Community Corner
Nature Foundation of Will County Native Plant Sales Starts March 13 With Online Orders
The foundation is also offering educational Zoom webinars to help residents with native planting projects.
Gardening enthusiasts will have plenty of opportunities to use native plants to enhance their home landscapes this year thanks to a trio of plant sales planned by The Nature Foundation of Will County.
Find out what's happening in Mokenafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
First up is a spring fling with plant plugs. The “Bringing Nature Home Native Plant Sale” will feature online sales via the foundation’s website from March 13-May 1. A storefront for orders will pop up online on opening day.
Shoppers will be able to pick up their plants on Friday, May 14, and Saturday, May 15, at the Sugar Creek Administration Center in Joliet. Each plant plug will come with a 5-inch, fully developed root system.
Find out what's happening in Mokenafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
“There are many advantages to using plugs,” said Cindy Harn, the foundation's executive director. “They are ready to plant and will quickly mature. They are also easier to plant and need less water to become established. They grow within the cells of the tray and not in a second plastic container, so there’s less plastic waste, and we’re really happy about that.”
The greatest advantage, Harn added, is the cost. Every plug costs $2.50 each, plus tax.
“We hope that this plant material will be even more affordable and people will be able to plant more native plants,” she said.
The spring sale will feature three pollinator garden collections for three different soil types and a tallgrass prairie collection.
“The collections will look good in both the front and back yard and support a variety of pollinators,” Harn said.
The foundation’s storefront also will feature raffle items including plants, gardening collections, artwork, gift baskets and more. Tickets are $5 each.
Two more plant sales are planned for the year. A “Summer Blooms Native Plant Sale” will offer late-summer and fall-blooming native plants for sale online from June 19-July 31. Online orders for the third plant sale, “Oaktober Native Tree and Shrub Sale” will take place from September 4-October 2.
Proceeds from all three plant sales will benefit the Forest Preserve District.
In addition to the plant sales, the foundation is offering educational Zoom webinars to get your native planting projects off to a great start.
Beautiful to Wildlife, Beautiful to People – Landscaping with Native Plants to Support Nature: 6:30-8 p.m. Thursday, March 25, online. Drew Lathin, owner of Creating Sustainable Landscapes, will help you bring biological diversity and beauty to your everyday life by sharing design tips to make your native landscape beautiful. Register online to receive the Zoom link.
Attracting Bees & Beneficial Insects with Native Plants: 10 a.m. Saturday, April 24, online. Heather Holm biologist, pollinator conservationist, and award-winning author will focus on using native plants to attract bees and beneficial insects. Registration will open soon for this webinar, but you can sign up now to be notified when it does.
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This press release was produced by the Forest Preserve District of Will County. The views expressed are the author's own.
