Blogs

Hold on to your hats! It is windy here in Illinois. Wind can be destructive to our homes and landscapes, plus it can make being outside miserable. This is why many Illinoisians plant windbreaks around their homes to keep that biting wind from causing a drafty house, prevent drifting snow, and make...

The timing of spring can vary each year based on weather, but there are always ques in nature that line up in similar fashion year after year.  While climatic conditions on exact calendar dates my vary, the sequence of emerging biota is consistent and based a long evolutionary history which...

Winter is a time for reflection. We often spend more time inside looking outside during the Illinois winter. Perhaps one of the most popular past times for many of us is watching the birds, which often stand in stark contrast to the still winter landscape. It is through this, that I learned...

Plant identification can be incredibly challenging for beginning botanists or even experienced plant people. There are tons of terms to learn and understand just to start identifying plants by leaves and other plant parts. Throw in a leafless winter, and it makes for a difficult skill to...

Nothing beats the warmth of a crackling fireplace on these coldest days of the year.  Each winter, as my family enjoys the cozy warmth of our woodstove room, I’m always thankful for the firewood supply we’ve been fortunate enough to accumulate over the past season. I enjoy the process of...

Needled evergreens like pines, firs, and spruces get most of the attention this time of year. However, broadleaf evergreens like holly also make an appearance during holiday festivities. In addition to providing some decoration for the December holidays, they are also great plants in the landscape...

Sugar and spice make everything nice, especially Christmas cookies. But, do you know where your sugar and spice come from?Plants make the sugar glucose during photosynthesis. Certain plants can take excess glucose, create sucrose then stored it in either the stalk or root. This is the sugar we use...