During the doldrums of late summer, light blue flower spikes thrusting skyward along Kansas roadsides and prairies provide welcome contrast to the yellows of the state’s many sunflowers. Pitcher sage, also known as blue sage or pitcher plant, is a delicate looking prairie native with ironclad constitution. Pitcher sage is a somewhat common plant in […]
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Many people think that the phrase “native plant” is synonymous with “drought tolerant plant” or “dry prairie species”. But not so! Kansas is a place full of sunny skies as well as quiet, shady streams; prairies as well as ponds. I noticed at our FloraKansas event last week just how many wetland and pond species […]
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One of the more common landscaping conundrums is deciding what to plant on steep slopes or hillsides. These areas require plants that can establish quickly, have fibrous root systems, that hold soil to control erosion, are tolerant of fluctuating soil moisture and potentially poor nutrient availability, and require little care once established. Slopes and hillsides […]
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Due to the diligent nursery work of our suppliers, and a bit of searching on my part, we will have interesting new species to offer at our fall FloraKansas event, as well as some old favorites that have been missing from our inventory for awhile. We love to offer an ever-widening selection of hard-to-find natives […]
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I can’t seem to go on vacation nowadays without being stopped in my tracks when I see examples of habitat gardening. I don’t know if it’s just a result of working at the Dyck Arboretum for over ten years, or a function of having been bit by the native plant bug (pun intended). Either way, […]
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No, this is not the start of an Eric Carle children’s book. It’s the start of a blog post all about gregarious feeders! Unlike the lone green caterpillar of the book that goes chomping through fruits and cakes and slices of salami, some caterpillars can be seen feeding and living in large groups, and as […]
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Kansas summers can discourage even the hardiest gardeners. However, taking time to manage your garden now will help your garden later. Here’s my Summer Garden Checklist for the Kansas gardener. Control Warm Season Weeds Summer brings with it a new set of weeds to control. Hot weather germinates summer annuals like crabgrass, foxtail. Nutsedge and other weeds […]
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Portions of this article can also be found in our Summer 2023 issue of the Prairie Window Newsletter. Having a summer intern here at the Arboretum is a lot of fun. Not only because I have someone to commiserate with when the temperatures are unbearable, or someone to laugh with when everything goes wrong, but […]
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One of the most iconic prairie wildflowers is Asclepias tuberosa, commonly referred to as butterfly weed or butterfly milkweed. From May to July, its bright orange flowers dot the prairie landscape. These attractive flowers are a magnet for many different pollinators, including the monarch butterfly. Butterfly weed can be found in dry fields, meadows, prairies, open […]
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I’m a part of the Nature Book Club through the Dyck Arboretum. One of the books we read this last month was Bicycling with Butterflies: My 10,201 mile journey following the Monarch Migration by Sara Dykman. I loved this book and we had a great discussion on it. A young woman rides her bike from the monarch refuges in […]
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