Chapter Events

Did you know that native plants - once established - do not require the use of chemicals such as herbicides and pesticides to maintain their beauty? Or that they don't require extra watering from our precious supply of potable water? Did you know that our native pollinators and birds generally prefer native plants for nectaring and seed? You are invited to attend a free showing of Hometown Habitat - Stories of Bringing Nature Home. Through its profile of 7 hometown habitat heroes, this film will help to answer these questions for you. The narrative thread of this 8-part documentary is provided by renowned entomologist Douglas Tallamy, Ph.D. whose research, books and lectures about the use of non-native plants in landscaping sound the alarm about habitat and species loss. Tallamy challenges the notion that humans are here and nature is someplace else. Tallamy says, It doesn't have to and shouldn't be that way. For two years, producer/director Catherine Zimmerman and film crew traveled around the country to visit hometown habitat heroes and film their inspiring stories of community commitment to conservation landscaping. Zimmerman shares these success stories and works in-progress that re-awaken and re-define our relationship with nature. The message will inspire you - all of us have the power to support habitat for wildlife and bring natural beauty to our patch of the Earth. The goal will energize you to build a new army of habitat heroes and make natural landscaping the new landscaping norm. Hometown Habitat is 90-minute film.

This event is FREE and OPEN to the public.  

Bob Streitmatter, manager of Luthy Botanical Garden, will teach us how to harness the natural beauty of our gardens, using the many beautiful native perennials, trees & shrubs. From ginger to leadplant, he will cover the woodland and prairie plants that can be incorporated, seamlessly melding our gardens with nature.

Bob is a Registered Landscape Architect. He grew up in Princeville Illinois and received a Landscape Architecture degree from the University of Illinois. Since 2005 he has been manager at Luthy Botanical Garden, a Peoria Park District facility.  He practiced Landscape Architecture for 21 years in the private sector, as a Senior Landscape Architect with Green View Design Group.

Dave Lamb will present a thorough description of two major urban prairie areas in Bloomington- Tipton Park and The Grove.  Topics covered will include installation of the areas, maintenance, functionality and challenges.  He will also tell us about some upcoming planting projects in the City that are focused on creating more pollinator habitat.

Presenter Bio:

Dave Lamb is currently the Assistant Superintendent of Parks for the City of Bloomington.  He is responsible for managing all the trees, prairies, lakes, parks and green space on City property.  He has a Bachelors of Science degree in Forestry from Southern Illinois University and previously served as a horticulturalist for the City.  He has previous experience working with the National Park Service, United States Forest Service, and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.

Everyone has many associations with a flower, the idea of flowers.  You put out your hand to touch the flower, lean forward to smell it..or give it to someone to please them - Georgia O?Keeffe, 1939.  Flowers are indeed special to humans, yet why do plants make flowers in the first place?  Basically to reproduce.  Flowers are pollinated and become fruits.  Inside the fruits are seeds, which insure future generations.  Much of the diversity of flowers and fruits is the result of adaptations to attract some kind of animals to either visit the flowers to carry out pollination or to carry away seeds.  This presentation will use close-up photographs of a variety of flowers and fruits of prairie plants to show their innate beauty and structure and then explain how they are pollinated and dispersed.  This basic knowledge helps prairie enthusiasts understand some of the complexities of prairie ecosystems and how to select species for use in prairie plantings.

Presenter Bio: Ken Robertson is a retire botanist at the Illinois Natural History Survey, a unit of the University of Illionois, where he co-taught the plant systematics course for over 20 years.  He has spent many years conducting field research in the natural areas of Illinois, especially prairies, and gives frequent presentations on the state's native plants.  The author of many scientific publications, he has also co-authored a book entitled "Illinois Wilds" and has developed and extensive website featuring plants of Illinois prairies and other wild areas.  Dr. Robertson received M.A. and M.S. degrees from the University of Kansas and a Ph.D. from Washington University and the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, then spent six years at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.  In his spare-time he bicycles 3,000-5,000 miles a year.

We all want our gardens to thrive and provide healthy environments for our families and native wildlife.  Using native plants is just one step toward achieving our goals. The other is to create a plan that suits our needs and that of the plants. Learn basic tools to discover how to add habitat to your landscape and how to choose a plant community. Learn also how a backyard designed for native plants starts the process of creating a sustainable landscape. A plan will give you the confidence to implement it in stages, knowing that the final outcome is a cohesive landscape.  The process to become aware of the specific conditions in your yard will help you to make sensible plant purchases.

Presenter Bio:  Judy Nauseef is a landscape designer working in Eastern Iowa. She is a certified fellow of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers and an Iowa Certified Nursery Professional. Her recent book, Gardening with Native Plants in the Upper Midwest: Bringing the Tallgrass Prairie Home, provides a guide to adding native plants to the residential landscape.    

Bill and Sherrie Snyder have graciously offered to host our June 12th program. We will tour their garden and woods on the Mackinaw River, and then have a potluck and plant exchange. Because parking is very limited at their home, we will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Mennonite Church, corner of S. Cottage Avenue and Hovey in Normal, and then receive directions to the Snyders' and carpool from there. If you will be coming to the Snyders' from the Carlock area, we can provide you directions.    Please bring a lawn chair if you can, a dish to pass, your own table service and mug, and any native plants you might have for the plant exchange (please label them)--also a means of carrying plants home! Barbecue and buns, iced tea, lemonade, and water will be provided. So that we may know how much barbeque to order, please let us know that you are coming several days before the program. Patti Koranda will email all chapter members a SignUp invitation to the potluck.  Sign up will also be available at the name tag table at the May 8th program.    This is a members-only program. Fortunately, there is still time to become a member for this always-fun event!

In this Roundtable program you will be able to participate in different mini-session presentations on three native plant-related topics.  These topics will help you become a more skilled observer in your garden and will also help you spark the interest of children in native plants.  The following topics will be presented: "Identifying Native Plants", "Identifying Insects in Your Native Plant Garden", and "Children?s Activities with Native Plants".

Patrick Murphy will help you learn to identify plants in your native garden and whether they are friend or foe. Patrick is the Horticulturist and Curator of the Fell Arboretum at Illinois State University.  He also manages the ISU Scientific Greenhouse and is an ISU alumnus. Kelly Allsup will provide resources for insect identification in your native plant garden. Kelly is the University of Illinois Horticulture Educator serving the communities in Livingston, McLean and Woodford counties. Marcia Rossi will share information on how to involve children in activities with native plants. Marcia Rossi is a former principal of Metcalf School and has experience conducting various nature-related activities with children.

In recent years there has been a growing interest in Illinois native tallgrass prairie, which once dominated the landscape, but has almost totally disappeared. As a result there have been numerous efforts to reconstruct some semblance of that prairie. This will be a discussion of one such project that started over forty years ago in northern Ford County near the village of Kempton.

Presenter Bio

Don Gardner's childhood was on a small dairy farm on the south edge of Kempton. On an adjacent railroad right-of-way he saw small populations of uncommon plants that once had been part of the vast Grand Prairie of Central Illinois. That early interest continued to slowly develop and many years later he returned to start a prairie reconstruction project that has been underway since 1974. Over the years he has had scientific papers published as well as general interest prairie articles and has presented classes, tours, and discussions of prairie.

Woodlands are a natural community type intermediate between forests and savannas which typically support an oak-hickory tree canopy.  Woodlands have the potential to support numerous species of native plants and animals, some quite rare, but are under threat by several factors.  Many examples of this vegetation type are in private ownership statewide and such landowners are key to maintaining and improving woodlands for conservation purposes.  The presentation will cover aspects of assessing land and vegetation, setting realistic management goals, and implementing a stewardship vision for the land.  Q&As are encouraged.

Presenter Bio: Bob Szafoni has over 30 years experience in natural areas identification and stewardship.  He has written and/or implemented stewardship on woodlands as well as other natural community types statewide.  He has a bachelor's and master's degree from University of Illinois and is retired from the IL DNR where he served as the Illinois Natural Areas Program Manager for over 10 years.  Prior to that he was an IDNR Natural Heritage Biologist (covering McLean County for a time!) and has worked at the Illinois Natural History Survey.  He currently is an ecological consultant as well as manages his own woodland in east-central Illinois.

Guy Fraker will share with us information on how the ParkLands Foundation is involved in land preservation in Illinois.  ParkLands was founded in 1967, the consummation of Loring Merwin?s (the publisher of the Pantagraph) vision.   This vision was driven by the rapid destruction of timber and natural areas in McLean and neighboring counties. The original concept was for ParkLands to act as an intermediary, assembling adjacent tracts of land which would then be conveyed to an appropriate unit of government to preserve. Unfortunately the State would not commit to ParkLands conditions of ownership.  ParkLands first major project, now the Mackinaw River Conservation Area, west of Danvers, was designated as a hunting preserve. Therefore, the purpose of ParkLands changed.   The property that was subsequently acquired was managed differently and the acquisition focus became property along the Mackinaw River.  This focus resulted  in the creation of ParkLands two most successful  projects, Merwin and Chinquapin preserves.  ParkLands now holds over 3,000 acres. This property is actively managed by ParkLands to restore it to its original condition.  ParkLands  stands as  a shining example of local action and leadership funded by generous donations, large and small. It helps preserves the Illinois landscape that was here first.

Guy Fraker is an Honorary Board Member of the ParkLands Foundation and an attorney.  He is also the author of two book on Abraham Lincoln, is a frequent speaker on Lincoln, and is involved in a number of Lincoln related projects.