The Greater Baton Rouge chapter of Wild Ones hosted their 4th annual seed swap October 19, 2025 at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens. Members look forward to this event all year because it is a wonderful opportunity to swap seeds native to our area and to donate local ecotype seeds to the Wild Ones seed […] Continue reading "Seed Swap 2025!"
The Wild Ones Greater Baton Rouge chapter hosted a dozen eager members for a seed cleaning social to process seeds for the chapter’s seed library and seed packets, the East Baton Rouge Public Library seed libraries, and for the upcoming seed swap on October 19th. Our members learned different techniques for releasing seeds from the […] Continue reading "Seed Cleaning Social"
by Joan Chiasson Did you know that Louisiana was once home to about 2.5 million acres of tall grass prairie? Today, less than 1% remains of this critically imperiled ecosystem. I had the chance to see the first Baton Rouge screening of Louisiana Grass Roots, a short documentary about it (the “Cajun Prairie”) today at […] Continue reading "Grass Roots"
Sowing Curiosity: East Baton Rouge Parish Library launches Seed Libraries Our Wild Ones chapter Vice President, Allison Gianelloni, was featured in the Advocate newspaper today for her amazing seed library project blooming in East Baton Rouge Parish libraries! Advocate article: “Free seeds, free books: Seed Libraries in Baton Rouge encourage plant growth“ The little seed […] Continue reading "Seed Library Project Blooms to Ten Libraries"
Summer stroll at Burden The Wild Ones Greater Baton Rouge chapter held its first Wildflower Walk today along the trails of the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden. The blooms that were putting on a particularly flashy show were in LSU purple and gold, like the Tall Ironweed that was being visited by bumblebees, and […] Continue reading "Wild Ones Wildflower Walk"
This spring, we visited four yards of Wild Ones Greater Baton Rouge members who are integrating native plants into their landscaping. This was a great way to get inspiration and learn from each other. Seeing the native plants in a landscape setting, talking about the different species of plants, and hearing about the various techniques […] Continue reading "Inspiration: Spring Yard Visits"
Mary Ann Sternberg wrote a lovely article in the Advocate, titled, “Wild Ones: Nurturing backyard native plants in Baton Rouge. Here’s how you can, too.” She interviews Wild Ones Greater Baton Rouge President, Janine Kharey, and takes us through her incredibly diverse native garden and nursery all contained within a residential Baton Rouge yard. She […] Continue reading "Pots, Planters and Promise"
Wild Ones Greater Baton Rouge hosted a native plant sale and outreach table as part of the Master Gardener Plant Sale at LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens in Baton Rouge. The event was extremely well attended by plant fanatics, and there was great interest in learning about the native plants. Customers were excited to take home […] Continue reading "Masterful Plant Sale"
Ken Bosso, Wild Ones Membership Chair, has finalized an exciting opportunity for our chapter – three raised beds in the new Children’s Garden at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden! Our chapter is responsible for planting and maintaining these nice planters. These are in a prime location for families to explore, smell, and touch these […] Continue reading "Raised Beds Raising Awareness of Local Native Plants"
Our first chapter meeting! The dedication and determination has paid off! Janine and Alok Kharey realized their dream of starting a Wild Ones chapter to preserve local ecotype species and educate homeowners about nature and landscaping with native plants. The first official member meeting was held on August 11, 2022, and the first public meeting […] Continue reading "Wild Ones Welcome!"