Events

Community Volunteer Planting at the Field of Dreams

Volunteer to help plant a pollinator garden at New Paltz's Field of Dreams Park. Please bring a trowel or soil knife and garden gloves to planting day.

This New Paltz garden is one of seven other public demonstration gardens coming to the Hudson Valley this season. This free event is a collaboration between PollinateHV of PCA, the New Paltz Recreation Department, Wild Ones Mid-Hudson Valley and New Paltz Garden Club.

If you have any questions please contact [email protected]

No registration required.

Members are invited to join the next Wild Ones Mid-Hudson Valley leadership team meeting. We will be discussing a range of topics. As a new chapter, we have a lot we're doing and planning, and we appreciate our members' participation.

If you would like to attend, please get in touch with us at [email protected].

Join us for a visit to Stonecrop Gardens. Known for its dramatic landscape of windswept fields and rocky slopes, Stonecrop is located in Cold Spring, NY. The gardens were created by Garden Conservancy founder Frank Cabot and his wife Anne. The garden’s mission is to inspire gardeners to explore the variety of plants and to experiment in the garden. Though these gardens are not exclusively or even primarily planted with natives, we will be focusing on design principles. The woodland, cliff rock garden, and water gardens can provide inspiration to those who are interested in creating naturalistic garden designs using native. We will receive an orientation to the garden and then as a group explore the woodlands together collecting ideas that can be applied to shade gardens using native species. After that you’ll be free to explore on your own the cliff rock gardens, alpine gardens, etc. on a self guided tour.

There is a $10 general admission ($5 for seniors 65+) to Stonecrop Garden which will be collected at the site. Registration is required with a limit of 20 people.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to receive program announcements. Carpooling for this event is encouraged. If you have any questions please contact [email protected]

When it comes to nurseries, Catskill Native Nursery stands out among the crowd. They offer-

1) A truly unusual number of native plant species and plant types;

2) Beautiful on-site native plant gardens to wander through; and

3) Knowledgeable staff able to discuss the plants along with ecological landscaping principles.

Please join us on this field trip for a talk by the nursery manager. We’ll discuss planting natives along with other ecological landscaping topics followed by a Q&A. The discussion incorporates a stroll through the gardens (border, cottage, and woodland) where an extensive variety of native plants have found a home. Whatever your native-gardening level—beginner to advanced—this field trip will further your understanding and leave you inspired to learn more – plant more.

Catskill Native Nursery has been inspiring gardeners since 1999 to create biodiverse and remarkably ornamental gardens using plants that are native to eastern North America.

Registration is required.

Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to receive program announcements.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

You planted native. Your neighbor has opinions. Maybe your HOA does too. If you’ve ever felt like the hardest part of native plant gardening is the conversations, not the gardening, you’re not alone.

Wild Ones is thrilled to share this upcoming free webinar as part of the 2026 Less Lawn More Life Challenge. Join Lorraine Johnson for a practical conversation on navigating HOA rules, addressing neighbor concerns, and fostering community conversations about native plant gardening and ecological landscapes.

The Thursday, June 18th tour has been rescheduled for July 30th!

Join for a tour provided by the Beatrix Farrand Garden Association of the Bellfield Historic Site’s new Wild Garden. In the spring of 2024, volunteers planted these stimulating new gardens. The association’s volunteers planted hundreds of herbaceous native plant plugs in a new wild garden surrounding the walled site. We’ll hear about the experimental approach their team has been using to keep deer from the plants as they get established and learn about the work the group is doing to save this significant garden. The Garden Association is a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving the work of Beatrix Farrand, a renowned landscape designer who helped shape American gardens in the first half of the 20th century. She championed the use of intriguing and delightful perennial plants in gardens.  

Registration is required with a limit of 20 people. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to receive program announcements.  If you have any questions please contact [email protected]

From Lawn to Habitat

Please join us for a self-directed garden tour at a private residence. Alexandra Lotero Vanderkam, Wild Ones Mid-Hudson Valley Membership Chair, is hosting a tour of her home landscape. You can see how she changed her conventional landscape into a naturalized garden supporting wildlife and native plants.

Alex describes the process: “When we moved to our 5-acre property in 2020, nearly two acres around the house were lawn. Over the past several years, I have gradually transformed about half an acre into a series of connected habitats using primarily native plants.

Visitors will find a sunny meadow that I established from seed, a woodland garden beneath mature trees, a mixed hedgerow of native shrubs and understory trees, and a natural wildlife pond that supports frogs, toads, dragonflies, and other beneficial creatures. I have planted more than 800 perennials and 140 trees and shrubs to create blooms from spring through fall and provide food and shelter for pollinators and birds. I planted most of the perennials as small landscape plugs, and many of the shrubs and trees as inexpensive bare-root seedlings.

This garden reflects my belief that landscapes can be both beautiful and ecologically vibrant. Come get inspired and enjoy hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and seasonal flowers. Through this ongoing project, I demonstrate practical ways to replace lawn with habitat while creating a garden that welcomes both wildlife and people.”

Registration required and will be available in early July. This is a private residence and address will be sent to all who register. 

Wild Ones members need not register! Members go to the Members Only page for Garden Tours 2026

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Subscribe to the Wild Ones Mid-Hudson Valley monthly newsletter to receive program announcements.

Members are invited to join the next Wild Ones Mid-Hudson Valley leadership team meeting on zoom. We will be discussing a range of topics including ongoing business and chapter operations. As a new chapter, we have a lot we're doing and planning, and we appreciate our members' participation.

If you would like to attend, please get in touch with us at [email protected].

Native plants are the foundation of habitat, but wildlife need more than food to thrive. Join ecologist and Certified Wildlife Biologist Shaun McCoshum, PhD, to explore how nesting sites, shelter, water, soil conditions, and other often-overlooked resources can transform a yard into a functioning ecosystem that supports biodiversity year-round.

Registration link coming soon.

Join us for our second tour this season when we visit these wonderful gardens again, this time with the gardens and meadows in mid-summer bloom.

Flying Trillium Gardens and Preserve is located in the southern Catskill Mountains in Sullivan County, NY. The gardens are an ongoing work by author, teacher, and landscape designer, Carolyn Summers. Throughout her career, Carolyn has been acutely aware of the need for clients, DIY homeowners, and designers to be able to see how lovely native plants are when used in garden settings. The Catskills – mostly in a Zone 5 climate – makes an excellent test for fitness and hardiness. In addition to managed gardens, large areas of the property are preserved to protect native flora in their natural habitats, along with the wildlife that depend on them. We invite you to come and experience the beauty, diversity and sustainability of the native flora for yourself. These gardens will leave you inspired to plant more of the same.

This is a free event on private property and requires registration. Address will be sent to all who register. Registration will become available on July 22, 2026.

If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Subscribe to the Wild Ones Mid-Hudson Valley monthly newsletter to receive program announcements.

What does it really take to turn a conventional lawn into a thriving native meadow? Join Owner & Principal, New Directions in the American Landscape (NDAL), Sara Weaner Cooper for a candid look at her family's ongoing lawn-to-meadow transformation featured in The New York Times and BBC. Drawing from three years of hands-on experience, Sara will share the methods, lessons learned, successes, and challenges of converting turfgrass into a dynamic native plant community. Participants will gain practical insights into site preparation, planting, management, and the ecological principles that guide successful meadow establishment, along with realistic expectations for how these landscapes evolve over time.

Registration link coming soon.

Members are invited to join the next Wild Ones Mid-Hudson Valley leadership team meeting on zoom. We will be discussing a range of topics including ongoing business and chapter operations. As a new chapter, we have a lot we're doing and planning, and we appreciate our members' participation.

If you would like to attend, please get in touch with us at [email protected].

Members are invited to join the next Wild Ones Mid-Hudson Valley leadership team meeting. We will be discussing a range of topics. As a new chapter, we have a lot we're doing and planning, and we appreciate our members' participation.

If you would like to attend, please get in touch with us at [email protected].

Bats are among the most important and misunderstood wildlife in our communities. Join experts from Bat Conservation International to explore how native plants, healthy insect populations, and thoughtful landscape design can help support bats. Learn about the ecological role of bats and discover practical ways to create habitat for North America's night flyers right in your own backyard.

Registration link coming soon.

Members are invited to join the next Wild Ones Mid-Hudson Valley leadership team meeting on zoom. We will be discussing a range of topics including ongoing business and chapter operations. As a new chapter, we have a lot we're doing and planning, and we appreciate our members' participation.

If you would like to attend, please get in touch with us at [email protected].

Monarch butterflies depend on a network of habitats stretching across North America, and home landscapes can play an important role in their survival. Join experts from Monarch Joint Venture to explore the science behind monarch conservation, including the importance of milkweed, nectar resources, and regionally appropriate habitat. Learn practical ways to support monarchs through native landscaping and help sustain one of the world's most remarkable migrations.
 

Registration link coming soon.