Events

Gardening for wildlife is more than feeding the birds and the pollinators, it means providing resources to all levels of the food chain! Learn how to integrate small changes and create a diverse ecosystem of insects, birds, and other fauna in your own backyard. We will focus on native plants and their interactions with various insect species and discuss how to design your garden to encourage wildlife. Learn more about the food web of your own backyard and the unique interactions within our urban or suburban ecosystems. 

You can learn more about Sara's work at https://www.saraannjohnson.com/

Board meeting. Members who are interested in providing input are welcome to attend.

The original intent of this meeting was to host the Botany 102 Seminar; however, due to unforeseen, personal circumstances, the speaker was forced to cancel, so we will use this as chapter meeting time to discuss upcoming events and plans and strategies for advancing the native plant agenda locally. There will be ample time to discuss upcoming volunteer opportunities.

All are welcome to join this free virtual panel discussion exploring the vital roles of native, solitary, and honeybees in pollination and biodiversity. Featuring experts Sam Droege (USGS), Dave Hunter (Crown Bees), and Dr. Lora Morandin (Pollinator Partnership), this event will discuss into the challenges pollinators face, the balance between managed and wild bees, and actionable ways to support all pollinators.

Gain insights from over 90 years of combined experience and learn how to advocate for pollinator habitats through planting native species, participating in community science, and adopting responsible management practices.

Get your boots, gloves and loppers ready, and join us for the first Weed Wrangle of 2025! We plan for this to be the first of many Weed Wrangles this year focused on reviving native plants and habitats on Chapman Mountain. This event will be open to the public, and the sign-up sheet will be forthcoming. This event is 16+

Chapman Mountain Weed Wrangle

The Land Trust of North Alabama (LTNA) and Wild Ones North Alabama (WONA) are joining forces to organize a community “Weed Wrangle” at the LTNA’s Chapman Mountain Nature Preserve. As stated on the Weed Wrangle website, “a Weed Wrangle® is a one-day, area-wide, volunteer effort to help rescue our public parks and green spaces from non-native invasive plants through hands-on removal of especially harmful trees, vines, and flowering plants. Supervised by an expert in invasive weed management, Weed Wrangle® volunteers learn, practice and begin a habit of maintaining an area free of non-native invasive plants and encourage replanting with natives in removal areas. 

The Chapman Mountain Weed Wrangle will primarily target bush honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii and Lonicera fragrantissima), Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense), and English ivy (Hedera helix). Once you’ve experienced a Weed Wrangle, you’ll be removing these plants as well as Nandina, Mahonia, Callery Pear, Vinca, Winter Creeper, Liriope and Tree of Heaven from your yard. While the journey to get these invasive plants under control is a long and arduous one, it’s one on which we must embark together.

The Chapman Mountain Weed Wrangle will begin with a brief training to introduce volunteers to the principles of invasive plant identification and control. Volunteers will cut and stump treat the target invasive plants to reduce the likelihood of re-emergence. Trained volunteers will patrol the work areas to assist with plant identification and proper control technique. The primary goal of the Weed Wrangle is to teach participants the art of “learning to see” invaded vs native landscapes and the impact that gardening decisions have on our natural areas. 

Approximately 80% of invasive plants were introduced by the horticultural trade and have spread from gardens to public lands. Invasive plants were selected for insect and disease resistance, and their rampant growth results from the absence of biological controls that were present in their native homelands. Invasive plants disrupt energy flows in ecosystems and significantly reduce the available food supply for birds, specialist pollinators and other declining wildlife populations. 

Volunteers should expect vigorous physical activity during the Weed Wrangle and should wear sturdy shoes or boots, long sleeves and pants and bring a hat, gardening gloves, eye protection, bug spray and garden tools (loppers, pruning saws, clippers). Specialty tools and buckthorn blasters will also be provided by LTNA. 

Event Details:

Who: Anyone 16+What: Chapman Mountain “Weed Wrangle” (invasive plant removal)When: Saturday, March 8, 2025, 9:00 AM to 12:30 PMWhere: Chapman Mountain Nature PreserveVolunteers needed: 30-40

About Wild Ones North Alabama
Wild Ones North Alabama is a local chapter of the national Wild Ones organization, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that promotes natural landscaping and the use of native plants to support biodiversity. The chapter works to educate the community about sustainable landscaping practices and the importance of native plants for local ecosystems.

About Land Trust of North Alabama

Land Trust of North Alabama is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving natural lands, water resources, and wildlife habitat in ten counties of North Alabama with over 10,000 acres currently protected. Residents and visitors alike can enjoy outdoor adventure on 80+ miles of free public trails on ten public nature preserves. The Land Trust also provides environmental education programs and guided hikes to encourage future stewards and connect people with nature. 

Because parking is very limited, we will meet at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church parking lot at the corner of McClung and Owens Dr. and carpool to the main hiking area. Church parking lot address is 771 Owens Dr. SE Huntsville, AL 35801.

This is an easy hike - out and back trail. WONA suggests carpooling due to limited parking.

Email [email protected] to register, or register on Signup genius (link below).

Difficulty: Easy

Distance: 1 mile

Rain date: 3/18/2025 @ 2PM

WONA members: free

Guests/non-members: $5

Children under 12 and under: free

Public gardens hold tremendous power to influence landscaping norms and inspire change. By showcasing the beauty, functionality, and ecological value of native plants, these spaces help foster biodiversity, advocate for sustainable practices, and engage communities in environmental stewardship. 

This webinar will explore how public and demonstration gardens serve as powerful tools for native plant advocacy. Attendees will learn how gardens move beyond aesthetics to spark action—turning appreciation into engagement and inspiring participants to replicate these practices in their own communities.

We will hear insights from Nicole Machuca, Environmental Social Scientist at the Field Museum, on how public gardens influence behaviors, foster stewardship, and connect people to conservation efforts through research and community engagement. The Wild Ones Capital Region NY and the Wild Ones San Diego (CA) Chapters will share their experiences building native plant demonstration gardens and how these spaces drive community engagement, education, and advocacy. And We'll finish with a conversation exploring how public gardens create a lasting impact beyond planting day moderated by Kelly Kapuzzi, Demonstration Garden Char with the Wild Ones Hocking Hills (OH) Chapter.

60 minute program to allow for an in-depth discussion of the history of Alabama’s cranes, the science behind the reintroduction, the continued efforts to protect cranes, and how to be a crane ambassador. The presentation will feature a discussion highlighting land management practices that landowners can adopt to promote ideal crane habitat.

Olivia is the Alabama Outreach Program Assistant for the International Crane Foundation (ICF). While ICF is headquartered in Baraboo, WI, Olivia is spending the winter in North Alabama providing outreach programming to a variety of groups to spread the word about both Sandhill Cranes and the federally endangered Whooping Cranes that frequent the state. 

The Scotts have a 40 acre property divided into two 20-acre parcels on either side of the road. On one side is a creek that is carpeted with Virginia Bluebells, phlox, larkspur, and other native spring ephemerals under a canopy of buckeye and red mulberry. It is easy to walk among the bluebells and other wildflowers. Across the road, the Scott's house is nestled into the side of Backbone Mountain, which includes an easy half-mile trail with a different assemblage of Spring ephemerals, including wild ginger, bloodroot, Dutchman's breeches, shooting star, Jacob's Ladder, Pawpaw and many others.  There is also a plant building with a covered porch where visitors can rest and view birds and the mountains. This is a wild, shaded woodland garden & landscape tour that showcases some of Alabama's most beautiful and iconic Spring ephemeral wildflowers.  

Join WONA for our social hike and learn to identify plants.

Email [email protected] or register on sign-up genius.

Rain Date: 4/8/2025 @ 10 AM

Difficulty: Moderate

Distance: ~2 miles

WONA members: free

Non-members: $5

Kids 12 and under: free

We will use the April time as chapter meeting time to discuss upcoming events, plans and strategies for advancing the native plant agenda locally. There will be ample time to discuss upcoming volunteer opportunities - particularly the need for volunteers and plan for Panoply.

See hepaticas and other wildflowers. Out and back trail, turn around any time.

Email [email protected] to register, or register on facebook.

Difficulty: Moderate (Easy, but longer hike)

Length: 3-4 miles

Rain date: 4/22/2025 @ 10 AM

WONA members: free

Guests/non-members: $5

Children 12 and under: free

Mark your calendar: WONA is coming to Panoply! If you are passionate about educating the public about native gardens and why they are so critical, we need your help! If you enjoy creating art with children while educating them about our beautiful native plants, we need your help! WONA will have a booth at Panoply this year, April 25-27, and our success depends on our volunteers.  Any support or design expertise you can provide is valuable. More information to follow. We need dozens of volunteers to fill the 3-day event, so if you can help, we need you. Please send a message to WildOnes with your interest (subject line “Panoply”), so we can fill the needed slots - and feel free to bring a friend who is passionate about educating children, their parents and the general public about native plants. Many hands make light work.

Join WONA for a moderately challenging 3.5 mile hike in beautiful Sewanee, TN. We hope to see trilliums, mayapples, dwarf irises, wild geranium, bloodroot, rue anemone, Dutchman’s breeches 

Email [email protected] to register, or register on facebook.

Difficulty: Moderate

Distance: 3.5 miles

Rain date: 5/5/2025 @ 9 AM

WONA Members: free

Children 12 and under: free

Non-members: $5

Join Alabama Extension's Allyson Shabel for this informative talk about invasive species. She'll discuss 8 plant and insect species that are problematic to Alabama’s ecosystems to see how they got here, why they are problematic, and what we can do about them.

Denise planned and designed her suburban garden to be a pollinator habitat and to attract hummingbirds and birds.  She lives in a newer subdivision with an HOA and moved into her new house in 2020. The flower beds were installed in the spring of 2020. The entire front yard is a native perennial flower bed with pathways through the garden.  The backyard slopes down to a pond and has a 1,000 sq ft native perennial flower bed in the middle of the yard. The backyard also includes flower beds planted with native trees and shrubs and a bubbling rock water feature.  

This is a WildOnes member-only event. You must be a current member (individual, business or household) to tour the property. Tours are one of the perks of a WildOnes membership. This tour will be held in both the Spring and Fall to demonstrate how native gardens change across time.

This will be a moderately difficult hike of about 3 miles on Green Mountain. We will see smoke trees on this trail.

Email [email protected] to register, or register on facebook.

Difficulty: Moderate

Distance: ~3 miles

Rain date: 5/19/2025 @ 8:30 AM

WONA Members: free

Children 12 and under: free

Non-members: $5

This tour is for WONA members only. Details about the carpool will be provided. Please request a reservation with [email protected].

The Holistic Garden borrowed by Soos for its next generation, goes quite well with the “Crash” House—that is the Stock Market Crash of Oct. 1929, when the house was finished. It is a Craftsman period home built of the final virgin Longleaf Pine to be harvested in the State. It seemed complimentary for an organic house as this one to have a fitting Forest.
 

In short, Chrysalis Garden was started to reverse the decades old habit of raking leaves off the property. The soils lost their fertility by losing the product that the trees produce—Carbon in the form of leaves, bark, and limbs. Here we strive to allow the Carbon Cycle to be complete—humus, or broken-down parts of trees is carefully sequestered, and turned into the soil by our best farmers—ants, worms and other insects and annelids. Voles and moles also have their part in turning the soil, so as not to destroy roots or the important natural layers of soil.
 

This long-gone lawn of grass with a few trees and shrubs has been replaced by many trees, shrubs, and herbaceous perennials. Some volunteered on their own (Licorice or Sweet Cicely, large leaf toothwort), others were grown from seed (American Smoke Tree, Hornbeam). But the largest portion of native plants came from rescue operations on other properties. Soos in her career as an ecologist, has sadly seen many valuable habitats put to the dozier, and was able to harvest some individuals before their erasure.
 

Chrysalis Garden stands today as a refuge of a small contingent of native plants (about 1/3 acre and 100 species) where they are freely grown and allowed to spread. It is these extras that have been used in plant sales to the public, and more are contemplated to be grown for forest restoration work. Proceeds are donated to the Land Trust of Huntsville and N AL, but more and more, they and other land protection groups will be needing plant donations.
 

Chrysalis Garden is also a Pollinator Garden and is Certified by the National Wildlife Federation. Indeed because of extensive work on Monte Sano, it was Certified as a Community Wildlife Habitat—the first in Alabama—on Earth Day 2012.
 

This June 1 st as a part of the Native Plant Symposium, Soos will guide groups of attendees through Chrysalis Garden, to familiarize participants with the key parts of a successful “restored habitat”. The only requirements, are the comfortable clothing, boots or good sturdy shoes, and notebook if desired. You are promised an adventure, from the ground all the way to the top of the tree canopy to treasure the workings of a forest. Please register for the Symposium to be held June 7th , and check that you would like to participate in the Forest Adventure.

Alabama Extension is organizing the first North Alabama Native Plant Symposium since the COVID-19 Pandemic. The event will take place at the Monte Sano Lodge and will be open to the public. Keynote speakers, guided hikes, plant keying workshops, panel discussions and a business incubator session are planned for the Symposium. The organizers are seeking corporate and non-profit sponsors to help propel this event in 2025 and beyond. Final details about the agenda and registration will be available to the public in March 2025.

Join WONA for our monthly hike at Chapman Mountain. Meet in the parking lot.

Email [email protected] to register, or register on facebook.

Difficulty: easy

Distance: ~3 miles

Rain date: 6/10/2025 @ 3 PM

WONA Members: free

Kids 12 and under: free

Non-members: $5

Susan McDonald has spent her entire life gardening in USDA Hardiness Zone 7, the last 20 years in Huntsville.  For the last 12 years she has volunteered weekly in the Fern Glade of the Huntsville Botanical Garden and has served as the manager of the Fern Glade since 2018.  The Glade covers almost an acre.  It has over 80 different species of ferns growing within its borders, including about ten native Alabama ferns. She will talk about important characteristics of ferns, how to grow them in North Alabama, and which native ferns do well in home gardens.

This will be a tour of the Fern Glade with Susan McDonald at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens. Normal admission prices will be in effect. Please RSVP if you'd like to join.

Meet at the Hiker's Trailhead. Come learn about the plants of Monte Sano with us.

Email [email protected] to register, or register on facebook.

Rain date: 7/15/2025 at 8:30 AM

Difficulty: Easy

Distance: 3.4 miles

WONA members: free

Kids 12 and under: free

Guests/non-members: $5

Join WONA for our monthly social hike and learn about plant identification.

Email [email protected] to register, or register on facebook.

Difficulty: Easy

Distance 2.5 miles

Rain date: 8/18/2025 @ 8:30 AM

WONA members: free

Kids 12 and under: free

non-members: $5

Join WONA for our monthly member/social hike.

Email [email protected] to register, or register on facebook.

Difficulty: Easy

Distance: 2.5 miles

Rain date: 9/15/2025 @ 9 AM

WONA members: free

Kids 12 and under: free

non-members: $5

Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge annually hosts thousands of overwintering sandhill cranes, ducks, geese, pelicans and other waterfowl. It also hosts an increasing number of majestic and endangered Whooping cranes. The 34,500 acres of varied habitat on the refuge—wetlands, open water, mixed forests, sloughs and agricultural fields provide a home to almost 300 species of birds, plus mammals and reptiles including bobcats, otters, deer, coyotes and, yes, alligators! The refuge was established in 1938 and the ensuing decades have seen a change in the wildlife that are present on the refuge. Come hear about this natural wonder and learn about the birds and other wildlife that inhabit the refuge's 34,500 acres, and how those inhabitants have changed over the years. This presentation will be delivered by Tom Ress.

Details coming soon! 

Denise planned and designed her suburban garden to be a pollinator habitat and to attract hummingbirds and birds.  She lives in a newer subdivision with an HOA and moved into her new house in 2020. The flower beds were installed in the spring of 2020. The entire front yard is a native perennial flower bed with pathways through the garden.  The backyard slopes down to a pond and has a 1,000 sq ft native perennial flower bed in the middle of the yard. The backyard also includes flower beds planted with native trees and shrubs and a bubbling rock water feature.  

This is a WildOnes member-only event. You must be a current member (individual, business or household) to tour the property. Tours are one of the perks of a WildOnes membership. This tour will be held in both the Spring and Fall to demonstrate how native gardens change across time.

Join WONA for our monthly member hike to socialize and learn to identify plants.

Email [email protected] to register, or register on facebook.

Difficulty: Moderate

Distance: 3 miles

Rain date: 10/13/2025 @ 9 AM

WONA members: free

Kids 12 and under: free

non-members: $5

Details coming soon! 

Join WONA for our monthly social hike and learn to identify plants with other nature enthusiasts.

Email [email protected] to register, or register on facebook.

Difficulty: Easy

Distance: 2.5 miles

Rain date: 11/11/2025 @ 2PM

WONA members: free

Kids 12 and under: free

non-members: $5

Details coming soon! 

Join WONA for our monthly member hike and learn to identify plants.

Difficulty: Easy

Distance: 2.3 miles

Members: free

Kids 12 and under: free

non-members: $5