Reducing greenhouse gases, building soil structure to help infiltrate and conserve rainwater, providing stopover habitats for birds and butterflies are a few reasons why Wild Ones, a nonprofit organization, promotes using native plants in home landscaping. Native wildflowers and grasses bloom throughout summer, provide fall color, and winter appeal. Once established, natives are easy to maintain because they are adapted to Wisconsin's temperatures and rainfall patterns and also resist pests and disease.

To help people learn more, Wild Ones is sponsoring a one-day natural landscaping conference on Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 8:30 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. at Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee. To register, visit www.for-wild.org.

"Programs were excellent," "Informative & interesting," "Very diverse & wonderful," "Best way to spend Saturday outside of being in the garden," "Outstanding!" - 2008 participants