2010: The Year to Grow Wild Ones

As an organization, we have accomplished much through:

• The courage and enthusiasm of new members willing to consider a different approach to landscaping their own yards.
• The time, hard work, and commitment of our volunteers.
• The skills and enormous dedication of our staff.
• The financial help of many who support our vision.

During the past year, contributions to Wild Ones have provided funding for important accomplishments. In addition to continuing to providing members with our top-notch magazine, the Wild Ones Journal, in 2009, we:

• Processed over one hundred Seeds for Education grant applications, awarded six thousand dollars in grants, and changed the SFE grant program to the e-format now in use.
• Began design of a new web site.
• Constructed entrance gardens for the Wild Ones Institute for Learning and Development (WILD Center) and a parking area, and received our first renter.
• Developed and adopted a new Vision Statement for Wild Ones that will serve as the starting point of our 2010 Growing Wild Ones campaign.

In 2010 we hope to Grow Wild Ones through a promotional campaign aimed at convincing the general public to grow native plants, increasing Wild Ones’ recognition and membership, and promoting the new WILD Center in the Fox River Valley, Wisconsin.

These things will more readily be accomplished with the generosity of our members in your annual donations.

To be truly successful we need every member's participation. Donations to Wild Ones will support our efforts to Grow Wild Ones. As we celebrate thirty years of Wild Ones, thank you again for your continued support. Your membership and your affirmation are greatly appreciated.

-- Carol Andrews, Wild Ones National President

P.S. You can download the full text of our Wild Ones Vision and Values Statement or read it the bottom of this webpage.

JOIN WILD ONES. RENEW. UPGRADE. GET A FREE DVD AND/OR FREE BOOK.

To kick off the Grow Wild Ones Campaign for 2010, we have updated, revamped, and reproduced the popular Wild About Wildflower video in DVD format. And now, this amazing video is available free when you join Wild Ones, or renew your membership at an upgraded level.

Because many of our long-time members have already received this helpful video, we are offering the DVD version free to new members, as an enticement to join Wild Ones. We want to -- no, we need to -- get Wild Ones membership over the 3,000-member hump.

This great video for all Wild Ones members, new or old, lets you get dirt on your hands without getting dirty. This video will help anyone to:

• Identify native wildflowers and grasses.
• Design and prepare the planting site.
• Grow and nurture wildflowers and grasses.
• Plan for long-term maintenance.
• Enhance their landscaping to make it a habitat.
• Enjoy year-round beauty in their back yard, neighborhood, and schools or businesses.

Renewing members get a free book
Renewing members will receive a free copy of our 25th anniversary commemorative 4-color book of wonderful photos and stories from Wild Ones’ first 25 years, 25 Years of Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes.

Upgrading members get both
Renew at the Wilder level, and get the Wild About Wildflowers DVD free.
Renew at the Wildest level, and get both the DVD and the 25-year book free.

Don't wait -- do it now!
To join online.

Sponsored by the Gibson Woods Chapter of Wild Ones, the Third Biennial Native Plant Symposium will be held on Saturday, September 25th at Villa Cesare, 900 Eagle Ridge Drive, Schererville, IN from 7AM to 2PM.

Symposium Agenda.

Early registration discount end August 28th.

Symposium Flyer.

The Natural Landscaping Conference sponsored by the Milwaukee Area Wild Ones will take place on October 23rd 2010 at Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 8:30AM to 3:45PM.

Internationally known environmentalist Neil Diboll, owner of Prairie Nursery, will be the keynote speaker.

A complete conference schedule and a registration form is available by clicking here. Or you can register online using our online registration website.

At our recent Strategy Planning Meeting, the national board approved a Vision and Values Statement for Wild Ones.

Wild Ones Mission: Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes promotes environmentally sound landscaping practices to preserve biodiversity through the preservation, restoration and establishment of native plant communities. Wild Ones is a not-for-profit environmental education and advocacy organization.

Wild Ones Vision for Our Future: To become a widely recognized voice for native plants and the sustainable landscaping movement, promoting increased use of native plantings that create living landscapes through grassroots efforts by example, education, marketing, and personalized support.

• We will raise public awareness regarding the benefits that native plants, including trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses, offer in a variety of settings so landscaping with native plants becomes the norm rather than the exception.

• We will persuade the general public that including native plants in home and public landscapes is aesthetically pleasing and healthier for our environment, and that reducing unnecessary turf grass reduces stormwater runoff and unnecessary use of water, fuel, and lawn chemicals.

• We will see the use of native plants extend into an increasing number of areas where plants touch the soil - such as pollinator support and public places.

• We will join forces with others to preserve native plants and biodiversity from loss due to development and other forces, including displacement by non-native invasive plants.

Interpretation:

• Widely recognized: Means getting our name and what we do in front of the general public over and over until it is as commonly understood as "Audubon Society = Birds."

• Leading voice: Means that we are the group most people think of first when they need information, advice, or support on the "how to" or benefits of landscaping with native plants.

• Join forces: When it comes to preserving native plants from loss due to habitat destruction and other related causes we will collaborate with other groups who take on such efforts as their primary mission to lend our support. We understand that the survival of native plants in the long term may depend on these efforts. However, Wild Ones' core focus will be to support native-plant community restoration through education.

Wild Ones Core Values:

Respect: Our mission stems from our respect for the other species on this planet and future generations. We will treat each other - our staff, members and volunteers - with respect at all times. We respect different tastes in landscaping but also ask that others show respect for the common good by considering how they can conserve resources and improve the environment via the inclusion of native plants in their landscapes.

Personalized support: our members value the opportunity for direct contact with other Wild Ones members and the ability to "learn locally." This sets Wild Ones apart from many similar organizations. Networking and education are our most important functions.

Appreciation - Volunteers R Us: To keep our dues low and our efforts local, Wild Ones is a grass-roots organization that runs primarily on volunteer effort. We will continue to rely on volunteers to carry our mission forward. We will support our volunteers and recognize their efforts, especially those in volunteer leadership positions.

All members are valuable members: At the national level our income is largely derived from member dues and donations. We appreciate all members, respecting that everyone has varying priorities and demands on their time which impact their ability to volunteer.

Fresh and Adaptable: While we stay focused on our core abilities and goals we will continually look for and solicit ideas from our Board, our members and honorary directors for new strategies that we might use to further our goal of promoting sustainable landscape practices.

WILD ONES HAS A NEW HOME

In June 2008 we closed on the rest of the Wild Ones Ecology Center site which enables us to move our headquarters to a permanent facility with plenty of space for demonstration gardens and other restoration efforts for the riparian woodland and marsh. But we still have lots of work to do to make the facility handicap accessible before we can move in, so please keep your donations coming in to offset the expenses. To donate.

A RARE OPPORTUNITY has befallen Wild Ones in becoming the owner of this valuable property on the west shore of Little Lake Butte des Morts near our current headquarters. Because this property is located in the area already designated as West Shore Preserves, we are calling this property the West Shore Preserves Environmental Center.

Wild Ones will has been able to assume ownership of this property through grants from the Trustees Council for the Fox River and from the Habitat Area funds from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program and very generous donations from Wild Ones members. The overall goal of the Environmental Center is to involve citizens in the protection and restoration of habitats associated with the Fox River ecosystem which is part of the Great Lakes Watershed.

Our purpose in creating the Center is to provide both an indoor and outdoor “home” for organizations, individuals and students who are working on projects and/or learning about about ways to protect and restore the environmental quality of life in our communities.

HELP US MAKE IT HAPPEN!

For more information about this very significant opportunity for Wild Ones, go to Wild Ones EcoCenter.

Please join us in our good fortune to be part of this rare opportunity. If you have questions e-mail us at Preserve.

If you want to volunteer your services in helping to fulfill all the requirements related to opening the center (grant writing, invasive weeds removal, carpentry, gardening, etc) e-mail us at Help Us Make It Happen.

If you wish to donate toward the fulfillment of the amenities (gardens, boardwalk, computer center, laboratory, library, etc) which will eventually be part of the West Shore Preserves Environmental Center please go to Help Us Make It Happen!.