Welcome to Kalamazoo Area Wild Ones

Celebrating 25 Years of KAWO

March Program: New to Natives? No Problem!

We’re back in person this month with Horticulturist Christopher Hart of Hartscapes. Come early at 6:00 for social time, where experienced KAWO members will be available to talk with you informally about native plants as well as our various activities and programs. Stay on for a dynamic and beginner-friendly program starting at 6:30.

Wednesday, March 27, 6:30 pm

Native Plant Sale This Spring

Our annual tradition continues! Watch this space and our social media for more details.

Pints & Native Plants

See old friends, make new ones, and try your hand at some challenging native plant trivia! Join us at Brewery Outré for our monthly informal gathering.

Thursday, April 11,
7:00 pm


Collaborate • Educate • Advocate

Help Us Connect People with Native Plants

We elect chapter officers every year in November. You can join one of our service committees any time, or get hands-on native landscaping experience through our community projects from spring through early fall.


Our Purpose – Your Importance

Native plants are part of our rich natural heritage here in Southwest Michigan. The Kalamazoo Area chapter of Wild Ones was established to help inform, educate and offer resources to people interested in learning about native plants. There simply isn’t enough protected or potentially protectable land to depend on its saving our birds, mammals, amphibians and insects, including pollinators.

You can make a difference—no matter the size of your yard
“Whether you live in the city or the country, on a small lot or a large property, you can help preserve the biological diversity of southwest Michigan by reducing the size of your lawn (or eliminating it entirely) and replacing it with native plants. These plants, as opposed to non-native ones, support the herbivorous insects on which all other wildlife—and we ourselves—directly or indirectly depend.”

You can make a difference—by making simple changes
“By planting a diverse assortment of native trees, shrubs, wildflowers and grasses in your yard, you’ll be doing your part to replace the vast amount of habitat that has been lost to development or destroyed by invasive non-native plants. You’ll be helping to slow the rapid extinction of species already under way and providing protection for the plants and animals of our region against the coming rigors of climate change, with its increased temperatures and scarcity of water.”

bumble bee on purple flower
Yellow bumble bee (Bombus fervidus) on wild bergamot. photo by N. Nickson

You can make a difference—and you can see it
“For using native plants to supply food and shelter for wildlife, you’ll be richly rewarded right away. Your yard will come alive with butterflies and birds, which—along with the constantly changing spectacle of the plants themselves—will provide a year-round source of interest and drama. You and your family will be drawn ever closer into a rich and satisfying relationship with nature.”

” ” as articulated by Nancy Small, co-founder of KAWO

Learn more about the importance of native plants at


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