Homegrown National Park with Doug Tallamy (Off-site)

PLEASE NOTE: This event will be held at the West Hartford Conference Center, 50 South Main Street. Please park at Town Hall and use the Main Street entrance.

Dr. Doug Tallamy is an entomologist, conservationist, and professor at the University of Delaware, whose work has transformed our understanding of the relationship between native plants and wildlife. His research and books, including Bringing Nature Home and Nature’s Best Hope, have inspired millions to see their own yards as part of the solution to the biodiversity crisis. Driven by the belief that everyone can play a role, Doug co-founded Homegrown National Park to encourage people to plant natives in the spaces they care for. His vision is simple: when we all take part, we create the connected habitats that life depends on.

Our parks, preserves, and remaining wildlands – no matter how grand in scale – are too small and separated from one another to sustain the native trees, plants, insects, and animals on which our ecosystems depend. We can fix this problem by practicing conservation outside of wildlands, where we live, work, shop, farm, and ranch. Thus, the concept for Homegrown National Park: a national challenge to create diverse ecosystems in our yards, communities, farms, and surrounding lands by reducing lawn, planting native, and removing invasives. If many people make small changes, we can restore healthy ecological networks and weather the changes ahead

Registration required. Registration opens Sunday, January 11, 2026 at 7:00pm. 

Co-hosted by West Hartford Public Library, West Hartford Leisure Services, and West Hartford Garden Club, with support from Canton Land Conservation Trust, Cherry Brook Garden Club, Connecticut Horticultural Society, Sierra Club of Hartford, Simsbury Garden Club, Simsbury Land Trust, Traprock Ridge Land Conservancy, and The Wild Ones Mountain Laurel Chapter.