Last week during my Native Plant School class, I had an interesting question posed to me and it made me pause to think. The question was “Do you have a list of keystone native perennials for a healthy food web?” The person obviously had been reading Doug Tallamy’s book, Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach […]
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Every good piece of art deserves a good frame. The same goes for gardens! A well-designed, ecologically friendly landscape needs to have borders and edging keeping it in bounds, not only physically, but visually. Joan Nassauer of the University of Michigan makes this point better than anyone in her text ‘Messy Ecosystems, Orderly Frames’. Novel […]
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In this season of overwhelming change and uncertainty, one of the places that has brought me solace is my home and landscape. I don’t believe I am alone in seeking garden inspiration these days. Many people are discovering the peace that comes from gardening and adding plants to their lives. We have been stuck at home so […]
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2020 was a trying year, but thanks to our dedicated members and volunteers, Dyck Arboretum was able to persevere. Enjoy this year in photos!
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Knowing how much light a plant needs to thrive should be a simple question, but it is often easily misunderstood. There are so many different descriptions for sun requirements or exposure found on plant labels, but they don’t provide all the information you may need to make the right selection for your yard. Are these descriptions […]
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Even when the mercury drops and the snow flies, I am still thinking about gardening! Winter is the best time to sketch and plan; to dream up additions to your landscape so you are ready to install when spring arrives. Of course, at Christmas time my mind is always drawn to plants with silver and […]
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Bagworms have done tremendous damage this year. Here at the Arboretum, we made multiple applications to our junipers and spruce to get them under control. Thankfully, we have not had to manage bagworms the past five years too much. However, across the countryside this year, juniper shelter belts are covered with thousands of brown bags dangling […]
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The Stucky Oak is a grand old burr oak (Quercus macrocarpa) in McPherson County, Kansas along the Middle Emma Creek.
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HAPPY THANKSGIVING from Dyck Arboretum of the Plains The Dyck Arboretum of the Plains staff and board of trustees send warm wishes this Thanksgiving holiday. The following is a list of things we are grateful for this year. 1. The opportunity to help others. That simple truth powers all of us when things get tough. […]
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It is that time of year again! Volunteers and staff are preparing for our annual Winter Luminary Walk event. This means stringing hundreds of extension cords and thousands of Christmas lights throughout the Arboretum. It may seem ridiculously early, but we often start this process the day after Halloween. (Do you think a Monster Mash/White […]
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