Wisconsin Native Plant Garden in bloom

Over the past twenty years, thousands of gardeners have attended Native by Design: Gardening for a Sustainable Future to learn about sustainable gardening practices and how to incorporate native plants into home landscapes. This year, for a variety of reasons, we have decided not to hold the annual native gardening conference.

As we started planning the 2026 conference, there were few weekend dates due to multiple holidays and space availability in the Visitor Center was limited. While considering scheduling options, we reflected on the wonderful success and growth of the conference, as well as the challenges of a popular event straining the limits of our spaces and building capacity. We also realized the scheduling issues gave us an opportunity to pause and rethink the event format and offerings to better serve our audiences.

Although there won’t be a gardening conference this year, we will offer two “open garden” summer sessions with Susan Carpenter in the Native Plant Garden, on Saturdays July 18 and August 15, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. This is an opportunity to bring questions from your home garden and get advice and inspiration. To register for one of these free events, email Susan Carpenter, Native Plant Garden curator, by July 11 or August 6, respectively.

– Native Gardening Conference planning committee