I am a big fan of a landscape that is functional as well as beautiful. Functionality might mean wildlife and pollinator attraction, water absorbing (rain garden) or water conserving (xeriscaping). But it can also mean incorporating human food plants into your perennial garden. This not only provides a healthy snack, but it encourages more interaction […]
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When most people visit Normandy, they aren’t coming for the gardens. World War II historians flock here from all over the world to learn, explore, and pay tribute to the thousands who died here liberating France, and later freeing Europe. I personally love this area of France. It is my favorite by far, not only […]
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St. Malo is known as the corsair city; a place of pirates and lighthouses, rocky islands and medieval walls. Besides great history (and excellent pastry!), a botany-minded visitor in St. Malo can enjoy sightings of lichen, ferns, algae, and more. We did not visit one of the “gardens of France” in a traditional sense, but […]
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Refined, elegant, and dare I say…lady-like? The castle and gardens of Chenonceau are truly a must-see in the Loire Valley. It is known as the ladies castle because of its many famous female inhabitants, as well as the fact that its construction and upkeep was overseen by women. With formal gardens surrounding it on two […]
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This time of year we are looking for any hint of spring. Often we can find tips of green from bulbs or swelling buds of the silver maple. On other trees, such as birch, hazelhut, alder and later willows, you can see catkins dangling from their branches. One of the first harbingers of spring here at […]
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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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