Bird enthusiasts often flock to Dyck Arboretum to observe birds in our prairie, woodlands, and pond. In fact, Dyck Arboretum has been a data collection site for the Halstead-Newton Christmas Bird Count for 20+ years. Many FloraKansas patrons ask about how to attract more birds to their own landscapes, and the answer is simple: provide […]
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This winter has been one of the harshest Kansas has had in quite some time. Plants and animals have been tested with extreme cold, frozen soils and snow. It’s incredible to imagine that anything can endure these conditions. Over the past few weeks, I have watched the birds find food where they can. They are relentless in […]
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Angella Moorehouse has given us a great new resource for learning about and appreciating the “little things that run the world”. This book focuses on true bugs, a group of insects that don’t get a lot of good press, and their relationships to some of our favorite native flowers. It was published in 2023, by […]
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With every new year comes a renewed sense of optimism about a whole host of things like fitness and health, relationships with loved ones and friends, your occupation, and maybe your garden. In the book The Earth is Enough by Harry Middleton, there is a paragraph that resonated with me, as a horticulturist and a […]
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Recently I met a woman walking her dogs in the new woodland path through our hedgerow. She expressed admiration for the long lived hedge trees here, and was concerned that so many farmers are bulldozing their shelterbelts and reclaiming the acres for farming. She asked if we knew of any preservation effort to prevent them […]
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The start of the new year is a great time to make changes in your life and dedicate yourself to the things you value most. In 2024, I have a few simple resolutions that involve health, travel, and nature. Some of these adjustments in my life will improve my overall health and enjoyment of the […]
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Nantes is not one of the more famous locations in France. It has a major port and lots of commerce, and vacationers often pass it up in favor of all the other more scenic cities. But it is full of history, has a walkable city center, excellent public transport, and LOTS of greenspace. It is […]
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Plant tags can be confusing. They give general information about the plant, but I often wonder, is this realistic for our area? Will this plant really grow to four feet tall? Or will it be beat down by our Kansas heat and wind? Can it withstand our temperature extremes? One critically important piece of information on the plant […]
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The famous painter Claude Monet transformed his acreage in Giverny into his own private paradise. It is the complete opposite of the other gardens we have discussed in this series. Gone are trimmed topiaries and carefully pruned perennials, and there are no great lawns on which to have military marches. Instead it is naturalistic, flowing, […]
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In the late 19th century, the rising fashion of feather plumes on hats and an appetite for wild game had taken a steep toll on native bird populations in the United States. By 1900 more than fifty North American bird species were on the brink of extinction, among them the Great Egret. The Audubon Christmas […]
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