Category: Native plant garden design | Accent on Natural Landscaping

Reporting Monarch Habitat

October 9, 2019

Monarchs in the eastern U.S. population had a good summer in 2019 in part because of good habitat conditions in Wisconsin and other breeding grounds. Photo by Jack Silverberg courtesy of WDNR

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) has declared that our habitat development has added up to a good summer for monarchs

“Wisconsin’s ‘supergeneration’ of monarchs are now flying 1,700 miles to their overwintering sites in Mexico where official population counts will be taken. Already, citizen reports to Journey North* show monarch numbers were impressive during this summer’s breeding period.

Thank you to everyone who planted or maintained milkweed and other native plants in 2019 to aid monarchs and other pollinators. You are making a difference!

To follow the monarch’s incredible journey and learn more about why 2019 is shaping up to be a good year for monarchs, visit Journey North.

To report your monarch habitat and be added to the tally for Wisconsin, download HabiTally** on your iOS device today.

The information above was taken from the Natural Heritage Conservation newsletter dated 10/3/2019.

*Journey North is a web-based platform tracking migration in real-time, now hosted by the UW-Arboretum in Madison, Wisconsin.

**HabiTally is a new mobile app that helps ensure all habitat efforts for Monarchs are documented.

The data entered through HabiTally will be shared with USFWS to be considered in the listing decision on monarch butterflies
The information collected will be made anonymous and aggregated at the county level across the eastern migratory region

Registration ends soon – Where Ecology Meets Economy: Season 6

September 13, 2019

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 Wednesday, September 25, 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.

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

September 9, 2019

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.

Landscaping with Native Plants

September 6, 2019

I was so excited to stumble across this information that I just had to share it with you. As many of you may already know, the Wild Ones Landscaping with Native Plants book has been on the US Environmental Protection Agency’s website for many years.

The EPA’s Green Landscaping: Greenacres website has the original version Wild Ones Handbook: Landscaping with Native Plants, 1st Edition

The EPA’s archives includes the 4th edition of Landscaping with Native Plants

US Forest Service Website

But last week I stumbled across Wild Ones position statement on The Importance of Local Ecotype: Guidelines for the Selection of Native Plants on the US Forest Service website.

See The US Forest Service Celebrating Wildflowers webpage Genetic Considerations — The Importance of Local Ecotype: Guidelines for the Selection of Native Plants

It looks like some of the hard work Wild Ones did while I was privileged to serve as their Executive Director is paying off. Congratulations! to Wild Ones Natural Landscapers Ltd aka Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes.