Chapters in Michigan

This is a joint tour with the North Oakland and Wayne County Wild Ones chapters. In addition to nurturing a beautiful butterfly/pollinator garden using native and non-native plants, John Blair has worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore a prairie on a large portion of this once agricultural property. 

Enjoy Wonderful Photos of John Blair's Property 

2023 feature in Fine Gardening 

Prairie 2024, an album on flickr

John Blair on the Gardens, Prairie, and Savanna We Will Tour

I will provide a guided tour of the gardens, prairie, and savanna. There is about a half-mile trail system we can walk to view the prairie/savanna habitat. There are also three ponds that have been restored as well. You will find these teeming with life. Please be prepared for uneven ground on the trails. Hats are also recommended. The tour normally takes 1.5 hours. Folks are free to wander about and explore the property after the tour. 

For those who are not able to make the longer trail walk - You are welcome to enjoy the three very accessible pollinator gardens and relax on the provided benches. I had over 500 folks visit last summer from various Master Gardener groups, garden clubs, and nature organizations, but this will be my first visit from Wild Ones. I am looking forward to your visit!

More About the Property and Its History

After retiring and then moving to our nine-acre rural site outside Brooklyn in 2019, I got busy continuing my dream of creating large pollinator gardens and doing a restoration of a prairie and savanna area. 

We currently have three separate gardens which I like to call “Blended Gardens.” These are roughly 50% native and 50% non-native (and noninvasive) nectar sources. The purpose of these gardens is to demonstrate how folks can start their native plant journey by incorporating natives into their existing landscape alongside nectar plants they are already familiar with. The hope is that these demonstration gardens can be an inspirational gateway for those interested in learning about native plants and creating useful habitat in their own spaces. 

The prairie and savanna is a joint project through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program. Basically, for landowners interested in returning their property back to native habitat, they will cover half the cost of the project. They will also partner you with an experienced biologist to guide the process and to access the necessary equipment and resources needed for the project. We entered the program in 2020, and after two years of site prep, seeded the five-acre prairie and savanna in June 2022. Since this is the third summer since it was seeded, we are expecting a spectacular year!

After retiring and then moving to our nine acre rural site outside Brooklyn, Michigan in 2019, I got busy continuing my dream of creating large pollinator gardens and doing a restoration of a prairie and savanna area. 

We currently have three separate gardens which I like to call “Blended Gardens”. These are roughly fifty percent native and fifty percent non native (and noninvasive) nectar sources. The purpose of these gardens is to demonstrate how folks can start their native plant journey by incorporating natives into their existing landscape alongside nectar plants they are already familiar with. The hope is that these demonstration gardens can be an inspirational gateway for those interested in learning about native plants and creating useful habitat in their own spaces. 

The prairie and savanna is a joint project through the US Fish and Wildlife Service Partners Program. Basically, for landowners interested in returning their property back to native habitat, they will cover half the cost of the project. They will also partner you with an experienced biologist to guide the process and to access the necessary equipment and resources needed for the project. We entered the program in 2020, and after two years of site prep, seeded the five acre prairie and savanna in June 2022. Since this is the third summer since it was seeded, we are expecting a spectacular year!

I will provide a guided tour of the gardens, prairie and savanna. There is about a half mile trail system we can walk to view the prairie/savanna habitat. There are also three ponds that have been restored as well. You will find these teeming with life. Please be prepared for uneven ground on the trails. Hats are also recommended. If there are those who are not able to make the longer trail walk, you are welcome enjoy the three very accessible pollinator gardens and relax on the provided benches. The tour normally takes 1.5 hours. Folks are free to wander about and explore the property after the tour. 

I had over five hundred folks visit last summer from various Master Gardener groups, garden clubs and nature organizations but this will be my first visit from Wild Ones. I am looking forward to your visit!

An informal meet-up group one Thursday a month to have a drink together and talk about native plants, challenges in our gardens, pollinators, and more. This is a time to mingle and get to know other native plant enthusiasts and KAWO members.

Garden Walkabouts are informal tours of home gardens and landscapes managed by members. Come and go as you wish.

Address TBA via email to Wild Ones River City members.

Event is for Wild Ones members only and their guests.

Marcia writes: "My native plant journey began with hearing Doug Tallamy speak at Meijer Gardens. I then heard him speak again at the Wild Ones-River City Chapter 15th Anniversary Celebration at Aquinas College on June 20th, 2022. On June 28th, I became a Wild Ones member. At that point I decided to replace all of our turf grass, which had gone mostly to weeds anyway, with native plants. That means less mowing and more habitat. I currently have 150 different species of native plants in our yard and wooded area. Today, I enjoyed watching out our slider at the many, many pollinators buzzing around various plants that are currently flowering. I am looking forward to getting advice and input from other Wild Ones members at my walkabout."

Members can look forward to Member to Member Garden Yard Tours throughout the growing season!

This month, three yards are featured in Livonia! Member-to-Member (M2M) yard visits (aka Show Me-Tell Me) allow members to share experiences, ideas, and challenges with maintaining native plants in our landscapes. These tours help members & invited guests to learn about different natives and enjoy conversations with other native plant enthusiasts.

The location for each visit will be communicated to all members prior to the visit.