Upcoming Events

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.

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.!  

Erie Drift Plains Native Plant Summit

A free, virtual gathering for people who care about native plants, place, and community. Join us for the Erie Drift Plains Native Plant Summit, a free virtual event bringing together gardeners, growers, educators, advocates, and curious community members from across the region.

Over the course of the summit, you’ll hear from local and regional voices sharing real-world experiences with native plants — from urban gardens and pollinator meadows to seed starting, watershed health, and policies that support biodiversity. Sessions are practical, approachable, and designed for all experience levels.
Whether you’re just getting started with native plants or have been growing them for years, this summit is a space to learn, ask questions, and connect with others who care about creating healthier landscapes — one yard, neighborhood, or project at a time.

Who this is for:

Gardeners, landowners, educators, students, volunteers, and anyone curious about native plants and caring for the places we call home.

Format: Virtual
Dates: 24-26 February 2026
Cost: Free

Hosted by the Wild Ones Erie Drift Plains Chapter.

Come learn with us — and be part of a growing community helping native plants take root across our region.

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.

John Wright, our chapter's Vice President, is one of several wild food enthusiasts teaching at this event. This Spring Gathering includes workshops, wild food inspired snacks, foraging hikes at nearby West Branch State Park, and as always – community!

The event will include separate mushroom and plant identification hikes, workshops, presentations, wild food inspired snacks, and lots of time to chat and ask questions.

Every attendee will be GUARANTEED to have a spot in both a mushroom and plant identification hike! The hikes will take place at West Branch State Park, which is only a few minutes from the Edinburg Town Hall.

Please bring a bagged lunch (or feel free to grab lunch at a nearby restaurant).

The normal ticket price will be $50, but you can save $10 by reserving your ticket by Wednesday, March 25th. But you may not want to wait, because we're expecting these tickets to go fast (and we're limiting the number of attendees to 50, so this is going to be a fairly small and intimate event).

bring a hat, rain gear, sunscreen, water resistant boots, and wear layersbring lunch and water for the day, we will serve light snacks and refreshmentsdon’t forget medications and other over-the-counter products and first aid itemsbe prepared for potential insects and poison ivybring whatever helps you learn and retain information: notebooks, camera, field guides, magnifying glass, UV flashlights for the bioluminescence walk, etc.feel free to bring baskets/bags and a small pocket or kitchen knife for collecting mushrooms

This year’s theme is Native Habitat Renewal. This event is focused on connecting  zoo guests to the greater conservation community. To not only inspire learning but to provide tangible next steps that they can take home to their own backyard! 

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.

Now in its sixth year, this Youngstown May Day Festival welcomes more than a thousand care-oriented, labor supporting, earth friendly community members to bring traditions old and new together to celebrate the return of abundance and find new ways to build health and strength together for nature, workers, and each other.

This free event brings together music, art, speakers, workshops, tabling, vendors, arts & crafts, dancing, and food in both indoor and outdoor spaces. Join this community-run celebration of care and people-power that forms a beloved community with a mix of supporters of labor, celebrants of Beltane, those supporting immigrants, climate justice and eco-conscious people, and other supporters of justice, care, and action for a sustainable planet, fair workplace, and inclusive communities.

Vice President John Wright is hosting a Fun with Cattails event at his farm at Red Beet Row. 

Want to forage through the extensive cattail population at Red Beet Row and learn about the ecological impact of this important native plant? At this event, be prepared learn about the birds and insects that rely on cattails as well as the role it plays as a food for humans.

Event Fee: $15-35 sliding scale

Cattail Pickles will be served!

(We will reschedule w/registrants if weather is bad. Dress to be outside the whole time you are with us). 

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon!