Willows are one of the last of our shrubs and trees to lose their leaves in autumn. They turn shades of yellow—anywhere from greenish-yellow to whitish-yellow. As earlier fall colors start to paint our landscapes, the willows offer a decidedly green contrast in a diversity of shades depending on the species.Read More
Kelly Cartwright, Ph.D., is a biology professor at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois where she teaches environmental biology, general biology, botany, and introduction to sustainability.Read More
When the O’Connors bought an old dairy turned deer-hunting farm, they had visions of transforming it into a “perfect” prairie. “We envisioned prairies with beautiful flowers, all natives, and no weeds,” explains Marcie, who, with her husband Mike, has been restoring their 500-acre farm near Alma, Wisconsin, into prairie and savanna for the past 20...Read More
“My little slice of heaven in the city provides big habitat for wildlife. A small, modest bungalow on a narrow, 40-foot wide lot in Minneapolis, not far from the only gorge along the mighty Mississippi.Read More
Ten years ago, Liz Stanley’s and her partner Lynn Gallagher’s suburban yard was a weedy, turf-grass expanse, complete with invasive buckthorn. With no backgrounds in gardening—and through trial and error—they have slowly transformed their half-acre yard in Bloomington, Minnesota (a suburb of the Twin Cities), into a lush native habitat for pollinators, birds, and other...Read More
“Six years ago I decided to do my part to help ensure the health of the small lake I live on. I removed all the roses, daylilies, hydrangeas, and the rest of the plants I had been managing with TLC for years. I had been reading about native plants—about their deep roots and their ability...Read More
Over a decade ago Daniel Schultz listened to a talk given by Doug Tallamy, the author of the book Bringing Nature Home. It turned the way he saw the natural world upside-down. “It was such a shock to learn how little wildlife habitat is left in the United States,” states Daniel.Read More
When a caterpillar emerges from an egg, it is minuscule and can’t travel far to find food. To aid her offspring’s survival, the female butterfly (or moth) deposits her eggs on the food source her newborn caterpillars require so they can eat as soon as they emerge. The specific plant (or plants) a particular caterpillar...Read More
