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Symposium: Living the Land Ethic in Kansas
“All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise: that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts.The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include...
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Blackbird Ribbons
I’ve been fascinated if not mesmerized recently with this phenomenon of blackbird “ribbons” flying across the sky. While they’ve become familiar to me during the winter in recent years, I’ve noticed...
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A Land Ethic is Alive and Well in Kansas
On Saturday, March 18, we held our 11th annual spring education symposium entitled Living the Land Ethic in Kansas, and learned how much we have to celebrate in Kansas. This symposium was many months...
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Be A Good Host for Insects
Monarch ovipositing on common milkweed (April 9, 2017). There are many positive things that can be said about insects. They are important to healthy ecosystems. If you have any appreciation for...
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Sharing the Simple Beauty of Kansas
I will be travelling this week to the annual conference of the American Public Gardens Association, this year located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which is very far from my Kansas home. Representatives...
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Insectopia
With all the beautiful blooms around the Arboretum these days, the bugs are on a feeding frenzy! I have been having a blast snapping photos of all the active insects with my new camera gadget – a...
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The Great American Solar Eclipse: Staff Perspectives
All four Arboretum staff members traveled to Nebraska for Monday’s solar eclipse. I happened to be on a business errand up there to pick up plants for our upcoming sale, while my co-workers fanned out...
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Do you Need a Prescription for Nature?
There is a growing field of study among doctors and researchers on the positive effects nature has on us both physically and mentally. Ecotherapy is the name given to a wide range of treatment programs...
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Inspiring Landscapers
This Saturday, February 24 at our Native Plant Landscaping Symposium, 10 inspiring landscapers will share their native plant gardening stories. A common thread of these landscapers/gardeners (I use...
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Waking Up: The Exciting Life of Buds
The landscape may still be dominated by the browns and tans of winter, but inside the greenhouse is a different story -oodles of green buds bursting out of dormancy, waking up to warm, humid air! It’s...
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Scott’s Favorite Wild Places in Kansas
Believe it or not, there are still some fantastic wild places in Kansas that are worth discovering. These regions don’t fit the stereotypical mold of a Kansas landscape (flat and boring). I have...
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Visit A Favorite Place – Chase State Fishing Lake
June is almost here and it is time for the prairie to shine. The prairie gardens we promote in our urban landscapes feature many prairie elements that start to look really nice this time of the year as...
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Plant Profile: Mountain Mint
Mountain mint plants are underused in the landscape. With dainty white blooms, a clumping habit and tons of genera to choose from, mountain mints (Pycnanthemum sp.) can fit in any style of garden. P....
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Cicada Killers
“Hunting, warring, patrolling, tunneling, they do more in two months–the length of their adult lives–than periodical cicadas do in 17 years.” ~Tim Heffernan, The Atlantic The insect world never ceases...
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Caterpillar Mania – Part I
This time of year is great for caterpillar hunting. I have been finding lots of amazing, colorful critters munching away on the foliage here at Dyck Arboretum. I am always eager to get a picture of...
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Caterpillar Mania – Part II
Part II of my blog series about caterpillars will cover their bodies and behaviors, and the habitats you can build for them at home. Anatomy Once you look closely, you can easily see that caterpillars...
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Butterfly Hunting 101
Fall is an excellent time of year to go searching for butterflies. The late season flowers like goldenrod, asters, and maximilian sunflowers are all important nectar sources, and are usually swarming...
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Mindfulness in the Garden
One of the greatest experiences I have while gardening is a heightened sense of awareness. For some reason, I notice obscure things that are happening in my landscape. I observe how our garden has...
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How to be a Good Steward? Start with One Thing
Over the past year, we have been digging deeper into “Why” the Arboretum exists. There have been some lengthy conversations about events, classes, native plants, and relationships between people,...
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An Outing for the Birds
When considering attracting wildlife to a landscape, native plants matter. More diversity of native plant species and greater area of that native vegetation coverage both translate to a higher...
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