While preparing for another season of removing invasive Amur honeysuckle, I have seen some pretty interesting things throughout our Great Parks. Recently, while scouting at Woodland Mound, I couldn’t help but notice the color red.…
Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. By definition, a weed is a plant that is not valued where it is growing. Chicory is commonly called a weed by many people, while others…
You have probably seen this native flower in bloom recently throughout our Great Parks, and may know it by many names. Commonly called spotted jewelweed, orange jewelweed, orange balsam or spotted touch-me-not (Impatiens capensis), there…
There is more than meets the eye to the adder’s tongue fern (Ophioglossum vulgatum). At first glance you might not guess that it’s even a fern. Lacking the typical delicate-looking leaves of other ferns we’re…
We’ve written briefly about butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) before, but this is a plant that really gets a second look. As an ornamental, it’s exceptionally gorgeous with brilliant orange blooms that last for much of…