Category: Events | Accent on Natural Landscaping

Stan Temple at Prairie Fest August 3, 2019

August 1, 2019

WCHF Board member Stan Temple represents the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Note the Leopold Shack in the background of this photo.

Mark your calendar to attend a presentation by Professor Emeritus in Conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Stanley A Temple at Prairie Fest on this Saturday, August 3, 2019 held at the Gottfried Prairie and Arboretum in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. His presentation entitled “Monarch Butterflies, Private Land and Aldo Leopold’s Land Ethic will be at 12:30PM. He will speak about management practices on privately owned land which have helped to reverse the drastic decline in the Monarch population over the last ten years.

Prairie Fest is open to the public and is FREE, including Dr Temple’s keynote presentation.

For more information, go to Prairie Fest. Wild Ones Fox Valley Area Chapter will be an exhibitor along with many other conservation organizations.

Note: Stan Temple was the keynote speaker at WOFVA Chapter’s 2015 Toward Harmony with Nature Conference. He’s a very charismatic and knowledgeable speaker. I know you’ll enjoy his presentation.

The Art of Mending the Earth

July 9, 2019

The following post is from an e-mail received from long-time Wild Ones member Nancy Aten regarding Art at the Urban Ecology Center now through September 2019 at the Riverside Park Branch in Milwaukee*.

If you’re in the area, this Thursday, July 11th from 5-7 pm is the free opening reception of The Art of Mending the Earth. There will be refreshments, good company, and the artists will speak informally at 6 pm. Bring your copies of their books and get them signed by the author.

Ney wrote of the showing: “Yesterday, a colorful van decorated with images of spiders, birds, lizards, fish etc arrived at my house with a team to transport the paintings to the Urban Ecology Center. Image above is of a 60” x 30” oil painting of the view from my porch.

The orange milkweed planted in monarch way station at Doctors Park returned and is in bloom. Last week, we planted more common milkweed. The week before, a group of young people from Cream City Conservation took out seven Ace bags full of day lilies. Progress continues.”

The Artists

Artist and Photographer Ney Tait Fraser

Ney’s very large, personal oil paintings of close-up wildflowers will cover the gallery’s walls giving viewers an opportunity to consider and discuss the Nature of Art. Ney says, “In a world already smothered by objects, perhaps it is time to start making living, conceptual art that mends the web of life. Small creatures such as birds, butterflies and spiders could be given habitat with indigenous plants.”

Over a period of several decades, Ney has improved Big Bay/Buckley Park by removing invasive plants, and she says, “This landscape is now a living, conceptual piece that sustains wildlife…. Loss of pollinators is one of the most import issues of our time. Instead of making more interior decoration, Art — as native plant landscapes — could address this problem.”

Ney, a long-time Wild Ones member and friend of Wild Ones hero Lorrie Otto, wrote and illustrated a book called Mending the Earth in Milwaukee which includes sixteen stories of extraordinary pioneer gardeners (including Lorrie) who created mini Edens by replacing lawn and exotic plants with native plants. Ney’s book is for sale locally at Outpost Natural Foods to benefit Teens Growing Greens. Also at Woodland Pattern, Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, Wehr Nature Center, Riveredge Nature Center. Or for sale on-line.

Poet Terimarie Degree

Terimarie grew up with both parents serving in the US Navy. This afforded her the opportunity to live everywhere from Southern California to unique locales such as the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Those experiences birthed an appreciation for nature.

Her nature poetry is a combination of reflecting on the beauty found in the natural world and also the role people have to care for it. Terimarie has a number of poems published on-line as well as work in four books: Permeable to the Year (2017), The Third Eye (2017), Where I Want to Live (2018) and Secret Words Volume 4 (2019). Her work recently was on display as part of the Swan Day MKE gallery show, “Water: Reflection, Ritual & Resource” at Urban Ecology Center, Menomonee Valley.

Terimarie’s poems will be on display with Ney Tait Fraser’s work and she will kick off the opening reception with a poetry reading.

*The Riverside Park branch of the Urban Ecology Center is open Monday – Thursday 9 am – 7 pm, Friday – Saturday 9 am – 5 pm, and Sunday noon – 5 pm. Located at 1500 E Park Place, Milwaukee 53211, (414) 964-8505.

Yours Truly gets an Award!

June 28, 2019

Donna VanBuecken receiving a 2019 Invader Crusader Award from Wisconsin Invasive Species Council Chair Tom Buechel. Photo courtesy of WDNR.

Congratulations! to me!! I am so pleased to be able to say I have received an Invader Crusader Award in the category of Volunteer Individual from the Wisconsin Invasive Species Council. The ceremony was held at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin on June 5, 2019.

Caught completely by surprise, when I first got the phone message from WDNR Invasive Species Team Leader Tara Bergeson, I thought she had called the wrong person. But on reflection, after reviewing all the materials and listening to my introduction by Drew Feldkirchner representing the Council, I do believe the award fits with my work, my dedication and my passion.

Here’s what the Council had to say about my award:

Donna VanBuecken has worked with invasive species for nearly 40 years, beginning as an at-large member of the Wild Ones and then as a founding member of the Fox Valley Area Chapter, where she has served on the Board of Directors for over 20 years. She also served as the national Wild Ones first Executive Director for 17 years.

As a founding member of the Invasive Plants Association of Wisconsin, Donna served on the Board for five years and as Membership Chair.

Donna’s Crusader Award plaque is made out of non-native invasive Buckthorn of the genus (*Rhamnus*). A good use for such beautiful wood.

Donna’s work focuses on native habitat restoration while recognizing the necessity of controlling invasive plants as a vital first step. Besides her work with Wild Ones Ones, she also does outreach to local communities and hunting and wildlife groups, and internationally to countless individuals through her social media blog Accent on Natural Landscaping.

Thank You Everyone!

Through this post, I’d like to thank not only The Wisconsin Invasive Species Council for recognizing my work with this award, but also the countless volunteers who fight to protect our environment from non-native invasive plant species and the countless native plant enthusiasts who fight to provide a better environment for all life on this Earth. Without your devotion to our planet, my work, my dedication and my passion would be fighting a loosing battle. Thank you all so very much!

Shown below are all the 2019 Invader Crusader Award recipients. For full details see Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, Franciscan nuns honored for invasive species work.

Yours truly is fourth from the left. Photo courtesy of WDNR.

June is Invasive Species Month in Wisconsin

June 24, 2019

I write about invasive plant species all year long, but June is actually Invasive Species Awareness Month in Wisconsin. It’s a time set aside to expand our educational efforts and to make more information available to combat these terrible menaces to our environment — plants and animals.

What is an Invasive Species?

Typically they are non-native species introduced accidentally to our area.* They thrive here in our young country with its fertile lands and substantial water resources. They also thrive because they are generally resistant to the insect pests and diseases found here. Because they have no natural predators, they spread quickly through habitats displacing native insects and plants in our forests, grasslands and wetlands. Ecosystem services are disrupted and plant and wildlife species become threatened or endangered.

According to the Wisconsin DNR, “about 42 percent of the native species on the federal threatened or endangered lists are at risk primarily because of invasive species.” (WDNR)

NR 40

In Wisconsin we have a law which makes it illegal to possess, transport, transfer or introduce certain invasive species into our state without a permit. There are two primary categories:

Prohibited — plants which are not yet in the State or present in only a few places, but are likely to arrive and cause environmental and/or economic harm.
Restricted — plants which are already widespread in the State and have a high impact on ecosystems.

What to do about Invasive Species?

Report invasive species to the WDNR. This link gives you helpful guidelines to follow.

To report a Chapter NR40 regulated species or rule violation, contact Tara Bergeson, Conservation biologist.

To report the sale of invasive plant species, contact Matthew Wallrath or phone 608-266-8916.

Join, support and work with local invasive species organizations, such as one of the Regional Invasive Plants Groups in Wisconsin (CISMAs) hosted by the Invasive Plants Association of Wisconsin (IPAW).

Lastly, do your best to rid invasives from your property. I know this requires a great deal of work, but you’ll find it well worth the effort in the end. Maintaining healthy habitats not only sustains our native wildflowers, insects and animals, it also maintains us as healthy human beings.

*Native plants can be invasive as well when they are planted out of place.