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May 2025 Mid-Mitten Chapter News
The Latest Diseases and Insect Pests of Trees & Shrubs
Monday May 12, 6:30 PM at Chippewa Nature Center
Join us for a presentation by Gary Eichen, Certified Arborist and Assistant Service Line Director for Plant Health Care and Lawn Care for SavATree LLC. He will cover the latest insects and diseases affecting Michigan trees and how to protect our trees. This presentation is made available through grant funding from the Consumers Energy Foundation with support from ReLeaf Michigan, the Chippewa Nature Center, and the Mid-Mitten Wild Ones. ReLeaf Michigan offers educational presentations and workshops for homeowners throughout Michigan, each one tailored to the needs of the community.
This program will take place at the Chippewa Nature Center, 400 S. Badour Road, Midland, MI. Meet in the Visitor Center. The public is welcome to attend.
CISMA Annual Meeting May 7 at 11:00am
Our local Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area offers landowners and stewards many great resources, and this year’s annual meeting will include important guidance about the safe and appropriate use of herbicides as well as unique experiences in invasive species management from another CISMA coordinator in Florida. Get involved with invasive species management in your area! If you’re local to our region, hope to see you on Wednesday May 7th at Grace A Dow Memorial Library Auditorium at 11:00 am! RSVP by Monday the 5th of May to CMCSIM.org.
Spring Ephemeral Walk, Szok Preserve May 2, 11 am
There is still time to register for the spring ephemeral walk at Little Forks Conservancy’s Szok Preserve. Now is the time to see those beautiful plants in bloom before the leaf canopy emerges and the plants die back until next year. You can register through Event Brite to give our guide a heads-up that you will be joining us. Be prepared for muddy trails after today’s rain.
Native Plant Adjacent – Aquatic Invertebrate Sampling on the Cedar River
May 17 in Gladwin, Michigan in the Cedar River – 10am until ?
While this is not specifically about native plants, this is adjacent to them. Participation in aquatic invertebrate sampling show you what we are protecting by encouraging and promoting native plants. If you have ever wondered what lives in the streams around Michigan beyond fish or turtles, this is a hands-on opportunity to see the unique creatures of our freshwater streams. If interested in participating please contact Little Forks Conservancy at [email protected] to sign up for this event!
CONSERVATION DISTRICT PLANT SALES
The Midland conservation District has extra trees and shrubs for sale. Their first open sale will be May 1 & 2 from 11am – 6pm and May 3rd from 8am to 1pm. MDC will post other open sale hours on their website www.midlandcd.org. Be sure to follow them on Facebook or their website, as there could be more sales while supplies last.
They’re Here! (And by that I mean the plant sales!)
 Virginia Bluebells
May is the month of native plant sales. Here is a brief list of the ones I have been made aware of. There may be more! Get your plant lists ready and mark your calendars!
May 10 – Hoffman Farms Native Plants will be selling 40+ species of native plants at Thomas Township Nature Preserve, 6660 Gratiot Rd, Saginaw 10am-2pm.
May 16-17 and 19-24 – Nature Niche Plant Sale at 2004 W. Wackerly St, Midland with wildflowers, ferns, sedges, trees and shrubs! Normal business hours 10am-6pm M-F; 10am-4pm Sat.
May 17 and 18 – Hoffman Farms will be open for plant sales at 6358 Mackinaw Rd, Saginaw, MI.
May 30 and 31 – Chippewa Nature Center – 400 S Badour Rd, Midland. For CNC members only on May 30 open 1:00-6:00pm. For the public May 31 open 9am-4pm.
Seeking Volunteers for our Fundraising Events
In conjunction with the several of the plant sales, we will have our sales booth at both the Nature Niche plant sale (May 16 and 17th) and the Chippewa Nature Center plant sale (May 30th and 31st). We need you to volunteer for an hour or two at our booth! This is a great opportunity to meet some of your fellow members (if you are a newer member) and share your interest and dare I say it, “love of native plants”. If interested in volunteering, please contact me at [email protected] or sign up at our May meeting. Sign-up sheets will be there for both plant sale events. Funds raised will be used toward speakers’ fees, admission fees for members at program venues, and our chapter’s grant program in support of local native plant installations. We can’t do any of this without your support!
Weeding at the Wildflower Walkway at Chippewa Nature Center
Tuesday May 13 from 3:30-5:00 pm
It’s that time of year again. Time to get the flower beds looking their best. The Wild Ones Mid-Mitten Chapter shows our support of the Nature Center by helping to maintain some of their wildflower beds, usually the rain garden and wildflower walkway. If you can lend a hand, please contact Jeanne Henderson at [email protected] or just show up with your tools in hand. On April 29 we trimmed the remaining dried plant materials just to spiff things up a bit.
Continue to Save your Mesh Bags!
Remember to save your veggie mesh bags! We will continue saving the mesh bags as there were several opportunities for the Wild Ones to participate at other locations and events. This craft has had a great response from the public. Bring your bags with you to our programs and I’ll take them off your hands. Thank you for your support of these projects! We used about 50 bags at the Earth Expo event making bird nesting materials bags to share with the folks coming by.
Chapter Membership
Tell your friends and neighbors about the Wild Ones and bring them to a program, most of which are open to the public. Youth are welcome when accompanied by an adult. New ideas about attracting and retaining members can be sent to Rachel LeClair ([email protected]).
Thank you, new member: Julie Hyatt
and renewing members: Kimberly Hartley, Jacqueline Daniels. We appreciate your support!
Start Your Engines!
Now is the time to get things started in your gardens. While it is still too early to put new plants into the ground, it’s a good time to prepare the ground, finish your plans and make your lists so you’re ready to go. I’ve got a new landscape to deal with after Consumer’s Energy went through my backyard to remove potential problem trees that might fall on the power lines. Great for everyone, minimizing the potential for power outages, but rough on me as I have lost much of my shade. So, now to put my own advice into action. Stay tuned and I’ll try to bring you along for the ride!
Yours in nature,
Susan Erhardt
President, Wild Ones Mid-Mitten Chapter
[email protected]
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