Native Plant Series- Native Grasses & Sedges + Spring Ephemerals

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Event Summary

Build conservation practices at home by adding native plants to your landscape. Learn from local experts through a new Native Plant Series. Johnson County Conservation will host four native plant sales and a speaker series in the spring and fall of 2025: May 4, June 1, Aug. 3, and Sept. 7.  Each date will include a native plant sale. Our 2025 native plant vendor is Troutleaf Native Plants, based out of Johnson County. You do not need to register to attend the plant sale but registration is required for the native plant series. 

* Please note: You must register for each date of the Native Plant Series separately. 

Program Schedule: 

• 9:00-9:40 am- Native Plant Sale w/Troutleaf Native Plants
• 9:40-9:45 am- Welcome & Introduction
• 9:45-10:45 am- Sedges & Grasses: Creating a Matrix w/ Tyler Baird
• 10:45-11 am- Break/Shop Plant Sale
• 11 am- noon-  Spring Ephemerals w/ Eric Miller
• Noon- 1 pm- Program ends but plant sale continues until 1 pm

Session Descriptions: 

Sedges & Grasses: Creating a Matrix w/ Tyler Baird

The Johnson County Soil Health Program was launched in 2022, first providing residents of the unincorporated area and smaller communities of Johnson County partial funding for implementing soil quality restoration on private property.  This program has evolved to include both a pocket prairie grant program (launched summer 2024), as well as soil sampling in the County ROW (will launch fall 2024) to assess the impacts of land management on soil health.  The Soil Health Program is intended to support residents in improving soil health, provide education on the importance of soil health, explore how soil health can be supported and improved and to use this information for development of future programming.  The soil health program helps support the County’s mission of preserving and protecting natural resources, and complements the environmental regulations that are applied to private developments in the unincorporated area.

 

Native Spring Ephemerals w/ Eric Miller:

This presentation will cover basic facts about and photos of native spring ephemerals of Iowa as well as discussion of growing ephemerals in the home garden

Speaker Bios: 

Tyler Baird:

Tyler Baird is the Superintendent of Parks and Forestry for the City of Iowa City were he has worked for the last decade. His biggest passion is perennial plants and he enjoys designing plantings both at work and at home. His suburban yard doesn’t take long to mow because it is almost full of planting beds that provide habitat for pollinators and wildlife. Tyler has a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Iowa State University, Master of Science in Human Dimensions of Ecosystem Science and Management from Utah State University, and Master of Public Administration from Drake University. He is also a Certified Arborist, Certified Park and Recreation Professional, and Certified Public Manager. He enjoys teaching others about plants, natural resources and design to share knowledge that enhances habitat and beauty in all types of places.

 

Eric Miller:

 Eric is a master naturalist, retired sociology professor, and cooperative natural food store worker.

 

Thanks to our partner organizations!

The plant sales and speaker series are being supported by the Johnson County Master Gardeners of Iowa and Troutleaf Native Plants.

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Category

Programs

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