Nick Dallege, President
Nick is a founding member of Wild Ones, Cedar Rapids Iowa City. He first became interested in native plants after buying his first home with his wife Maleigha in 2020. The books Native Plants of the Midwest by Alan Branhagen and The Living Landscape by Darke and Tallamy, inspired him to transform his new yard into a native plant oasis.
In 2024 Nick joined the board of Friends of Hickory Hill Park and volunteers his time leading invasive species removal events in the spring and fall. He is hoping to preserve some of the mature oaks there and restore some of the oak savanna and tall grass prairie ecosystems.
A software engineer by trade, Nick and Maleigha live in Iowa City with their daughter Liliana, and their 3 cats: Jazz, Banjo, and Kazooie.
Jo Miller, Membership Chair
The 2020 derecho was a galvanizing moment for Jo. After planting 25 diverse native trees to replace many lost to the storm, she turned her attention to replacing lawn with native plants. She is currently experimenting with sheet mulching, direct seeding, winter sowing, and matrix design — while working toward her Master Gardener qualification.
Jo volunteers on land restoration projects at Indian Creek Nature Center (she loves killing invasives) and is a mentor for Monarch Research Center’s Native Oasis program, where she helps homeowners transform their yards into pollinator habitats.
Jo grew up in Australia, is a published author, and has traveled the world as a women’s leadership keynote speaker. Now, her dream is to contribute to the movement to transform our cities by replacing lawns and neglected street landscapes with beautiful, pollinator-friendly native gardens.
Denise Roberts, Vice President
Denise was introduced to native plants when she moved to a property that, until recently, had a healthy diversity of them in an unusual spot–her front yard. A derecho upended everything that was before and non-native, invasive plants are taking over. In many regards she feels as though she’s gardening backwards; trying to revitalize a wild front yard without the knowledge of what was there while also trying to learn about native plants in general.
Her backyard is another mystery. She recently came across the nearly 100 year-old landscape design for the backyard and found that although the hardscape remains, the original plants have long disappeared. Her hope is to fill the garden beds with native plants.
Denise worked as a public librarian and although her first love is reading, she’s having a lot more fun spending days outside and learning about nature first-hand. She’s most grateful for winter, though, when both her interests are combined and she can read and learn about native plants.
Linda Hinzman, Treasurer
Linda has been passionate about gardening for as long as she can remember. Influenced by her father’s vegetable garden and her grandmother’s love of peonies and red geraniums, Linda’s own gardens now feature a variety of annuals, perennials, and a thriving micro-prairie. Although she has always included native plants, her commitment to “going native” was sparked after attending a presentation by Doug Tallamy—an event she was invited to by her friend Karla, who also introduced her to Wild Ones.
A Linn County Master Gardener since 2008, Linda has contributed to numerous projects, including pollinator initiatives, the Noelridge Park gardens, the Winter Gardening Fair, and various public education efforts.
Professionally, Linda is a retired accounting manager and budget analyst. She enjoys gardening, spending time with her husband, three daughters, and three grandchildren, and traveling—especially to national parks.
Eric Miller, Secretary
A springtime hunt for Dutchman’s breeches with his mother was the start of Eric Miller’s interest in native plants. That experience stuck with him, growing into an obsession with nature and a life-long love of plants.
Eric first began growing native plants to create a refuge for rare plants at risk of dying out. Over time, Eric learned that many of the plants he was cultivating are fairly common; however, Iowa prairie ecosystems are indeed rare and endangered. Today, Eric makes supporting our ecosystem and the creatures it supports—especially pollinators—one of his primary gardening goals.
Around his home, Eric maintains a semi- to deep-shade “woodland” planting along the side of his home and in a prairie garden behind it, where he is attempting to replicate sand prairie conditions around its periphery where shorter species naturally grow.
Eric has volunteered with Friends of Hickory Hill Park since the summer of 2004, concentrating mainly on the difficult work of invasive vegetation removal and trail maintenance. He also works as a volunteer doing prairie plant seed collection for Johnson County Conservation (and other groups).
A teacher for most of his working life, Eric continues his mission to educate others through leading presentations and hikes for several organizations, including the Iowa Master Naturalists and Johnson County Conservation.
Andy Sohn, Director at Large
Andy is a nature enthusiast from Cedar Rapids with a love for native plants and the creatures they support.
He and wife, Laura, began their native gardening project in 2023 with an interest in supporting native bees and are excited to expand their knowledge of gardening and ecology. Current projects include a pollinator garden, a milkweed patch, and a shade garden under a backyard maple tree.
In his professional life, Andy is a business risk analyst in the banking industry. When he’s not tending to his garden he enjoys spending time with his two dogs and a curious rabbit. His favorite plant at the moment is Virginia Waterleaf, Hydrophyllum virginianum.
Karla McGrail, Director at Large
Karla found her love of nature early on, wandering the woods of Tennessee with her family in search of “wild flowers.”
Since 1995, she’s been tending her woodland-edge garden in northeast Cedar Rapids, where the lawn has slowly turned into winding paths surrounded by native plants. These days, she’s having fun experimenting with natural matrix garden design principles in her front yard.
Karla has been a Linn County Master Gardener for more than 20 years and a Wild Ones member for 15. She’s excited to help shape this new chapter and connect with others who share her passion for native plants and natural landscapes.
With a background in art, nursing, and community volunteering—not to mention raising two great kids—Karla brings a creative and caring touch to everything she does. She and her husband, Dan, enjoy retired life biking, reading, and road trips to visit the kids and grandkids.
Sarah Reschly, Director at Large
Sarah Reschly is a life-long gardener who was introduced to native landscaping and the importance of native plants when she and her husband moved to Prairie Crossing, a conservation-focused community in the northern Chicago suburbs.
She was immediately inspired by the diversity of bird and insect species the native landscaping attracted, and was astounded by the rapid improvement in the quality of the soil she observed in her native garden.
Sarah is currently working on establishing a 2400 square foot native garden in her yard. She eventually plans to help fellow gardeners incorporate more native plants in their landscaping.
A retired marketer by trade, Sarah volunteers with her church and through the Johnson County Master Gardener volunteer program. She also seeks out opportunities to volunteer for local conservation groups.