If you have oak trees, particularly pin oak trees, in your landscape, it is not safe to go outside. Invisible mites fall out of these oak trees and land on anything and anyone under the branches. They bite and cause severe itching and extreme discomfort. I liken the bites to a chigger bite on steroids. […]
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The words “seeds for the future” are easy to use in abstract terms when talking about carrying out Harold and Evie Dyck’s long-term vision for an arboretum (35 years old and counting), or doing education activities with K-12 kids through our Earth Partnership for Schools Program. I use this phrase all the time. But right […]
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“…the great grasslands—also known as the Great Plains and prairies—test a person’s fortitude as few other places do…Yet mysteriously, almost imperceptibly…the Great Plains and prairies grow on you.” – Daniel S. Licht, Ecology & Economics of the Great Plains, p. vii (1997, Univ. Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE) If the prairie were a symphony, I […]
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On my recent trip through eastern Kansas and the Ozarks, I encountered a plethora of native plant life. I was excited to see some of the woodland species we offer at our plant sale in situ. My traveling companions may tire of me identifying familiar species, but that doesn’t stop me! Though much of our […]
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“Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” – Greek Proverb A group gathered at the Dyck Arboretum this past Monday evening to remember all that has been accomplished on this plot of land since 1981 – the plant and wildlife communities that have been established, the […]
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Can you imagine what Hesston would be like without the Dyck Arboretum of the Plains? Over 35 years ago, Harold and Evie Dyck had a dream to create a garden that reflected the Kansas landscape they loved so much. They wanted it to be close to Schowalter Villa and Hesston College. They wanted it to […]
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I encourage you to embrace thistles. Our South Central Kansas native species are colorful and attractive to pollinators. With the abundance of precipitation we’ve received this year, it has been a great year for plant growth and flowering, and thistles have certainly been among the benefactors. Don’t be so quick to dig out every plant […]
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The problem with weeds is that they grow so well. If only the plants I love would flourish like the weeds in my yard do. Weeds can take the fun out of gardening, and during years with so much moisture, like 2016, they spread like a wildfire. Here are some weeds we are waging war […]
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Milkweed is always a sellout item at our plant sales. The plight of the monarch has caught the public’s attention as few conservation efforts ever have. It is encouraging to see citizens so galvanized behind an environmental cause! But I wonder if by focusing on one favored butterfly we aren’t seeing the bigger picture – […]
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“Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play; where seldom is heard a discouraging word, and the sky is not cloudy all day.” ~excerpt from Dr. Brewster Higley’s song Home on the Range (written in 1876, Smith County, KS) My family makes our home on the prairie. […]
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