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March 2026 Mid-Mitten Chapter News
March 9 program – Native Plant and Animal Responses to a Solar Array Setting
Steve Thomas of Environmental Technology and Consulting 6:30 – 8:00 PM
In the next couple of decades, over a million acres of solar array habitat could be created in Midwestern states. Could these solar fields provide benefits to native plants and animals? What are the special planting, management, and habitat and issues that arise in solar fields? In fall of 2019, a two-acre solar field (“Project Starlight”) in the metropolitan Detroit, Michigan region was seeded with 52 native prairie and savanna species. The goal of the planting was to provide low maintenance pollinator habitat next to and directly beneath the solar panels, while not interfering with energy production and infrastructure. For six growing seasons the vegetation has been subject to regular monitoring and management efforts, including mowing and weed removal. Vegetation responses to this semi-artificial solar panel environment through 2025 have included numerous surprises that provide lessons in plant ecology, succession, and management. Animal responses to the project have also been informative and provide reasons for optimism in regard to some of our native species. Join as we discuss how the patterns observed on this relatively small solar project might show the way that some native plants and animals will survive on the Midwestern landscape in the decades ahead.
This program will take place at the Chippewa Nature Center, 400 S. Badour Road, Midland, MI. Meet at the Visitor Center. The public is welcome to attend.
Michigan: Race to Protect a Disappearing Ecosystem
The Michigan Land Conservancy is trying to raise $6 million to save Sibley Prairie: 440 acres of untouched land and the last and highest quality lakeplain prairie found in Michigan. Lakeplain prairies are what remains of glacier-carved lake beds. Once glaciers receded thousands of years ago, silt and other fine materials were left behind, forming a layer that is completely impermeable to water. This means the area floods with the spring rains and is dry during the summer. “We have a unique plant community because it has to tolerate both flooding in the springtime and extreme drought in the summer,” Jeff Vornhagen, with Michigan Botanical Society, said. “This corridor is considered globally unique because there’s only one plant species that occurs here.”
Sibley Prairie is currently owned by Fritz Enterprises Inc. and is currently up for auction. The Michigan Land Conservancy has an opportunity to purchase the land after convincing the company to hold off for a year. They will have until August 2026 to raise the $6 million to purchase the land.
Save Sibley Prairie: Coalition wants to preserve rare grassland in Wayne County-Fox2Detroit.com
Registration for WAM Conference now open
Registration is now open for the Wildflower Association of Michigan Annual Conference. It is a two day conference covering all things wildflowers on March 7th and 8th at the Kellogg Center on the Michigan State University campus. This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Doug Tallamy who has long been a proponent of using native plants in the landscape. I was lucky enough to see him here in Midland about 8 or 9 years ago. In addition, the conference highlights some of the most up to date research on native plant ecology. Its well worth attending if you have the time and resources. WAM Conference – Wildflower Association of Michigan
With winter still here, it’s a great time to learn something new about native plants. Through Wild Ones National, webinars are available to members for your education and enjoyment.
Rethinking Horticulture with Real Ecology
webinar by Joey Santore
Native plant gardeners, landscape designers, and land stewards often face a tension between ecological function and traditional horticultural aesthetics. In the Wild Ones National Webinar Rethinking Horticulture with Real Ecology, field botanist and science communicator Joey Santore, creator of Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t, examines how inherited design norms like straight lines, uniform spacing, tidy edges, and color-grouped plantings shape expectations for native landscapes. These conventions, rooted in European garden traditions and reinforced by modern lawn culture, continue to influence how native plant gardens are judged, managed, and defended, often at the expense of biodiversity, soil health, and long-term ecological resilience.
Event Details
Date: Wednesday, March 18
Time: 7 p.m. ET | 6 p.m. CT | 5 p.m. MT | 4 p.m. PT
Format: YouTube Live premiere, link provided with registration
Recording: A recording will be shared following the live event
Wild Ones Mid-Mitten Grant Opportunity
Are you planning on putting in a new native plant garden locally? The Wild Ones Mid-Mitten chapter has extended the deadline to apply for a maximum of $500 per project, to March 28, 2026. Submit to [email protected]. Final decisions for successful proposals will be announced by end of April.
20th Anniversary of the Mid-Mitten Chapter – April 2026
Our chapter is 20 years old this year!! For our April program we are planning a celebration. As part of the celebration we are looking for charter and former members to weigh in on what being a member of the Mid-Mitten chapter has meant to them. What was your motivation in helping form the chapter? What did you get out of being a member of the organization, etc.? We would love to hear your thoughts. Please reach out to one of the members of the executive committee either by e-mail or USPS mail with your thoughts. We would love to share them with during our April program/celebration!
Volunteer Opportunity Earth Action Expo – Dow High School, April 25
Our next volunteer opportunity will be at Dow High School in Midland at the Earth Expo, Saturday April 25. We will have a table with information about the Wild Ones along with our craft of preparing bags with nesting materials for birds. We have participated in this event for many years and it is a wonderful opportunity to talk with people about the benefits of native plants. If you would like to volunteer, a sign-up sheet will be at the next two programs to be sure we have the time covered.
Chapter Membership
Thank you to our renewing members Randy Kursinsky, Monica Manning and Karol Walker and welcome to our new members: Marah Ranke and David Reid. We appreciate your support! New ideas about attracting and retaining members can be sent to Rachel LeClair ([email protected]).
Almost here!
I saw my first sap-cicle yesterday as I went to meet a friend for a morning walk. If you look as you drive down the roads here in Midland, and I’m sure elsewhere, when the sap starts to flow in the maple trees, sap-cicles show up dripping from branches that were broken over the winter. When I see that I know that the seasons are turning. You can feel it in the intensity of the sun when it shows up and hear it from the birds finally letting you know you’re in their territory (I hear you cardinals and red-winged blackbirds). It’s too early to see much plant material yet but I know that under the snow and leaves, things are starting to wake up. For me, it’s time to get planning for the year’s activities, such as clearing out the invasives, planting new plants or whole new garden beds. Know that we have upcoming programs coming up in April and June to help you deal with these issues. And before you know it, we’ll be complaining about the weather being too hot and swatting mosquitoes.
Yours in nature,
Susan Erhardt
President, Wild Ones Mid-Mitten Chapter
[email protected]
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