In my neck of the woods, or rather, on my bend of the river, it was a bad year for lotus. Or a good year for lotus. It depends who you are. Boaters and fisherman would say it was a bad year; however, nature photographers and lotus plants themselves rejoiced. Acres of lotus lined [Continue]
I can’t tell you how much it creeps me out to write about worms. I’ve always been a little afraid of them and have avoided touching them at all costs. But I felt I had to write it. Didn’t want to, felt I owed it to you. So here goes. Eeewww! Most people know that [Continue]
Over the years, plant breeders have spent tremendous amounts of time and money trying to produce flowers that bloom in beautiful blue, but haven’t had much success. Mother Nature, however, easily hit a home run the first time at bat with chicory. Its pure sky-blue blooms line the gravelly edges of Wisconsin roadsides, abandoned railroads, [Continue]
Well, this one snuck up on us! Invasive water hyacinth has been a huge problem in the lakes, rivers and streams of Africa, South America and the southeastern United States for many years. We thought we were protected from it up here in Wisconsin above the 40th parallel, the supposed northernmost reach of the plant. [Continue]
Just twenty counties in central and northern Wisconsin produce more than 60% of our country’s total cranberry harvest. These cranberries grow on vines in bogs and peat marshes. It’s impractical for the home grower to attempt to grow cranberries and foragers definitely shouldn’t poach from commercial cranberry bogs. Fortunately, cranberry lovers can harvest from another [Continue]
Our country’s earliest invasive plants originated mostly in Europe as our ancestors brought them from their homelands to grow in the new world. Today invaders come from the world over as they are imported intentionally as nursery stock to decorate our landscapes or inadvertently in soil along with those landscape plants. Three of today’s worst [Continue]
The combination of hazelnuts with chocolate is almost as popular as the chocolate/peanut butter combo. Nutella, the chocolate/hazelnut spread, probably has as many fans as do peanut butter cups. You might be surprised to learn that hazelnuts grow throughout Wisconsin and are found along trails, roadsides, fence rows and woodland edges in dry or [Continue]
The root of the ginseng plant has been used around the world to cure a multitude of ills for hundreds of years. If you believe everything you read, it cures almost any physical, emotional or spiritual ailment: exhaustion, fatigue, infirmity, liver disease, stress, wasting from chronic disease, weakness, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, gastritis, high cholesterol, immune [Continue]
Lunch from the Lawn By Lawanda Jungwirth No need to run to the grocery store when you need something for lunch. If you haven’t poisoned every weed in your lawn in an effort to make it look like your own personal putting green, there’s a good chance you can find lunch right outside your back [Continue]
If you’ve been aware of and familiar with invasive plants for any length of time, you’ve probably realized that the majority of invasive plants are very attractive, and that an inordinate number of them are purple. The same is true of this issue’s featured invasive, spotted knapweed. At first glance, knapweed looks remarkably like the bachelor’s button [Continue]