Native Plants: Nurturing Nature and our Community
Speaker Schedule
Courtney Denning
10:30am-11:15am
Title: Your Yard is Habitat: How Native Plants Connect People and Wildlife
Description:
Nature isn’t separate from where we live. It’s right outside our doors. This talk explores why native plants are essential to healthy ecosystems and how they support the insects, birds, and wildlife we see every day. We’ll look at the problems invasive species create, define what makes certain plants “keystone species,” and highlight fascinating plant-animal interactions you can observe in your own yard or local park. Designed for beginners, this talk will help you see your surroundings in a whole new way.
ABOUT COURTNEY
Courtney Denning has been interested in nature and studying wildlife since childhood. She studied plant ecology at Ohio University and now designs native plant gardens, leads consultations, and supports education and outreach at Deeply Rooted Landscapes. At home, she grows more than 200 native Ohio plants on less than a quarter acre, proving that small spaces can make a big ecological impact.
Lauren Craig
11:45am-12:30pm
Title: Incorporating Native Edibles in Your Landscape to Feed Humans and Wildlife Alike
Description: Lauren Craig is a local homesteader and permaculture designer who specializes in using native edibles in her designs. In this talk, she’ll share some of the most fruitful native edible trees, shrubs, and other plantings that you can add to your yard to feed both you and the local ecosystem!
ABOUT LAUREN:
Lauren owns Humble Hive Consulting. She is a local homesteader and permaculture designer who spends her days designing gardens, landscapes and homesteads for clients worldwide. She specializes in incorporating edible, medicinal and native plants in her designs and is passionate about empowering others to grow more of their own food. She resides on her 1 acre homestead with her 2 children and their goal is to generate 80% of the resources needed to sustain their existence within 10 years’ time.
Carol Trosset
1:00pm-1:45pm
Title: When Spring Comes: Changing Wildflower Bloom Dates
Description: Native spring wildflowers bloom after the ground thaws and before tree leaves shade the forest floor. They bloom in a sequence that is related to the presence of pollinators and the amount of sunlight. Exact bloom dates vary with the weather, but have been changing over time since the 1970s.
The Trosset family established a small wildflower woods in the 1960s and kept detailed records of the timing of many different species. Our speaker will discuss the ecology of spring wildflowers, and what she has learned about the changing spring sequence from these records and more recent data.
ABOUT CAROL:
Carol Trosset grew up in Cincinnati studying nature with her family and in the Cincinnati Zoo’s Junior Zoologist’s Club. After retiring from her career as a social scientist studying higher education effectiveness, she returned to Cincinnati, where she manages the Trosset Wildflower Sanctuary at Gorman Heritage Farm and volunteers at the Zoo and at Great Parks. Carol is the author of The Woods: The Natural History of an Acre in Southwestern Ohio, published by the Ohio Biological Survey.
Registered Vendors & Product Description
Cojack Photography– Night/astro photography prints. Blending night sky images with foregrounds primarily from local parks. I also make small usable goods- tile coasters, bookmarks, and holiday ornaments with my art. I also plan on making new 12×12 wall clocks using total eclipse images from Beavercreek in 2024.
Dayton Bees and Native Plants– Native plants grown from seed. I will have at least 10 species of native plants in 3-4 inch pots.
Deeply Rooted Landscapes- Native Plant Nursery
Humble Hive Consulting- Garden design books with the design, shopping list, and installation instructions. Many of my designs include it highlight native plantings.
Junebug’s Natives–Do you want more butterflies, birds and lightning bugs (fireflies) in your yard? Plant natives! Native plants are the foundation of the food web, providing food and habitat for pollinators and wildlife. Most insects can only eat the plants they evolved with, and those insects feed birds and other wildlife. E.g. A pair of chickadees needs 6,000 – 9,000 caterpillars to raise one brood of chicks! Check out Junebug’s Natives + and learn how even a few keystone plants can help rebuild nature – right outside your door. Bring nature home – plant natives!
Learn more about what I offer at the link. Contact me if there is something specific you want me to bring!
Lucky Rabbit Curios– Lincocut prints, original artwork, greeting cards.
http://lucky-rabbit-curios.myshopify.com/
Midnight Maille Weaver-
Milkweed Patch LLC– Located in Troy, Ohio. Providing several varieties of Ohio native milkweed and other native plants that have been selected to support monarch butterflies and other insects. Our plants are meant to be eaten – to feed monarch caterpillars and butterflies. That means no chemicals are ever used on them! Check out the catalog on our website to see what we might be bringing!
https://www.themilkweedpatch.
Native Ohio Plants, LLC– All native plants sold in containers; mostly one gallon trees and shrubs and some one quart wildflowers.
Patrick Goes Native– Patrick Goes Native offers locally grown native plants selected for Southwest Ohio landscapes, with nearly 150 species in production this season.
In addition to plant sales, we provide consultation, landscape design guidance, installation support, and prairie establishment services. Our plants and services help homeowners reduce lawn maintenance, eliminate pesticides, and create lasting habitat for pollinators, birds, and the broader food web, while blending ecological function with practical, beautiful landscape design.
Pollinators and Posies-Pollinators and Posies offers unframed, framed, and stained glass pressed flower artwork.
Swallowtail Ridge Farm & Botanicals- Handmade self-care products made from home-grown native and medicinal plants: teas, soaps, salves, skincare products.
Our vision is to connect people with plants for a greater purpose: a deeper, more reciprocal relationship with this beautiful planet we call home. Our hope is that when people use our products, they remember how intimately interconnected we are with the Earth and how generously she supports us.
Wild Birds Unlimited (Kettering/Huber Heights Location)– Nature oriented gifts and books along with a selection of items that support the hobby of backyard bird feeding.
Non-Profit Booths
Dayton Area Wild Ones- Dayton Area Wild Ones is a regional chapter of Wild Ones, a national organization that teaches about the benefits of using native plants to create natural landscapes. The primary goals of DAWO are to educate and support homeowners as they develop their own native landscapes, to educate the public, and to enhance public spaces in our local communities.
National Wildlife Federation- Garden for Wildlife literature from the National Wildlife Federation and information about their backyard habitat certification program, as well as information about supporting pollinators and native plants.
Nightingale Montessori- Native plants in mostly 1 gal. – 3 gal. pots
Enjoy the music of Emerald Alliance while you shop our vendors!
Emerald Alliance is a duo from Dayton, OH that consists of Moroni Lane and Mando McPickin. They share a vision to apply music to uplift and unify humanity. Emerald Alliance creates a live show that moves fluidly between raw emotion and communal uplift—rooted in authenticity, with moments of powerful musical drive and moments of pause for reflection. Emerald Alliance are intentional in what they present: not just songs, but stories and shared experience.
Have Lunch at the Wrappin’ & Rollin’ Cafe food truck!
Thank you to our event sponsors!
Adam Horseman, Montgomery Insurance & Investments
