Build conservation practices at home by adding native plants to your landscape. Learn from local experts through a new Native Plant Series. Johnson County Conservation will host four native plant sales and a speaker series in the spring and fall of 2025: May 4, June 1, Aug. 3, and Sept. 7. Each date will include a native plant sale. Our 2025 native plant vendor is Troutleaf Native Plants, based out of Johnson County. You do not need to register to attend the plant sale but registration is required for the native plant series.
Registration is free but required. Click the ticket link to sign up!
* Please note: You must register for each date of the Native Plant Series separately.
Program Schedule:
9:00-9:40 am- Native Plant Sale w/Troutleaf Native Plants
9:40-9:45 am- Welcome & Introduction
9:45-10:45 am- Native Shrubs for Backyard Biodiversity
10:45-11 am- Break/Shop Plant Sale
11 am- noon- Fungi & Plant Blindness
Noon- 1 pm- Program ends but plant sale continues until 1 pm
Session Descriptions:
Using Native Shrubs to Boost Backyard Biodiversity w/Sarah Lawinger
In Spring 2025, Bur Oak Land Trust started an initiative to increase biodiversity in Iowa City. The Trust created the Backyard Biodiversity Project, this year funded by a Climate Action grant from the City of Iowa City, to provide local residents with a bundle of native shrubs for homeowners to plant in their yards at no cost. For decades, nonnative and sometimes invasive shrub species have dominated urban landscaping and household gardening. By returning native shrub species back to the urban landscape, we hope to see positive changes for pollinators and climate resiliency in our area. Attendees can expect to learn more about the benefits of planting native shrubs in their yards.
Fungi & Plant Blindness w/Sarah Delong-Duhon
Most people walk through the world without truly seeing plants - their diversity, their functions, their essential role in life as we know it. This phenomenon, called plant blindness, is even more extreme when applied to fungi. Despite their crucial partnerships with over 90% of plant species and their role in shaping life on land, fungi remain largely unseen and unappreciated. In this talk, we’ll uncover the hidden world of fungi and plants, exploring why they deserve our attention and how noticing them can change the way we see nature.
Speaker Bios:
Sarah Lawinger:
Sarah Lawinger is the Land Stewardship Director for Bur Oak Land Trust, a local non-profit which protects and manages land in Eastern Iowa. She has been with the Trust for over five years, starting as a stewardship field crew member and putting in long days removing invasive plant species and using prescribed fire as a restoration tool. She enjoys sharing her passion for and teaching others about native woody plants and spring ephemerals. Sarah earned her Master of Natural Resources with a focus on Restoration Ecology from the University of Idaho and a bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing from the University of Iowa.
Sarah Delong-Duhon:
Sarah Delong-Duhon is the president of the Prairie States Mushroom Club and a University of Iowa graduate. Through her research, she uncovered hidden diversity within the fungi genus Stereum, resurrecting previously overlooked species. While she now works in clinical microbiology, Sarah is dedicated to raising awareness about the natural world and the importance of preserving it, using photography to showcase the beauty and complexity of fungi and their ecosystems.
Thanks to our partner organizations!
The plant sales and speaker series are being supported by the Johnson County Master Gardeners of Iowa and Troutleaf Native Plants.
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