The Loess Hills chapter of Wild Ones promotes native landscapes, small and large, in Northwest Iowa, Southeast South Dakota, and Northeast Nebraska.
Join us at Marc and Tracy’s Bees & Blooms Garden Walk on Saturday, July 12th from 10am – 1pm. The event is free, open to the public, and open yard style. Come and go as you please.
Thank You to our members who participated in the Open House and Garden Walk to Celebrate the 100th year anniversary of the Old House.
Thanks to all that attended our Native Plant Sale on May 16th and May 17th, 2025. We’re excited about all the new plants getting in the ground! And Congratulations to the 11 grant winners (10 individuals and 1 nonprofit, Woodbury Central School).
We also appreciated Siouxland Prairie Farms, LLC and Cherry Coffee Co. for participating in this successful event!
Grant applications for nonprofit organizations or individuals were due by April 30th. If you missed it, look for another opportunity this Fall.
And if you’re interested in our other activities, here’s our Past Events:
Thank You to Brian Hazlett, Briar Cliff Biology Professor, who guided us on a wonderful Wildflower walk at Stone State Park on Saturday, May 3rd and to everyone who was able to join us to view the vibrant Spring native plants.
Sunday, April 27th, was a great day for the Lincoln Way street cleanup at the South Ravine Park in Sioux City. And the Mexican themed food and drinks afterwards was fun, too. Thanks to everyone who came to help!
Thanks for joining us on Saturday, April 12th at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center to Learn More about the 2025 Spring Plant Sale native wildflowers and grasses and how you can use them to plan your own beautiful garden. Danielle & Lilly’s presentation was informative, cute, and chocked full of fabulous gardening inspiration. And if you missed it, or want a quick refresher, check out Danielle’s slides with information about the available plants, fun plant combinations, and a brief ‘how-to’ prepare your own garden.
2025 Spring Meet the Plants- Slides
If you’re interested in a native plant grant, download & fill out a form, and email to [email protected]
Nonprofit grant
Individual grant
Thank You to everyone who came out to learn how to help our essential native pollinators on Saturday, March 8th at 10:00 a.m. at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center. Jamie Beyer’s program, ‘Pollinator Friendly Plants and Habitat’ included EASY and FUN ways to help these critters like planting beautiful nectar producing plants.
Thank you to those who joined us on cold, snowy morning to learn about: ‘Germinating Difficult Native Seeds’ with Rod Tondreau on Saturday, February 8th at 10:00 am at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center. Rod’s presentation was both interesting and insightful!
And if you missed it – Click Here for the video
Thank You to the ~ 100 people who attended our Winter Native Seed Sowing event on Saturday, January 11th at the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center! We had so much fun, and we hope you did, too. Keep us updated on your winter sowing projects and feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Email us at [email protected].
Our slate was UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED! We had SO MUCH FUN!
And ate WAY too MUCH!! YUM!!
We had SO much FUN at Flathers-Wetmore Prairie!
We had SO much fun at these two events!
2024
Fall–Meet the Plants Handout- Danielle
Fall Grants are closed–Awards were Friday September 13th at 5 PM!
We had such fun at these Garden Tours!
Plus a Pop-Up Plant Sale! $3 each at the Talbot Road Site!
“Metzger Native Gardens”
&
“The Wild Mess in Progress”
THANK YOU HOSTS & Attendees!
We had SO much FUN at the
Garden Tours at Marcie’s,
Tom and Cheri’s
&
Coral’s Local Eco-type Plant Sale
Thank you, Mercedes, and to ALL who shared in the wonderful Tea Party!
2024 updated Meet the Plants Printout- Thank you, Danielle!
Loess Hills Wild Ones has adopted a portion of Lincoln Way in Sioux City for litter cleanup!
Help whenever you have 5 minutes for a TrashPick-Up!
Wildflower Walk!
We had SO much FUN! Thank you Dawn, for your expert guidance!
We had such a great learning experience!
Meet the Plants and Rollout of the Grants
Presented by:
Danielle, Lilly,
&
The Grants Committee
2024 Spring Nonprofit Introductory Letter and Form Electronic
2024 Spring Individual Introductory Letter and Grant Form ELECTRONIC
2024 Printout for Notes– Meet the Plants!
Loess Hills Wild Ones Sponsored
Stephanie Barelman
Thank You-We LOVED this presentation!
The New Midwesten Cottage Garden-
How the Heartland of America
Can Redefine
Whimsical Gardenscapes
with Native Plants.
We so enjoyed:
Water Gardens
Saturday February 10th
From 2-3PM at the
Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center!
We had SUCH a great time at our:
Winter Seed Sowing
Hand’s On Make & Take!
Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center
So much FUN! Thank you to Sioux City Museum. Hosted Sunday November 12th. Sneaky’s Chicken & Lyonnaise Potatoes-Delicious! Side dishes for Potluck were FABULOUS! Seed Share! Annual Meeting Presentation- Amazing! We loved Dawn’s slide show & photos of many Member gardens! Election of Officers-Done! Lots of Laughter and FUN!
We had SO much fun at the:
Annual Members Only Seed Harvest!
Thank you to Mark for inviting us to harvest at the Flathers-Wetmore Prairie! We are so grateful for your generosity!
Loess Hills Wild Ones and Sioux City Railroad Museum had SO much fun!
The native gardens on tour were designed and planted by volunteers beginning in 2021. The agency has received numerous plants from Loess Hills Wild Ones native plant sales, including two non-profit grants to assist with the garden. The Railroad Museum and garden tours were free!
Our own Danielle has THIS article in the LeMars Sentinel!
Click HERE for the full article!
Fall Grants were awarded August 25th, 2023!
We SO enjoyed the 2023 Fall Plant Sale!
2023 08 Marcie’s Plant Details with photos
We LOVED the Garden Walks August 19th!
Loess Hills Wild Ones hosted TWO Garden Walks near Hinton in Plymouth County.
The first tour was at Hillview Recreation Area near Hinton from 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. This area is managed by the Plymouth County Conservation Board. We met at the Dennis L. Sohl Center for Outdoor Learning and strolled through the native wildflower gardens and rain garden. Hillview is located at 25601 C60, one mile west of Hinton, Iowa.
The second Walk was at the home of Danielle & James Metzger. Metzger native gardens were started in Spring of 2020 and are ever expanding with each passing year. Each garden has a name and was designed by Danielle using plants mostly from Loess Hills Wild Ones native plant sales.
Most of the rock borders for the gardens were transported from Danielle’s father’s farm located in Buena Vista County. Danielle has a love for grasses and sedges and her favorite wildflowers are the different species of Purple Coneflower Echinacea and Butterfly Weed Asclepias tuberosa. Her love of the Monarch Butterfly is what sparked and ignited her joy of native gardening.
Thank you to both hosts for a wonderful set of Garden Walks!
We so enjoyed “Fall Wildflowers of Iowa” With Kara Grady
We had so much fun! July 15th 9AM-12PM. Garden Walks at three locations! 2023 Summer Plant Sale List
Thank you for Joining Us for the Native Plant Share and Tea Party! Sunday June 11th.
Native Plant Sale was exciting! To learn more about the plants we sold, Click the link below.
2023 UPDATED May Plant Sale details
Thanks, Marcie!
Thank you Julie and Cheri! We loved learning about:
“Rain Gardens” with Julie Perrault
“Meet the Plants & Rollout of the Grants”
Sunday March 12th was LIVE at the Sioux City Library and SO much FUN!
Plant List for Spring Sale
May 19-21st 2023
We shared an informal presentation of the Spring Native Plant Sale and
Grants that will be available for Members and Non-Profit organizations
Photo and many slides from Dianne Blankenship–Thank You!
Thank you, Sarah!
Sarah Nizzi from Xerces Presented:
“Site Prep, Plant Selection, and The Needs of Pollinators”
Sarah Nizzi with the Xerces society helped us learn about the steps to take in conserving and supporting pollinators at home.
Big or small, every conservation effort counts!
Sarah covered the habitat needs of pollinators, site preparation, plant selection, and more!
Thank you Barry, this was amazing!
“Roots of the Past; Rooting for the Future”
was hosted Sunday January 8th, 2023
Barry Mateer shared his observations and ventures since returning to his childhood farm home after 40 years of teaching in Nepal and Japan. The discovery of two sets of 2nd great-grandparents on land abstracts set off a series of quests to help ensure native plants, birds, and pollinators could have a safe haven on the land which settlers first claimed in 1851
We had SO much fun at Winter Fun Day December 10th!
Thank you to all who participated!
‘Seeds-N-All’ (Get it?) Party and Wreath Make & Take! We shared Food! Fun! Festivities!
What a HUGE success!! Thank you to EVERYONE who attended the:
2022 Seed Share and Annual Meeting
We shared a brief recap of our year, and voted on our Officers for 2023!
We received Native Seed Planting Suggestions,
& Propagation Techniques such as Winter Sowing and Native Crop Circle Sowing.
We met fellow seed enthusiasts!
We gained NEW members!
Thanks, Dianne for the great photos and descriptions from 2020! Check those out HERE!
LHWO Seed Share 2022 Plant Table
Prairie Moon Germination Codes
Thanks for the Tour of Stevenson’s Tract led by James Baker, Western Iowa Land Steward for The Nature Conservancy.
We looked at the Joy Hollow complex, including the woodland area and adjacent hillside prairie, and discussed the future restoration plans for the property. Immediately after the tour everyone was invited to socialize at a nearby private residence. Chili and Cinnamon rolls were served, and two cozy fire pits were available!
Stevenson’s Tract is located on Butcher Road which intersects Hwy 12, approximately 14 miles north of the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center.
Co-hosted by Iowa Prairie Network, Loess Hills Wild Ones, and Northwest Iowa Group Sierra Club.
Thanks, Dotty and Bill. We had so much fun!
We learned so much with our:
Seed Collecting Education & Social @ Bill & Dotty’s Prairie Hills
Experienced High Quality Iowa Loess Hills Original Prairie!
Helped collect seed for local prairie restoration and gardens.
Kept seed samples of many species.
Observe results of ongoing restoration & reconstruction efforts!
We needed: Pruning shears, gloves, water, & clothing appropriate for walking through high prairie grasses
Social, snacks, & beverages followed the harvest.
Our Fall Plant Sale SOLD OUT!
Thank you to EVERYONE who volunteered or participated! If you have a Wish List, Please let us know for the Spring Plant Sale! Click HERE for 2022 Marcie’s AWESOME August plant details with photos!
Our own Tom and Cheri were interviewed by Amber at KTIV!
Click for video!
Our featured recorded programs:
2022 Spring Plant Sale: “Meet the Plants!”
Fabulous Wildflowers in Fowler Forest
May 2, 2021
Dawn Snyder, Woodbury County Education Programs Director, takes us on a virtual tour of the Fabulous Wildflowers in Fowler Forest. Dawn has tons of fun facts about our native Spring Ephemerals. After being inspired by Dawn, you might just want to take a drive and check out the wildflowers for yourself.
