This New Directions in the American Landscape symposium has a long tradition of celebrating native plants and exploring landscape design at the intersections of ecology, culture, and art. The symposium series deliberately pushes the envelope, offering in-depth explorations of overlooked and forward-looking topics not presented elsewhere and providing practical, concrete information in lieu of trendy jargon. Our programs reflect the diverse factors that shape landscapes and regularly feature designers, ecologists, horticulturists, historians, artists, and anthropologists, among other disciplines. Learn more and register here.

Wild Seed Project’s Anna Fialkoff will give a presentation and be part of a panel discussion on day one at each of the two locations: PA (1/5) and CT (1/12).

Decentralizing Native Seeds: Why and How We Can All Be Native Seed Stewards
A species’ best strategy for adapting to future environmental conditions is genetic variation, and seed propagation maintains the genetic diversity inherent in wild native plants. As we build awareness around the vital importance of native plants and seeds, we are concurrently facing a major gap in supply of this precious resource. Anna will discuss how the Maine-based Wild Seed Project is addressing access to seed and modeling a movement-building strategy by educating and mobilizing neighborhoods, public officials, and other community stakeholders.

In this hands-on workshop, Maine Audubon Staff will introduce native seed propagation for growing your own wildflowers and other plants from seed. Participants will leave with several pots sown with seeds and ready for maintenance-free outdoor germination.

The class will begin outside with a walk around Gilsland Farm to identify native plants and demonstrate ecologically-responsible seed collecting, before moving to the Education Center to teach seed storing and seed sowing.

In this Four Season Walks series, learn how to identify many of the native plants that grow at Knight’s Pond Preserve. Anna Fialkoff, Wild Seed Project’s ecological programs manager, will share about the native wildflowers, ferns, shrubs, and trees and their habitats around the pond, forest, and utility corridor. She’ll also share other fun information on the plants’ uses as edibles, herbals and landscape plantings. Learning to recognize the native species in our midst is the first step toward becoming caring stewards of the places we live, work, and play.

This winter plant walk is the last of the series. With each new seasonal walk you will have an opportunity to see the plants through their full life cycles: from emerging, flowering, and unfurling leaves to fall foliage and fruits, and finally finishing with snow-covered trees and shrubs in winter. For the winter walk, please come prepared for ice and snow.

About Knight’s Pond Preserve:
Tucked among the rolling hills and fields of Cumberland and North Yarmouth, Knight’s Pond Preserve is a natural treasure for many surrounding communities. At approximately 334 acres in size, Knight’s Pond Preserve is a part of one of the largest blocks of undeveloped land in the area, and it contains many natural resource values important to the region, including a 46-acre great pond, forested uplands, a ridgeline with views of Casco Bay, a network of connecting trails, unique natural community types, and critical wildlife habitat. It is a keystone parcel in a multi-town recreational and conservation corridor and has been a conservation priority for the Towns of Cumberland and North Yarmouth for decades. For more information, please visit the Knight’s Pond Preserve listings on the following websites: Chebeague & Cumberland Land Trust, the Town of Cumberland, and the Royal River Conservation Trust.

As part of the Hollis Conservation Commission’s Winter Speaker Series, Wild Seed Project’s Anna Fialkoff will present about ways to increase the number and diversity of native plants in yards, parks, and other places where people gather, live, and play. To learn more and register, click here.

Are you curious about what tools we have to build resilient landscapes? Are you excited about sowing native seeds to re-establish diverse ecosystems in the places you live, work, and play? Do you want to know how to build practices of seed collecting, saving, and planting? Are you looking for more information on how to do this, and a place to start?

Join the Wild Seed Project at Stone Broke Bread & Books for a demonstration on how to sow and care for native seeds in the winter. Educational Programs Manager, Nell Houde will walk through the steps of sowing native seeds, where to procure materials, and best practices for ensuring successful germination. There will be Wild Seed Project seeds to buy, lots of time for Q&A and graphics to take home! Come ask questions, get your hands dirty, and plant seeds of resilience.

To learn more about Stone Broke Bread & Book visit their website at https://www.stonebrokebreadandbooks.com/

Native ground covers are the workhorses of vibrant, multi-layered landscapes, offering a rich alternative to monoculture lawns. These low-growing plants form a vital living mulch that protects and enriches soil, and their beautiful tapestry of foliage, blooms, and berries offers a long season of interest to people and pollinators.

Hosted by Native Plant Trust, Wild Seed Project’s Anna Fialkoff will talk about how to incorporate native ground covers into urban green spaces, around residential settings, and along roadsides.

You will come away with ideas to fuel your winter design projects and spring planting choices, including inspiring combinations that can make landscapes more attractive, climate-resilient and beneficial to wildlife.

To learn more and register, click here.

Each month, WSP’s resident plant experts join members on Zoom to answer questions and talk all things native plants. Current members will receive a link to the session via email. Not a member? Join today!

Join Wild Seed Project’s Educational Programs Manager, Nell Houde, for an evening of storytelling hosted by Native Plant Trust. Listen to some of the world’s top botanists, horticulturists, and fellow plant enthusiasts share their most memorable, harrowing, and hilarious experiences.

Register to attend virtually or in person. If the event sells out, there will be a wait list available.

In partnership with the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, and taking place at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, this hands-on workshop with Leo Kenney from Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary and Emily Baisden from Wild Seed Project will discuss the considerations and guide students through the processes necessary for effectively propagating and sowing native edible plants.

Instead of foraging from wild populations, learn how to grow natives from seed for professional advantage and add function, beauty, nutrition, and delicious flavors to any garden environment.

Purchase tickets here!

Each month, WSP’s resident plant experts join members on Zoom to answer questions and talk all things native plants. Current members will receive a link to the session via email. Not a member? Join today!

The Green Home + Energy Show is a one-day event that brings together the leaders in Maine’s sustainable home and energy industries.

Wild Seed Project’s Ecological Programs Manager, Anna Fialkoff, will give a 45 minute presentation on building a biodiverse and climate resilient yard.

Check back for more details! Purchase Tickets here.

Each month, WSP’s resident plant experts join members on Zoom to answer questions and talk all things native plants. Current members will receive a link to the session via email. Not a member? Join today!

Join Wild Seed Project at the Southern Maine Seed & Scion Exchange!

Each year, MOFGA generously donates seeds & scion wood from their spring swap to the Resilience Hub, knowing that our network has an inimitable capacity to share knowledge and resources. As always, we encourage you to bring your own seeds, scions, growing resources (tools, planters, etc.), homemade goodies, and other projects to freely share/trade – someone’s sure to want it!

This year’s event will feature a few workshops for those with a range of interests in growing. This event is kid-friendly, open & free to all in the community.

The 25^th season of the Great Falls Forum continues on Thursday, April 20th, featuring Andrea Berry, Executive Director of Wild Seed Project, with a talk entitled “Planting Seeds of Resilience with Wild Seed Project,” discussing the the “how-to’s” of conservation through community, including tangible actions that everyone can take in order to reestablish resilient landscapes in the places we live, work, and play.

This free, public program will take place from 12 noon to 1 PM in Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library and will also be streamed live via Zoom and the Lewiston Public Library Facebook page.

Reservations are only required if attending via Zoom. The Zoom link will be posted to the Library website and Facebook prior to the event. The onsite program is a bring-your-own, brown-bag lunch event. For more information, please contact the Lewiston Public Library at 513-3135 or LPLReference@lewistonmaine.gov.

Join Nell Houde, Manager of Educational Programs at the Wild Seed Project, at the Alan Day Community Garden Earth Day event as she talks through and demonstrates with a hands on workshop the “how-to’s” of conservation through community.

We believe that planting native plants, grown from seed, with your community is both the recipe and the process of creating tangible change. In doing this, we collectively repopulate landscapes with the plants that expand wildlife habitat, support biodiversity, and build climate resilience. There are tangible actions that all of us can take, and it will take all of us to reestablish resilient landscapes in the places we live, work, and play.

Wild Seed Project is excited to join the City of Portland’s 2023 Earth Day Celebration! City departments are teaming up with local green organizations to host a festival of fun: learn about composting with our friends at Garbage to Garden, spin a trivia wheel with the Portland Public Health team, and catch a storytime session with Park Ranger Liz! Big trucks galore – see a real City recycling truck and big green trucks from the City Forestry Team! Climb inside an electric Greater Portland METRO bus! Test ride e-bikes from local bike shops and try out electric lawn equipment demos with our Parks and Recreation team! There will be music, food trucks, facepaint, and outdoor activities for the whole family.

In this Portland-based Four Season Walks series, co-hosted by Wild Seed Project and Portland Trails, participants will learn how to identify and form relationships with many of the native plants that grow in the places we live work and play.

Join Nell Houde, Wild Seed Project’s Manager of Educational Programs, as we explore the Midslope trail on the Eastern Prom in the bustling city of Portland. This will be the first of four walks, spaced throughout the year in each unique season, where we will all engage in observing and asking questions of our surroundings, and identifying the varied plants, shrubs, trees, ferns, and wildlife along the trail. Bring a journal if you have one!

Click here to register.

Please be aware of ticks — wear proper gear and check for ticks thoroughly after the walk.

The UMaine Extention Somerset County office is hosting Wild Seed Project at their open house, free to the public on May 6th.

Come join Nell Houde, Wild Seed Project’s Manager of Educational Programs, to make native seed balls, and learn about how adding native plants to your garden or farm can create a healthier landscape for all.

Click here to register.