Events Archive: 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Upcoming Events
June 2025
June 29 Member-to-Member Yard tours in Southgate and New Boston (Downriver area) Public welcome!
Public Welcome Family-Friendly Free Event Home/Private Garden Tour
Members can look forward to Member to Member Garden Yard Tours throughout the growing season!
This month's event will feature two yards in the Downriver area - a smaller suburban yard in Southgate and a one-acre New Boston yard with a front yard prairie and native gardens. Member-to-Member (M2M) yard visits (aka Show Me-Tell Me) allow members to share experiences, ideas, and challenges with maintaining native plants in our landscapes. These tours help members & invited guests to learn about different natives and enjoy conversations with other native plant enthusiasts.
The location for each visit will be communicated to all members prior to the visit. If you are not a member and would like to attend, please email us at [email protected] for the locations.
July 2025
WOWC July member meeting - Fair Lane Estate Gardens & Grounds Tour with Karen Marzonie - (Outdoor Tour) Members Only
Members Only Family-Friendly Chapter Meeting Public Garden Tour Group Tour
Karen Marzonie, Director of Gardens & Grounds at the Ford Fair Lane Estates will be conducting an evening tour of the estate's gardens, paying a particular attention to the native plants that were part of the original plans by landscape designer Jens Jenson.
A $5.00 donation to the Ford Fair Lane Estate Gardens & Grounds is suggested.
Parking is free and is located across the road from the Estate.
WOWC Seeds to Community Monthly Planning Members Only
Online/Virtual
Volunteers Needed Members Only Limited Access Recording Chapter Meeting Hands-On/How-To Workshop Seed/Plant Share Seed Handling
The mission of the WOWC Seeds to Community program is to create connections with people and nature through the process of growing native plants from seed. The program is driven through community engagement in collection, germination and cultivation workshops.
WOWC Seeds to Community events require planning and community engagement. Join each third Thursday of the month to be a part of the year-round community initiative of growing native plants from seed.
This July meeting will include discussion on:
Seed Collection Opportunities
Monthly Seed Collection Watch Communications
Seed Cleaning Event Planning
Collaborative Efforts with S2C Washtenaw
Program Donations
Members will receive invite and Zoom link via email. Reach out to Derek Shaffer or [email protected] with questions.
August 2025
River Bend Gardens Tour Members Only
Hosted by Wild Ones Ann Arbor Area Chapter and Wayne County Michigan ChapterMembers Only Family-Friendly Free Event Home/Private Garden Tour
River Bend Gardens was established in July 2017, and formally founded by my wife and I in January 2019 as a private botanical garden, aviary, and retreat for our family of five children.
The property was selected for its unique combination of natural features, and is located in Washtenaw County, 15 miles Southwest of Ann Arbor, in the Village of Manchester. The gardens are situated on 65 acres with a half mile of frontage on the River Raisin, and adjacent to the South and West with the Leonard Preserve, a 259-acre property owned by Washtenaw County’s Natural Areas Preservation, and The Nature Conservancy.
There are twelve gardens that make-up River Bend, with nine natural plant communities, and several glacial features in the landscape from kames, an out-wash plain, to a floodplain that includes a Buttonbush depression. In addition to the River Raisin, the property includes a 4 acre pond, two brooks, and over 30 natural springs.
Hiking River Bend Gardens offers our guest an opportunity to view a gardener's pragmatic effort at native plant preservation and restoration. Wayne is happy to share the mechanics of the preservation work and prairie restoration with considerations to methods, successes, and failures.
River Bend Gardens offers our guests a short walk (1/4 mile) to the prairie and meeting location, or guests may elect a longer hike (3 miles) through the garden on the trails to the meeting location. While the trails are established, they are not completely groomed, the garden is not ADA compliant, nor is there a restroom present on the property.
Guests who chose the three mile hike on the Garden Trail, presented in yellow on the attached trail map, should arrive at 9:00am at the East Entrance Garden. You can use 115 Mound Street Manchester, MI 48158 as the GPS address. There is a horseshoe drive where you can pull-in for parking, or on the shoulder of Mound Street on the north side of the street facing west.
Guests who prefer a short walk to the prairie should arrive at 10:30am at the West Entrance Garden. You can use 328 River Bend Manchester, MI 48158 as the GPS address. There is adequate parking off the street on garden property.
In either case there will be someone from the River Bend family there to guide you to the meeting location. After a discussion and Q&A, the guests will be free to walk the trails and experience the gardens at their own pace.
WOWC Seeds to Community Monthly Planning Members Only
Online/Virtual
Volunteers Needed Members Only Limited Access Recording Chapter Meeting Hands-On/How-To Workshop Seed/Plant Share Seed Handling
The mission of the WOWC Seeds to Community program is to create connections with people and nature through the process of growing native plants from seed. The program is driven through community engagement in collection, germination and cultivation workshops.
WOWC Seeds to Community events require planning and community engagement. Join each third Thursday of the month to be a part of the year-round community initiative of growing native plants from seed.
This August meeting will include discussion on:
Seed Collection Opportunities
Monthly Seed Collection Watch Communications
Seed Cleaning Event Planning
Collaborative Efforts with S2C Washtenaw
Program Donations
Members will receive invite and Zoom link via email. Reach out to Derek Shaffer or [email protected] with questions.
September 2025
September Wild Ones National Webinar
Hosted by Wild Ones NationalOnline/Virtual
Public Welcome Recording Available Free Event Program/Speaker Presentation
Details coming soon!
WOWC Seeds to Community Monthly Planning Members Only
Online/Virtual
Volunteers Needed Members Only Limited Access Recording Chapter Meeting Hands-On/How-To Workshop Seed/Plant Share Seed Handling
The mission of the WOWC Seeds to Community program is to create connections with people and nature through the process of growing native plants from seed. The program is driven through community engagement in collection, germination and cultivation workshops.
WOWC Seeds to Community events require planning and community engagement. Join each third Thursday of the month to be a part of the year-round community initiative of growing native plants from seed.
This September meeting will include discussion on:
Seed Collection Opportunities
Monthly Seed Collection Watch Communications
Seed Cleaning Event Planning
Seed Storage Planning
Collaborative Efforts with S2C Washtenaw
Program Donations
Members will receive invite and Zoom link via email. Reach out to Derek Shaffer or [email protected] with questions.
October 2025
October Wild Ones National Webinar
Hosted by Wild Ones NationalOnline/Virtual
Public Welcome Recording Available Free Event Program/Speaker Presentation
Details coming soon!
WOWC Seeds to Community Monthly Planning Members Only
Online/Virtual
Volunteers Needed Members Only Limited Access Recording Chapter Meeting Hands-On/How-To Workshop Seed/Plant Share Seed Handling
The mission of the WOWC Seeds to Community program is to create connections with people and nature through the process of growing native plants from seed. The program is driven through community engagement in collection, germination and cultivation workshops.
WOWC Seeds to Community events require planning and community engagement. Join each third Thursday of the month to be a part of the year-round community initiative of growing native plants from seed.
This October meeting will include discussion on:
Seed Cleaning Event Planning
Collaborative Efforts with S2C Washtenaw
Seed Storage Planning
Program Donations
Members will receive invite and Zoom link via email. Reach out to Derek Shaffer or [email protected] with questions.
November 2025
November Wild Ones National Webinar
Hosted by Wild Ones NationalOnline/Virtual
Public Welcome Recording Available Free Event Program/Speaker Presentation
Details coming soon!
WOWC Seeds to Community Monthly Planning Members Only
Online/Virtual
Volunteers Needed Members Only Limited Access Recording Chapter Meeting Hands-On/How-To Workshop Seed/Plant Share Seed Handling
The mission of the WOWC Seeds to Community program is to create connections with people and nature through the process of growing native plants from seed. The program is driven through community engagement in collection, germination and cultivation workshops.
WOWC Seeds to Community events require planning and community engagement. Join each third Thursday of the month to be a part of the year-round community initiative of growing native plants from seed.
This November meeting will include discussion on:
Winter Sowing Workshop Planning
Seed Data Updates
Collaborative Efforts with S2C Washtenaw
Program Donations
Members will receive invite and Zoom link via email. Reach out to Derek Shaffer or [email protected] with questions.
December 2025
WOWC Seeds to Community Monthly Planning Members Only
Online/Virtual
Volunteers Needed Members Only Limited Access Recording Chapter Meeting Hands-On/How-To Workshop Seed/Plant Share Seed Handling
The mission of the WOWC Seeds to Community program is to create connections with people and nature through the process of growing native plants from seed. The program is driven through community engagement in collection, germination and cultivation workshops.
WOWC Seeds to Community events require planning and community engagement. Join each third Thursday of the month to be a part of the year-round community initiative of growing native plants from seed.
This December meeting will include discussion on:
Winter Sowing Workshop Planning
Seed Data Updates
Program Donations
Members will receive invite and Zoom link via email. Reach out to Derek Shaffer or [email protected] with questions.