The Dane County Land & Water Resources Department is partnering with the Monona Library to provide a collection of native Wisconsin plant seeds this winter. The native seeds that we will be packaging up have been collected by Dane County Parks volunteers as part of our seed collection program! Native Wisconsin seeds are best sown in the fall/winter (scattered over the ground or snow) and left to overwinter. Seeds will find their way into the soil.

We are looking for volunteers to help with the hard part: packaging the seeds for Monona’s free seed library (similar to Madison Public Library’s Native Seed Libraries) so library patrons can take them home! If you would like to donate your time and effort to this project, please consider joining us! Registration is required as space is limited.

Registration:

Sign up here!

About: 

There will be several stations. Volunteers will have one of three roles at each station:

• Placing labels on seed envelopes
• Measuring out seed into envelopes
• Securing envelopes with adhesive

Why native plants?

Native plants are adapted to the local climate and soils, are drought tolerant, disease resistant, and have deep root systems that help infiltrate rain water. Once established, native plants are aesthetically pleasing and require little watering, fertilizing and mowing. They also provide important ecosystem services such as improved water quality and habitat and food for local wildlife, including numerous pollinator species.