Tag Archives: Morton Arboretum

LET’S KEEP OUR RAINWATER HERE, PART 2

April 3, 2013 • Categories: Ecology, Lawns, Natural World, Pat's Comments, Rain, sustainable • by

LET’S KEEP OUR RAINWATER HERE Part 2 WHAT FALLS IN ELGIN SHOULD STAY IN ELGIN   When rain falls, two things can happen to it.  It can infiltrate the soil and become an asset to local life, or it can run off and become a liability to life downstream. James M. Patchett & Gerould S. [...]

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Late Summer Bloom

August 15, 2012 • Categories: Butterflies • by

      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 [...]

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Clearing Invasives from Savannas and Woodlands

November 9, 2011 • Categories: Ecology, Mid-November, Natural World • by

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Midsummer Gardens

July 1, 2011 • Categories: Summer Garden • by

Mid-summer Gardens The summer prairie begins to bloom in earnest around mid-summer.   Wild Quinine opens first, followed closely by Pale Purple Coneflower and Butterfly Weed, and then Stiff Coreopsis adds its golden suns.     The flat-topped flower clusters of Wild Quinine (Parthenium integrifolium) reflect the flat prairies from where it comes.  The tiny [...]

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Prairie Dropseed

September 19, 2010 • Categories: Fall Garden, Getting Started • by

If you want to start a prairie garden, I recommend that you first plant Prairie Dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepsis). If you have a perennial garden, place Prairie Dropseed between the plants. It grows in whorled, arching mound, 2-3′ tall and around. In late July-early August, delicate, fragrant, airy panicles of flowers begin to emerge on stiff [...]

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