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Donna VanBuecken

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Are Cultivars Pollinator-Friendly?

July 27, 2016

New research indicates that, with a few exceptions, cultivars don’t have the nectar, seed, etc resources that the native plant species do. Annie White has been studying natives and nativars (aka cultivars) since 2011 in northern Vermont to evaluate their garden performance and study patterns of nectar production. [Read more…]

Lorrie & Wild Ones in the News

July 25, 2016

We don’t often get to see Lorrie Otto’s name in the news, so I just had to share this reference with you. The Atlantic news article entitled “The Life and Death of the American Lawn” was long, covering several subjects relative to America’s changing attitude regarding landscaping and lawn and the use of potable water for landscaping. I was astounded to realize that annual watering of grass requires 9 billion gallons a day to keep green here in the United States.

According to the USEPA, as of 2009, Americans were spending about $20 billion a year on lawn care.
According to the USEPA, as of 2009, Americans were spending about $20 billion a year on lawn care. (Photo fr Wild Ones Why Natives? ppt)

The article pointed out that the immediate change has been due to the drought conditions being experienced by some of the Western and Southwest states, but it also mentioned the “anti-lawn sentiment that has been long-simmering among environmentalists, among journalists, and among activists.” The author Megan Garber mentions Lorrie with the likes of Michael Pollan who wrote two books, Second Nature  and The Botany of Desire, against lawns; Sara Stein who wrote Noah’s Garden and Rachel Carson who wrote Silent Spring. Then she wrote:  “Lorrie Otto, who founded the anti-grass movement that became known as “Wild Ones,” condemned lawns as “sterile,” “monotonous,” “flagrantly wasteful,” and, in all, “really evil.”

More information about Lorrie Otto on whose philosophy Wild Ones:  Native Plants, Natural Landscapes was founded.

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Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group meeting

July 22, 2016

ROW Habitat Working Group Web BannerIf you haven’t already registered for the Rights-of-Way as Habitat Working Group meeting being held this Wednesday and Thursday (July 27 – 28) at the University of Illinois-Chicago in Chicago, Illinois please send an e-mail to Iris Caldwell.

If you cannot attend in person, then plan to register for the webinar version of the workshop which will be open through next Tuesday, July 26th.

See the the three listings on this blog’s Events webpage or find more information and register on the workshop webpage.

 

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Native Geraniums

July 20, 2016

Sticky geranium (Geranium viscosissimum)
Sticky Geranium (Geranium viscosissimum)

During our recent trip to Glacier/Yellowstone/Grand Teton national parks, the first plant Kristin and I recognized as being similar to our Wisconsin native plants was the Sticky Geranium (Geranium viscosissimum). All native geraniums got part of their name from the Greek word geranos, which refers to the long beaked bird known as the crane, because the seed pods of the geranium have long curved spikes. Often native geraniums are referred to by the common name cranesbill for the same reason. [Read more…]

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Donna VanBuecken