ones – St. Louis Chapter will have a table there so be sure to stop by and say hello.

June 4, 2016
8:30 a.m. to noon
Register for and attend the Brightside Urban Gardening Symposium, featuring a series of 40‐minute workshops led by experts in their respective fields to help gardeners learn how to plan, plant, and care for a neighborhood or home garden. This is a very exciting native-landscaping learning opportunity, not to be missed.

June 4, 2016
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Help your family live green! Attend the Green Homes Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden for a hands-on, day-long festival of learning, playing, and engaging with people of all ages and backgrounds with an interest in sustainable, healthy lifestyles. Those attending will explore the links between sustainability, energy efficiency, conservation at home, and a healthy environment. Take advantage of this opportunity to talk with green product and service exhibitors and learn more about home improvement and healthy homes.

June 4, 2016 
National Prairie Day, established by the Missouri Prairie Foundation, is designated as the first Saturday in June on the National Day Calendar.  The mission of National Prairie day is to enhance public awareness of what prairie is, educate about its value, and motivate all who learn about prairie to be inspired to support prairie protection, conservation, restoration, enjoyment, and the ecological concepts found there.  While there are no specific local events planned on June 4th, we see every day as an opportunity to talk about prairies!

June 11, 2016
10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Check out the brand new Life Outdoors Festival at Creve Coeur Park from Great Rivers Greenway! All are welcome to see, try and learn how to live life outside in our region.  Great Rivers Greenway has invited retailers, non-profit organizations, outfitters and clubs who are part of the outdoor industry/field in the St. Louis region to be part of this free festival of the outdoors on the north side of Creve Coeur Park.

June 12, 2016
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Attend the 2016 Sustainable Backyard Tour, taking place on June 12 at various locations around St. Louis city and county. The tour provides an opportunity for neighbors to meet each other and see firsthand how others are transforming their yards from energy intensive lawns to something more sustainable. Beautiful and sustainable yards, no matter what size, can be created by anyone with the right guidance and motivation! Be sure to register through the link above.

June 18, 2016
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
If you are not signed up to volunteer for the 2016 St. Louis Native Plant Garden Tour, presented by our chapter of Wild Ones and the St. Louis Audubon Society, invite your friends and take the tour! This year’s tour features ten yards in Olivette, Ladue, Clayton, and University City with a lot of variety including age of plantings, size, type of habitat, sun, and moisture conditions. Ask questions, take pictures, and get ideas for your own landscape. Be sure to register though the link above.

June 18, 2016
7:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Join the Missouri Prairie Foundation (MPF) for a special 50th Anniversary Event, a film screening of Jens Jensen The Living Green at the Nine Network’s Public Media Commons in St. Louis. Carey Lundin, the director of Jens Jensen The Living Green, will also be present at the event to answer questions and interact with the screening audience. Our own national Wild Ones is an educational and promotional partner for the film. The event is free, but you must register by June 1 via EventBrite, to join in this celebration of native plants, parks, and the native habitats that we all care about and are working to conserve and perpetuate.

June 19, 2016
5:00 to 9:00 p.m.
The Mizzou Botanic Garden in Columbia invites you to kickoff ­National Pollinator Week with a Native Pollinator Dinner. Visit Mizzou Botanic Garden for more information and reservation details. The speaker will be Gary Nabhan, an agricultural ecologist, ethnobotanist, and writer from the University of Arizona.

June 21, 2016
6:00 to 10:00 p.m.
In celebration of National Pollinator Week, sit down at the St. Louis Zoo to a special farm-to-table Pollinator Dinner, in the Living World, where you can sample the many foods pollinators help provide. The menu will focus on locally-sourced produce from EarthDance Farms in Ferguson, MO. Sip mead and honey wine, enjoy a honey tasting, and peruse booths with information and activities related to pollinators. After a buffet dinner, hear a presentation on Crossing the Corn-Bean Desert: Prospects for restoring pollinator habitat on a meaningful scale, by Laura Jackson, Director of the Tallgrass Prairie Center and Professor of Biology at the University of Northern Iowa. More information is available, including the menu, on the zoo’s website. Wild Ones – St. Louis Chapter will have a booth at this event. Stop by and say hello!

June 23, 2016
8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
As part of National Pollinator Week, join the Mizzou Botanic Garden in Columbia for a Native Pollinators Symposium. Experts will highlight and share the importance of pollinators, including bees, birds, butterflies, and bats. Discover new information about native pollinator conservation through lectures, roundtable discussions, and Q&As with national experts. The symposium is free of charge.

Speakers include Doug TallamyRoy DiblikCandace GalenChristine Nye, and Mike Arduser.

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