Accent on Natural Landscaping

Donna VanBuecken

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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International Day of the Girl 2018

As I was reviewing my blog posts during the past few weeks, I realized I missed the International Day of the Girl for 2018. It was October 11th. I had been saving a special link just to share on this day, but I guess it’s appropriate for any day not just this special girl’s day.

If I had a daughter, I would like to think I would have shared this list with her.

A Playlist for My Daughter: 15 Songs to Empower Girls

By the way, this year’s theme for International Day of the Girl was With Her: A Skilled Girl Force. Regardless of the day, we women should “stand with girls everywhere as they inspire, innovate and take charge of their own future.”

“They are innovating technology to solve global challenges, they are standing up for the environment, they are raising their voices against violence and they are preparing to run for office.”

“…they persist, they succeed.”

Quotes above from International Day of the Girl.

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But There’s Not a Lot of Nature Any More

Doug Tallamy says a Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) pair brings 390-570 caterpillars to their young per day for 16 days. Photo by Doug Tallamy.

Dr Doug Tallamy, Wild Ones Honorary Director and Entomologist with the University of Delaware,  appeared before the State of Pennsylvania Senate Committee on Agriculture and Rural Affairs on Tuesday, October 2, 2018. He had a lot to say about the major role homeowners and landowners need to play if we are to continue to persist on this Earth. Doug told the committee: [Read more…]