April 18, 2024leslieGardening, Insects, Native Plants The Ephemeral Spring Wildflowers After a long winter, spring wildflower ephemerals herald a new growing season. The first blooms magically transform the woodland landscape. These early plants emerge in deciduous forests before the overhead trees fully leaf out.Read More

January 2, 2025leslieBiodiversity The coyote has long been thought of as an animal of the American West. This was true during the pre-Columbian era when the coyote primarily roamed the Southwest and Great Plains of the United States. Today, however, its ever-expanding range stretches across all of the lower-48 states (and Alaska) and much of […]

April 24, 2020leslieCommunity, Health and Wellness, Native Plants Kelly Cartwright, Ph.D., is a biology professor at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois where she teaches environmental biology, general biology, botany, and introduction to sustainability.Read More

It’s hard for many gardeners to resist “cleaning up” their gardens in the fall or spring. But many moths and butterflies overwinter as caterpillars, pupae, and even adults in the soil surface, leaf litter, dead plants, twigs, and other hiding places in the garden. Other insects such as native bees, beetles, and more, need “messy” […]

It’s often easy to overlook garden visitors. Hiding in plain sight on this flower’s seedhead is the celery looper. The offspring of this moth overwinter in the soil. Disturbing the garden in the fall could prevent the next generation from emerging in the spring. (Photo credit: Dave Crawford)

A yard managed by Green Core Organics, three years after being converted from traditional lawn care to organic lawn care. The lawn was aerated and overseeded with a fescue mix to create a thicker, healthier lawn. The deeper roots in this lawn require less water.

Kathia Almengor and her son, Thabih, harvest cacao at Kathia’s farm, Finca Integral Dila, in the Bribi community of Suretka, Costa Rica. Kathia cultivates many plant and fruit species at Finca Dila, and leads Sosukañir a collective of 19 women cacao farmers who offer mutual agricultural assistance to each other, in accordance with Bribri cacao […]

The Environment and River Gorge Committee, part of the Longfellow Community Council. Many of the people on the committee helped grow and lay the foundation for the Greater Longfellow Community Wildlife Habitat Project and have long advocated for green spaces in the neighborhood.

It takes time to conquer a buckthorn thicket. Buckthorn seeds can remain viable in soil for up to six years. Focusing on the removal of the female buckthorn, which bears fruit, helps deplete the seedbank. This will help prevent the growth of seedlings from buckthorn seeds in subsequent years. (Photo credit: Peter Dziuk, Minnesota Wildflowers)

April 18, 2024leslieGardening, Insects, Native Plants The Ephemeral Spring Wildflowers After a long winter, spring wildflower ephemerals herald a new growing season. The first blooms magically transform the woodland landscape. These early plants emerge in deciduous forests before the overhead trees fully leaf out.Read More August 4, 2021leslieGardening, Insects, Native Plants, Soil The Ephemeral Spring […]

This Minnesota native bee species, the mining bee (possibly Andrena dunningi ), has had a friendly coexistence with the Skemp family for nearly 15 years. Seen here in the Skemp’s side garden in early May, the mining bee is a solitary bee that makes its nest in the ground. Note the yellow pollen gathered high […]

Just one teaspoon of salt permanently pollutes five gallons of water. Eyeball the image above and it’s easy to conclude what a season’s worth of cumulative municipal road salting does to add to the contamination of our waterways. Residential salting adds up, too. Used over the course of a winter, the contents of a 50-pound […]

A female bluebird near the front yard nest box. Once Liz learned that 96 percent of land birds feed only insects to their young, and that native plants are the key to attracting beneficial insects, she began to plant the types of vegetation that would attract both.

First year plantings. Heirloom common milkweed were saved. Minnesota native asters, whorled milkweed, butterfly milkweed, rose milkweed, early sunflower, hyssop, rattlesnake master, and more, were planted in the fall.