by Stephanie Walquist Sprezzatura Rembrandt, an Old Master who used earth tones to offset golden light, used a technique he termed sprezzatura, meaning apparent carelessness. In the spirit of artistic and environmental sensibilities, let us native gardeners unite under this term. Allowing the gardens to stand during fall and winter, we might appear careless about […] Continue reading "Sprezzatura in the Fall Garden"
Resources for Bringing the Woodland Home: Selected Materials to Assist with Planting a Shade Garden by Laura Hartwell-Berlin Note: This information was created to supplement the talk Roy Diblik gave in March, 2022. You can view his talk here: How to Add Native Shade Plants to Your Garden Why Create a Woodland Garden: In the […] Continue reading "Shade Garden Resources"
Native Plant Container Gardening Over the years, we’ve had a lot of requests from people who want to use containers for native plant gardening. They might have a balcony or reduced space or simply like containers. They want the beauty and biodiversity near them & containers are the way to go. We’ve not always had […] Continue reading "Native Plant Container Gardening"
In 1837, Chicago was incorporated as a city and adopted the motto “Urbs in Horto,” Latin for City in a Garden. The founders defined garden as parkland and hoped to blanket and stipple the city with public parks. The city never lived up to the motto. Chicago has become mostly Urbs in concreto, the parks scattered, the development unending. If you can’t […] Continue reading "Bringing Native Plant Communities Home"
About 500 species of birds will migrate through IL. Some will remain here to nest through the spring and summer while others will continue to make their way to Canada’s boreal forest. The Chicago area is an important refuge for the migratory species, many of whom have just flown over the corn belt where places safe […] Continue reading "Is your yard ready for spring migratory birds?"
5 Reasons Why Edible Gardens Need Native Plants by Stephanie W We often get asked if it’s ok to grow natives with edibles, and the answer is yes, as that’s what many of us native gardeners have been implementing with great success. In fact, on a larger scale, many farmers are beginning to experiment with […] Continue reading "5 Reasons Why Edible Gardens Need Native Plants"
Birds, Bees, and Butterflies: A Native Garden Tour Saturday, August 10, 2019 1:00–4:00 PM Are you curious about native plant gardening? Join us on Saturday, August 10, to see gardens brimming with life and beauty and talk with the gardeners who created them. Birds, Bees and Butterflies: A Native Garden Tour, sponsored by West Cook […] Continue reading "2019 Garden Tour"
If you ordered a Monarch Garden Kit or are new to gardening, this “How-to” sheet might be helpful. Monarch Garden Planting Tips Thank you for purchasing one of the Monarch Kits! The plants will need a little TLC for a few weeks while they get settled and their root systems get established. Weve written up […] Continue reading "Monarch Garden Planting Tips"
Moon Gardens seem to usually be the province of introduced plants, but there are plenty of native plants that have light blooms and foliage that can take center stage in the evening giving an extra, unexpected delight–a little color during twilight and on moonlit nights (though for many of us in urban areas, there is […] Continue reading "Native Plants Can Do Moon Gardens Too"