By Henry Eilers On August 19 at 9 am we met at Glenn and Nancy Savage’s place on Quail Lane to view their amazing and extensive prairie and wetland restorations. Emilee Hale, Pheasants Forever biologist led a group of participants from PF, local soil and water conservation districts and several federal agencies. Also participating were…
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by Susanne Masi It all came together beautifully. After much planning and organizing by the Northeast Chapter Board and Annual Gathering Committee, coordinated by Kevin Scheiwiller and his support team: Kathy Thomas (Benedictine liaison), Ali Touloupas (field trips), Dom Amato (tech expertise) and Kathy Garness (all around consultation), more than 60 members gathered from July…
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Remove Your Invasive Callery Pear and Receive a $25 Coupon to Spend at the Illinois Native Plant Society Central Chapter’s Plant Sale Bring a “selfie” with one or more cut-down Callery pear trees and claim one of the 40 coupons we will have available at the annual native plant sale in Springfield. Use the $25…
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It has been said that it is ‘the little things that make the world go round’. The renowned author E. O. Wilson had ants and beetles in mind. But it could also be said for sedges. They are a group of grass like plants, also referred to as graminoids, about which most of us know…
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-Lois Fox Since the last newsletter in April, two more field trips that were very different from each other have taken place. One was at the Route 66 Prairie outside of Litchfield and the other at Carol Anderson’s home in Rochester. Both were well attended. Henry Eilers led the field trip on May 15 at…
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This year we have already had 2 field trips, one at Bruce Semans’ Cabin and the other at Veara Woods. Both field trips were well attended. Another field trip is being planned for the Route 66 Prairie outside of Litchfield. Chris Benda led the field trip on April 18 at Bruce Semans’ Cabin along the…
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-Henry “Weeds” Eilers When we think about our woodlands – what comes to mind? Perhaps the earliest wildflowers after a long cold winter or hunting for morels a bit later. And then there are large trees of course, such as oaks and hickories. We think less often of the understory, unless such iconic species as…
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-Terri Treacy It takes 2 or 3 generations of monarch butterflies to migrate from the mountains of Michoacán, Mexico, to the prairies of Illinois in the spring months. By late summer, a ‘super generation’ emerges, equipped to travel an estimated 2,500 miles back to Mexico for overwintering. Unfortunately, over the past 20 years, the eastern…
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Henry “Weeds” Eilers After recent burns and while getting my exercise by cutting down and piling brush at the Shoal Creek Conservation Area, I checked the few plants of Spicebush that had survived that devastating 2012 drought. Though mostly small, 3’ or less, they all indicated considerable age by their sizable basal crowns. The largest…
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-Henry “Weeds” Eilers One of our chapter members in October suggested that I do a plant profile column for the INPS newsletter on this native shrub. It had been only a week ago that I was privileged to accompany Nathan Aaron, a skilled botanist who is working in the Meramec Hills section of the Missouri…
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