… affects our brains and bodies. According to the article, “These measurements—of everything from stress hormones to heart rate to brain waves to protein markers—indicate that when we spend … that provides us with all sorts of the nutrients we need. That’s how nature can protect us from all these different kinds of diseases—cardiovascular, respiratory, mental health, …
Type: Blog
… early spring is the major pruning season for roses, end-of-the-year pruning protects the plant from winter wind (canes can whip around and scar each other, and stiff winds can pull long-caned … roses plants; our truly dedicated volunteers and staff spent two days removing every last leaf from the beds. Step 3: Mulch. Mounded up and around each rose plant is a thick layer of mulch (we …
Type: Blog
… color after months of dreary gray, so he “overplants” the troughs to make them look full from the get-go. Poking through the red, orange, and yellow flowers this year is an unusual, … ‘Kerbelnec’ Belarina® Nectarine in these troughs. Here’s hoping Mother Nature takes a cue from these troughs. …
Type: Blog
… alive through this plant. This activity can also be done with well-established perennials from your yard. Spring clean your landscape and share with neighbors. Aloe plant care: Keep your … them, add rocks at the bottom of your pot for drainage. When I am missing friends or apart from loved ones, I always think back to Lila and look for ways to reconnect to people through …
Type: Blog
… Spring is here, and the birds are returning from their winter homes. Some birds fly through the Chicago area to their nesting habitats up … Hang the bag securely on a tree branch where a bird can perch and pluck pieces of material from the bag. Wall art or condo furnishings? Hang your bag outside and watch for birds! Watch the …
Type: Blog
… When my mother first moved from England to Chicago in the late 1950s, she’d never heard of a prairie. In England, a … “I love the changing palette of the prairie, changing not only daily but with the seasons and from year to year.” The Dixon Prairie is a recreated prairie. “The soils and the hydrology … Parts of the mesic prairie and bur oak savanna were developed with prairie soil "rescued" from development projects. One of O’Shaughnessy’s favorite times in the prairie is the early …
Type: Blog
… getting interested in oaks, started collecting oaks for my house, and the obsession grew from there,” he said. The outdoors has always been a part of his life, from growing up in Kentucky close to water and woods, to his years as a Marine. His transition … Douglas said. “There are about 500 species that grow all over the world. You can have anything from a very small shrub to large trees that can be thousands of years old.” Among his first …
Type: Blog
… addition . On the surface (literally), it’s a lovely bike/pedestrian trail that slopes down from Green Bay Road, skirting the north edge of Turnbull Woods and linking up to the outer road … the Highland Park Moraine is also a mini-section of the Eastern Subcontinental Divide: water from the Highland Park Moraine drains toward Lake Michigan (Great Lakes watershed) on the east … smoothly paved, and appropriately inclined. It’s convenient for pedestrians heading to and from the Braeside Metra train station. It’s family-friendly for strollers and toddlers, and …
Type: Blog
… two decades, Garden volunteers have played a critical role in helping remove garlic mustard from the McDonald Woods. When we began the ecological restoration project in the Barbara Brown … dump truck loads just to begin making a dent in the population. After buckthorn was removed from the Barbara Brown Nature Reserve, garlic mustard plants completely dominated the understory … is having a significant negative effect on garlic mustard (see woodsandprairie.blogspot.com ). Observers have reported an almost complete absence of garlic mustard in areas that are …
Type: Blog
… use a hand lens, knife, and a flat-bottomed basket that prevents any mushrooms I’ve collected from scrunching together. I like to wrap my finds in wax paper or wax paper bags. Paper bags can … green-spored lepiota [Chlorphyllum molybdites] is the most common.) We can tell chanterelles from jack-o-lanterns when we turn them over and look at the underside of the cap: chanterelles … gills like a grocery store mushroom. Chanterelles are also getting a closer look from the scientific community. Until fairly recently, we assumed that the chanterelles growing …
Type: Blog
