When Ron and Kathy Smith moved to Newton from California, they had a bit of garden trouble. “If I just looked at stuff wrong, it died,” said Ron of his first attempts at landscaping. The growing conditions were totally different than what they were accustomed to. The Kansas climate was much more extreme, and the […]
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Spring and summer rains bring lots of green growth, lots of blooms, and lots of snakes! (Yes, this post is about snakes. But if I had put that in the title, would you have clicked on it?) Colubridae is the taxonomic name for the largest snake family, with approximately 2000 species and counting. Luckily, here […]
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New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus and C. herbaceus) from the Buckthorn family (Rhamnaceae) is the Kansas Native Plant Society 2025 Kansas Native Plant of the Year. Since these two species have similar habitats and differ only slightly in their appearance and have overlapping distribution in Kansas, both were included in this year’s selection. Ceanothus herbaceus […]
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Have you noticed the redbud trees blooming this year? They have really been putting on quite a show. For some reason, they have really popped in the landscape this year. Maybe it’s because they are a stark contrast to the drab landscape that is slowly coming to life. Or maybe it’s because they are a […]
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For more than 20 years, entomologists (scientists who study insects), have reported worrying annual declines in insect populations at the rate of 2% per year. As part of the insect world, butterflies, whose bright colors have enchanted people around the world for centuries, are no exception. Historical records and citizen science data make it possible […]
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