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"
This post was written to address a question about aphids on milkweed. Any of the steps would apply to aphids on any other type of plant, including edibles. (Note the image at the top of the page is of a Lacewing adult, one of the beneficials that you want to attract and keep in your […] Continue reading "Aphids: What to Do?"
New Year’s Resolutions West Cook Wild Ones Style –By Byron Lanning New Year’s resolutions don’t always need to be about self-improvement. How about some planet-improvement resolutions? For instance, readers of the New York Times sent in their ideas for resolutions to help the planet. Here are some West Cook Wild Ones’ resolutions for planet Earth. […] Continue reading "New Year’s Resolutions West Cook Wild Ones Style"
Native pollinators are a very important and diverse group of animals with fascinating ecologies; unfortunately, few people are aware of them and their importance because of the media’s focus on honeybees. Despite the many articles written about colony collapse, honeybees are not going extinct. Their issues are not ones of conservation, but instead are ones […] Continue reading "Native Pollinator Garden Basics for the Chicago Region"
Fayette Aurelia Nichols gave an information-packed presentation to us on May 20 based on her extensive research and experience with this bumblebee. Not only did we learn some basics about bumblebees in general, but Aurelia gave us some very specific information to help the Rusty-patched Bumblebee. The Rusty-patched Bumblebee was a very abundant species at […] Continue reading "Recap of Creating Healthy Habitat for the Rusty-patched Bumblebee"
West Cook Wild Ones loves science– scientists explain the world to us and impact many parts of our lives. One of these areas is our own yards or landscapes in which we we work or live. Science is telling us that even if we are in an urban area, our yards are incredibly important, providing […] Continue reading "Standing for Science in Your Yard"
Recap of The Amphibians of Chicago presented by Joey Cavataio Joey Cavataio condensed many years of experience and research into a beautifully presented talk for us on Feb 25. Along with the lovely images of our area’s amphibians, another welcome sight was the many middle-schoolers who were attending for an extra credit assignment from their […] Continue reading "Recap of The Amphibians of Chicago by Joey Cavataio"
Our June 25, 2017 program featuring Dr. Emily Minor (UIC Urban Ecologist) focused on the many citizen science projects available. These are projects that include data/observations made by laypeople and can be used for research by scientists. Citizen science may sound difficult, but it is really as easy as looking out your window […] Continue reading "Citizen Science Projects"
Putting the Garden to Bed–Wild Ones Style The best time to get ready for next year is now. 1.Get rid of any invasives. 2.As you remove some of these plants, you might bring up hibernating insects like ladybugs and spiders. Tuck them back in the best you can, so they can do their good work […] Continue reading "Putting the Garden to Bed–Wild Ones Style"
Resources to Learn about Harvesting Milkweed Seeds This post provides links to articles that help us with learning about harvesting and sharing milkweed seeds. Many of the tips and tricks are applicable to other types of seeds. If you’ve grown milkweed, your plant is probably developing pods. Rose Milkweed (Ascelpias incarnata) might have already […] Continue reading "Resources to Learn about Harvesting Milkweed Seeds"