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Fungus Among Us
Working on the Arboretum grounds means I have the joy of interacting with native plants and animals every day. I get to watch newly-planted trees sprout their first leaves and newly hatched goslings...
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Stately Natives
This past Monday, at the swearing in of the new Kansas governor, some native plants from Dyck Arboretum got their time in the limelight. Cuttings from our grounds of evergreens, red twig dogwood, big...
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A Look at the Past, A Glimpse of the Future
Over the past few weeks, I have been doing some cleaning in my office. It is a New Year’s resolution of sorts, but definitely needed. I had mountains of papers that had not been looked through in...
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Harbingers of Spring
You may be tired of scraping the frost off your windshield in the morning and perhaps you grumbled while shoveling snow from your sidewalk last week (we had 3″ on 2/20/19 at Dyck Arboretum). But don’t...
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Garden Trends in 2019
Over the past five years, we have seen some interesting things happen regarding native plants. People are learning about native plants and matching plants up with their local conditions. More and...
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Kansas Native Ferns
At FloraKansas Native Plant Festival our customers were surprised to see we offer Kansas native ferns. Perhaps they were surprised to hear Kansas even had native ferns! With our hot, dry summers and...
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Gardening with Purpose
We have seen an abundance of blooms this spring. All this beauty and wildlife activity, particularly pollinators, has reminded me again about the roles our gardens play in benefiting our small corner...
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June Prairie Blooms
This past week I had the opportunity to trek into the Flint Hills. I always enjoy spending time immersed in a prairie setting. It makes me feel small in a great big world. It makes me keenly aware...
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Every grass has its flower.
Grasses are tenacious harnessers of the prairie. This humble family survives the open plains and thrives in niches that others are too flamboyant to endure. Their incredibly deep roots protect them...
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Shade Plants in Their Natural Habitat
On vacation in early July, some friends and I explored Devil’s Lake State Park, Wisconsin. Rocky and rainy, with lushly forested slopes, it is a very different landscape from my beloved Kansas. While...
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Concentration of Blooms
When I recommend native plants for a particular landscape, I’ve learned to focus on the fact that people and the insects they are hoping to attract are conditioned to desire seeing a concentration of...
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What is Land Stewardship?
The other day, I was reading an interesting article about modeling sustainability in our landscapes. This particular article focused on botanical gardens and their importance as models for...
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What Do Pollinators Need?
One of my favorite past times during the fall season is watching pollinators work on the many wildflowers in bloom. This morning there were dozens of different pollinators crawling all over the...
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Finding Value in the Undesirables
It is time to give some props to the plants that don’t always play nice in the urban landscape. Over the past month, I have enjoyed finding value in the undesirables. In recent years, we have culled...
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October Richness
Life flies by for all of us and it is easy to miss or forget what happens in a given month. When reviewing recent photographs on my phone, I was pleasantly reminded of all the richness that happened...
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A Thanksgiving Poem
The past twelve months have been filled with personal challenges for me and I have not always been thankful for the many blessings in my life. Often we look at the problems we are dealing with, but...
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Appreciating Dormancy
December in Kansas is the time to enjoy textures in the landscape and appreciate dormancy. These textures have been present during earlier months, but they have been obscured by the bright, colorful...
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How do you connect with the land?
I really enjoy the work we do here at the Arboretum. I am deeply rooted in the Kansas landscape. Having grown up on a farm, connecting with the land seemed like an easy thing for me. However, I never...
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Nature Book Reviews for Winter
This is the time of year I get the most reading done. With no vegetable garden to tend and little watering to do, I finally have a little time to cozy up with all the books I have been neglecting...
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Spending Time Outdoors in 2020
I don’t know what your resolutions are for 2020*, but one of mine is to spend more time outdoors. Whether working in the garden, fishing along a stream or simply taking a walk with a friend or loved...
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