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Greater DuPage Chapter Newsletters

Spring 2012

General

Wild Ones - Greater DuPage Chapter (Facebook): Even if you cannot make it to meetings, you can still interact with fellow Wild Ones members through our chapter Facebook.
Wild Ones Discussion (Yahoo group):A Yahoo! discussion group available to discuss native plant landscaping and to exchange ideas and information about related subjects. Only members of Wild Ones can post, but everyone is welcome to read posted messages.
Native Gardening (Yahoo group):This is an online discussion group that is open to the public. It is described as a forum to exchange ideas and information about native plants and landscapes. Topics range from discussing how to use native plants in our own backyard, to how we can protect the environment and conserve natural wildlife habitats throughout the world.
Conservation @ Home:The Conservation Foundation has launched a new initiative that encourages and recognizes property owners that protect and create yards that are environmentally friendly and conserve water. This includes planting native vegetation, such as prairie and woodland wildflowers, trees and shrubs, create butterfly and rain gardens, and remove exotic species of plants.
US EPA - Green Landscaping:The Great Lakes National Program Office maintains this site to enhance public access to information on landscaping with native plants.
Invasive Species Initiative: The Invasive Species Initiative is The Nature Conservancy's response to abating the damage caused to native biodiversity by the human-facilitated introduction of non-native, harmful invasive species. This web site provides many resources designed to help all conservationists deal most effectively with invasive species.
Invasivespecies.gov:Gateway to Federal efforts concerning invasive species. On this site you can learn about the impacts of invasive species and the Federal government's response, as well as read select species profiles and find links to agencies and organizations dealing with invasive species issues.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources:This site is not dedicated to native plants but can provide local information if you are patient.
Chicago Wilderness:Chicago Wilderness is a regional nature reserve that includes more than 225,000 acres of protected natural areas. It stretches from southeastern Wisconsin, through northeastern Illinois and into northwestern Indiana. This site has some things of regional interest.
Rain Garden Network:Rain Garden Network works with homeowners and other property owners to help them do what they can to protect the water quality of our lakes, rivers and streams from pollution and the damage done by stormwater runoff. Check out this site to learn more about rain gardens.
List of Illinois Native PlantsThis is a list of plants that are native to Illinois. The novice gardener may find this helpful as you begin planning your garden.

Member Yards

Leslie Cummings, Wheaton, IL:Leslie has been interested in gardening and wildlife her entire life, especially after becoming a homeowner in 1993. She worked to create a wildlife habitat using native plants and her yard was certified by the National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife Habitat program. Deciding that she wanted more space to work with, this site is actually the story of another habitat she is creating in her next home on a half-acre in Wheaton, IL.
Parnell and Sandi O'Brien, Homer Glen, IL :Twin Lakes Prairie: A Prairie Reconstruction is a web site about the efforts of Parnell and Sandi to restore a storm water retention basin that was formerly a ravine and stream that ran through the site. They began work on their property in the fall of 2009. All restoration work was performed without the use of power tools. This site contains a lot of useful data and photos.
Don & Benia Zouras, Bartlett, IL :Native Suburbia is how Don & Benia refer to their yard. This site serves as a way to share their experience of transforming a typical suburban yard in Bartlett, Illinois into a native plant preserve. It includes pictures of the process from the very beginning and is helpful in showing newcomers to Wild Ones how they could transform their own yards.

Plant Identification

USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service:Home of the PLANTS Database, which provides standardized information about the vascular plants, mosses, liverworts, hornworts, and lichens of the U.S. It includes names, plant symbols, distributional data, species abstracts, characteristics, images, plant links, references and crop information.
USDA Forest Service - Northeast Research Station:This site contains a wide variety of information. The most useful is the ability to search the Illinois Plant Identification Network (ILPIN).
Illinois Wildflowers:This site, maintained by John Hilty, has descriptions, photographs, and range maps of many wildflowers in Illinois. These consist primarily of herbaceous flowering plants and a few small shrubs, whether native to Illinois or introduced from somewhere else.
Prairie Restoration, Digital Aid Featuring Seeds, Seedlings, and Fruits:This site aids in the identification of prairie plant species in the early stages. It provides digital images of seeds, seedlings, and fruits for selected tallgrass prairie species.
Seedling ID Guide:This page features a PDF titled "Central Region Seedling ID Guide for Native Prairie Plants". The goal of this guide is to help identify native plants at various stages of growth. Color photos illustrate seed, seedling, juvenile, and flowering stages, in addition to a distinguishing characteristic. Brief text provides additional identification help.
Offwell Woodland & Wildlife Trust - Grass Identification Guide (UK):A guide to identifying grasses by Jean Turner. This is part of a British wildlife, conservation & environmental education site. While it doesn't cover grasses native to the U.S., it is a good way to learn about grasses.
Dendrology at Virginia Tech:This is the site to find tree identification fact sheets on approximately 800 species of trees, as well as lots of other tree information.
Illinois Virtual Forest:Provides online resources for tree and plant identification.
Top U.S. Invasives:A good list of plants considered invasive in the U.S. There are many pictures and detailed descriptions.
Weeds Gone Wild:Provides information on the serious threat and impacts of invasive alien plants to the native flora, fauna, and natural ecosystems of the United States.
Midwestern Turfgrass Weed Identification and Control:This site is a perfect example of how ignorant people can be about native plants, calling them weeds and giving tips on how to destroy them. On the positive side, they have good descriptions and pictures of plants which are often native, so take what you can from this site.
Garden Web - Name That Plant!:This is a public forum where gardening enthusiasts gather. If you post a picture of an unidentified plant, someone may be able to help you. Your mileage may vary.

Recommended Books

Noah's Garden:A former old-style suburban gardener, Sara Stein writes convincingly of the ecological history of suburbia and the necessity of good stewardship of the land stolen from prairies and forests to make our back yards.
Common Weeds of the United States:Covers 220 weeds with illustrations, maps, botanical information and plant lore for each.
Weeds of the Northeast:A practical illustrated guide for identification of 299 common and economically important "weeds". This book has good pictures and vegetative descriptions. Just remember that many native plants are unfairly classified as weeds by books like this.
Peterson Field Guide to Wildflowers: Northeastern and North-Central North America:Grouped by color and by plant characteristics, 1,293 species in 84 families are described and illustrated. Included here are many of the flowers you're likely to encounter in the eastern and north-central U.S.
Field Guide to the Grasses, Sedges, and Rushes of the Northern United States:With quantitative descriptions and 500 drawings, this little book will help you to differentiate over 370 of the most common species of grasses and sedges. This book is not heavy on details, but it is a good peek into the world of grasses.
The Tallgrass Restoration Handbook: For Prairies, Savannas, and Woodlands:This "how-to" restoration manual provides a detailed account of what has been learned about the art and science of prairie and savanna restoration and the application of that knowledge to restoration projects.