Native Plant Nursery and EcoDesign
Events & Workshops
Upcoming Events
Watch for events and workshops here as our schedule changes rapidly. Please know that we can sell plants to individual clients *anytime*, not just at our plant sales. Send us an email (address below) if you'd like to purchase plants directly from us!
Fall Native Plant Sale at Riggs
Sunday, September 10, time TBD
1901 South High Cross Road in Urbana
People don't often think of fall as a time to plant, but there are advantages! The ground is warm, and native plants can get a jump start so some might bloom the following spring. Head to Riggs on Sept 10 to see what's in our end-of-season inventory! There will likely be discounted prices.
Past Events
Urbana Market at the Square
Saturdays, May 20, May 27, and June 10
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We'll be at the Urbana Farmer's Markets a few times this spring! These will be smaller sales, and we'll be there to chat about our services too!
Plant Sale at the Co-Op
Saturday, June 3 from 9am-1pm
300 South Broadway Ave in Urbana
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We'll be at outside on the porch at Common Ground Co-Op with lots of favorite native plants. Come for organic groceries and organic, pollinator-friendly perennials for your yard!
Mother's Day Sale at Sleepy Creek Vineyards
Sunday, May 14, 2023, 12pm-5pm
Sleep Creek Vineyards
8254 E 1425 North Rd
Fairmount, IL 61841
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Our second annual plant sale out at Sleepy Creek Vineyards! We'll have some new species, and Sleepy Creek will have live bands and food trucks. Come on out for a glass of wine and your first spring 2023 native plants!
Native Plant Sale 2023 Kick Off!
Sunday, April 30, 12pm-6pm (rain date: May 7)
1901 South High Cross Road in Urbana
Riggs is the place to be on April 30! Grab your first native plants of the season, enjoy some local honey and live music, and hear from botanist Mike Murphy about why native plants are so important. Enjoy your favorite beer, bring the kids, and do something helpful for local eco-systems all on one day!
Centuries of Soil Lost in An Hour: How Native Plants Hold Things Together
Sunday, April 30, 2pm (rain date, May 7)
1901 South High Cross Road in Urbana
Riggs is the place to be on April 30! Grab your first native plants of the season, enjoy some local honey and live music, and hear from botanist Mike Murphy about why native plants are so important. Mike is a wealth of information and doing incredible restoration work in Illinois. We are thrilled to hear what he has to say!
Last Native Plant Sale of 2022
Saturday, September 24, 2-5pm
1901 South High Cross Road in Urbana
People don't often think of fall as a time to plant, but there are advantages! The ground is warm, and native plants can get a jump start so some might bloom the following spring. Head to Riggs on Sept 24 to see what's in our end-of-season inventory!
Native Plant Rummage Sale
Saturday, Aug 27, 10am-4pm
924 W Daniel Street, Champaign, IL 61821
The second of our three final sales of 2022 will be like a garage sale but with native plants!!! We'll be selling from 10am-4pm. We'll post inventory when we get closer. This sale will happen at one of our owner's homes, who happens to have a pretty fantastic variety of native plants on the property. The gardens are currently at various stages (prepped blank slates, on the way to growing in, and almost fully established), so we plan to give a garden tour at 9:30am ahead of the sale to see the species and do a little teaching on native plant gardening! Sale will start after the tour, around 10am.
Native Plant Sale Popup in Mahomet
Saturday, August 6, 12-3pm
604 E Main Street, Suite C, Mahomet, IL 61853
Autumn is coming, and it's a great time to plant out more native plants! Head out to THE sweetest boutique/event venue in Mahomet for our next plant sale. We'll be *inside* the building on that day, selling some of our most popular plants and some rarer species as well. Most of the stock is in the form of small plugs (native plants spend their first season primarily putting roots down), but we may have some larger, gallon sized kids with us that day. As always, we'll post a precise inventory when we get closer!
Mini Plant Sale and Plant your own Native Plant from Seed!
Friday, June 24, 6-8pm
1901 South High Cross Road in Urbana
We'll be at Riggs Fest offering a mini plant sale on Friday night with some of our more popular natives (and a fuller sale on Saturday -- see our other event for that) and a free Plant your own Native Plant from Seed station with RAFFLE to win one of our adorable wooden or felted caterpillars! We'll help you plant a native plant from seed (using one of our easy germinators for near guaranteed success), and you get to take it home and nurture it until it's ready to plant out at home! Really great for children!
Native Plant Sale During Riggs Fest
Saturday, June 25, 3-5pm
1901 South High Cross Road in Urbana
We are growing native plants constantly at The Well Fed Caterpillar, so our inventory always changes and we always have plants to offer. People might think it's too late in the season to put plants in the earth. But it is indeed not! Native plants can go into the ground almost anytime it's not frozen. You just need to commit to more regular watering in the warmer months. Native plants spend their first season primarily putting roots down anyway!
Mother's Day Plant Sale at Sleepy Creek Vineyards
Sunday, May 8 from 12pm-6pm or until we sell out
8254 E 1425 North Rd
Fairmount, IL 61841
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On Mother's Day, we'll be out at Sleepy Creek Vineyards selling some gorgeous native bloomers! Sleepy Creek will have live bands and food trucks too. Come on out for a glass of wine and some Mother's Day and native plant love!
Plant Sale at Common Ground Co-Op
Saturday, May 21 from 10am-1pm
300 South Broadway Ave in Urbana
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We'll have a stand outside Common Ground Co-Op for a plant sale! This sale is independent and not technically related to the farmer's market. *Species list to come!
Green Drinks at Riggs Beer Company
Friday, May 27, 6;7:30pm
1901 South High Cross Road in Urbana
Green Drinks is an open social space for networking and conversation about sustainability and climate-action topics, sponsored by the Champaign County Climate Coalition (C4). Each date begins with a short presentation, in this case by The Well Fed Caterpillar, followed by casual discussion and idea-sharing. Join us - biking or carpooling is encouraged!
Plant Sale and Pollinator Party!
Saturday, May 28 from 3-5pm
1901 South High Cross Road in Urbana
Head out to Riggs Beer Company in Urbana to nab some of the native plants we've got growing right now. *Species list to come. Riggs will have a local mead business (honey wine) out doing a tasting at the same time, and possibly a local honey business too. Come for a beer, a picnic, honey wine tasting, and honey and plants for sale! A day to celebrate and encourage the critical work of pollinator plants and insects!