Annual Native Plant Sale!  First 2026 Garden Walk!

The WPPC has two big events to kick off the 2026 growing season.  First, come check out McHenry County’s original Native Plant Sale!  The WPPC’s annual sale dates back to the 1980s, and this year will be held on Sunday, May 3, 2026 from noon to 3pm at McHenry County College.  We offer a huge selection of native plants at the best prices in the area.  We have native plants for a variety of habitats, so no matter if your site is wet or dry, sunny or shady, we have something for you.  Prairie garden?  Woodland garden?  Rain garden?  No problem, we’ve got you covered!  The actual plants available varies from year to year based on growing conditions, but this plant list shows what we normally have at the sale.  Be sure to come early for best selection as we normally have a line forming before 11:30am.  Due to construction, the main entrance to the commons area is closed.  You may enter just to the left of that through the doors under the Luecht Auditorium sign.

WPPC Bus Trip to Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, July 11, 2026

Save the date!  Following the success of our bus trip to Nachusa Grasslands last year, the WPPC will again sponsor a bus trip this summer on July 11, 2026.  This year we’ll head to Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie in Will County just south of Joliet.  The site was a WWII munitions factory transformed into a 20,283-acre pristine tallgrass prairie. Bison were added in 2015 as a restoration experiment. Midewin’s prairie complex includes dolomite prairies (one of the rarest natural communities in North America) in addition to grasslands, savanna, wetlands, seeps, upland forests, and three streams.  After touring Midewin, we’ll stop for lunch on the way home.  The WPPC will once again subsidize the cost of the trip, so the whole day, including lunch, will be only $50.  We’ll announce the opening of registration via email.  If you’re not on our mailing list you can sign up using the link below.  We’re looking forward to seeing all of you for a fun day of sight-seeing on July 11!

Caring for the Wildlife in Your Yard

So you’ve taken steps to naturalize your property and move parts of it closer to a native habitat.  Good job!  Odds are that you’re seeing more wildlife in those natural areas.  What can you do to protect it from man-made dangers? Check out the WPPC’s Wildlife Friendly Living Flyer of course!  It has a few basic steps you can take to help the wildlife in your yard thrive in the natural areas you’ve created or preserved.  The first part of the flyer mentions mosquito dunk buckets as an extremely effective way to control mosquitos in your yard.  If you’d like to know how to make one, there is a great tutorial on Doug Tallamy’s Home Grown National Park Website.