Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

Natural Landscaping

Do you have a passion for native plants and natural landscaping? Do you wish you knew more about native plants and biodiversity? If so, I invite you to join this blog and learn about native plants, natural landscaping and biodiversity a little at a time.

As Executive Director of Wild Ones for 17 years, one of the things I enjoyed the most was to share with members and others the new and interesting information I learned about things related to the Wild Ones mission. So now as I continue on with my next life adventure, [Read more…]

Nice Surprises from the Storms

During the week of September 6, 2019, we had some terrible storms again. Thankfully only 35 mph winds, so we didn’t lose any more trees. Instead we had some nice surprises. See below.

First we saw this delightful sight.

Following the storms which hit the Fox Valley, I was filming Northland Creek overflowing its storm sewer edges when a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) flew east along the creek and stopped behind our house. It seems the rushing water was carrying along fish from adjacent ponds. So the herons and the egrets would fly east along Northland Creek, where they stopped to wander back toward the west and catch unsuspecting fish.

Then next we saw this delightful sight.

Here a Great Egret (Ardea alba) walks along Northland Creek behind our house heading back to the best fishing spot, just east of the culvert under Conkey Street.

And, then finally we saw this extra delightful sight. (I was really testing my zoom lens to get this shot, so please forgive the grainy appearance.)

Here we see a Great Egret (Ardea alba) successfully fishing along Northland Creek, just east of the culvert crossing under Conkey Street.

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Registration ends soon – Where Ecology Meets Economy: Season 6

Reference my earlier post Where Ecology Meets Economy: Season 6. On-line registrations will end on September 20, 2019, but if you want to participate in the meals and find a place to sit, you’d better register by today, Friday September 13th. Don’t procrastinate any longer! Register now! SEWISC tells me they are near capacity.

When & Where

This year’s Where Ecology Meets Economy! hosted by the Southeastern Wisconsin Invasive Species Consortium Inc (SEWISC) and Johnson’s Nursery, Inc™ will be held on September 26, 2019 at the Boerner Botanical Gardens in Hales Corners, Wisconsin.

Forum Agenda & Speakers

Dr Doug Tallamy is the author of Bringing Nature Home and co-author of The Living Landscape with Rick Darke.

The forum features two presentations by Entomologist Doug Tallamy: Creating Living Landscapes and Treasures Among our Natives. Following his presentations, will be a Panel discussion held by Dan Wilson, Randy Powers, David Wanninger, Ron Gumz, Mike Yanney and yours truly, Donna VanBuecken.

Besides the day’s educational sessions, there will also be vendor booths, a silent auction, Mike Yanny poetry, Boerner Garden Tours, catered lunch and an afternoon social where attendees can mix with Green Industry and Land Management Professionals.

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Remembering

During our last walk around the hunting property, my brother Dave and I found the Purple Fringed Orchids (Platanthera psycodes) he had discovered the previous year. It was the perfect memory for our last adventure.

This week is the fifteenth anniversary of my oldest brother Dave’s passing. Dave was my turkey hunting partner. We shared the joy of being at our hunting property — hiking and exploring, learning about all the different plants, watching how the hydrology changed what we saw from one year to the next, watching the birds and listening to their different calls, catching sight of the various animals as they stealthily picked their way through the underbrush…

And learning how to hunt turkey together. Oh the stories I could tell about our fun times — about the ones that scared us “half to death,” about the ones that got away, and about the ones that didn’t!

He died much too young, of course, and our family has felt his loss immensely. The brain tumor that took him from us has taken many other heroes also. Senator John McCain for one. I pray the researchers will find a cure for this horrible disease soon.

Note: Coincidentally, 9/11 happened just three years earlier — another day to remember!

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September 9th is the 100th Anniversary of Lorrie Otto’s Birth

Queen of the Prairie (Filipendula rubra) grows in sunlight or shade, preferably moist soils but will grow in any soil. Its flowers are hermaphrodite, but are also pollinated by many other insects. This tall sturdy plant with its spray-like pink flowers give it a regal appearance. Photo by Steve Maassen

Today, September 9th would have been Lorrie Otto’s 100th birthday. Lorrie Otto — Queen of the Prairie. Lorrie Otto — the inspiration for Wild Ones.

LORRIE’S STORY

Lorraine “Lorrie” Stoeber was born in 1919 near Madison, Wisconsin. She lived on a farm where she learned to love the soil and the biodiversity of the landscape. As a young woman who was tall and smart, she got involved in many things from modeling evening gowns for wholesale houses to preparing to be a pilot in the World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program.

She graduated from the University of Wisconsin and married her 6’4″ boyfriend Owen Otto, son of Max Otto who was a pioneer of contemporary humanism. They moved to a north Milwaukee suburb near Lake Michigan and a twenty-acre ravine called Prairie Chasm. In the 1950s when the chasm was to be sold for development, Lorrie worked with The Nature Conservancy to save the ravine.

In the 1960s, she took on DDT and by now you know the rest of the story. See also Banning DDT.

Lorrie became the heart and soul of the natural landscaping movement and many of us remember her each year by donating to the Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Program administered by Wild Ones.

LORRIE OTTO SEEDS FOR EDUCATION PROGRAM

Lorrie in her library in her home at Bayside, Wisconsin. Photo from Wild Ones Tapestry of Learning video.

In 1996, Wild Ones Natural Landscapers Ltd honored Lorrie with a celebration and a program in her name – The Lorrie Otto Seeds for Education Program. Such an honor was so fitting. Because of all her efforts to save the natural landscape, her desire to save it for the children was the greatest.

As part of that education program, grants are offered each year to non-profit organizations planning to develop an outdoor learning area. Grant applications for the Seeds For Education Grant Program are due October 15th of each year.

Let’s make this year special when remembering the 100th anniversary of Lorrie’s birthday.

 

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