Events and native plant sales to beat the weather, benefit birds and beautify your yard
Help bring back the bluebirds of happiness, make hummingbirds hum, and put the song back in songbirds
An Eastern Bluebird perches among shrubs while another flies away. Learn how to help these beautiful songbirds and enjoy other bird conservation educational programs at the 2024 PBS Wisconsin Garden & Landscape Expo, Feb. 9-11 in Madison. Photo: Cynthia Carlson
Oh the weather outside is frightful, even for those of us who love winter! The good news is there are many great indoor events in coming weeks to help boost our mood and benefit birds around our home.
Habitat loss is the biggest reason many of our favorite songbirds are in trouble, and adding a few native plants can help provide habitat. Events listed below highlight opportunities to learn more about birds and native plants that can feed and shelter them. At some events, you’ll be able to lay in supplies for spring!
Some events also offer other ways to help birds around home, from adding nest boxes in proper habitat to preventing birds from colliding with home windows, to buying coffee grown in ways that protect habitat where many of our songbirds winter.
Listings below are for events where SOS Save Our Songbirds hosts a booth, native plant sales are already underway, and other events we know of statewide that promote native landscaping and/or birds. Please let us know of ones we’re missing and we’ll add them to a future newsletter. Send information to: lisa.gaumnitz@sossaveoursongbirds.org
Think spring!
PBS Wisconsin Garden & Landscape Expo with special bird-related programming, Feb. 9-11, Madison
PBS Wisconsin’s annual Garden & Landscape Expo returns to Madison on Feb. 9-11, Friday through Sunday, at the Alliant Energy Center. Gardening for birds is a big focus for the educational presentations, along with the latest trends in gardening, landscaping, local foods and ecological sustainability.
Enjoy our SOS Save Our Songbirds booth, along with booths from the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, Lake Michigan Bird Observatory, Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Purple Martin Association and the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. Buy advance tickets online now: wigardenexpo.com.
Online ordering for Friends of the Arboretum Native Plant Sale, Jan. 1- March 31, Madison
Native plant sales are underway! Online ordering began Jan. 1, 2024, for one of the longest-running sales to help add native plants to people’s land and raise money for the sponsoring organization.
Online ordering for the Friends of the Arboretum runs Jan. 1-March 31, with trees, shrubs, garden mixes, and half and full flats of select species to be ordered for pickup in May. The online sale is open to anyone. The Friends’ on-site plant sale is Saturday, May 18, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and does not feature trees and shrubs nor the same selection and quantities as online ordering. Order today.
Grow native plants from seed workshop, by Northwoods Gateway Wild Ones Chapter, Feb. 7, 2024, Antigo
Join the Northwoods Gateway Chapter of Wild Ones on Wednesday, Feb. 7, at 3 p.m. to "Winter Sow" some native flower seeds! This free session is open to everyone and participants will go home with a Winter Sowing Starter Kit - all planted and ready to grow! Sign up at the Center Center or email Langladeseniorcenter@outlook.com
Golden-winged Warbler Research in Wisconsin, webinar by Lake Michigan Bird Observatory, Feb. 28, 2024
A Golden-winged Warbler perches on a branch. Research in Wisconsin on this species is the topic of a free Feb. 28 webinar. Photo: Ryan Brady
Golden-winged Warblers have suffered some of the steepest declines among songbirds, and Wisconsin harbors 20% of the world's remaining population. That’s why we’re excited to see this free online webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m., highlighting Wisconsin research about this species. Amber Roth, a University of Maine Assistant Professor of Forest Wildlife Management, will discuss findings of her laboratory and other collaborators in Wisconsin. Register now.