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Landscape Design Blogs

Standing dead stems are important overwintering habitat that should not be removed from the garden until insects emerge later in spring.

Spring Garden Cleanup

The Garden Scoop
This past week’s warmer weather has been an exhilarating blast of spring when contrasted with the icy, extreme cold just one week earlier.  The warmup has spurred many of us to get back out in the garden to start getting ready for spring.  While our landscape beds and gardens will be...
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Native butterfly milkweed is a favorite among gardens for its beautiful flowering display and high wildlife value, but native plants are a surprising minority of plant material available for purchase each year in the US.

Natives and Landscape Plant Selection

Native plants are becoming a larger part of our built environment each year as more and more gardeners begin to recognize their value. Natives support local ecosystems and wildlife habitat in ways that are increasingly important as our human footprint on the landscape grows.  From...
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Hand pollination of last year’s hosta flowers produced the seeds used to grow this tray of hosta seedlings. However, it will take a few more years for these plants to mature and truly express the traits gained from hybridization. Photo credit: Barb and Rick Schroeder

Hostas

Plants in the genus Hosta, collectively referred to as hostas, are one of the premier plants for ornamental gardens that lack full sun.  These resilient perennials are a mainstay of Midwestern shade gardens and remain popular in temperate regions worldwide. However, that wasn’t...
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These young prairie dropseed plants will mature into a nice sidewalk border of thin, feathery vegetation.

Landscaping with native grasses

Nothing beats the light and airy look of tall, distinctive grasses in a landscape arrangement. The fluffy seedheads and slender, and attractive stems practically dance in the wind on breezy days, adding texture as well as a structural element to any landscape bed.    For many years...
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burning bush

Burning Bush

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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Fall Color in Oaks

Fall color is beginning to paint tree canopies around central Illinois, making the next few weeks prime time for taking in the beauty.   Among our native trees, sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), red maple (Acer rubrum) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum)...
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Ornamental Brassicas

Fall annuals can breathe life into waning gardens late in the growing season, filling in among fading flowers to add beauty and interest.  Mums seem to be the quintessential fall annual, although perennial in our area if established early enough in the season, packing the garden centers with...
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Benefits of Urban Trees

Urban trees provide beauty and definition to our cities and most of us have a love and appreciation of these denizens of the boulevard and backyard.  In recent years, a body of research has emerged showing even greater benefits than previously understood to both the environment and our...
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