My traditional gardening friends complain that they have no flowers in bloom in August. They obviously don’t grow Black-eyed Susan. (Rudbeckia speciosa var. sullivantii) View out my front door. This week a Great Spangled Fritillary landed on my front porch stair post–alas, I didn’t get a photo. Great Spangled Fritillary are [...]
Tag Archives: Goldenrod
Drought
DROUGHT The current drought situation has been aided by an overall persistence of unusually warm, dry weather. June of 2012 officially ranked as the 6th warmest on record in Chicago, while it was also the 5th driest. WGN Meteorologist Paul Merzlock We are, indeed, in a drought. Trees are stressed; lawns are brown. Prairies [...]
Through the Year 2011 in My Garden
THROUGH THE YEAR 2011 IN MY GARDEN JANUARY I neglected to take any pictures at my house last January, so I’m showing you a photograph of June’s stone stairway that I did take. Last year, in February, I featured the grass, stone, and snow of the Geneva Riverwalk, but if you have a [...]
Maple Trees
MAPLE TREES The scarlet of the maples can shake me like a cry Of bugles going by. William Bliss Carman Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum) is not suited for new subdivisions or street tree plantings, says Possibility Place Nursery Catalog. Obviously, this Sugar Maple in my [...]
Golden Leaves
Golden Leaves What causes leaves to turn color in the fall? Shorter day lengths and cooler temperatures trigger the leaves to discontinue the production of chlorophyll, allowing other pigments to shine through. Sunny days stimulate the manufacture of carbohydrates and cool (40-45° F) nights allow the carbohydrates to break down into sugars. The more [...]
Autumn Savanna
Autumn Savanna Many people tell me that they would love to have a prairie garden, but they have too much shade. My answer? You can have a savanna or woodland garden with a diversity of forbs and grasses every bit as as ravishing as a prairie–just with different plants. Last week I described and showed [...]
Asters and Goldenrods
Second Week in September Roadsides Up to now most of the plants that have been in bloom along our roadsides have been Eurasian weeds that have crowded out our native plants. But in late summer and fall, our indigenous plants come into their own and decorate our roadsides and fields. The flamboyant, iridescent [...]
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Wild Ones: Northern Kane County Chapter
Conservation@Home
December 10, 2012 • Categories: Ecology, Natural World, Pat's Comments, sustainable • by PatHill
Conservation@Home Early this year, our Northern Kane County Wild Ones invited Jim Kleinwachter of The Conservation Foundation of DuPage and Kane Counties to speak about Conservation@Home, a program that helps property owners protect and create yards that are environmentally friendly. The following criteria is used for designation: Property must have some native plant components for [...]
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