The December edition of the Native Plant School newsletter contains topics on: Burning Bush Invasion Gardening Tips De-icing Can Harm Plants Weevils Love Wild Indigo Seeds Where Do Butterflies Spend the Winter? Guess The Plant Come for a Visit this Month How to Provide Water for Birds When the Birdbath…
By Sarah Pitzer, naturalist Missouri Department of Conservation Here are four reasons to try maple sugaring: Maple syrup – Need I say more? Once you try real maple syrup, you may never go back to store-bought corn syrup again! Besides syrup, the sap can also be used to make sugar,…
By Dawn Weber Today’s tip is for smartphone users: Sometimes close is too close I’ve had occasions where I wanted to get a quick photo of a small flower or an insect and the results are blurry because the camera won’t focus on the intended subject. That undesirable result could…
Eastern Illinois University has an online database titled, Prairie Restoration: A Digital Aid Featuring Seeds, Seedlings, and Fruit with plant lists by species and by common name. The link has been added to the STL Wild Ones website resource page, which contains information and/or links for: Organizations A Native Landscaping Manual…
The Native Plant School, co-sponsored by St. Louis Wild Ones, is a year-round series of mostly outdoor learning sessions in the Whitmire Wildflower Garden at Shaw Nature Reserve. They will cover various aspects of native home landscaping, flower arranging, and woodland/prairie/savanna/ re-establishment. Please bring your questions, comments, photos, drawings, plant…
From Kathy Wright The quarterly Illinois Audubon Society (IAS) magazine is adding a new feature and is looking for volunteers to write 25-word, seasonally-appropriate landscaping tips. The magazine editor, Kathy Wright, provided these basic guidelines: Submit approximately 25 words/tip. Tips may be edited by technical experts and the IAS editor….
November 4, 2015 Thirty-two members and six guests attended our annual potluck dinner and seed exchange, held at The Heights community center of Richmond Heights. Copies of our chapter membership list were distributed. President Ed Schmidt invited us to join in the discussion of what to do in your yard…
By Marcia Myers Not only does this amazing plant act as a nursery, provide nectar, and serve as an important food source, it provides extra protection from predators. Both monarchs (Danaus plexippus) and queen butterflies (Danaus gilippus) store cardenolides, toxins obtained from their milkweed (Asclepias spp.) diet. Why aren’t the butterflies poisoned? Monarchs…
By Marcia Myers Monarch butterflies are in serious decline, so raising and releasing them must be good, right? It would seem so, but some experts have concerns. On October 8, “a group of 10 monarch researchers and conservationists from across the U.S. issued a statement highlighting concerns with the release…
By Cori Westcott of Bring Conservation Home While enjoying the expansive vista of a prairie, my eye stopped upon a strange looking little creature just beyond the boardwalk. A buckeye (Junonia coenia) caterpillar was dining upon a slender-leaved false foxglove (Agalinus tenuifolia), formerly a Gerardia. The false foxglove flowers from…
