The Nature Foundation of Will County is starting 2024 with a new leader, a new garden tour event and a schedule packed with plant sales and online seminars.

Tara Neff of Joliet has taken over as executive director, succeeding Cindy Harn, who will remain on with the organization in charge of native plant sales and the online Grow and Learn seminars, the Forest District of Will County announced in a news release.

A longtime Will County resident, Neff brings experience working with nonprofit agencies, all levels of government and, most recently, served as the Will County program director at the Conservation Foundation, the forest preserve district said.

“I’m looking forward to leading the foundation and its board into Foundation 2.0,” Neff said in the release. “Having a separate nonprofit arm opens up funding opportunities not available to government agencies. If we can bring in new sources of funding, it leverages taxpayer dollars to do more.”

In the past decade, the foundation has donated about $1.4 million to the forest preserve district in support of education, recreation and conservation programs, including habitat restoration work, art and interpretation initiatives, traveling exhibitions and preserve amenities for the public.

The foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and all donations are 100% tax deductible.

Garden fundraiser event

The Nature Foundation will have a new fundraiser this year. The Gardens Gone Native – Will County Native Plant Garden Tour will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 13. Gardens are being sought to be featured on the tour.

To have a garden considered, all applications must be submitted before midnight Sunday, March 3. Gardens that are within 10 to 15 miles of the Will County border will be considered. Tour tickets cost $20 and will go on sale at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 6.

The foundation also will offer online Learn and Grow seminars in February and March, and online and in-person native plant sales this spring, summer and fall. The plant sales are a great way to incorporate native species into your landscape and to help the foundation raise money for forest preserve district programs, according to the release.

For more details on plant sales and seminars or ways to donate, visit the foundation’s website at willcountynature.org.

Native plant sale events

Online sale: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 6, through Saturday, April 27. Here’s a preliminary list of what will be available for sale online. The list will be updated as it gets closer to the opening of the online sale.

Online order pickup and pop-up sale: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18, and 9 a.m. to noon Sunday, May 19, at Isle a la Cache Preserve, 501 E. Romeo Road, Romeoville.

Pollinator party pop-up sale: 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, June 15, at Isle a la Cache Preserve/Museum, 501 E. Romeo Road, Romeoville.

Summer blooms

Online sale: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 22, through Saturday, July 13.

Online order pickup and pop-up sale: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 3, and 9 a.m. to noon Sunday, Aug. 4, at Isle a la Cache Preserve, 501 E. Romeo Road, Romeoville.

Hummingbird Fest: 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17, at Plum Creek Nature Center, 27064 Dutton Road, Beecher.

Fall on the Farm: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 14, at Riverview Farmstead Preserve in Naperville.