No matter one's faith, we all enjoy the decorations that are symbols of religious and cultural holidays celebrated around the winter solstice - the shortest day and longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere...(click here for complete article)
Horticulture -
Greening Winter
Urban Wildlife
For many, animals and birds of the urban environment are such part of everyday life that they are barely noticed. Others actively attract wildlife with feeders, houses or water features, remaining engaged in and sensitive to the natural world...(click here for complete article)
Fall IS For Planting
With the right kind of weather, Fall is the ideal landscaping season. The early fall soil is usually warmer and mor workable than spring soils, and there can be more time to work outside. Cool air helps the plants avoid stress, and rains are usually just enough to povide moisture but not too muddy. Plants are slowing down and preparing for winter, and respond well to transplanting...
For More Information:
Fantasy, Facts, and Fall Color
Fall Color at the Morton Arboretum
The Science of Color in Autumn Leaves
Those Brilliant Fall Outfits May Be Saving Trees
Fall color is important part of tourism in some areas of the Northeast:
New Hampshire
Maine
Vermont
Tourists Get High-Tech Foliage Reports
Foliage Updates
Wisconsin Fall Foliage Updates
The Foliage Network Fall Foliage updates
Normal Peak Times for Fall Color (A map of peak fall color in the United States)
USDA Forest Service Fall Foliage Report
Fall Foliage Updates by Phone
Resources:
The Rose's Kiss - A Natural History of Flowers by Perter Bernhardt
The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
Falling For Hydrangea
Hydrangea are popular shrubs in the landscape for their obvious beauty and many uses. Extended blooming of huge inflorescences brighten up any sight in summer and adds interest to the fall landscape...
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Catalog Descriptions:
Smooth Hydrangea - Hydrangea arborescens
Annabelle Hydrangea - Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle
White Dome Hydrangea - Hydrangea arborescens White Dome
Pee Gee Hydrangea - Hydrangea paniculata Grandiflora
Limelight Hydrangea - Hydrangea paniculata Limelight
Tardiva Hydrangea - Hydrangea paniculata Tardiva
Unique Hydrangea - Hydrangea paniculata Unique
Oakleaf Hydrangea - Hydrangea quercifolia
Alice Oakleaf Hydrangea - Hydrangea quercifolia Alice
Pee Wee Oakleaf Hydrangea - Hydrangea quercifolia Pee Wee
Sike's Dwarf Oakleaf Hydrangea - Hydrangea quercifolia Sike's Dwarf
Snow Queen Oakleaf Hydrangea - Hydrangea quercifolia Snow Queen
Snowflake Oakleaf Hydrangea - Hydrangea quercifolia Snowflake
May's Delight® Crabapple
April Showers Bring May's Delight®
Spring brings delight - moist dark soils, fresh new plant growth, sweet smelling gardens, and buzzing bees tempted by bright blossoms on flowering trees. One of the most widely planted flowering trees is the crabapple, because of the may variations in flower color, fruit, leaf and bark among the species and cultivars. McHenry County Nursery is delighted to have added to this collection a new hybrid Malus x 'Beeson' May's Delight® ...
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Spring Hopes Eternal
The Early Flowering
Trees & Shrubs
Why do some plants flower
in Early Spring?
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