A Unified Chorus
Boreal chorus frogs are alive and well this spring in the wetlands, rain gardens and shallow ponds of Kansas. Get outside and listen for their chorus.
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Category Archives: Blog
Steps for Planting a Tree
This spring is going to be anything but normal. I know that’s an obvious understatement. All this social distancing has made me think of the many things I need to get done around my house. Social distancing time may be beneficial and help me stop procrastinating. My house needs to be painted. I need to […]
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Will Garden for Frogs
At the Arboretum we talk a lot about how to support pollinators with native plants because we are concerned about the sharp decline in their populations. However, frogs and toads have experienced sharp population declines as well, but without the fanfare and media attention. In fact, nearly one-third of the world’s amphibians are threatened or […]
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Solarization for Weed Control
At our Native Plant School sessions, the topic of weed control often comes up. When establishing new beds or planting buffalograss, eradicating weeds prior to planting is critical for success. Hand weeding can be time consuming on these larger areas. Often we first use chemicals to control difficult weeds in our landscapes and garden areas without thinking […]
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Our Maturing Reconstructed Prairie
The Prairie Window Project has been a valuable tool to promote prairie conservation, education, and community building with our membership.
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Plant Profile: Southwest White Pine
When one thinks of classic and elegant conifers, Eastern white pine often comes to mind. Unfortunately in the Great Plains, summer heat, wind and drought restrict growing Eastern white pine to only well protected sites. We have a stand of Eastern white pines strategically planted with protection from these adverse conditions. Even these few original […]
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Short and Sweet: Short Plants for the Prairie Garden
Prairie gardens can sometimes be seen as messy. I have heard it many times while discussing garden plans with Arboretum members. They don’t want it to look too wild. This is a very natural tendency; humans like order, we like patterns, we don’t like chaos. But it is evident by the decline of bird, amphibian, […]
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Plant Profile: Possumhaw Holly, Deciduous Holly
If you have been walking through the Arboretum over the past few weeks, you probably noticed the deciduous holly. Ilex decidua gets so much attention because of its incredibly lustrous fruit of red, orange, and yellow. As the leaves fall away each year in November and December, the fruit magically appears and remains on the tree […]
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Plug(in) for Citizen Science
Opportunities to conduct citizen science are all around us and doing so can add great value to our lives. You can refer to an earlier blog post (Get Rich and Happy with Phenology) to see how much I enjoy scientific pursuits in my spare time. These activities include various elements of plant conservation, and looking […]
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Inspiration for a Prairie Landscape
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, One clover, and a bee, And revery. The revery alone will do, If bees are few. Emily Dickinson Maybe it’s the swaying grasses in a gentle breeze or pollinators clustered on the top of a coneflower on a warm spring day. A primrose opening […]
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