The Weedpatch Gazette
Welcome! My favorite part of this blog is the interactive aspect of it. Click on the blue titles to view the full article. This page is where you can pin, tweet, share, and best of all, COMMENT! I like comments! ~ Rommy Lopat
CHICAGO PLANTS, LANDSCAPES, PARKS & PRESERVES
~ and the people that create them ~
Saving Sea Turtles by Improving Shrimp Boat Nets
Faithful readers of The Weedpatch Gazette will recall that I’ve veered away from plants and land conservation several times to write about how to save endangered sea turtles. I get especially passionate about this issue when we visit the Florida Keys. A stop in Marathon to see (maimed) turtles at The Turtle Hospital will make you realize that there can be a big downside to a day on a motorboat or eating a big plate of shrimp.
Boats, pollution from sewage (yes, it’s true, the Florida Keys are JUST NOW . . .
A Smidgen of Good News…And It Concerns a Trump
This morning I read the relatively welcome news that Donald Trump the Younger "quashed a competing candidate [U.S. Rep Cathy Rodgers]" as Donald Trump the Elder's nominee for U.S. Secretary of the Interior and led his father to instead nominate Montana...
Back in Touch After the Summer–and the Election!
Horrors! No posts since Memorial Day. But I'm back, driven by the election to closely follow what may happen to America's land use and environmental institutions...all of which ultimately have an impact on our everyday lives, gardens, conservation areas,...
Memorial Day!
It's a picture perfect, sunny, cloudless Memorial Day, but the weekend started with a huge lightning storm that held all the classic signs of tornado. The drama of Midwest topography and weather can create powerful visual displays, made all the...
Oh, Brother, Here We Go…Pray for the Monarchs…the Whales…the Birds…and Us
Did you ever read "Flight Behavior" by Barbara Kingsolver? It is a wonderful book. In one part, she vividly describes the eerie scene when snow and ice fall on the Monarchs nesting in their West Virginia (as I recall) woods.But today comes reports that...
How Far From a River Do I Want to Build? Ask Some Regular Americans
NOTE: I wrote this a few weeks ago and sent it to the NYTimes in the hope that it might get published. Well, it didn't (altho it would have been nice to hear "no" from them, but anyway). So here it is for you to read. I hope you like it better than they...
Whoa…just how would we protect the habitat of a butterfly?
This situation with Monarch butterflies is serious and getting serious-er. And just imagine if our Presidential candidates have to express their views on it? The Donald might propose building a wall, but it would be a beautiful wall...maybe...
Second Snow
How can you not like snow when it blankets the trees in white? So beautiful...so quiet...there's peace. On earth.
Brussels Sprouted…into a topiary!
Thanks to Chicago Botanic Garden veggie garden manager Lisa Hilgenberg for sending us a photo of her Brussels Sprouts topiary, which she says was inspired by chefs at The White House. (Recently Lisa was a special guest for a tour of the First Lady's...
Genius at Work!
I am so excited. Necessity is the mother of invention, as they say, and my invention is a success! The squirrels have been foiled and the birds have a feeder tray along with the usual hanging feeder(s), all "perched" on one post. Here it is for your amazement at Queen...
Brussel Sprouts or Brussels Sprouts?
When I was 21, my Aunt Rita and my Mom (Aunt Susie to my cousins) gave me a backyard picnic party. I was thrilled to see the long-stemmed rose box, tied with a big red ribbon, since no boy had yet seen fit to present long-stemmed roses to me....
Southwestward Ho! A Gardener’s Tour of St. Louis
Someday I will create an app that is just for gardeners. My app will use your phone's GPS to tell you every place nearby that would be of interest to a gardener: nurseries, garden centers, botanic gardens, cemeteries, parks, outdoor history museums, farms,...
So Beautiful, So Scary, It’s the Future
Fall is in its glory, with beautiful weather days, clouds, pumpkins and leaf colors surrounding us here in Chicago.Revel in this loveliness, dear readers, because Climate Change is with us everywhere always. Last Saturday, I attended a seminar at the Chicago Botanic...
It All Adds Up…or…Plants of the World, Unite!
I think one of the best things about life on earth is the NY Times. I've been reading it daily--and fairly closely--every day since I was a teenager. There is so much information in every issue that it can make my brains hurt. And since there is not enough...
Perfection!
Thank you, o creator of heaven and earth, for bestowing this perfect moment.
September. Already?
Man, time flies. And so many projects (ie dividing Iris, dividing everything, cleaning garage) are left undone, again this year. But I just had to go for a walk with Daughter #2 who snapped this great photo... It was also important to create a feast (salad...
Landscape’s Loss
It is a sad day in Chicago landscape history, for internationally-known landscape architect Peter Schaudt, 56, died on July 19. Peter was co-partner in the firm [Doug] Hoerr Schaudt. Here is his obituary, written by Chicago Tribune architecture...
Catching Up: First Monarch in the July Garden
Monarch season is starting very slowly. The first Monarch I noticed, perched on a stockade fence, in our Lake Forest garden visited last week. Alas, I had no camera in hand. Yesterday morning, however, this mistah buttafly flitted onto the Allium 'Summer...
Look but Don’t Touch
I know, I know, dear readers, that I have been absent from writing since April. And even today I am only given you un petit soupcon of a post. Here's our lovely vegetable garden showing off broccoli and lettuce, but alas, there's been too much humidity and...
UP in the Garden, UP in the Prairie, UP in the Lake
It's the end of March and the weather has been down (a horrible cold blustery day last Sunday, March 29) and UP (today is 60 and sunny). I heard a radio report that ships won't be able to get to Burns Harbor, IN for another two weeks because the Lakes are...
MISSION
The Weedpatch Gazette is written for people who believe that beautiful landscapes should emphasize diversity and richness in plant material and be especially sensitive to landforms, ecology, economy, wildlife, and the wise use of land, water and soil. TWG aims to present information succinctly, with candor, detail, and humor. Submissions of content, well-reasoned criticism, and ideas for stories about landscape and the people who make and appreciate them are always welcome.
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