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Burning Bush

October 25, 2019

This past week, the vivid red leaves of our native maples have really stolen the show, reaching near peak fall color for the year. I have always loved the brilliant red colors of autumn leaves, making burning bush (Euyonomous alata) an old favorite of mine. However, in recent...

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Master Naturalists at Meadowbrook

September 5, 2019

On a beautiful, fall-like morning last week, a group of East Central Illinois Master Naturalists met around the tailgate of a truck at Meadowbrook Park in Urbana. Everyone was handed a pair of hand pruners and a few paper bags before heading out into the Meadowbrook prairies. Urbana Park...

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Sunflowers

August 30, 2019

In the last few years, my wife has added sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) to various locations in our landscaping and vegetable garden as an impromptu filler where we had unused space or an empty spot from something that didn’t make it through the winter. The towering plants adorned...

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Butterfly milkweed is the only Illinois milkweed with orange flowers, which provide a showy display each summer, often blooming a second time around early

Illinois has an Abundance of Milkweeds

August 3, 2019

In recent years, milkweeds have gained attention from the public due to their exclusive relationship with the imperiled monarch butterfly. I think many of us are familiar with common milkweed (Asclepius syriaca), which reminds me of childhood leaf picking experiments to see the characteristic sap...

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Buttonbush

July 26, 2019

I always love it when a particular plant that I know from the natural world doubles as a landscape plant. Not everything that is beautiful in nature can handle what we throw at it in human landscapes, some native plants are just too sensitive. However, one old favorite of mine from...

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Eastern Prairie Fringed Orchid

July 15, 2019

The eastern prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea) is perhaps one of the most beautiful native prairie flowers in Illinois. Its delicately fringed, white flowers gently unfurl from the bottom to the top of its inflorescence over a 7-10 day period during late June and early July in...

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Native Plants and Biodiversity

May 10, 2019

A startling report on global biodiversity was release by the United Nations this week noting an alarming trend in worldwide species extinction. We, humans were pegged as the primary cause of an increase in extinction rates to the highest levels in human history. Specifically, around 25...

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Climate Change and USDA Plant Hardiness Zones Part Three

January 3, 2019

The Fourth National Climate Assessment was released last fall in two volumes, containing information about how climate change is affecting the physical earth system across the US and a detailed assessment of how those changes now, and in the future, will impact our country. The report...

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Bird Migration and Native Shrubs

November 1, 2018

Autumn is not only a time of brilliant fall colors, but also a time to observe the annual bird migration that spans our continent. Many of our feathered friends travel amazingly great distances to reach warmer climates with abundant food for winter. This lengthy journey spans thousands...

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Fall Color in Native Grasses and Their Ornamental Uses

October 25, 2018

Most of us think of tree leaves when we think about beautiful fall foliage, but many ornamental grasses provide wonderful fall color that often extends well into the winter season. Right now is an excellent time to observe these grasses in the landscape and consider how we might integrate...

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