Start In Your Yard

Join others who are planting native plants and learning to share their yards with the butterflies and birds, bees and bugs.
Click here for getting-started videos.Click here to research native plants and more.Click here to see images of plants we often recommend.
Wild Ones March Program
Gardening for Lepidoptera
(Butterflies and Moths)
Alan's presentation will survey the marvelous array of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera) that live in our area. He'll talk about the variety of species found here, their status, how to support them, and how to manage your landscape to avoid harming them.

Wondering what native plants you can add to attract these lovely, fascinating beings to your yard? Alan will discuss the relationships between these insects and their host and nectar plants. (If you're new to native gardening, you'll learn what it means for a plant to 'host' a species as contrasted with being a source of nectar.)

Learning about the amazing creatures who inhabit our local  communities inspires curiosity and reverence, and leads us outdoors to experience the wonders that are ours if we learn to look.

Thank goodness there is a list of wildflower walks below -- hikes with naturalists who know where and how to look  for insects, birds, and plants.
Spring Wildflower Walks
Click here for details and to download the schedule
April 12, Saturday, 10 am  Trout Park
April 13, Sunday,  9 am  Johnson’s Mound
April 13, Sunday,  1 pm  Bliss Woods Forest Preserve
April 19 Saturday, 1:30 pm  Dick Young Forest Preserve
April 26, Saturday,  9 am  Burnidge Forest Preserve
April 27, Sunday, 1 pm  Batavia Wildflower Sanctuary
April 29, Tuesday, 5:30 pm  Johnson’s Mound
May 1, Thursday, 6:30 pm  Delnor Woods
May 4, Sunday, 1 pm  Dixie Briggs Fromm Nature Preserve
May 7, Wednesday, 6:30 pm  Tekakwitha Forest Preserve
May 10, Saturday, 11:00 am  Bluff Spring Fen
Lost or confused?  Call 630-200-5665
2025 Annual Native Plant Sale
Public Sale, May 17th
Our Wild Ones, Greater Kane County Chapter public plant sale will be May 17th at Gray Willows Farm in Campton Hills. Plants will be sourced from Taylor Creek, Possibility Place, Majestic Oaks, Country Road Greenhouses, Midwest Groundcovers, and Pizzo.
Pickup Dates for Pre-orders
May 2 Pick up shrubs and trees at Schweitzer.
May 9 Pick up flats of pints and plugs at Gray Willows 
May 16 Pick up ferns at Gray Willows
(Details to come by email.)
Free Oak Trees Next Month
 Living Lands & Waters is shipping free oak trees to Mary Alice Masonick in April. They are bare-root, just wrapped in wet newspaper -- and need to be planted ASAP.
Click here for information on the Bur Oak Click here for information on the Swamp White  OakClick here for planting instructions
Please email your request to mamasonick@gmail.com.
When the trees are ready, Mary Alice will email you details of when and where to pick them up.
Wild Ones February Program
Matt Hokanson - Designing with Natives
The video of Matt's presentation is no longer available, but you can still access the information he so generously shared with us -- links below.
Click for slides from Matt's presentationList of Recommended Plants - PrairieList of Recommended Plants - Savanna and WoodlandList of Recommended Plants - ShrubsList of Recommended Plants - TreesList of Recommended Plants - WetlandMatt's list of places to buy native plants
Thank you, Matt, for making all of these available!
5 Resolutions for 2025
Make/Pick a Resolution for Your Yard
1. Convert an area of turf to a native garden bed.
2. Resolve to minimize the use of pesticides.
3. Switch to electric and hand-powered tools.
4. Provide a water source.
5. Aim for 70% native plants.
                     Accomplished? Get certified!
                                        HEREClick here to read about all the resolutions from
National Wildlife Federation.
Why we leave the leaves
They provide mulch and fertilizer
Click here to read about how to manage leaves.
It's free and easy to use this asset in your yard.
They shelter wildlife -- lots of small life
Click here to see other wildlife that use the leaf layer 
Did you know? Whippoorwills nest in the leaves!
This graphic shows (clockwise from upper left) the bird's large eye reflecting light; its eggs in the 'nest,' just a depression in the leaves; the young bird; how the small beak opens up to a very large mouth, the arrow pointing to the load of insects / moths it's grabbed as it flies.
Whippoorwill with chicks on the 'nest,' the depression in the dried leaves.
Good News !
Start In Your Yard Site Visits
If you've signed up,  
... watch for an email invitation. We're just about to start the scheduling process. 
What is it?  
Customized help to get you started adding native plants to your yard!
If we've visited your site, you know that this is an opportunity to ask questions, brainstorm possibilities, or just invite us to propose ideas for how to get started. 
Whether it's adding some native plants to existing beds, converting a decorative bed to native habitat, or beginning to downsize your lawn, your interest inspires us. We love sharing what we've learned since we started, just as you're starting.
Request a site visit.Click here to see images of plants we often recommend.
Elgin Residents -- ALERT
Free Trees Available from the City
Financial Assistance with Water Issues
The City is offering residents grants to plant rain gardens and to deal with standing water.
Click here to read about the program and download the application.
If you've been thinking about putting in a rain garden or just recently heard about them, this is an opportunity to be reimbursed for part of the cost. You can do it yourself or hire it done.

To begin researching rain gardens, go to our Resources page (scroll up to see the tab) and click the button for Rain and Pollinator Gardens to go to the lists and links to get you started. Also, scroll down to watch Rainwater in Your Yard:  What You Should Know.

If you're looking for a landscaper who can create a native rain garden, it's in the Support section on the same page under Commercial / Landscapers.

If you have a problem with standing water, you can use this same program for reimbursement, and often many of the same plant species.
To request a call or site visit with an experienced Start In Your Yard gardener, email nancylamia@gmail.com
The Rainwater in Your Yard with Jessica Mino
Rachel's Visual Notes
... from a seminar on sedges at Midwest Groundcovers
Be Part of Wild Ones
Newsletter
If you don't already receive the newsletter from Wild Ones, Greater Kane County Chapter, click below to
register.
Sign up to receive monthly notice of events.
Membership
Join our Greater Kane County chapter of Wild Ones.
Click here to go to wildones.org to join.
Our Demo Gardens
Wild Ones is committed to planting gardens in public spaces to acquaint people with some of our many native plants. We use them to pique people's interest, demonstrate how native plants can be used in landscaping, and to augment our site visits. 
Visit our demo gardens to see native plants
The Cobblestone House
corner of Chicago and Crystal Streets in Elgin
Click here to see the list of plants in these gardens.Click to see pictures of the plants in the tree bank.Click to see pictures of the plants around the house.
Gardens at Tyler Creek at Lyle Avenue 
in Elgin's Valley Creek
Click here to see the list of plants in these gardens.Click for pictures of the plants in the large gardenClick for pictures of the plants in the little gardenClick for pictures of the plants in the garden at the bridge
Parkway Garden
at the corner of S.DuBois and Erie in Elgin
Click here to see the list of plants in this garden.Click for pictures of plants in this garden.
Gail Borden Library
both side of center walkway from parking lot to entrance
If you have an idea for a place to locate a demo garden, let us know. It should be visible from the road or street, with a place to stop, get out of the car and look up close.
Click here to submit your idea.
Join Our CREW
Captivated, Ready and Eager to Weed
If you don't have a place to garden at home, or
If you like to garden with other people, or
If you want to learn about gardening with natives, or
If you haven't yet started with natives at home, or
If you want to help educate the public about natives, or
If you're willing to support SIYY in this way...
Click here to sign up.
The demo gardens listed above, as well as the swales in the SWAN neighborhood, need care and attention. Sign up and choose how you want to participate, and how often.
Our guarantee:  You'll get dirty and have fun!

Building habitat in our neighborhoods and public spaces.

Start in Your Yard is a movement of people who are realizing that we have become disconnected from our natural world and our place in it. Recognizing that we are part of nature, we are learning what we need to know to be cooperative partners and share the land we live on. 

Restore

Starting in our own yards with regional wildflowers, we build sustainable corridors for the flora and fauna that were intended to thrive here.

Advocate

Together, we encourage our neighbors and our communities to join in the movement to preserve this area for generations to come.

Participate

Attend one of our many local events to visit local projects or learn from conservation experts.
COMING SOON!

Watch Presentations from 
Our 2020-2021 Community Read

Learn from and engage with experts in conservation, resource management, ecology, and sustainability. 
Start In Your Yard is an initiative launched by the Greater Kane County chapter of Wild Ones