Chapter Events

Winter Speaker Series

Event Details

The night sky and the stars are things of beauty. But that beauty goes much deeper than superficial appearance. 

Earth spends half of its existence under the night sky. This has a profound impact on life and its cycles. During this time, nature does a lot of important work —from cloaking the movements of migrating birds to enabling nocturnal insect pollinators. 

This presentation will explore the beauty of the stars through nightscape images and offer a brief glimpse at some intimate connections between nature and the night sky.

The presenter for this program is Dan Zarlenga:

When many photographers are putting their cameras away, Dan is usually getting his out!  Dan has been in love with the stars and the night sky all his life.  After spending years looking at the sky with telescopes, he took up photography in 2009.  It seemed only natural to bring the two interests together.  He especially enjoys the challenge of blending terrestrial and celestial subjects in the same image.

Dan likes to explore several forms of photography but has a special leaning towards landscapes and astro-landscapes.  He also likes to mix photography with another of his passions . . . hiking and occasionally backpacking.  Dan has served as MDC Media Specialist in St. Louis region since 2008.

His photography has appeared in multiple calendars and magazines, and is featured in several exhibits.

This program is in partnership with Wild Ones St Charles Area Chapter, a nonprofit organization designed to promote the understanding of native plants, their benefits, and what they can provide for the environment both in private as well as public areas of landscaping.

Join Joey Santore, creator of Crime Pays But Botany Doesn’t, for a candid Wild Ones National Webinar examining how inherited garden aesthetics shape native plant landscapes. Drawing on field experience and real ecology, Joey challenges tidy design norms and explores why dense, irregular plant communities are often the most resilient and ecologically sound.

Native Plants: Ephemerals - Late Winter and Early Spring in the Garden

Are you looking to add more wildlife and seasonal interest to your garden? Interested in feeding early emerging pollinators? Craving color in the dead of late winter? Join us for an evening celebrating the ephemeral.

Ephemerals emerge in late winter and early spring and go dormant before the dog days of summer - a lot like traditional spring bulbs like tulips, narcissus, and hyacinth. Learn about the different types of native ephemerals, how to site them in your landscape, and how best to manage them once in the ground.

he presenter for this program is Erin Goss:

Erin is an Accounts Manager of Poynter Landscape Architecture and Construction. 

She has previously worked for Shaw Nature Reserve, Wallflower Design, and Greenscape Gardens. A landscape designer and horticulturist, she seeks to share the wonder of plants with people by encouraging multi-use approaches to gardening through water management, permaculture, community herbalism, and ecologically-minded practices. 

Callery Pear Trees Begin to Bloom: Registration Opens March 16 for 2026 “Buyback” Event 

St. Louis, MO (February 24, 2026) — The Missouri Invasive Plant Council (MoIP), in partnership with the Missouri Community Forestry Council, Magnificent Missouri, Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, Forrest Keeling Nursery, the Missouri Prairie Foundation, and the Missouri Department of Conservation, will host a Callery pear “buyback” program at 23 locations around the state on April 21. On this date, citizens who register with a photo of a cut down Callery pear tree from their property will receive a free native tree.

“As we prepare for spring, many Callery pear trees—also known as Bradford pears—will soon begin to bloom,” said Carol Davit, chair of the Missouri Invasive Plant Council. “The profuse white blossoms of this highly invasive tree make their alarming spread especially apparent in spring, along roadsides, in fields, parks, and on private property.” 

Registration for the Callery Pear Buyback event is open from March 16 through April 16. To register, participants choose a native tree and submit a photo of the cut-down Callery pear tree. One free, non-invasive, native tree will be given to registered participants at the selected location on the day of the event, April 21, from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m.

Participants receive potted native trees between 2 and 4 feet tall, in 3-gallon containers. Trees of this size are easier to transport than larger ones, minimize stress on trees in the planting process, and allow MoIP to offer more free trees in more locations to more Missourians.  

MoIP is grateful to the Missouri Community Forestry Council and Magnificent Missouri for their financial support of the 2026 Callery Pear Buyback Program, as well as to Forrest Keeling Nursery and Forest ReLeaf of Missouri for tree donations. Financial and administrative support also comes from the Missouri Prairie Foundation and Missouri Department of Conservation.

To register or for more information about this event, including a full list of native tree species offered and how to identify Callery pear trees, visit https://moinvasives.org/pear-buyback/, or contact MoIP Coordinator Emily Render, (573) 569-8659, at [email protected]. Learn more about the negative impacts of Callery pear and other invasive plants, and find many identification and resources to control them at moinvasives.org.

Trees available in St Charles County include Black Gum, Deciduous Holly, Ohio Buckeye, Red Oak, Red Maple, and Swamp White Oak 
 

Program partners include: Missouri Invasive Plant Council (MoIP) - www.moinvasives.org; Missouri Community Forestry Council - www.mocommunitytrees.org; Magnificent Missouri - www.magnificentmissouri.org; Forest ReLeaf - www.moreleaf.org; Forrest Keeling - www.fknursery.com; Missouri Prairie Foundation - www.moprairie.org; and Missouri Department of Conservation - https://mdc.mo.gov.

This is our monthly Garden Gathering, touring a private garden and sharing knowledge and possibly plants. Members and host neighbors/friends, or those interested in becoming members are welcome. 

Native Plant Presentations, guided Plant ID Hikes, Greenhouse Tours, Native Pl;ant Partner Tables, Local Food and Arisan Vendors

Multiple vendors and presentations including native plants, kids' activities, flower show. 

Wild Ones of St Charles will have a booth to share information on gardening with plants native to Missouri, and will have some native plants for sale. 

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon! 

Details coming soon!