All monthly meetings will be held virtually via Zoom until further notice.
Our meetings are always free and open to the public.
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Wednesday November 11, 2020

Designing and Managing Sustainable Landscapes
Lawn is an ecological hazard that surpasses corn acreage in the US. Implementing alternatives to lawn is a mission for many, but how much success have we had?? Fred will discuss what's in the way of broadly establishing sustainable and native landscapes, and what we can do to accomplish this important goal. He will present successful and unsuccessful projects through his 35 year career designing and managing sustainable and native landscapes, and discuss the lessons learned.

Fred Rozumalski is an ecologist and landscape architect currently employed in the water resources division of Barr Engineering Company in Minneapolis, MN. A believer in the power of every land owner's potential to help regenerate ecological balance, Fred has developed a specialty in designing practical landscapes that sequester carbon, harvest stormwater, and conserve energy. His work ranges from writing city-wide green infrastructure plans, to restoring native ecosystems, to designing corporate urban environments that feature native plants and perennial food crops. Fred is committed to teaching others to implement sustainable landscapes. Fred holds degrees in Horticulture, Ecology and Landscape Architecture. He also co-authored the book Lakescaping for Wildlife and Water Quality with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and has been adjunct faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Minnesota.

Join the meeting via Zoom at 7 pm, November 11th by clicking on this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85935452423

Wednesday December 9, 2020

Native Microbes in Native Plant Restoration
Ecological restoration efforts can increase the diversity and function of degraded areas. However, current restoration practices cannot typically re-establish the full diversity and species composition of remnant plant communities. More and more, we learn that soil microorganisms play a central role in ecosystem function and the maintenance of highly diverse plant communities. This presentation will explore how soil communities can be harnessed to improve restoration outcomes and to assist in the establishment of challenging plant species. Dr. Bever will share new insights into how soil microbial communities and the functions they provide may shape the composition of restored plant communities.

Dr. Bever currently serves as a Foundation Distinguished Professor of Ecology, Evolutionary Biology at the University of Kansas. Jim obtained his Ph.D. from Duke University in the 1990s, where he pioneered approaches to describing and testing plant-soil community and thereby created a new field of scientific inquiry on plant-soil feedbacks. His highly successful research career has resulted in more than 160 publications and the mentoring of more than 100 undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and assistant scientists. His areas of expertise include microbial contribution to the maintenance of plant diversity, ecology and genetics of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, restoration of native plant diversity after disturbance, and the evolution of plant-microbial mutualisms.

Join the meeting via Zoom at 7 pm, December 9th by clicking on this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87231400136

Wednesday January 13, 2021

Gardening for Lepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths!)
The program will show the diversity of the butterflies and moths one can attract to their home landscape in the Twin Cities including the host plants for their caterpillars and nectar plants/food sources for the adults. You will learn about gardening techniques that provide garden habitat for butterflies and moths as many have unique strategies for overwintering. Also learn about butterfly and moth population status and other impacts to them including misuse of pesticides.
Alan J. Branhagen is Director of Operations at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. For over 20 years he was Director of Horticulture at Powell Gardens, Kansas City’s Botanical Garden and prior to that he had a nearly decade-long duty as Deputy Director of Resource Development for the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District in Rockford, Illinois. Alan Branhagen received his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Iowa State University and a Master of Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University with emphasis on design with nature. He wrote The Gardener’s Butterfly Book in 2001 and in November 2016, Timber Press published his book Native Plants of the Midwest. The Midwest Native Plant Primer: 225 Plants for an Earth-friendly Garden was released in July, 2020. Beyond public garden management, Mr. Branhagen is an all-around plantsman and naturalist specializing in birds, butterflies and botany. He is in process of creating a new natural garden on 2.4 acres overlooking the Minnesota River Valley in Chaska, Minnesota.  
Join the meeting via Zoom at 7 pm, January 13th by clicking on this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87994175006

Wednesday March 10, 2021

Deep Oak Savanna
This presentation explores the deep meaning of oak savanna, from an ecological standpoint, one of earths most amazing ecosystems ever.  Stephen will begin by providing a definition for savanna and reinforcing the concept via a planetary field trip, in time and space, to witness an ontological theme and variation thereof, and to expose savanna as the most advanced, diverse, and provisional terrestrial ecosystem ever. He will then focus on our regional Midwest savannas and conduct enthralling natural histories of keystone species and their reinforcing roles of the savanna configuration. The presentation covers the recent demise of savanna and associated drivers, and also, why losing this powerful ecosystem, from a planetary perspective, poses a threat to livability.  The presentation then shifts to savanna restoration, from ground layer flora to shrubs and canopy trees, from buffalo to goats, and from large scale preserves to lawnscapes. Emerging concepts of silvoculture and working lands are discussed. Throughout the presentation, a powerful array of scientific principles are rendered via fascinating stories concerning our native savanna flora and fauna, feedbacks and ecosystem phenomenology, in ways which provide the audience a deep ecology and sense of wonder for oak savanna.     
Stephen Thomforde has 28 years and 10,000 acres experience in design, implementation and maintenance of ecological restorations throughout the Midwest. This includes a decade of post graduate research at UW-Madison from which emerged a framework for ecological restoration in the 21st century and the first regional concepts based on State Transition Models, Working Lands, and Restoration of Ecosystem Services. For the past 15 years, his passion, work and research has focused on savanna ecosystems, from the scale of lawns to a model for future agricultural production.  Stephen lives in Minneapolis, farms in Zumborta, and plays outside throughout the Midwest. ​

Wednesday April 14, 2021

Still Searching for Minnesota’s Native Wildflowers, Even in our Own Backyards

​Meet Phyllis Root and Kelly Povo, authors of Searching for Minnesota’s Native Wildflowers; A Guide for Beginners, Botanist and Everyone in Between. 
Learn about why they are crazy about native wildflowers, where they search and (sometimes) find them, and why they are also planting them in their own backyards. You’ll learn where to look, when to go, and how to find some of Minnesota’s little-known native wildflower treasures.  They will also share stories of their own adventures (and misadventures).

Phyllis Root is a writer, Kelly Povo is a photographer, and they love searching for, learning about, and finding Minnesota’s native flowers. Their first wildflower adventure together was over ten years ago, to Big Bog State Recreation Area, where they walked on the boardwalk a mile into the bog and saw plants they had never seen before. Since then, they have waded rivers, slipped down snowy hillsides, and visited more places than they can remember.

Phyllis, an award-winning author, has written many picture books about Minnesota, including Big Belching Bog, Plant a Pocket of Prairie, One North Star, and most recently, The Lost Forest, all published by the University of Minnesota Press. Kelly, a professional photographer for over thirty years, has exhibited in galleries and art shows across the country. Her photographs have been published on posters, calendars, note cards, and in books. They have collaborated on several books, including Girlfriend Gumbo and Gladys on the Go. Whatever they are doing, Phyllis and Kelly laugh—a lot.